UPDATED Story: DGN at Lake Park Invite

Downers Grove North freshmen Emma Moravec enjoyed a great girls cross country high-school invitational debut Sept. 7.

In her second race for the Trojans at the Fenton Earlybird Invite, Moravec competed against sophomores, juniors and even seniors in the 3.0-mile open race. She won by nearly 24 seconds.

”It was really hard, but it was fun afterwards,” Moravec said.

On Saturday, Moravec expected to share her varsity invite debut with fellow freshman Hannah Thomas. Last season, they were cross country teammates and often running partners for Herrick Junior High.

Moravec once again ran well, but something was missing, namely Thomas. She was a late scratch because of illness and didn’t make the trip.

”I didn’t really see her (beforehand) but I figured that she was there, but then we got there and she wasn’t,” Moravec said. ”I was kind of confused. I didn’t really know where Hannah was until after I ran so it didn’t really affect me when I was running.”

Not much affected Moravec. She was the Trojans’ No. 3 finisher and beat her Fenton Invite time by more than a minute as Downers North took fifth with 146 points.

Sophomore Grace Maletich once again had a strong race against a talented field, taking 10th in 17:58.8 for 3.0 miles. Sophomore Kaitlyn Bonfield was 15th (18:16.2) in her second race of the season.

Moravec was 31st in 18:44.2 after running 20:12.2 at Fenton. Five seniors comprised the remainder of the lineup – Stephanie Urbancik (43rd, 19:15.5), Micah Pfotenhauer (47th, 19:21.9), Katie Portman (54th, 19:29.7), Sandra Di Pauli (58th, 19:35.9) and Meghan Bonfield (86th, 20:21.8).

Glenbard West, rated No. 2 in the state, easily won with 45 points, followed by top-10 rated teams St. Charles North (114) and Hoffman Estates (115) with Schaumburg (118) a close fourth. Saint Ignatius was sixth (161).

”(Downers North coach Tim McDonald) said he was proud of us. He expected us to get (at least) eighth so that was good for us,” Kaitlyn Bonfield said. “He told us Lake Park is always a faster course just because we have good competition with Glenbard West being there so I was just excited to see how we did as a team.”

Moravec found herself in a different position in more ways than one. Besides being promoted to varsity, she was in the thick of a congested 22-team field rather than being in front.

Moravec was the fifth-highest freshman finisher in the varsity race with the top being Prospect’s eighth-place Brooke Wilson (17:54.9). Moravec was 10 seconds from a top-25 finish.

”At Fenton, I wasn’t really expecting anything but (at Lake Park) I knew I could run fast so it helped me keep my pace,” Moravec said. “The race was really crowded but I kind of feel like that motivated me because there are people on all sides of you, pushing you to go forward. I kind of liked varsity.

”I’m just hoping to improve every time. I know Hannah’s going to do great, too.”

At Fenton, Thomas also competed with sophomores, juniors and seniors in the junior varsity race. She was a team-best third in 20:36.8.

Thomas said she was disappointed she couldn’t have at least been able to cheer on Moravec at Lake Park.

”We were (together in races for Herrick) at the end of the season so it’s fun to have Emma because it brings back old times,” Thomas said. ”On Friday, it was like I felt (illness) but then I was like, ‘I’m fine,’ but then I woke up and I was really sick.”

Injury already had sidelined Maletich by this time last season. On Saturday, she continued to shine against many of the state’s best.

In a field with three 2012 all-staters, Maletich was the last runner to break 18:00 and was just .3 behind Hoffman Estates senior Solome Haile.

”The clock (at the finish line) was coming down to 18:00, and I really wanted that,” Maletich said. ”I was really happy with it because one of my goals going into the race was breaking 18:00. I wanted to do that last season, but I wasn’t able to.”

Glenbard West sophomore Lindsay Graham (17:08.4), a move-in from Glenbard East who was 20th at state in 2012, won comfortably over St. Charles East junior Torree Scull (17:27.8), 31st at state.

Glenbard West junior Lisa Luczak (17:33.5), sixth at state, was third at the invite for the second year in a row. Maine South senior and three-time all-state Emily Leonard (17:50.9) was sixth behind Metea Valley senior Kendall Cast (17:33.8) and St. Charles North senior Ashley England (17:41.6), 38th and 40th at state.

Glenbard West senior Madeline Perez, the defending state champion, sat out the race and still has yet to race this season.

At Fenton, Maletich finished fifth (18:31.8) with a runner closing on her but was 22 seconds from fourth place.

”There were a couple of people (in that invite) I could have hung with and I let the gap get too much. This race, I tried to stay with the front pack and stay as long as I could,” Maletich said. “It’s nice to improve (your time) by a lot. It was a fast course and a lot of fast people so I wanted to take advantage of that.”

The Lake Park course, adjacent to its east campus, has a steep hill at the beginning, but that’s the only one. The course concludes with the runners going into the stadium and onto the track for the final 300 meters.

”I like finishing on the track because it just gives you a lot of motivation. You know everybody’s watching you,” Kaitlyn Bonfield said. “It’s a lot faster of a finish because everyone just gets on the track and they start going.”

”It did help (finishing) on the track because there was a ton of people pushing me. I think I did break 18:00 because of that,” Maletich said.

