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The 2024 girls cross country season is underway. Here are previews of teams from around the Record Newspapers coverage area.
Oswego
Coach: Alicia Rafferty
Top returners: Addison Richter, sr.; Kristin Soderlind, so.; Morgan Bradley, so.; Lucy Cler, sr.; Samantha Ventura, sr.; Lexi Richter, so.
Key newcomers: Alivia Kath, fr.; Sophia Padilla, fr.
Worth noting: Oswego finished fifth in the Southwest Prairie Conference meet last season and took sixth at regionals to advance to sectionals, where the Panthers finished 11th. Addison Richter qualified for state individually and took 19th at conference, 20th at regionals and 43rd at sectionals. Soderlind, 34th at conference and 33rd at regionals, had a strong summer and Rafferty said will likely be Oswego’s top runner. Bradley, 29th at conference and 30th at regionals, and Ventura also had strong summers and will push the next group of girls as close as they can to Soderlind. Addison Richter is coming off an injury and Rafferty is excited to see where she can be when fully healthy. Cler, 30th at conference and 42nd at regionals, did triathlon this past summer and is coming back stronger than ever with a huge mileage base. Oswego took fifth at the season-opening Kailey Fox Invitational.
“We are 100% focused on culture this year with performance being secondary,” Rafferty said. " I am excited for what this team can do this year however in the performance realm. Our goal this year is to race together as a team and push each other to hopefully have five girls under 20:00 and at least three under 19:00.”
Oswego East
Coach: Lisa Cook.
Top returners: Macy Dick, so.; Emma Berglund, sr.; Annie Schiltz, sr.; Isabella Daguinsin, sr
Worth noting: Morgan Dick, last year’s Southwest Prairie Conference champion, has graduated. Oswego East as a team last year took fourth at conference, second at regionals, third at sectionals and 15th at state. Macy Dick placed 15th at conference, eighth at regionals, seventh at sectionals and 72nd at state. Oswego East took fourth at the season-opening Kailey Fox Invitational. Dick was ninth, Berglund 17 and Daguinsin 27th.
Plano
Coach: Andrew DeBolt
Top returners: Ash Armstrong, sr.; Allison Goodyear, sr.; Stefanie Janusz, sr.; Aliyah Reyna, jr.
Key newcomers: Viviana Cervantes, fr.
Worth noting: Armstrong was Plano’s top runner last year, back for her senior year to lead a small but determined group with seniors eager to end their career on a high note. Plano was sixth as a team at the Kishwaukee River Conference meet last year, with Armstrong 21st, Goodyear 29th and Janucz 38th. Armstrong was 48th and Goodyear 51st at regionals. Reyna is looking to improve in her second year of cross country and DeBolt expects Cervantes to be a big help.
“We have a small team but girls who have put in work over the summer and are looking to end their careers on a high note,” DeBolt said. “Ash Armstrong and Allison Goodyear push each other in practice and meets and both have the goal of qualifying for the sectional meet.”
Sandwich
Coach: Elizabeth Vick
Top returners: Sunny Weber, jr.; Erin Lissman, sr.; Joanna Rivera, sr.; Emily Urbanski, jr.; Karlee Henkins, jr.; Hannah Treptow; Kayla Kressin; Norah Vick, so.
Worth noting: Weber has had quite the decorated career already at Sandwich – in just two years. She was third in Class 2A last season after being the Class 1A state runner-up as a freshman. That is in addition to her exploits on the track, where she is a four-time state medalist and was the Class 2A 3,200-meter champion last spring. Weber, along with Lissman, Rivera, Urbanski, Henkins and Treptow were all on the 2022 Class 1A state-qualifying team which did not make it past regionals last season with Sandwich moved up to Class 2A. Coach Vick said the top 3-4 spots are quite clear while the remaining spots in the top seven might shift around. Sandwich took second to Morris at the Morris Early Bird Invite on August 28, with Weber running away with the individual title in 17:31.10, and the Indians also were second at the Sycamore Invitational September 3.
“Our top 7-8 girls are a strong group that are hungry to improve,” coach Vick said. “After placing as an individual at state for the past two years, Sunny Weber will be fighting for a state title. Overall, we’re expecting significant improvement across our entire roster.”
Yorkville
Coach: Chris Muth
Top returners: Annabelle Reeder, jr.; Ashley Schraeder, jr.; Lily Camargo, sr.; Sophia Keeler, sr.; Nikki Kraus, so.; Mia Evans, so.
Key newcomers: Athena Triner, fr.
Worth noting: The Foxes last season swept the Southwest Prairie Conference, regional and sectional titles, and placed ninth as a team at the Class 3A state meet. From that state team, Yorkville graduated just one runner, Allegra Triner. Muth noted that the team is a consensus preseason top 10 team by three of the top cross country services, with the potential to improve as they develop. Keeler was third at conference, fourth at regionals and sixth at sectionals last year. Schraeder was fifth at conference, seventh at regionals and 15th at sectionals and Reeder seventh at conference, 11th at regionals and 10th at sectionals. Muth expects freshman Athena Triner to impact Yorkville’s top five immediately. She was 13th at the season-opening Kailey Fox Invitational at Yorkville in which the Foxes beat out Minooka and Neuqua Valley for first place. Schraeder was fourth, Camargo sixth, Reeder eighth and Keeler 10th at the meet.
“Lily Camargo isn’t an addition to the team, but her impact will be felt just as much with how much work and advancement she has made as a runner/racer over the past 12 months,” Muth said. “For the team to improve we have to stay healthy and hungry along with consistently focusing on the details each day. We have had an exciting number of athletes training throughout the summer, which in turn has made our team deeper and more dangerous than in past seasons.”