DGN at Marist Sectional

In 2012, Downers Grove North juniors Grace Maletich and Kaitlyn Bonfield left injured from the Class 3A Marist Sectional at Midlothian Meadows.

Upon their return Saturday, Nov. 1, they and the Trojans left triumphant.

The Trojans not only qualified for the state meet as a team for the second year in a row, but they also finished third after just needing a top-five finish to advance.

“We’ve been getting better every single week so the same is expected for state,” Maletich said. “I think things are really different now (than in 2012). I think it’s always in the back of your head like, ‘The last time was really bad,’ but we all came with a lot of confidence so it didn’t really affect us.”

Sophomore Emma Moravec was eighth (for 2.98 miles) to earn top-10, all-sectional honors. Maletich (18:11.49) and Bonfield (18:17.21) were 18th and 20th, followed by juniors Angela Budach (25th, 18:19.30) and Ashley Johnson (47th, 18:42.86), sophomore Zoe Covey (49th, 18:47.86) and senior Zayna Jan (52nd, 18:56.03).

The state meet is at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at Peoria’s Detweiller Park. In 2013, Moravec, Maletich, Bonfield and Budach were the team’s top four finishers when the Trojans finished 21st (492 points).

“Definitely I was really happy to go last year but this year we had a different goal, not just to make it but to do well here and I think we accomplished that,” Moravec said.

“Ideally we’d be in the top 10. I don’t know if that’s going to happen but we definitely want to improve on our standings from last year and just give it our best I guess.”

The Trojans only were beaten Saturday by No. 2-ranked Hinsdale Central (50) and Lockport (82) while Neuqua Valley (124) and Downers Grove South (158) also advanced as teams. At the Hinsdale Central Regional Oct. 25 at Katherine Legge Memorial Park, the Trojans finished second to Hinsdale Central 26-41 with Downers South third.

"They did exactly what we wanted to do. Our mentality coming in was kind of like a business thing (to just advance)," Downers North coach Tim McDonald said. "I said, 'Just relax. You know what it's like to go out hard and then after you get in this open space, start working the race.' They got out well, nothing too crazy and they kind of just executed the plan."

Going into the 2013 Hinsdale Central Sectional, the Trojans were not expected to advance based on the post-season state rankings. With their best race of the season, they got the fifth and final advancing spot by five points ahead of sixth-place Lyons Township.

“(Saturday) was kind of a different atmosphere because instead of coming into it knowing that we had to give it our all, we were going for first instead of just trying to go. It was nice kind of knowing that we could get a good spot at sectionals,” Budach said.

“(Being at state) is a good motivator because once you’ve been there, you want to make it back again. You know what you’re working for. The environment at state’s really fun and it’s the last race that you can possibly do basically so you’re just working to give it your best and get your best time.”

Last season continued the ascent from a rough 2012 Marist Sectional in which injuries made it a struggle for the Trojans to even get seven runners to the starting line. They finished eighth and had no individual state qualifiers as well.

“I feel like our whole team was injured (in 2012),” Bonfield said. “I think we just trained too hard during the summer. The past two years, we just approached training differently and started out slower.”

Besides Bonfield, Maletich and Jan were part of the 2012 sectional lineup. This year, Jan probably will be the only senior in the state lineup.

“It is really weird,” Jan said. “It’s so completely different (than 2012) because I’m the only senior on the team so it’s really like a (180). We did a lot better so I’m not complaining.”

All four returnees are looking for better state races. Maletich was the team’s No. 1 finisher in 2013 (36th, 17:51 for 3.0 miles), followed by Bonfield (127th, 18:48), Moravec (143rd, 18:59) and Budach (156th, 19:07).

State alternates are senior Jenna Murphy, who competed at state in 2011, juniors Fiona Kelly and Maci Schaub, sophomore Gina Kowalewicz and freshman Madison Venckus.

When the team competed at Detweiller Sept. 20 for Peoria Notre Dame's annual Richard Spring Invitational, the Trojans had one of their best races of the season, finishing third to defending 3A state champion Glenbard West and top-five rated Palatine.

"They have a goal of doing real well in Peoria. They like the course. They had a great experience there this year (at the invite)," McDonald said.

"It's been a while since we've walked away and said that was a good (state) race. In 2009, we shocked ourselves. We were a decent team and ended up finishing eighth. In 2010, we had hopes of finishing in the top five and we didn't run well (10th). It's a very focused group. Hopefully they can just ride this wave and kind of just keep going."

This season, Moravec has put herself in position to contend for top-25, all-state honors. The Trojans' last all-stater was when junior Samantha Fry was 11th in 2009.

