IHSA Sectional - November 2nd It was dark when Anna Wilcox arrived at Katherine Legge Park on Saturday morning. While the course at KLM is known as one of the toughest cross country courses in the area, Anna revels in the home-course advantage KLM provides and was ready for the challenge of qualifying for State. The sun was coming up as Anna started her warm ups. Anna was preparing to turn in her best performance of the season and one of the most clutch races in recent Hinsdale South history.
Anna needed to finish as one of the top ten individuals who was not on a qualifying team. Going into the race, Anna was ranked as the 12th individual so she knew she had to turn in a great race to qualify. Anna had struggled recently in the second mile of her races so her goal was to run a fast but controlled first mile and then focus on running a solid second mile. When Anna finished her first mile in 6:26, she was well on her way to her goal. Not only did Anna keep a steady second mile, but she ran an unbelievable P.R. of 19:16, which was nearly a minute faster than her previous P.R. While the course at KLM was a little short, it was still a difficult course and the P.R. Anna set eclipsed her time on the same course a week ago. When finished, Anna found out she had run the 8th-fastest time at KLM in Hinsdale South history and her P.R. now stands as the 14th-fastest time in the history of a team that goes back to 1979. And she isn't done yet because Anna ended up finishing as the 7th individual and will be running at Detweiller Park in Peoria next Saturday.
IHSA Regional - October 26th Anna Wilcox Qualifies for Sectionals for Hinsdale SouthSaturday was a beautiful, fall morning at Katherine Legge Memorial Park. Other than freshman Lucy Wang, the entire team has run multiple races on the famous, hilly course at KLM. The home-course advantage showed as it was clear every girl gave everything that had. While the team was not expecting to advance to next weekend's Sectional race, Anna Wilcox was hoping to advance as an individual.
After Anna reached her goal of earning All-Conference honors last week at the WSC Gold race at O'Brien Park in Downers Grove, her next goal was to advance to Sectionals by finishing as one of the top-five individuals not on an advancing team at the IHSA Regional race. Anna was sitting as the fourth individual runner for most of the race, and used her speed and toughness to pass two runners in the final 800 meters to finish as the second individual runner with a personal record of 20:11 in 23rd place. Anna will run at KLM again next week for a chance to meet her ultimate season goal of qualifying for State.
As the only senior running on the Regional team, Andy Esposito knew going into the race that this was likely her last high school race. After nearly qualifying for State last season, an injury in the late summer set Andy's training back to start this season. Andy worked hard and fought her way back, though, and ran her first race of the season at the Richard Spring Invite at Detweiller Park on September 21 starting with a time of 22:02. Andy ended up setting her season P.R. at 21:36 at the Pat Savage Invite and nearly eclipsed it with a phenomenal Regional race at KLM, finishing in 47th place with a time of 21:50. Andy has been a great senior leader on the team and set expectations high not just for how to train, but how to treat your teammates as sisters.
Junior Tree Koepfle only ran four meets this season after an early-season injury also set her season off track. She made her debut at Addison Trail on September 24 running a time of 24:42. Tree improved quickly, though, and ran P.R.'s from then on out including lifetime P.R.s of 22:39 at conference last week and a major P.R. of 21:57 at KLM today. Tree is going to be a force to be reckoned with next season as one of our top returners.
Lucy Wang has proven herself tough the entire season. As the only freshman running with the varsity team, and the only freshman in general for most of the season, Lucy pushed herself to be the best she could be and keep up with her more experienced teammates. After Lucy's first three-mile race at the Mike Kuharic Invite on September 7, she ran a P.R. in every race except one, including her final 22:28 P.R. at Regionals. Lucy improved immensely in a short amount of time and should do some big things for Hinsdale South over the next three years.
Sophomore Emma Koehler finished her season only 20 seconds away from her P.R. of 22:33 that she set on September 24 at Addison Trail. During practice, Emma consistently trained with Anna and knows how to work hard and do what she needs to do to improve. While the season didn't end with anyone other than Anna advancing to the Sectional race, Emma's work ethic during practice is eventually going to pay off for her.
