Daily Chronicle 2023 Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year: DeKalb’s Korima Gonzalez

After a near-miss last year, DeKalb senior cross country runner Korima Gonzalez had a very singular goal for the 2023 campaign.

When she crossed the finish line at the Class 3A Lake Park Sectional in a personal best 18:26.3, Gonzalez punched her ticket to the state meet in Peoria for the first time.

“It was probably my No. 1 driving factor,” Gonzalez said. “Every day I showed up to practice it was with that in mind, honestly.”

Gonzalez posted one of her few times over 19 minutes this year at state, finishing in 19:23.6 to finish outside of the top 150. She was named the Daily Chronicle 2023 Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.

Gonzalez said while her performance at the state meet was a little slower than what she hoped, she still really liked the experience. She and DeKalb boys runner Jacob Barraza each made the trip, and although they were the only Barbs to qualify each brought a teammate.

“Having the four of us, it was a lot of fun,” Gonzalez said. “Obviously coach [Mike] Wolf and coach [Max] Crowninshield, they make it a lot of fun. They keep it lighthearted, and don’t put a lot of pressure on us. ... It was just fun to get to watch the other races. Definitely a very memorable experience. I’m happy I got to be a part of that.”

Wolf said Gonzalez got caught up in the fast early pace at the meet, something that kept her time slower than usual.

“You get out there with the state’s best,” Wolf said, “it’s kind of hard to pull back.”

Gonzalez started the season red hot, taking fourth in a pair of early invites before taking 24th at the First to the Finish Invitational in Peoria, a kind of pre-state meet featuring a good chunk of teams in the state. She finished in 18:27 that day at Detweiller Park.

She followed that with two more top-five finishes including a win at Bartlett. But she had a minor ankle injury, and Wolf decided to hold her out of the DuPage Valley Conference meet. There were only two times under 19 minutes in that race.

“When she started racing at the beginning of the season, she was at a different level,” Wolf said. “All year long she was just faster than she was last year. She just progressed each season, did a little more, went a little quicker.”

She came back for the regional meet, clocking a 19:46.8, her slowest time of the year that was still good for eighth place. Then she shaved off almost 90 seconds to take 22nd at the sectional and earn her first trip to Peoria.

“Making state was definitely the top goal for the season,” Wolf said. “Her junior year she just missed it by a couple of seconds. That was some extra motivation for her. She had some ups and downs in the postseason. She kind of ran an average race at the regional meet. But she made a couple of adjustments, mainly with pacing, and came through much stronger at the sectional.”

Gonzalez said she still hasn’t finalized her college plans yet and is ready for track season to begin. She’s medaled each of the last two years, once individually and once as part of a relay.

Gonzalez said she felt her only real hiccup this cross country season was not running in the conference meet, but said the decision definitely paid off since her main goal this year was to qualify for state.

“That was probably the only thing that made me upset was not being able to run at conference,” Gonzalez said. “I remember thinking as long as I could do good at the sectional and qualify, it would all be worth it. Which it was in the end, I would say.”