PEORIA - The Yorkville girls' cross country meet headed to the IHSA state Class 2A meet at Detweiller Park Saturday hoping for a top-5 finish.
The Foxes got it, and then some.
Led by All-State performances from Ali Hester and Esther Bell, Yorkville scored 124 points to pick up a team trophy with a second-place performance. The Foxes, who placed 12th a year ago, finished just six points behind team champion Springfield.
"We are pretty ecstatic right now," Yorkville coach Chris Muth said. "We didn't think we had a shot at second but the girls ran a great race. We couldn't have asked for anything better than that."
Leading the way was Hester. On a warm, breezy day that saw the temperatures climb into the 70s, the sophomore ran a consistent race with the lead pack and finished fifth in a time of 17:56. Woodstock junior Kayla Beattie won the race in 17:14, six seconds ahead of Margo Richardson of Mount Vernon.
The finish was a huge improvement over her 58th-place finish at the 2008 state meet.
"I tried to stay with the top pack," Hester said. "I didn't have much left to pass the fourth girl (Springfield's Kirby Hale), but I am proud of my race."
Bell, who placed 81st last year, cut a minute off of her time and came home in 18th place in 18:31. Ashley Leonetti finished 37th in 19:11, Breezy Stuepfert was 39th in 19:12, while Casey Kramer placed 83rd in 19:55 to round out the scoring runners.
"They told us to get out strong the first mile, and in the second mile to start picking people off one-by-one," Bell said. "In the last 800 meters I went for it, I really wanted to be All-State."
Class 3A - Two-time defending team champions Geneva finished fifth with 176 points. The Vikings, who finished third at last week's St. Charles East sectional, also had an All-Stater in Kelly Whitley.
Palatine took the team title with 99 points, while Sandburg (142 points) and Wheaton Warrenville South (160) rounded out the top three. The Vikings entered the meet ranked eighth in the state according to the Illinois Top Prep Times, so really they exceeded expectations.
"I know they expected to bring home a trophy, we would like to bring a trophy home every year," Geneva coach Bob Thomson said. "But I think what a lot of people don't understand is how hard it is to get here, and to have the privilege of running in a state competition in Illinois."
Lavinia Jurkewicz of Whitney Young won the individual title in 17:11, just ahead of Christina Gastfield of Rolling Meadows (17:17). Whitley, who placed second last year, finished 18th Saturday, covering the 3-mile course in a time of 17:52.
Kelly Shogren finished 26th for Geneva, just one place and three seconds out of All-State recognition. Still, the senior had no complaints about her race, and in fact improved 72 places over her finish from a year ago.
"You just go out hard and try and pick people off," Shogren said. "It was a hot day, and I'm content with my race. I would have liked to have done a little better, but I worked my hardest."
Class 1A - Aurora Christian sophomore Sarina Oleson finished just a handful of spots out of All-State recognition last year, but this year that wasn't the case as she came home in 21st in a time of 18:48.
It wasn't easy, though, as Oleson was in a pack of close to 10 runners fighting it out for the last few spots. In fact, she was the first of four runners who was credited with that finishing time, with 25th place coming home just three seconds later.
"I heard people saying to the people behind me what place they were in, and when people passed me I tried to stick with them and hold the spot," Olseson said. "That was close, it really was."
Oleson helped the Eagles to a 13th-place finish with 316 points. Winnebago won the team title with 123 points, while Bloomington Central Catholic senior Kelly Curran won the race in a time of 17:46.
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