DGN at Peoria Notre Dame Invite story (varsity)

Downers Grove North junior Kaitlyn Bonfield has been trying to forget her race from the 2013 Class 3A state meet at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

When she and the Trojans plan to return to Detweiller for this year's state meet Nov. 8, they will have the memories of their best team performance so far this season at the Peoria Notre Dame’s Richard Spring Invitational Saturday, Sept. 20.

Downers North (168 points) finished third out of 57 teams in the 3A varsity race to earn its first team trophy at the invite since 2010. The field included seven teams ranked among the state’s top 25.

“It was a lot of fun just to run on the state course. With our team, I think we can make it here again so it’s nice just to get a feel for the course,” Bonfield said.

“We’ve never gotten a trophy here (with my teams). This is definitely a really special moment for all of us. I’m really excited to see what our team can do later in the season. There were a lot of good teams here this year so it’s really nice that we got third and I’m really proud of everyone who ran.”

Sophomore Emma Moravec finished 16th (18:05.1 for 3.0 miles) followed by a strong pack of juniors Bonfield (31st, 18:27.6), Ashley Johnson (34th, 18:28.9), Angela Budach (37th, 18:30.6) and Grace Maletich (50th, 18:41.2). All five runners earned individual medals for finishing among the top 60.

Teams were allowed 10 runners in the varsity race. Seniors Zayna Jan (101st, 19:20.6) and Jenna Murphy (124th, 19:38.9), sophomore Zoe Covey (128th, 19:42.5), freshman Katie Cantlin (145th, 19:53.0) and junior Maci Schaub (146th, 19:53.5) also competed for the varsity.

Riding a 36-second split between their No. 1 to 5 finishers, the Trojans only were beaten by top-ranked and defending 3A state champion Glenbard West (70) and top-five ranked Palatine (80), fourth at state last year. St. Charles East (197) and Schaumburg (223), two more rated teams, were fourth and fifth.

“We said, ‘Let’s go out there. We’re here for a purpose, go out and get it,’ and they kind of attacked it from the beginning and really just stayed the course,” Downers North coach Tim McDonald said.

“They all got out really, really well and just kind of held their position. They just kept coming as a team and it was fun to watch. Even the kids were sixth through 10 had really good races. It’s nice to see a pack of five up there and kind of in position to do well as a team, instead of bits and pieces.”

The 2010 Trojans also were third at this invite (127) and eventually took 10th at the state meet. The 2013 Trojans were 21st at state after a one-year absence from qualifying.

Only four returnees are back from the 2013 state lineup, but Maletich, Bonfield, Moravec and Budach were the team’s top four finishers with Moravec and Budach in their first high-school cross country seasons.

“I feel like going in, it was such a huge opportunity and I feel like we all kind of realized that and we all kind of raced for the team,” Maletich said. “While we were racing, (McDonald) kept saying we have a chance for a trophy and everything so I feel like that really motivated us to work for each other.”

At one mile, Moravec was 16th with an 11-second split between her and then No. 5-runner Johnson in 53rd. At two miles, Moravec was 16th in ?? with a 16-second split to No. 5-runner Maletich in 41st.

Bonfield was the Trojans' No. 2 finisher at both the invite and state in 2013. She was 24th at the invite in 18:08 and then was 127th at state in 18:48.

Saturday was an emotional breakthrough because it marked her first invite in which she was close to the top runners since recovering from pre-season shin splints.

“I was really excited to run and just see what we can do here,” Bonfield said. “I just tried not to think about (last year) because last time I was here I didn’t have a good race so I just kind of wiped that out of my mind because I didn’t want to think about that and have that bring me down.”

“Kaitlyn has obviously come back. She has a ways to go, but now she’s looking like the kid we knew she was all summer (in workouts),” McDonald said.

Moravec, 143rd at state in 18:59, erased rough memories of her own from the 2013 invite. She became sick during that race, temporarily stopped, but persevered to finish 101st in 19:00. Budach was right behind her in 110th (19:05) as the team's fifth finisher.

"I just got over those bad experiences and hopefully I’ll have good runs here from now on," said Moravec, who was 10.2 seconds from 10th place.

“We were all keeping it really close together and working hard. I think the overall results showed that. I was only really concerned about the team place. I felt like I ran real well. This is a super-fast course and everyone’s around you, just pushing you to run your fastest.”

Johnson, a first-year runner, and Maletich sat out Thursday's dual loss to No. 2-rated Hinsdale Central.

This was Johnson's first experience at Detweiller and coming off a rough race in colder conditions at the Lake Park Invite Sept. 13.

"It was really cold and I think my body had to adjust," Johnson said. “I run better in the warm. I felt like my legs weren’t moving at Lake Park and here my legs felt really strong.

“I really like this course. It’s a lot flatter than the course I am used to and I felt really strong coming out and finishing. It’s kind of like a taste of state because we have state down here. Hopefully next time I’ll improve my time.”

Maletich was fired up for the race but had a freak accident. During a group practice run near the school Wednesday, she was blocked from seeing a discarded soda pop can along the route and stepped on it, slightly rolling her left ankle.

"I’m like, ‘Three days before Peoria. I roll my ankle,’ ” Maletich said. “It was bothering me a lot Thursday, but it’s been getting better. It was nice because I was able to have it wrapped for the race so that helped a lot.”

Maletich was a team-best 10th at the invite in 2013 (17:44) but this year has been working her way up as an important pack runner along with Budach. Other than Moravec, the Trojans' finishing order among their other top-five regulars has varied.

"It looks like Emma is going to be our No. 1 runner, but with our other four, there’s days where they’re going to be our No. 5, there’s days where they’re going to be our No. 2. But they all need to have a good race," McDonald said. “If they can operate that way and no get upset, (thinking), ‘I should be in this position, that position,’ this is a good team, we think a better team than we had in 2010 ability wise.”

The Trojans also got to work on their depth. With the expanded varsity lineup, first-time runner Covey and Cantlin made their Detweiller debuts with the varsity.

“When I found out, I was really excited and this is going to be a really cool experience. Then right before the race, I was kind of nervous because I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is such a big race to be in.’ Then it started and it was just a really fun experience overall,” Cantlin said.

“It was kind of like a whole new experience, just having so many people in a race and it being such a great course. Having so many people there was different and I learned you’ve just got to keep passing people as you go and don’t let too many people pass you.”

The annual invite mirrors the state experience, not only because the race is at Detweiller Park. The Trojans took their 20 runners for the invite's three races together on Friday so they could stay overnight, just like they do for the 12-runner state meet lineup.

“It was really good. We had a lot of fun on the bus ride. We always play Catch Phrase on the way here and just listen to music and everyone just get really hyped up for the race,” Bonfield said.

-- by Bill Stone