Loyola, Maine South dominate Ron Campbell meet at NW

The Loyola Ramblers and Maine South Hawks had the dominant teams Tuesday at the Ron Campbell 2-mile race held at Niles West.

The Niles West Wolves' boys and girls teams as well as the Niles North girls cross-country team were among 16 schools that entered at least one of the races. The event was affected by 45 mph gusts during the meet.

Michelle Karp was Niles West's top finisher with a third-place spot in the varsity girls competition. Karp led throughout most of the race until she was passed in the final stretch by two Loyola Academy runners. She finished three seconds behind the winner with a time of 12:40.

"People were yelling at me, 'They are 40 yards back; they are 20 yards back,' '' Karp said. "I knew I had to push. But the wind was blowing in your face and it was hard to get through it."

Karp's teammate, Jessica Suftin, finished seventh in the varsity girls race. The top finisher for the Niles North Vikings was Clara Williamson, who came in ninth place.

The Wolves also had a Top 10 finisher in the freshman-sophomore race. Gillian  Flippo said the wind was not a problem after she finished seventh with a time of 13:37 -- 22 seconds behind the winner.

"I just kept going through it,'' Flippo said. "I'm happy with where I finished."

Niles North had two runners finish in the Top 10 in the freshman-sophomore girls race: Trinette Lopez in ninth and Brenda Vasquez in 10th.

Marc Julien was the top varsity finisher for Niles West boys, coming in fourth place, 29 seconds behind the winner. The first three spots went to Loyola Academy.

Mas Hoshsi finished 10^th for Niles West in the varsity boys competition.

Among the freshmen, K. McCaffrey finished 31st for Niles West.

In the junior varsity girls race, A. Perez of Niles West finished 10th overall, 34 seconds behind the winner. The Wolves also finished 12^th, 13^th and 14^th.

Annie Dufficy finished 31^st as the top finisher for Niles North in that race.

Though no team scores were kept, it was a big boost for two schools. Maine South had three of the top four finishers in the freshman boys race, seven of the first eight spots in the sophomore boys race and six of the top eight spots in the junior varsity race. Loyola had the top four finishers in the girls freshman-sophomore race and six of the top seven finishers in the varsity boys race.

The only competitive race from a team standpoint was the varsity girls race, which had six schools represented in the Top 10 spots.