PLAINFIELD – A hot, sunny morning greeted all the runners at the 50th annual Plainfield Central Invitational on Saturday, but the weather didn’t matter to the Lockport girls.
The Porters placed four runners in the top nine of the race to score 40 points to easily outdistance Waubonsie Valley (80 points) in the runner-up position. Joliet West scored 113 points for third place and it was followed by Plainfield Central in sixth, Lincoln-Way Central (eighth) and Joliet Central (ninth) in the 14-team field.
Lockport was led by the fourth-place finish of sophomore Sydney Fontaine, as she covered the three-mile course in 19:32. Madeline Mellin, a sophomore, from Bradley-Bourbonnais, was the overall winner in 18:40.
“It was tough, but I pushed through it today as it was hot and not much wind,” Fontaine said. “My legs are a little sore, but it means a lot to win an invitational and we all did very well today. Coach [Regan Cronholm] tells us to always be positive and to cheer each other on, and we ran well together today.”
Following Fontaine, was Kayla Shea in sixth (19:34), Hannah Miller in seventh (20:12), Lexi Shea in ninth (20:31 and Liz Ramirez rounded out the top five in 21st (21:51).
The Porters girls team in the past usually has split the squad between this meet and another, but Cronholm decided to have everyone at one race this year.
“It was awesome to have the entire team together today on this course, and I really like this course,” Cronholm said. “We are working on getting that 5-6-7 pack closer to our top four. Overall, it was a great race today and so much better than the pre-conference race last week.
Joliet West was led by the 10th-place finish of Anahi Pena (20:49), and in 15th was Avery Kittl (21:23). Plainfield Central received a 12th-place finish from Hannah Kilday (21:16), with Joliet Central’s Dalyssah Guzman-Calderon placing 13th (21:22). Plainfield South’s Mia Solita was 14th in 21:23.
On the boy’s side, Waubonsie Valley won the meet with 38 points, as Plainfield Central was third (96 points), Lemont fifth, Joliet Central in eighth, Providence Catholic 11th, Plainfield East 12th and Romeoville was 13th.
DeKalb’s Riley Newport was the overall winner in 15:07 as the top area finishers were junior Arnold Arce from Plainfield Central in 13th (16:49) and Liam Carey of Lemont in 14th (16:50).
“It was hot out there today,” Arce said. “I had planned on a little faster time, but overall I’m pleased, and it was a good race. I like where we are at right now as a team. It’s early as this is only our third race, and I expect us to just keep getting better as the season moves on. It matters at the end of October, not right now.”
Plainfield Central coach Jeff Purdom takes great pride in hosting this meet each year and wants the best for every team and every athlete who competes.
“We want to make sure this is a great meet for everyone,” Purdom said. “The course is in great shape, although we have no control over the weather, but it’s marked well, and it’s a great spectator course, and we always get a huge crowd to come out and watch. It’s a great course to come out and run hard and get a great time early in the season.
“I was really proud of our effort for both the girl’s and boy’s team today, and we just move on from here, getting a little better each week.”