Story: DGN at Silver Meet (JV, FS, Frosh)

Junior varsity race

Like many seniors, Downers Grove North’s Sandra Di Pauli wanted her final West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Saturday, Oct. 19, to be a memorable one.

Unlike most seniors, Di Paul accomplished her goal with all-conference honors.

Di Pauli actually had plenty of company as she was among four all-conference Trojans in the junior varsity race by virtue of top-16 finishes.

”I think freshman year I got all-conference (also),” Di Pauli said. “It’s really nice. I had a good race, I think, so I’m happy about it.

”I felt like I was going to try and get all-conference. I thought maybe I’d be in the mix but I was happy I could stay up there.”

Juniors Jenna Murphy (20:23.0 for 3.07 miles) and Rachel Krusenoski (20:27.3) were sixth and eighth. Di Pauli was 14th (20:43.7) and junior Zayna Jan was 16th (20:46.8), getting the final all-conference spot but with 5.1 seconds to spare.

Di Pauli said she didn’t find out she was all-conference until she received her finish tag, which included her overall place, while walking through the chute.

”It was great (to see that). I was so happy. It was a good feeling,” Di Pauli said. “I was just racing. I didn’t know what place I was in or anything.”

Downers North (62 points) finished a strong third behind Lyons Township (46) and Hinsdale Central (55) and tied for third in the final overall standings with York (82), which was fourth Saturday. LT and Hinsdale Central tied for the overall title.

Junior Olivia Vander Leest was 18th (20:53.1), 6.3 seconds behind Jan. Juniors Shannon Kennedy (21st, 21:02.3) and Sydney Wagner (26th, 21:09.7), senior Micah Pfotenhauer (27th, 21:12.2) and junior Megan Treichel (29th, 21:16.6) also finished in the top 30, followed by juniors Alex Hohnsen (34th, 21:27.0) and Rachel Schuetz (45th, 21:57.7).

Achieving all-conference honors isn’t easy in any race, and this was an especially tough day for seniors. Between the varsity and JV races, only five of the 32 all-conference runners were seniors – Glenbard West’s Annika Manning (3rd) and Di Pauli in the JV race and Glenbard West’s Madeline Perez (2nd), the defending Class 3A state champion, LT’s Lexy Rudofski (4th) and Oak Park-River Forest’s Erin Schrobilgen (9th) in the varsity race.

For Di Pauli, the honor was a great reward after dedicating herself to performing better besides contributing as a team captain for the second season.

While Manning moved up from seventh place in the 2012 JV Silver race, Di Pauli improved dramatically from 30th as the Trojans’ No. 9 finisher.

”You just have to stick with it,” Di Pauli said. “If you have a bad race, you just have to shove it out of your head and look forward to the next week, prepare for that week and just forget about your bad races.”

Murphy also was determined to change her fortunes after what she felt was a disappointing 2012. After running on the varsity in 2011 (31st at Silver Meet), including the state meet, Murphy was the Trojans’ top finisher in last year’s frosh-soph Silver race but was 25th overall.

Saturday was yet another time in which she was the No. 1 finisher for the Trojans’ solid JV lineup, and her first all-conference honor.

”My goal was definitely top 16,” Murphy said. “I was hoping for all-conference and just to try and have a good time and a good race, just have a good day. I think I did better than I expected.

”It’s been really fun (this season). This year was just a lot better. I just had better races, more motivation. It’s nice to be doing well. I kind of just had a better mindset so then I put that into my training. I’m glad that I pushed myself because I did better this year.”

Murphy led a determined Downers North effort in the race. At the mile, Murphy, Pfotenhauer and Krusenoski were in among a pack of six runners from eighth through 13th in 6:21 with Di Pauli right behind them.

At two miles, Murphy, Krusenoski and Di Pauli were seventh, eighth and 10th. Vander Leest and Jan were 17th and 18th.

Krusenoski sustained the effort to earn her first all-conference honors. It’s been a frustrating season for her health-wise after being in the varsity race the past two seasons, finishing 23rd in 2011 and 27th in 2012.

”I’ve been having trouble this season with passing out (in races), but it was just a great way to finish the season strong. It’s kind of a long struggle, but in the end, it was a victory,” Krusenoski said.

”I don’t think it was my best time, but it was definitely one of my best races this year. It was one where I felt the best. I felt really strong and that means a lot, no matter what the time or place is. If you feel you’ve put it all out there, then it makes you proud of yourself. I feel like I did my best today.”

