Over the weekend, Metea Valley senior Sophia Sandy returned to the site of her biggest disappointment from last year’s girls cross country season.
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Sandy, a Naperville resident, left the Class 3A Oswego East Regional under entirely different circumstances Saturday.
“I am running where I want to be for the postseason,” Sandy said after finishing behind only Waubonsie Valley senior Ashley Heidenrich in 17 minutes, 51.2 secconds.
Three-time defending state champion Naperville North steamrolled the nine-team field with a 33-90 victory over Oswego.
Sandy, however, propelled the Mustangs to Saturday’s St. Charles East Sectional. Her runner-up finish was the anchor score as Metea took fifth 115 points.
Sandy has been the top runner at every major team competition this fall for Metea, but she missed the final at-large berth to the Waubonsie Valley Sectional last year by one place.
“It’s been just a great season,” Sandy said. “I wanted to come back and prove I deserved to be at the sectional. That really drove me.
“(Missing by one place) was something that I felt was very tangible that I could come back from.”
Heidenrich has seen her fair share of Sandy this season.
“I knew (Sandy) had been doing awesome toward the end of the season,” said Heidenrich, who captured the three-mile race at Oswego East in 17:35.9. “I knew she would be trying for sure in the last mile.”
With the exception of DeKalb, the regional was essentially an extension of the DuPage Valley Conference season.
Sandy was well aware of her primary competitors for not only a personally rewarding individual performance but also a benchmark score for the team.
“I wanted to stick with the same pack I was with from conference and keep Ashley in sight,” Sandy said. “I wanted to close the gap (on Heidenrich), if I could.”
Sandy had additional satisfaction in defeating Naperville North’s Audrey Mendrys, a state mainstay who led the Huskies with her third-place finish.
The next logical step of progression for Sandy is her central goal — reaching the state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria the second Saturday in November.
Sandy may need the same race strategy Saturday in St. Charles to punch her state ticket.
“Go out conservative at first and give it my all in the last mile,” Sandy said.
State streak on line: In the boys race at Oswego East, Neuqua Valley slipped past Waubonsie on a sixth-man tiebreaker for third place with 95 points.
Oswego East defeated Naperville North 47-62 for the team title.
Neuqua will be aiming Saturday for a 19th straight appearance at the state meet.
“This coming Saturday is what is really going to matter,” Wildcats coach Paul Vandersteen said. “We control our own destiny. It’s a matter of a couple of points that is going to separate (the final two team berths for state).”
Resolute return: As if Naperville North’s storied girls program needs any additional help, Campbell Petersen is yet another option for coach Dan Iverson.
Petersen, who snared the final all-state medal last fall in finishing 25th, missed the entire regular season with the exception of the DuPage Valley Conference Meet.
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Petersen was fourth Saturday among Naperville North runners in taking seventh in Oswego.
“I can’t complain,” Iverson said of Petersen’s form. “So far, so good.”
Kevin McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.