Whitney Young had one simple mission from the beginning of the season: become the first CPS cross country team to qualify for the state finals. And head coach Bob Geiger knew just how to do it.
"I told them all year, five girls under 20 minutes and we'll make it," Geiger said.
The Dolphins did just that as their No. 5 runner clocked in at 19:35. Now the Dolphins reap the rewards: a trip to the state finals at Detweiller Park in Peoria on Saturday.
Leading the way for Whitney Young at the Niles West Class 3A Sectional last Saturday was Lavinia Jurkiewicz (4th, 17:44), Devyn Thompson (5th, 17:52), Maisie Vachuska (14th, 18:17), Raena Rhone (48th, 19:02) and Rachel Joravsky (72nd, 19:35).
"We had a team meeting Thursday and I just kind of laid it out for them," Geiger said. "'Twenty years from now I hope we're having our 20th consecutive team going Downstate but those girls will never understand how hard it was for you guys to break through that barrier. If you do this there is going to be a whole new level of respect for CPS cross country.'"
What may be even more amazing was how Young, who took fifth place in the meet with a score of 136, could have actually won the meet. Stagg took the team title with 81 points.
Joravsky has been the Dolphins' top runner for the last two seasons, but due to sickness she hasn't been able to run for the last month and was obviously rusty at sectionals.
"We were 55 points away from winning it," Geiger said. "If Rachel is healthy and runs the exact same thing she did last year, we win it. That's the thing that amazes me."
What was downright amazing was the performance turned in by Jurkiewicz. The sophomore from Kilbourn Park bested her personal record by 33 seconds.
"I have no idea what just happened," Jurkiewicz said. "For the last mile I just went and it felt great. I felt like I had wings on my feet."
Things didn't look too good for Jurkiewicz during the week, which is one reason why she couldn't expect such an impressive time.
"I thought I was having a burnout because this week it was hard getting through the workouts," she said. "But I dug really deep and found something I didn't know I had."
While Thompson and Rhone are from the South Side, the rest of Young's team is from the North Side.
Vachuska (Ravenswood) continues to show improvement every week as she bested her time from the previous week by more than 50 seconds.
"Being a freshman I wasn't really expecting much so I'm kind of surprised with how well I'm doing," Vachuska said. "It was flat and fast so I just went out and tried to stay with whoever was in front of me."
Joravsky, who is from Logan Square, was a real trooper for the Dolphins. She's been sick but she knew that if she didn't run, there was no way her team would qualify for state.
"I was half-worried I was going to wake up with a sore throat like I did at city," Joravsky said. "I felt a lot of pressure because I wanted to team so bad to qualify. I felt they deserve it and I knew it was going to hurt but I would have felt bad if the team didn't make it."
The million dollar question is will Joravsky be able to run at full strength at the state meet. If she can run under 18:00, the Dolphins have a real possibility of being a top five team.
"Next week is our peak week and the girls have been following the plan perfectly," Geiger said. "They could drop 30-45 seconds next week."
There will be one other local runner competing at the state meet. St. Ignatius' Claire Sexton, who is from Lakeview, captured the final individual berth by finishing in 25th place with a time of 18:34.
"I really wanted to break 19:00 and I wanted to make state," said Sexton, who is the first St. Ignatius runner to qualify for state in four years. "I didn't expect it but it was a nice surprise. The first mile was pretty fast and I just wanted to keep that pace."
Northside College Prep's Rachel Kittaka missed qualifying by 15 seconds when she finished in 35th place with an 18:49.
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