It won’t be easy. Nineteen of the 25 all-staters in 2013 are back this season, including eight of the top 10 finishers. Last year’s 25th-place time was 17:34.

“That’s the ultimate goal for any runner, right? I’m really hoping that I can get there,” Moravec said.

Four all-staters from 2013 finished ahead of Moravec Saturday with Hinsdale Central sophomore Alexa Haff, the defending state runner-up, winning in 17:02.72. Haff sat out the regional, where Moravec was fourth behind three Hinsdale Central runners.

Moravec moved up from 11th after two miles (11:55). She was especially pleased with her race when she heard her time.

“That’s really awesome and I’m happy with (17:41.61),” Moravec said. “Definitely the time speaks for itself. This was the best race that I’ve had. My PR before was 17:56 so this is a huge improvement. I’m really happy. I think it’s getting closer to the finals and everybody’s pushing it and the race environment has pushed me to go that much faster.”

Maletich also had one of her best races of this season, and Jan broke 19:00 for the first time Saturday with arguably her best race ever.

"I thought Grace did a fantastic job," McDonald said. "That's what she's got to do. It got hard as the race went on but she put herself out there right away in a good position."

Maletich came out powerfully and was seventh at the mile (5:36).

“Definitely right from the start it felt good. Everybody got out great and finished the race. Everything went well,” Maletich said. “That was kind of the goal. My starts have been good all season but today was great so it was nice just to feel comfortable in the beginning and go from there.”

Bonfield also finished well. She was 22nd at the mile (5:39) and 23rd (12:10) at the two-mile mark.

“I think I improved a lot from the regional.  I was a lot faster because we had a lot of competition. It was just a different mindset,” Bonfield said.  

“I felt like I got a little boxed in so I was just trying to move up, trying to improve and move up throughout the whole race, so I just tried to get faster each mile and finish strong for that last mile especially. It was nice to see the people ahead of me because I just knew to keep pushing to get up with them.”

Maletich and Budach have been finishing close to each most of the season. Their split was back down to eight seconds Saturday after being 19 seconds at regionals in finishing seventh (Maletich) and 12th (Budach).

“I would really like to medal (at state). I don’t know if that’s going to happen but I really want to get a good personal best time and beat my personal best by a lot,” Budach said.

“I had a stronger race personally (Saturday). I was pretty solid but still room for improvement for (state) and as a pack I felt like we did really well. Emma was leading and then Grace was right inside of Emma. I felt like we were close so it was good.”

Covey was the team’s No. 5 runner at the mile in 37th (5:46) but Johnson made her normal ascent, improving from 57th at the mile (5:51) to 48th by two miles (12:29).

"They came out of the woods. We had the four kids in great position where we never felt threatened," McDonald said. "Zoe was in a great spot, and then we knew Ashley would work her way up, and she did."

Although Johnson is a junior and Covey a sophomore, this is their first high-school cross country seasons. Covey made her top-seven varsity debut at the regional.

However, they both have experience of competing at Detweiller at the Richard Spring Invitational. The meet was Covey's first varsity race but team's were allowed as many as 10 entries rather than the usual seven.

“I was just kind of focused on Peoria back then. I just kind of hoped that we would be back there because it’s a really nice course, I really like it and I have family down there. That’s really nice so they can come see me (at state),” Covey said.

“I’d hoped but I didn’t know that I would be running (at state). I thought, ‘Oh maybe the team will go and I’ll be an alternate. Maybe my season will be over,’ but I didn’t think I’d be running.”

Jan, Murphy and Schaub also were state alternates in 2013. While this would be Jan’s first state race for cross country, she has been an all-stater in track the past two years with the 3,200-meter relay. The Trojans were fourth in May with Jan, Moravec and Schaub in the lineup and sixth in 2013 with Jan and Maletich.

“I’m happy because I feel more well-rounded distance wise and shorter distance wise,” Jan said. “It’s a lot longer compared to the 800 (meters for track), but it feels good because I’m happy I can accomplish it in both areas.”

At the 2012 Marist Sectional, Bonfield was the team’s No. 1 finisher (19th, 18:25.3) and just missed a state berth. The top seven finishers not among the five advancing teams also qualify for state, but Bonfield was the eighth individual candidate.

Bonfield ran that well even though she had an inexplicable pain on the outside of her shin. Maletich sat out most of the season recovering from a torn stomach muscle, aggravated the injury during her sectional race.

“I would have just tried to push through it for the last race (at state). I don’t know how well I would have done,” Bonfield said. “Now we have good memories from (this course). I think we all just tried to forget about (2012) and just keep focused on this race.”

-- by Bill Stone