DGN at Palatine Invite roundup

Sophomores Zoe Covey and Gina Kowalewicz earned individual medals for the Downers Grove North girls cross country frosh-soph team at the Palatine Invitational Meet of Champions Saturday, Sept. 27, at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve.

The frosh-soph team (156 points) was fifth behind Palatine (51), Lyons Township (73), Yorkville (101) and Prospect (145). The top four teams earned trophies.

The varsity (282) was eighth, just six points ahead of rival Lyons Township, and sixth among Illinois teams. The junior varsity was 10th (269).

Covey (4th, 16:02.8 for 2.5 miles) and Kowalewicz (21st, 16:35.8) earned individual medals in the frosh-soph race by finishing among the top 25. Covey only finished behind Yorkville freshman Maggie Klemm (15:13.5), Palatine sophomore Anna Buckstaff (15:19.8) and Yorkville freshman Kimberly Batdorf (16:01.7).

Sophomores Meghan Kelly (43rd, 17:01.9) and Lauren Isenman (47th, 17:05.0), freshman Isabella Scarlati (51st, 17:09.3), sophomore Brigid Miller (63rd, 17:22.6), freshmen Claire Kovarik (100th, 17:51.0) and Allison Padovani (102nd, 17:51.8), sophomore Mary Laffey (104th, 17:53.1) and freshman Madison Venckus (115th, 18:02.8) rounded out the frosh-soph team’s top 10 finishers.

Klemm was disqualified afterwards for apparently cutting part of the course, but she later was reinstated as the champion. Had Klemm been disqualified, the Trojans would have earned the last team trophy by finishing fourth with 151 points, beating Yorkville on a sixth-runner tiebreaker.

Sophomore Emma Moravec was 41st in the varsity race (18:46), 11 seconds shy of a top-30 finish for an individual medal. Juniors Kaitlyn Bonfield (18:58) and Ashley Johnson (18:59) were 50th and 53rd, followed by juniors Grace Maletich (59th, 19:06) and Angela Budach (84th, 19:37) and seniors Jenna Murphy (86th, 19:40) and Zayna Jan (90th, 19:44).

The varsity race featured six teams ranked among the top 25 in 3A by DyeStat Illinois. Barrington (7th, 261) was the only team ranked below the Trojans to finish ahead of them Saturday. Downers North edged LT 26-31 in their conference dual meet two days earlier.

Palatine (72), fourth at the Class 3A state meet last year, also won that level over Class 2A power Yorkville (90) and New Trier (101) third at state in 2013. Palatine junior Kelly O’Brien, sixth at state in 2013, edged New Trier senior and defending 3A state champion Mimi Smith for the individual title, both in 17:23.

In the JV race, junior Fiona Kelly was 37th (21:05.0), followed by seniors Shannon Kennedy (57th, 21:30.8), Alex Hohnsen (70th, 21:44.3), Olivia Matheu (82nd, 22:05.1) and Sydney Wagner (100th, 22:26.3), junior Abby Hodonicky (171st, 23:54.7) and senior Lauren Taylor (237th, 25:23.6). Top-20 finishers earned individual medals.

-- by Bill Stone

Complete results are available at www.realtiminginc.com at the URL http://www.realtiminginc.com/Race%20Results/2014%20Cross%20Country/Palatine%20Inv/Palatine%20Invitational%20Results.html