Halloween spirit is in full force at Katherine Legge Park for the girls cross country sectional. Naperville North, Sandburg and Downers Grove North all come in after winning their regionals but the rest of our teams involved are looking for a strong run with the state meet next weekend with seven team spots up for grabs. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Liv Phillips vs Julie Piot
The gun goes off let’s go racing girls. In the first mile it’s matchup that doesn’t surprise anyone it’s Huskie Julie Piot and Central’s Liv Phillips ahead of the pack. Rianna and Shania Tandon both trail behind the two along with Mia Bertoloni from Waubonsie Valley, Lola Satre-Morales from Naperville Central and Addison Gusky from Neuqua Valley.
Piot and Phillips are the theme all race long but deep in the pack Metea Valley’s Julie Hannon and Kamea Baker both stick together to maintain a good spot. Ava Hendren from Naperville Central is also around to help the Redhawks while the Huskies have Bridget Kacedan and Brynn Pfeiffer in their team top five.
Later in the race it’s Phillips who gets in front of Piot and the senior is not looking back as she keeps chugging along.
Downers Grove North runs away with the plaque
Coming to the finish Phillips is all alone and wins it by seven seconds ahead of Piot as the individual champion. Lily Eddington from Downers Grove North is in third followed by teammates Ava Gilley in 5th, and Alayna Todnem and Sarah Paul in 7th and 8th. Rianna and Shania Tandon both hit the top 15 while Waubonsie’s Bertolini comes in 13th. Satre-Morales, Gusky and Abby Mogg from Central all crack the top 20 while Metea’s Julie Hannon and her other teammates like Baker, Maya Hall, Zoe Kirkman and Isabella Sieben qualify for state as a team. However, Downers Grove pulls out the team victory with four runners in the top ten as the girls also winning the sectional ahead of Naperville North and Naperville Central. Lily Baibak from Waubonsie Valley also qualifies as an individual in 29th place. Sandburg, Hinsdale Central and Lyons Township secure the other team state qualifying spots.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
