Girls Cross Country: Lockport looking to make waves in Class 3A meet

Updated: November 2, 2011 8:38PM

Lockport girls cross country coach Evon Marie Schlotter knows her team has a chance for a strong finish at Saturday’s Class 3A state meet at Detweiler Park in Peoria.

The Porters just need a little help.

“If the gods choose to smile on us, we’ll see what happens,” Schlotter said. “I would really like to see us in the Top 10 of the state. I was disappointed we didn’t get there last year (finishing 13th). That’d be a good spot for these girls.”

Schlotter mostly is looking for help with the health of her top runner, Megan O’Brien, who has been battling an illness. O’Brien ran in Saturday’s Lockport Sectional, where the Porters finished third, but tired and finished 18th.

“When you get sick, it’s not just about how gutsy you are,” Schlotter said. “Megan is definitely gutsy, but it’s a physical thing. We’ll see how much she comes back. If Megan’s healthy, we have a great 1-2 punch with her and Stephanie (Sanders),”

Sanders, like O’Brien a senior, lately has run some of the best races of her career, including a sixth-place finish at the sectional.

“I know me and Megan will go out and run together the whole race,” Sanders said. “I’m hoping to finish in the Top 25 (individually) and make All-State.”

In the 2010 state meet, O’Brien was 11th and Sanders finished 55th.

Haley Beaumont, Bianca Wiemeyer, Samantha Stanley, Courtney Correa and Madeline Rodriguez round out Lockport’s top seven.

Top 10 goal aside, Schlotter has one more thing she hopes to see Saturday.

“Most important, I want every girl on our team to finish the season feeling good about the way they finished their last race,” she said.

Outside of the Porters, Marist junior Maggie O’Loughlin may be the Southland’s top contender for All-State honors.

O’Loughlin has been strong all season and continued her successful campaign with a fourth-place finish at the Lockport Sectional, finishing in 18 minutes, 49 seconds.

“I’m happy with where I am going into state,” O’Loughlin said. “I had a very strong finish (at sectionals). I definitely want to make All-State. That’s been my goal all season and hopefully I can make it.”

O’Loughlin will be joined by teammate Moira McDermott, who also had a good finish at sectionals, taking 11th.

“Moira and Maggie are our dynamic duo,” Marist coach Pat Quinn said. “It’s lovely to get both of them to state. They’ve already both accomplished so much. They’ve helped us take our program to a different level.”

Lincoln-Way East’s Nicole Nepote, Kaley McLawhorn and Abby Madden and Lincoln-Way Central’s Alena Pacheco and Taylor Martinez are coming off strong races the Quincy Sectional.

Illiana Christian sophomore Alexa Beezhold — who had a seventh-place finish at the Nazareth Sectional — leads the Southland contingent in Class 2A, along with her teammate and fellow sophomore Emma Pawlowski, Lincoln-Way West’s Natalie Waters and Lemont’s Victoria Salazar and Amber Trick.

Mount Assisi’s Kaitlyn Sendzik and Chicago Christian’s Julie Kamp are All-State contenders in the Class 1A race after taking fifth and sixth, respectively, at the Lisle Sectional.

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