WSC Gold Meet - Saturday, October 19th On a beautiful, sunny, fall day at O'Brien Park in Downers Grove, the Hornets were running for P.R. cupcakes made by Coach Johnson's friend. Nearly the entire team had personal records and many runners even ran lifetime P.R.'s!
Three runners started us out at 9am in the freshman race. Gianna Picardi led the way for the freshman and had a 37-second P.R. of 26:59. Elizabeth Salazar and Tiffany Gregorczyk were both running their first races of the season. Tiffany was able to finish a little over a mile with a time of 11:26, but Elizabeth ended up running the entire three miles and finished her first-ever race in a time of 32:53! These freshmen have a bright future if they participate in summer running to join us next season.
The sophomore team was our biggest team and led by Alyssa Pendon, who was running her first race in nearly a month and ended up with a 25-second P.R. while running 26:24. Yelena Haidamaka wasn't far behind Alyssa while running an incredible 1:25 P.R. of 26:59. Sofia Salazar and Sarah Shumard worked together for most of the race and both set big season P.R.'s. Sarah finished with a 55-second P.R. in 32:29 and Sofia a 45-second P.R. in 32:49. Mary Marzouk is another runner who ran her first race today. She ended up running two-mile in a time of 26:09 before finishing her race.
The varsity race got out FAST, with every runner on our team running the first mile at least 30 seconds faster than the other two. Everyone settled into a rhythm after that first mile, though. After not having an All-Conference runner last season, Anna Wilcox got her shot to be on the Wall of Fame at Hinsdale South and ended up with a lifetime P.R. of 20:20 and a 13th-place, All-Conference finish. Andy Esposito turned in a solid performance with a time of 22:25 in 33rd place. Tree Koepfle ran the race of her life with a lifetime P.R. of 22:39 right behind Andy in 34th place. Emma Koehler fought through a tough middle mile and came back to have the second-fastest final mile on the team in 7:21 for a three-mile time of 23:12 in 37th place. Lucy Wang was one of only three freshmen in the race and race a 24-second P.R. of 23:22. The varsity team will move on to the IHSA 2A Regional at KLM next Saturday.
Pat Savage Invite - Saturday, October 5th The Pat Savage Invite is one of the largest meets we attend during the season with 70 teams toeing the line. The course is much more compact than many of the meets we run so it can be tough to run P.R.'s if you don't get out to a fast start. Luckily, most of our girls got out to fast starts and turned in great races.
The freshman/sophomore girls started the day off at 9:30 and freshman Lucy Wang led the way. Lucy was only a few seconds off of a P.R. with a time of 23:59 and finished in 27th place in the race. Gianna Picardi was next for the team and set a nearly two-minute P.R. with her time of 27:35. Yelena Haidamaka, who spent nearly the entire week leading up to the race sick and wasn't sure she would run, not only ran, but ran a great P.R. of 28:11.
In the varsity race, Anna Wilcox matched Lucy's finish in 27th place and a season P.R. of 20:47. Anna ran a rough middle mile, but made up for it with a fantastic final mile of 6:38 and nearly ran a lifetime P.R. Andy Esposito, running only her third race of the season, ran a season P.R. of 21:36 while finishing in 44th place. Anna Frankel, also running just her third race of the season, turned in probably the best performance of the varsity runners while running a lifetime P.R. of 22:16. Anna's time was over 40 seconds faster than her previous lifetime P.R. Emma Koehler finished in 93rd place with a time of 23:05 and Tree Koepfle rounded out the team with season P.R. of 23:41 in just her second race of the season.
In the final race of the day, sisters Sofia and Elizabeth Salazar ran together for much of the 2-mile JV race. Sofia, who has run three races this season that were all different distances, ran her fastest pace of the season and set her first 2-mile time at 20:08. Elizabeth ran her first cross country race ever and finished in 21:02.
The team will have a week off from meets next week, but will be ready to go in two weeks at the WSC Gold Conference meet at Downers Grove's O'Brien Park.
Addison Trail Quad - Tuesday, September 24th After the 90º weather in Peoria over the weekend, the cooler fall weather and rain made for a great race at Wood Dale Grove against host Addison Trail, Leyden, and Willowbrook. The girls were supposed to run the first mile at a warm-up pace, but with the cool weather no one really did that.
