Lemont Girls' Cross Country Wins IHSA Sectional, Heads Back to IHSA State Finals

Photo: Lemont High School Junior Taylor Campos

Lemont High School’s girls’ cross country team is headed back to state finals team competition for the first time since 2011, and will do so with the program’s best chance yet for a state trophy. Ranked among the state’s top teams all season, head coach Tim Plotke’s Indians won the IHSA Class 2A Wheaton Academy Sectional on November 1. They earned a berth to the 2014 IHSA Class 2A Girls’ Cross Country State Finals, which will be contested on Saturday, November 8, at Detweiller Park in Peoria. Lemont’s only previous sectional title in girls’ cross country came in 2008.

All seven of Lemont’s entrants finished among the top 25 in the individual standings at the Wheaton Academy Sectional, which was contested at Kress Creek Farms in West Chicago. Junior Taylor Campos was the Indians’ top finisher, crossing the line fourth overall with a time of 18:06.6 in the 3-mile race; her time established a new school record at that distance. Freshman Beata Drozda (18:34.4) was ninth overall, joining Campos as an All-Sectional performer.

Sophomore Bridget Kunkel (18:39.3) was 12th individually, while junior Gabby Voltarel (18:45.2) and freshman Celine Ratulowski (18:52.2) followed in 14th and 15th, respectively. Junior Claire Gagen (20th; 18:58.2) and senior Jorie Dybcio (23rd; 19:11.7) rounded out Lemont’s sectional contingent.

Lemont eased to the sectional title with a team score of 45. outpacing Glenbard South (80), Nazareth Academy (88), Wheaton Academy (94), Montini Catholic (110) and Aurora Central Catholic (110), all of whom also earned team state finals berths. The top five teams from each of five Class 2A sectionals from around the state, as well as the top seven finishers from schools that did not qualify for team competition, qualify for state finals competition in cross country.

The Indians advanced to the sectional after capturing the IHSA Rosary Regional on October 25. Kunkel (19:28.8) and Voltarel (19:54.3) each were All-Regional performers after finishing fourth and tenth, respectively. Ratulowski (12th; 20:03.6), Drozda (13th; 20:09.2), Gagen (17th; 20:20.5), Campos (19th; 20:31.2) and Dybcio (24th; 20:46.4) all placed among the top 25 individually. Lemont previously had won IHSA Regional titles in 1991, 2007 and 2008.

Lemont will be making its seventh team state finals appearance in girls’ cross country. After making its initial appearance in 1991, it advanced to state finals competition five straight years from 2007-2011. The Indians will be looking to improve on their previous best placements - a pair of 16th-place finishes in 2008 and 2010.

While the program is taking part in team competition for the first time since 2011, this is the eighth straight season that Plotke’s program will be represented at the state finals. The Indians advanced individuals to the IHSA Class 2A State Finals each of the last two years, including Gagen as a freshman in 2012, and Campos as a sophomore in 2013. Gagen (54th in 2012) is responsible for the best placement for a Lemont runner in the individual standings since the girls’ state finals moved to a 3-mile course in 2002, while Campos (60th in 2013) has the second-best individual finish in that era. Nikole Hoster ‘98 placed 12th on a 2-mile course at the 1996 IHSA Class AA State Finals to mark the program’s best individual state finals finish.

Lemont again won the South Suburban Conference-Blue Division cross country title this fall, posting a perfect team score of 15 while sweeping the top seven places in the individual standings. Ratulowski edged out Kunkel for a medalist finish, while Plotke was tabbed as the league’s Coach of the Year.

The IHSA will host both boys’ and girls’ state finals competition at Detweiller Park on November 8 in Class A, Class 2A and Class 3A. The girls’ Class 2A race begins at 11 a.m., and the Class 2A awards ceremony is slated for 1 p.m. There is no per-person admission to the event, but the IHSA encourages fans to carpool. Fans may park at Detweiller Park, with each vehicle being charged $10 and each van being charged $15.

Girls’ cross country is the second Lemont High School sport to be represented in IHSA State Finals competition this year. The boys’ golf team competed in the IHSA Class 2A State Finals.