Cross Country: Oswego’s Audra Soderlind, Minooka girls team repeat as SPC champs; Plainfield South takes boys title

CHANNAHON – Audra Soderlind’s race accessory made her hard to miss Friday.

As the sun shone brightly on a crisp afternoon at Community Park, the Oswego senior and recent Iowa commit opted to wear sunglasses. Soderlind was the only runner to go for the fashion statement, noting the bright sun during warmups.

“My signature look,” Soderlind said with a smile.

Like the sun, Soderlind’s running was brilliant.

She quickly set the pace, taking a sizable lead after the first mile of the Southwest Prairie Conference meet. Soderlind went on to a 10-second win over her nearest pursuer and her second consecutive conference championship.

“I wanted to hit a fast first mile because this course can slow you down a little bit with the rough terrain,” said Soderlind, clocked in 17 minutes, 54.30 seconds. “That was definitely the goal, was getting out fast.”

Minooka (35 points) won the girls team title, followed by Oswego East (72), Yorkville (79), Oswego (108) and Plainfield North (125). Plainfield South, led by race winner Camyn Viger, won the boys championship.

Soderlind, who was second in conference as a sophomore, hardly showed any ill effects of a tendon injury she suffered when she was accidentally shoved at the Palatine Meet of Champions on Sept. 25. Soderlind kept herself out of Naperville’s Twilight Invitational last week in anticipation of conference.

“I was excited to be back. It didn’t act up at all,” Soderlind said. “I was building toward this, part of the reason I didn’t run Twilight. This is important to me. It felt really good to come through today and lead my team.”

Minooka, with four of the top nine runners, repeated as girls team champion. Gabriella McCollom (18:04.4) was second for the second consecutive year, Maya Ledesma (18:07.3) was third, Gabrielle Kics (18:25.1) fifth and Caprice Rodely (18:41.7) ninth.

“I think there’s still more that we think we can do,” McCollom said. “We knew that we had to just see every person, maybe they weren’t from a team that would finish ahead of us, see them and realize that those are still points that can affect the score. When it comes down to it, they’re the person we may have needed to pass.”

Oswego’s Kelly Wong was fourth (18:10.6), Yorkville’s Sophia Keeler sixth (18:32.3), Oswego East’s Morgan Dick seventh (18:32.7) and Yorkville’s Katie Melzer eighth (18:41.0).

“I felt really good. In the beginning, I definitely went out faster,” Keeler said. “I usually go out faster because my finishes I get tired so that way I don’t have to make up for it. I battled someone at the end.”

In the boys race Plainfield South junior Viger continued a sensational season, just beating out Plainfield North’s Oliver Burns in 14:45.3 to 14:46.2.

Viger ran 14:22.8 to win the First to the Finish Invitational at Detweiler Park in September and also won titles at Normal West and Palatine. But he needed everything he had to outlast Burns on Friday.

“Oh man, Oliver, congrats to North, they did awesome, especially Oliver,” Viger said. “Their whole team did amazing. Oliver, he sure pushed me through the entire race. Until the last 100 we were right next to each other.”

Nationally ranked Plainfield South had five of the top eight runners to easily win the team title with 27 points. Plainfield North (65) was second, followed by Yorkville (112), West Aurora (115) and Oswego East (133).

Plainfield South’s BJ Sorg (15:02.7) was fifth, Ethan Reynoso (15:07.7) was sixth, Dylan Maloney (15:08.0) was seventh and Owen O’Shea (15:24.9) was eighth.

“My time was better than what I was hoping for,” Viger said. “I was just hoping to stick with the second guy and outkick him in the last 400 meters, and that’s what I did, but it was a lot closer. I have complete and total confidence in all the South guys. I don’t have to worry about them. I know they’ll perform amazing.”

Minooka’s Zachary Balzer was third in 14:51.4, while Oswego East’s Parker Nold, last year’s runner-up was fourth in 14:56.7. Joliet West’s Marcellus Mines, the defending conference champion, did not run Friday.

It’s the fourth consecutive race that Nold had broke 15 minutes.

“I was just trying to stick up there with the front pack and see what I could do,” Nold said. “When we went toward the baseball field that’s when the separation started and I fell back a little bit, and that’s when I lost the race. I felt pretty good right around 14:55, kept my streak going of under 15 minutes.”