Huge Day for East, South -- Teams Headed to Finals

The Lockport sectional cross country race was a coming out party for the boys team.

The Bengals tied for the fifth and final team spot with 163 points to become the first team in the school's history to advance to the state meet, which will be held by the Illinois High School Association Saturday at Detweiller Park in downstate Peoria.

The top five teams and top seven members of non-qualifying teams advance to the state final.

“I’m in the state of shock right now,” Plainfield East coach Richard Gatz said. “This has been our plan since June. Other people might be surprised, too. But we circled Oct. 29 on the calendar in June. Every meet, every practice was a build up for today. We always had this goal in mind.”

“This is the best thing that’s happened to us all season and in our history,” said freshman Joe Suarez, who took 23rd in 16:31. “We worked for this all summer long. We knew we could do it and we did it.”

Collin Warke led the Bengals by taking 22nd in 16:29.

advanced for the second time in three years by taking third with 129 points.

“It’s great to see guys run their best races of the year with it really counts,” Plainfield South coach Jason Crowe said. “Taking third really shows this program is making progress. That’s huge for this program.”

“We knew it was going to be a fast start and we were able to stay up there,” said South’s Dan Lathrop, who took ninth in 16:15. “We knew the course and had a pretty good race. This is a great accomplishment for us. It’s been a goal for us all year to come here and get a spot downstate.”

’s Grace Lawrence became the school’s first state qualifier in 25 years by running a 19:28, which was good for 15th place. The senior grabbed the seventh and final individual spot at the state meet.

“This is probably the best day of my high school career,” Lawrence said. “I really wasn’t expecting to make it today. I went into the race shooting for top 20, to give myself a chance. I got 15th and I’m so happy with that.”