The torch has officially been passed from Lane Tech to Whitney Young when it comes to girls cross country in the city.
The Dolphins -- who were without top runner Rachel Joravsky -- cruised to a city championship last Saturday at Promontory Point with 45 points, while the three-time defending champion Indians finished third (79) behind Northside College Prep (54).
"I always told Tony (Jones) that they were over-ranking us (in Prep Top Times)," Whitney Young head coach Bob Geiger said. "But after today I really think we're ready to be the first CPS girls team to qualify for state.
"To run the way we did today, without Rachel, I think we can win sectionals. No CPS team has ever had three girls run under 19 and we did it today. We just have to recreate in two weeks what we did today."
While the Dolphins are a South Side school, almost all of their runners -- except for Devyn Thompson, who won the meet in a time of 18:11 -- are from the North Side.
Sophomore Lavinia Jurkiewicz (Logan Square) had another solid race by capturing second place in a very fast time of 18:17.
"I knew we could step up but I just can't believe our times," Jurkiewicz said. "I was expecting to break 19 but I went under 18:20. I'm so happy that I can't even describe it. And even better we finished 1-2-3."
Taking third was freshman Maisie Vachuska (Ravenswood) in a time of 18:36, which crushed her previous best time of 20:17.
"I thought I went out too fast but I felt really, really good during the race," Vachuska said. "In the end I saw 18:30 on the clock and I was just amazed. I thought 'How can I be running this.'"
Other key contributors for Whitney Young were Biyang Wang (14th, 20:43), Allory Relf (25th, 21:18) and Samantha Warner (28th, 21:52).
The goal for the Dolphins right now is simple: make it to state. Performing so well at city makes that possible.
"It's so exciting and it really puts into perspective what we can accomplish by the end of the year," Jurkiewicz said. "There's a whole new expectation for us now."
While Northside Prep was overshadowed by Whitney Young's stellar performance, the Mustangs have plenty to be proud of.
Rachel Kittaka led the way for Northside by taking fourth place in a time of 19:03.
"It was really nice weather but my time was a little bit slower than last year," Kittaka said. "Maybe I tried to not think about it too much but maybe that had something to do with me not doing as well as I would have liked."
Other top Mustangs were Ani Zotti (6th, 19:38), Anna Parks (9th, 20:07), Carmen Abelson (12th, 20:22), Adaora Achufusi (23rd, 21:14), Su Yang (29th, 21:53) and Julia Shimada (30th, 22:03).
Lane Tech's third place finish was fueled by Stephanie Pineda (8th, 20:04), Jenny Wojtas (15th, 20:47), Isabelle Carr (16th, 20:49), Shaheen Kazmi (18th, 20:58), Michelle Rodriguez (22nd, 21:13), Heather Seick (24th, 21:17) and Teresita Pineda (27th, 21:25).
Walter Payton had its best ever showing at city by bringing home fourth place. Leading the way for the Grizzlies were Madison Palffy (10th, 20:08), Alexis Caldero (20th, 21:05) and Skyler Larimore (21st, 21:09).
Schurz's Marie Carlberg was the only other area runner to crack the top 30 as she finished 26th with a time of 21:20.
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