State Meet Brings Out The Best In St. Peter's Zucco And Tork

Running in the state meet has a tendency to bring out the best in athletes who compete, and Saturday was no exception. Kaitlin Zucco and Mary Tork, both seventh graders from St. Peter qualified for the IESA Class A State Cross Country Championship at last Saturday’s sectional with a respective sixth and ninth place finish. Their goal at the state meet held at Maxwell Park in Normal was to work together and run their best times of the season.

The girls got off to a good start placing themselves exactly where they needed to be in the field of 212 runners. For the next thirteen minutes they held their position all the way through the finish. Zucco, St. Peter’s front runner for the girls team all season finished in a personal best time of 13:38. Tork, after some mid season struggles came on strong in October and finished in 13:42 for the two mile race, also a personal best.

With their experience, the girls hope to return to the IESA State Meet next season with the entire girls team in tow. The team is young but had a strong showing at sectionals which gave them a good base and just the right amount of experience to build on.

Both Zucco and Tork plan on running track & field in the spring for the St. Peter Rockets. There they will test their talent in the 1600 and 800 meter run as well as the 400 meter dash and 4x400 relay. Both girls also compete in High Jump.