15 Valley View Runners to Compete in State Cross Country Meet

Editor's note: The following is a press release from Valley View School District 365U. 

On a cold Saturday, Jane Addams Middle School hosted the IESA Sectional Cross Country meet at Central Park in Bolingbrook. Valley View is sending 15 runners to the State meet next week in Normal, IL.

Jane Addams led the pack of qualifiers, with the entire girls team and two individuals of the boys' teams qualifying for state competition.

“These girls were so focused and ran so smart," said Jane Addams Coach Adam Thas. The girls were part of the IESA’s first ever AAA format of teams because of the influx of teams joining the IESA. The Sectional included 14 teams, including all the Valley View teams as well as area rivals Homer Glen, Lemont and Woodridge.

The 14-1 Mustangs were led this season by eighth-grader Arianna Amill and needed to finish in the top three teams to guarantee themselves their fourth appearance at the State meet in six years.

“We didn’t really know what to expect with the new AAA format," said Thas. "Some of these teams we’ve never ran against before.”   

After just missing state last year by 17 points, Jane Addams started to show dominance with a fifth place finish at the difficult New Lenox Invitational. “That was when we started to think these girls might have a chance to do this," Thas said. 

When the race was over, the Mustangs finished five runners in the top 30 with Amill finishing eighth, Natalia Hernandez 11th, Jamie Perakis 13th, Katie Ford 27th, Madison Shroda 29th, Naomi Popoolapade 45th and Nicole Tungol 46th.

“The looks on their faces when they found out they made it to state was amazing," Thas said. "The summation of all the hard work and dedication all paying off for these girls.” Joining the girls at State are reserve runners Emily Ng, Andrea Rodriguez and Katherine Carranza.

On the boys side, Jane Addams will send Caleb Robertson and Fernando Mondragon-Torres. Robertson and Mondragon-Torres, both team captains, have led the boys all year and put in more than 150 miles over the summer.

“They did everything right, ran all year round, trained hard," Thas said. "It’s no surprise to me both boys made it." Robertson was Valley View’s first qualifier, running a blistering 11:15 for two miles and finishing sixth place with Mondragon-Torres 17th.

Other Valley View state qualifiers were Humphrey 8th grader Trianna Rodriguez, who finished 15th in the girls race. For the boys, Martinez runner Justin Suits finished seventh with Lukancic’s Carlos Ibanez 16th.

All runners will be competing in the IESA State Cross Country meet next weekend in Normal.