Anna Wilcox led for the first mile and then ran on the shoulder of a runner from Addison Trail for the second mile. When the Addison Trail runner made a move, Anna didn't give up and gained grounded in the last 400 meters to overtake her and rack up her third career race win and a season P.R. of 20:54. Emma Koehler got some "Emma weather" to power her race and ended up setting a lifetime P.R. of 22:33. Andy Esposito finished third for the team with a time of 22:51, followed by Anna Frankel in 23:12. Freshman Lucy Wang ran her second straight P.R. and finished in 23:46. Returning from an injury, Tree Koepfle ran a 24:42 to set her time to beat for the rest of the season. Emma Gonzalez rounded out the team's top 7 while running a 27:54 and finishing her first three-mile race. Yelena Haidamaka set a P.R. of 28:56 while finishing under 30 minutes for the first time. Gianna Picardi also finished under 30 minutes with a time of 29:22 while completing her first three-mile race. To round out the team, Sarah Shumard (33:24) and Sofia Salazar (33:34) completed their first ever three-mile races. Congrats to all the girls on a great race!
Richard Spring Invite - Saturday, September 21st It was HOT at Peoria's famous Detweiller Park course. The home of the IHSA State Cross Country meet hadn't seen rain in weeks so runners kicked up dust as they ran and found it everywhere after they finished their races. The temperature was 79º when the girls varsity race started at 9:50, but had increased 5º by the end of the race and was nearly 90º when the freshman/sophomore girls ran at 11:10. It was not a day for P.R.'s (although some girls ran them), but it was a day for strong mental fortitude and the girls who ran certainly had that going for them.
Anna Wilcox once again led the way for the varsity team. While she went out a bit faster than she probably should have, she still pulled off close splits in the 2nd and 3rd miles and ran a season P.R. of 20:57. Andy Esposito, who was running her first race coming off an injury, had a great season debut, running 22:02 and making her case as our #2 runner. Anna Frankel, also making her season debut, ran a solid race with a collected first mile in 7:21 and catching a lot of runners in the final mile during the inner loop of Detweiller Park. Her focus and smart race led to a lifetime P.R. of 22:57. Emma Koehler, not a fan of the hot weather, still ran a solid race and finished with a time of 23:31. Lucy Wang, running the first varsity race of her career, ran a lifetime P.R. of 24:05. Sam Kantz also ran in the varsity race, but stopped after two miles with a time of 17:21 to protect her recovery from an injury. It was great to see so many of our formally-injured runners on the course again!
The freshman/sophomore race saw a number of athletes who were running their first or second high school races. Detweiller Park can be an intimidating place for new runners, but the girls did a great job focusing and running as much of the race as they could. Alyssa Pendon and Yelenda Haidamaka were the only two runners to complete the entire three-mile course in the 90º heat. Alyssa ran a season P.R. of 26:50 and Yelenda finished the race in 34:29. Emma Gonzalez, running only her second high school race, finished with a two-mile time of 18:52 while Gianna Picardi made her high school debut and ran two miles in 19:18. Sarah Shumard finish one mile of the Detweiller course with a time of 10:27. There is a lot of promise and room to grow with our sophomore class!
Hornet Tri (Senior Night) - Thursday, September 12th, 2024 The first and only regular season meet at KLM on Thursday meant that it was a night to celebrate our seniors. Andy Esposito and Sam Kantz received gifts from their teammates, got to take photos with their families, and shared words of advice for their younger teammates.
Sam, who joined the team late during her freshman year and didn’t run her first three-mile race until conference that year, shared that her favorite memory was getting lost with Anna Frankel on the Goose Run her sophomore year and where they ended up running nearly eight miles on what should have been a four-mile run. Sam’s least favorite workouts were track workouts, with the exception of the dice workout we did last year. Sam plans to major in pre-law and her advice to her teammates was not to be afraid to advocate for themselves, stay hydrated, and support teammates.