Like Di Pauli, Jan didn’t know her place and if she was all-conference until she received her finish tag. Jan was a bit concerned at the finish when she was .8 behind York junior Bernie Belcher (20:46.8). As it turned out, that was for 15th place and Jan was comfortably ahead of 17th place Hinsdale Central junior Maddy Melin (20:51.9).

Jan also ran for the varsity at last year’s conference meet and was 30th.

”I thought I was like 18th or something so I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to pass some people,’ ” Jan said. “Then they gave me this (No. 16 finish tag) and I was like, ‘Well, OK (I got it).’ ”

Frosh-soph race

Downers Grove North sophomore Maci Schaub might not be more than twice the girls cross country runner she was in 2012, but she certainly has felt the progress.

On Saturday, Oct. 19, she was the Trojans’ lone all-conference runner in the frosh-soph race at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet at Proviso West.

Schaub was 13th (20:42.2 for 3.07 miles) to comfortably earn all-conference by virtue of a top-16 finish. In the same race last year, Schaub was the Trojans’ No. 2 finisher behind current junior Jenna Murphy yet 32nd overall.

”I was really happy because my goal was just to get all-conference and I did. That’s what I was pushing for. I was happy with it,” Schaub said. “I was really far (back) last year. I had a bad last year. I just didn’t push myself last year and this year I did.”

Freshman Brigid Miller was 18th (20:49.8), 3.1 seconds from 16th. Freshman Abby Pfeiffer (26th, 21:22.2) and sophomore Fiona Kelly (28th, 21:27.7) finished among the top 30, followed by Gina Kowalewicz (40th, 22:21.7), Arianna Calleja (45th. 22:28.9), Ana Scarlati (47th, 22:45.8), Katie Callaghan (94th, 25:07.7), Elisabeth Vlasak (110th, 27:04.2) and Shannon Koegel (111th, 27:14.6).

The Trojans (122 points) finished fifth and fifth in the final overall standings.

Schaub fed off the momentum of a strong performance in her last race at the West Aurora Stampede Oct. 12. She used a strong kick to pull out fifth in the frosh-soph race.

On Saturday, Schaub was 12th at the mile (6:25) but facing a gap from the top 11. Miller, Kelly and Kowalewicz were 17th through 19th. At two miles, Schaub was battling for 11th and Miller was 16th, barely ahead of Glenbard West sophomore Christina Sedall, a state runner in 2012 who got the last all-conference spot (16th, 20:46.7).

”I just wanted to have a really good last race of the season,” Schaub said. “I just kept thinking about how I run at West Aurora so that I could have just as good of a race.”

Freshman race

Downers Grove North’s Lauren Isenman found herself surrounded by Lyons Township and York runners during the freshman race at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Saturday, Oct. 19, at Proviso West.

That’s because she was enjoying her best race of the season.

Isenman not only was an impressive 10th but also was the only all-conference runner not from LT or York in the 3.07-mile race.

Isenman (21:55.8), also the last runner to break 22:00 in the race, was 9.6 seconds from ninth.

”It was a good race for me and I just stayed positive,” Isenman said. “(The LT and York runners) helped me to push myself to get to them. It’s my best time so far.”

Top-16 finishers earn all-conference honors. Downers North’s Meghan Kelly was the next non-LT or York runner in 18th (22:54.9), 24.4 seconds from 16th. Becky Donnelly (23:23.6), Hannah Krusenoski (23:32.5), Fiona Cismesia (23:36.3) and Laura Stallter (23:37.2) were 24th through 27th and Mary Laffey was 38th (24:16.8).

Since there are no freshman overall standings, only four of the seven conference teams participated in the race – LT (17 points), York (49), Downers North (84) and Hinsdale Central (104). LT finished 1-2-3 and had seven of the top eight and 11 all-conference runners in all.
 
This year, the freshman race was the same distance as the proceeding girls races after being usually one mile shorter in the past. The extra distance played a significant role in the outcome Saturday.

LT’s Brianna Liddell (21:06.0) won the race by 14.5 seconds after taking the lead after the two-mile mark. Isenman was ninth after both one and two miles.

Isenman, one of several graduates of Herrick Middle School running for the Trojans, ran 1.5-mile races in middle school.

“(My freshman season) was good. It’s been an adjustment to get used to the 3.0 miles, but I’m adjusting and I’m starting to like it,” Isenman said.

-- by Bill Stone