As bad as the course was for Regionals last weekend,  it was doubly and triply worse this weekend for Sectionals - "one of the more challenging of course conditions I have ever seen for a cross country race" said Coach Grim.   The rain the days before made the course nearly impassable in spots.   Sectionals was held at Oakhurst Forest Preserve in Aurora.  The first mile thru the woods, was a muddy quagmire.  Parts were rerouted around swamps.  In other spots, the runners had no choice but to chance loosing shoes in the mud, as it many times was 4-6" deep.   Around the lake, the gravel path was pretty good, until the 2.5 mile mark, where the path was 8-10" under water, with no place to go but through the water for 100 ft.   On top of that, add the 40 degree temps and bone chilling wind, and it truly made for an experience the runners will never forget.   Our girls finished 17th out of 20 teams, but Stephanie finished 3rd overall, which qualifies her for next week's State Meet in Peoria.  This will be her 2nd trip to Detweiler Park, where she will look to run well enough to earn an All-State Medal.    Congrats to the rest of the girls who battled through very tough conditions - especially Raluca, who ran nearly the whole race half-covered in mud after a fall in the first 1/2 mile!

Every year since 1984, our girls CC team has qualified for Sectionals - this year was not different, although it was a closer call than normal.  The team took the last qualifying spot (5th place) and did it by beating the 6th place team by only 4 pts - but it was good enough to advance, and that is the goal at this point in the season.   Stephanie finished 3rd, gaining All-Regional honors, but in a subpar race.  Her best is yet to come.  Our 6 other girls all ran PR times despite the wet and muddy conditions. 

Our guys finished their season, taking 10th out of the 14 schools participating.  Ryan nearly made it through, but lost out of the last qualifying spot by only 4 seconds.  Again, 6 of the 7 runners had PR times, so it was a good way to end the season.

Over the years, the Wildcats of Luther North amassed more PSL Cross Country Championships - both team and individual - than any other PSL school.   While the PSL is no longer, the conference reign continues for the Cats, as our ladies won the first ever NAC (Northeastern Athletic Conference) Championship, scoring 37 pts to out distance the 2nd place team from IMSA (46 pts.).  We held the NAC Meet at Mooseheart.   Previously during the season, the Lady cats finished 3rd in the Relay meet, 2nd in the Flight meet, and now 1st in the Championship meet.  We knew we had strength up front, as our top 3 runners finished in the top 5 (as we predicted going into the meet).  Stephanie S. easily won the race, by over 1 minute, with Samantha B. in 4th and Miriam B. in 5th.  Miriam ran a great 3rd mile, to make up 5 places.   Our key today, however, were the races of our #4 and #5 runners.  Raluca Birza and Brandi Corral ran their best races ever, as they finished 15th and 20th overall, each more than 5 places better than their prerace predicted finish. 

In the guys race, Ryan M. was our top finisher, in 12th, just missing all-conference.   The boys team finished 4th out of the 6 schools.   Alex Smolinski had an excellent, race finishing as our #4 runner in a PR time.    Many of our runners had personal record times.

Congratulations to the whole team - You all added to the gold Jersey Tradition!!!

Finally, after years of coming close, taking 2nd place or being the Most Improved Spirit Team, we were crowned Champs - and got free t-shirts as a result.  Way to go team!!!  You are amazing!  The GOLD RUSH t-shirts helped.  The Biggest and Bestest Flag helped.  Willie helped.  And you all had great spirit - cheering for our teammates and for other teams.  Wear the Lisle shirt with pride!!

Oh, and we did run the races, too!  Stephanie got the Chump Award - missing a cookie and a top 10 place by 1 (taking 11th).  But only one Class A girl beat her, which is a good sign.  She passed a couple with a nice strong kick.  Jonathan Gomez had our best race for the guys in the Open race, running a PR with a strong run.  The rest of us had average races on the muddy course.  Looking forward to lots of strong practice in the next two weeks before conference.

On Monday, we are doing a team Service Project with Feed My Starving Children.  We will be packaging food to be sent over seas to those less fortunate.  

Watch the Spirit Video Clip below.

Stephanie has been invited to write a running blog for Dyestat Illinois, the premier website for Illinois CC and Track/Field Results.    Hit the link (click the Title) if you want to check it out.  I'm sure she'll be adding much more to it as the season progresses.   Check the rest of the site out, too, for all the latest in Illinois CC.

http://www.dyestatil.com//?pg=dyestatil-DyestatIL-Blogs-Stephanie-Simpson

We have developed a website specifically for our Luther North Athletic Department.  There is a page for each of our sport activities, where you will find photos, schedules, directions, and other useful information. 

http://www.athletics2000.com/LutherNorth/