Whitney Young's Lavinia Jurkiewicz completed a dream season last Saturday at the IHSA Class 3A girls cross country state meet held at Detweiller Park in Peoria.
The sophomore from Kilbourn Park finished the three-mile course in a time of 17:32 which was good enough for 13th place and was the highest finish ever by a Chicago Public League girls runner.
"This season has been the season of my dreams," Jurkiewicz said. "Now that it's a reality I just can't believe it. Maybe I'll believe it in three weeks."
Whitney Young head coach Bob Geiger has been shocked what Jurkiewicz has been able to do in the last two months.
"A couple of months ago I questioned how bad she really wants to do this," Geiger said. "The emotion she showed me then showed me she was going to be great but I never thought she would be this great."
Amazingly, Jurkiewicz wasn't the only Chicago girls runner to make the All-State team. Teammate Devyn Thompson grabbed the last spot with her 25th place finish in a time of 17:42.
The two strong finishes helped Whitney Young, which was the first-ever CPS team to qualify for the state meet, takes 14th out of 20 teams.
"If someone told me last year that we were going to qualify as a team and me and my teammate Devyn were going to be All-State I would have said 'What are you talking about?'" Jurkiewicz said. "It's probably one of the proudest moments of my life and I can only hope that next year we'll have five All-State girls."
Having five All-State runners might not be realistic but three or four would not be a stretch.
Freshman Maisie Vachuska (Ravenswood) took 82nd in a time of 18:38
"I think I got out pretty well but it was very fast," Vachuska said. "I didn't want to get out too strong and then wind up (falling back).
"I know I improved quite a bit from the beginning of this season. The whole team improved and I think this shows. It's pretty amazing and it's just such a great experience."
Rachel Joravsky showed some improvement from sectionals and was the Dolphins' No. 4 runner taking 142nd place in a time of 19:21.
"(Maisie and I) stayed together for the first mile but then at the end of the triangle I started to lose her and that's when it got really hard for me," Joravsky said. "It got harder to breathe and then I just got tired. I was just trying to hang on that last mile."
The sophomore from Logan Square started the season as Young's No. 1 runner but she has been plagued by a lingering cold the last six weeks. That left her to wonder if she missed out on a chance at taking a spot in the top 10.
"There's been a lot of what ifs instead of looking towards the future," Joravsky said. "But coach Geiger says running is a lot like life. 'You can't always get what you want and you have to deal with what comes at you.'"
Now that the 2007 season is over Joravsky can begin looking ahead to the track season and then next year's cross country season.
"At the beginning of this season I ran a 18:15 so next year I definitely feel I can go under 18," Joravsky said.
The other runners for Whitney Young were Raena Rhone (156th, 19:33), Allory Relf (167th, 16:24) and Biyang Wang (168th, 21:50).
Whitney Young's tremendous success in 2007 has to be credited to Geiger. He took over in 2006 and has been a miracle worker.
"I think its amazing what we were able to do in two years," Geiger said. "The year before I got to Whitney Young they had two girls qualify for sectionals and neither one could break 20:00."
With every girl on the team coming back, it's hard to imagine the Dolphins not becoming the first CPS team to win a sectional. And they certainly could contend for a trophy at next year's state meet.
"This is a great step in the right direction," Geiger added. "We have to get in the weight room and just get a lot stronger."
Whitney Young's performance at state sets up for a very solid track season as well.
"People forget these girls are half-milers," Geiger said. "(Jurkiewicz and Thompson) both run 2:20 and they're going to run a lot faster because of what they have done in cross country. We'll move Rachel to the two mile a little more but she can still run a 800 in 2:23."
St. Ignatius' Claire Sexton was the other local area competitor at state. The Lake View resident completed the three-mile course in a time of 18:59 and wound up taking 117th place.
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