Bonfield had been hampered by shin splints for about a week during the preseason but is quickly regaining her form. At last year’s invite, she also was the Trojans’ No. 2 finisher behind graduated in Gabbie Hesslau (10th, 18:02.9) but was 25th in 18:40.3, 24 seconds slower than Saturday.
”I’m feeling a lot better,” Bonfield said. “I’m just happy to be running again.”

Even with her improved time, Maletich was excited that the Trojans also reduced their 1-5 split to 1:23 after it was 1:57 between her at Di Pauli at Fenton.

Pfotenhauer, Saturday’s No.5 team finisher, helped with a significant improvement upon her 19:47.3 at Lake Park last year.

Urbancik, moved up to varsity in place of Thomas, had a great race. The all-state track standout dusted her 2012 invite time of 20:20.6 in the JV race by more than a minute.

”She did really well,” Kaitlyn Bonfield said.

The Trojans get another strong invite test Saturday when they compete at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, the annual site of the state meet, for Peoria Notre Dame’s Richard Spring Invitational.

The field includes Glenbard West, top-five rated teams Palatine, New Trier and O’Fallon and St. Charles North and Schaumburg again. The invite features varsity and frosh-soph races with 10 entries per team and an open race with unlimited entries.

”It’s a really fun experience,” Kaitlyn Bonfield said. “I like going down with the team. It’s just a lot of team bonding there, and then it’s a really competitive race so it’s a good race to be in also.”

Junior varsity race

The initial price for Downers Grove North sophomore Angela Budach’s rapid ascent in her first cross country season has been to purchase a pair of new running spikes.

”At the beginning of the season, I didn’t bother to get a pair because I didn’t think I’d do well enough to need them,” Budach said. “It was the last meet at Fenton (Sept. 7) when I realized it probably would be a good idea to get spikes to help improve my times.”

Unveiling her new spikes at the Lake Park Invite Saturday in the junior varsity race, Budach took another step forward as she finished sixth in 19:26.1 for the 3.0 miles.

The Trojans (82 points) were third, three points ahead of St. Charles North. St. Charles East (56) and Glenbard West (65) took first and second.

Junior Zayna Jan (19:47.5) and sophomore Maci Schaub (19:49.0) also broke 20:00 in finishing 13th and 14th. Meghan Kelly (20:02.4) and Rachel Krusenoski (20:17.0) were 20th and 29th, followed by Fiona Kelly (32nd, 20:26.1), Jenna Murphy (35th, 20:28.8), Olivia Vander Leest (38th, 20:31.8), Brigid Miller (45th, 20:41.7) and Shannon Kennedy (47th, 20:44.5)

”(In the junior varsity race at Fenton), I finished ninth (21:05.7) so it’s nice to see that I’m improving and improving among our own girls, too,” Budach said. “(My goal is) probably to keep improving and try to make it on the varsity level.” 

Budach competed for the Trojans during the track season and became a mainstay for the Trojans’ frosh-soph team in the 400, 800 and 1,600-meter relays. Last fall she only participated in marching band, an activity she still does. 

”The coaches thought it would be good for me to do distance (in cross country) to improve my running,” Budach said. “I have some endurance doing basketball (in the winter) because I run a lot, but I just did sprinting in the spring.” 

Budach had been using her sprinting spikes for cross country races. The distance spikes seemed to help but with one slight problem. Budach’s shoelaces became untied early in the race. 

”I forgot to double knot,” Budach said. “I noticed it start flipping and loose by the end of the race. I got a few blisters on my feet because (the spikes) were so loose, but they stayed on my feet so it was good. It worried me at first but then when I was able to run OK with it, I was fine.” 

Open race

Downers Grove North freshman Gina Kowalewicz was enthusiastically prepared for her first high-school invitational at Fenton Sept. 7.

She missed the meet because of illness.  That made competing at the Lake Park Invite Saturday all that more important. ”Definitely. I was very pumped up,” Kowalewicz said.

That’s the way Kowalewicz competed. Concluding with a strong kick, Kowalewicz was the Trojans’ top finisher in the open race as she took eighth in 13:06.9 for 2.0 miles.

Two more freshmen placed in the top 15, Abby Pfeiffer (10th, 13:12.1) and Emma Doak (13th, 13:20.4).

Juniors Megan Treichel (21st, 13:30.4), Alex Hohnsen (24th, 13:34.8) and Sydney Wagner (25th, 13:38.4) finished close together, followed by Rachel Schuetz (33rd, 13:51.6), Arianna Calleja (44th, 13:58.5), Lauren Isenman (45th, 13:59.6) and Alyssa Blashill (48th, 14:00.2). The Trojans (76 points) were third behind Prospect (51) and Saint Ignatius (54).

”That was really fun. I was really proud of myself afterwards,” Kowalewicz said. “I thought it actually would be a little bit harder because of how everybody was talking about the course. But while running it, it was really nice. The hill (right after the start) wasn’t as bad as I thought, and ending on the track (for the final 300 meters) was a really nice finish.” 

The shorter distance was reminiscent of Kowalewicz’s 2-mile races in seventh and eighth grade for Jefferson Middle School in Woodridge.

Kowalewicz said she ran with Pfeiffer Saturday. Pfeiffer was ahead with a half mile left, but Kowalewicz found another gear and passed her in the last stretch. 

”I was going to try and find a running buddy from another group that would be close to my pace and try and stay with her, but I definitely didn’t think I was going to be first for DGN,” Kowalewicz said.

-- by Bill Stone