Andy Esposito joined cross country her freshman year after getting convinced by another runner to try it out. Thinking she’d try it for a few weeks, Andy ended up staying for the rest of her high school career and went from a freshman with a P.R. of 26:03 to a junior who nearly qualified for state and a senior looking to break 20 minutes. Andy hates mile repeats, but loved the Peoria meet last year that was on the same day as Homecoming because of the “high-energy vibes.” Andy, who also plans to major in pre-law, told her teammates that “The most beautiful thing about this sport is the love we have for each other so pour yourself into it.”
There was also a race on Senior Night and even though there were no P.R.’s to be had because of the hot weather, short course (1.93 miles), and…KLM, the girls poured their hearts into the race. Anna Wilcox decided she wasn't going to treat a weekday meet any less seriously and led the race wire-to-wire to take home only her second race victory in high school with a time of 12:35. Sophomore Emma Koehler was second for the team and fifth in the race with a time of 14:07. Lucy Wang continued her impressive freshman season and finished eight in 14:42. Alyssa Pendon (23rd, 15:43) and Sam Kantz (34th, 16:15) rounded out the team’s top five. Sophomores Emma Gonzalez, Sofia Salazar, and Sarah Shumard all ran their first high school races while sophomore Yelena Haidamaka ran her first race at KLM at a much faster pace than her debut at Lyons Township last week. This sophomore class is off to a great start!
Mike Kuharic Invite 2024 Results - September 7, 2024 Fall has officially arrived. The temperature when we took the short bus ride to Lyons Township was in the 40s and by racetime it had barely reached the 60s. The flat course and cool temperatures were offset a bit by the windy conditions, but the girls who ran today all had fantastic races.
Our team is growing, but only five girls who are healthy have been to enough practices to run. Because of that, everyone ran in the JV race that started off the invite at 8am. Junior Anna Wilcox once again led the team and probably had one of the best races of her career. She finished with a 5K time of 21:30, and had consistent splits of 6:53, 6:57, and 6:58. Her time was good enough for a top-10 award for a 4th-place finish. In a race with so many great performances, junior Emma Koehler may have had the best performance. At the three-mile mark, Emma had a time of 22:05, which would have been Emma's lifetime P.R. Emma ended up with a 5K time of 22:52, which ends up as Emma's season P.R. even though the distance was longer than a typical race. Freshman Lucy Wang ran her first official three-mile race and ran a great time of 25:38. Given her progress over the summer and at the start of this season, this will most likely be her slowest race of the season as Lucy continues to improve. Sophomore Alyssa Pendo ran her first three-mile race of the season and ran the first two miles in just about the same time as her two-mile race last week at Elgin. Her time of 27:29 is just over a minute off of her lifetime 3-mile P.R. Finally, sophomore Yelena Haidamaka, who just joined the team two weeks ago, ran her first high school race in a time of 31:53. Yelena would have met her goal of running the entire race without walking, but stopped to help a girl from Marist with about half a mile to go and ended up finishing the race with her. This is the sportsmanship we love to see in our Hornets, and Yelena is going to keep seeing improvement and the season goes on.
Elgin City Classic Results - August 31, 2024 The Hornets took a trip to Elgin on the last day of August to participate in the Elgin City Classic and start their 2024 campaign. This was the first time in team history the Hornets ran on the hilly grounds of Elgin High School and the small but might team started the season strong.
In the two-mile JV race, freshman Lucy Wang started her high school running career with a splash by earning a medal for her 16th-place finish in a time of 15:18. Senior Sam Kantz ran a two-mile personal record of 17:08 and was followed closely by sophomore Alyssa Pendo who finished in 17:21.
In the varsity race, Anna Wilcox ran a masterful race and wasn't passed the entire race while running a great time of 21:10. Anna decided to welcome freshman Lucy to the team by twinning with her by also finishing in 16th place. Sophomore Emma Koehler ran a gutsy race and recovered from an early fall on a hairpin turn to finish with a time of 23:14, which was over a minute faster than what she ran at the Detweiller at Dark race just about a month ago.
The Hornets team is growing with half a dozen runners joining in the last week. It will be great to see what these girls can do with a full team.