Dominant Yorkville claims boys, girls titles

Updated: October 22, 2011 10:20PM

The Yorkville boys and girls cross country teams both picked up plaques for winning the team titles at the Kaneland Class 2A regional Saturday at Elburn Forest Preserve, and chances are it won’t be the last piece of hardware the Foxes earn in the state series.

The pack mentality worked for both as the boys placed all five scoring runners in the top 10 to score 36 points in a lopsided win over runner-up Crystal Lake Central, which had 71. The girls race was a little closer, as the Foxes scored 39 points to squeak past Crystal Lake Central by 10.

Yorkville will move on to next week’s Belvidere Sectional in hopes of advancing to the state meet in two weeks.

“Our goal was to just get through,” said Yorkville coach Chris Muth. “We can’t be happier with two first places. We had a plan coming in and they executed it well. Hopefully that pays off at sectionals and state.”

With DeKalb sophomore Kelsey Schrader and Crystal Lake Central freshman Sami Staples taking the race out at a quick pace, the Foxes settled in and eventually placed four runners in the top 10. Schrader won in 18:14, with Staples coming home 11 seconds later.

Ali Hester was the top finisher for Yorkville, running third in 18:53, while Casey Kramer (18:57) was fifth. Lena Palmer (19:05) was sixth and Bri Stuepfert (19:30) was 10th.

“We tried to stay as a pack for two miles and then we wanted to finish hard like we usually do,” Hester said. “Letting the other two girls go was the plan.”

Led by an 8th-place finish from Victoria Clinton, Kaneland also advanced, finishing third with 84 points. Aurora Central was ninth with 229 and IMSA 10th with 248, but neither moved on.

Both schools will be represented at sectionals, though, as IMSA junior Natalie Runkle finished 13th and Central junior Jenna Koerner placed 19th to advance individually.

The Yorkville boys followed and topped their teammates’ performance, with all five scoring runners finishing within a 30-second span.

Winner Alex Baker of Crystal Lake Central ran 15:47 to win the race by three seconds over Burlington Central senior Clint Kliem. Yorkville junior Zak Arcara was the team’s first finisher, taking fifth in 16:05.

Nick Harrison (16:18), Chris Kellogg (16:27) freshmen Jake Hoffert (16:32) and Luke Hoffert (16:35) took sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth place respectively.

“We really wanted to win the regional, and now we just can’t wait for sectionals,” Arcara said.

Host Kaneland scored 127 points to finish fifth and advance, while Aurora Central was sixth with 138 points and also moves on. IMSA was ninth with 272 points and didn’t advance, however Sagar Puhani placed 37th to advance.

Kyle Carter led Kaneland with a ninth-place finish in 16:33, while Matt Meyers finished 12th to pace Aurora Central.

In years past, the Chargers would not have advanced, but this year seven teams move on instead of five.

Belvidere may be the toughest 2A sectional in the state on the boys’ side, as Yorkville and defending state champions Belvidere North are among several ranked teams expected to contend.

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