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frankfortstation.com Sports
the frankfort station | October 27, 2016 | 53
Girls Cross Country
East's Couwenhoven claims individual championship at regional
Couwenhoven seals
her first career
victory by several
seconds
Frank Gogola
Freelance Reporter
Lincoln-Way East sophomore
Jenna Couwenhoven
thought Lincoln-Way West
senior Jenna Diers was pulling
away. A step here. A step
there.
So, Couwenhoven kicked
it into high gear at the start
of the final lap, passing Diers
and holding on to win
the IHSA Class 3A Andrew
Regional individual championship.
It’s the first career
victory for Couwenhoven,
who was East’s top finisher at
state last season.
“We told Jenna, ‘Go for
the win. Run smart,’” said
East coach Wendy Hegarty.
“She’s just finally figuring
out what she’s capable of.”
Couwenhoven also runs
track but enjoys cross country
more because she prefers
running longer distances and
running on grass as opposed
to a track. She displayed her
endurance when she overtook
Diers after two miles with
about one mile left in the race.
“I really wanted to win
it,” Couwenhoven, who
won by seven seconds, said.
“I thought she was going to
come up behind me [at the
end] and beat me, so I was
going all out.”
Lincoln-Way Central, East,
West and Andrew advanced
to sectionals by finishing in
the top six by team score in
Saturday’s regional at Turtlehead
Lake. Providence finished
seventh but advanced
one runner as an individual.
Central won the team
title with 32 points, as six
runners finished in the Top
10. Sophomore Mackenzie
Brownrigg (18:58) finished
third, and freshman Rachel
Baumgartner (19:16) placed
fifth. Freshman Lexy Sams
(19:17), senior Madison
Brownrigg (19:17), junior
Gretchen Zirgaitis (19:25)
and sophomore Samantha
Waters (19:28) finished seventh,
eighth, ninth and 10th.
The Knights sat their top
runners, sophomore Kelly
Robbins and senior Madison
Smith, because of “nagging
injuries,” said Central coach
Jack Young. He said both will
be back for sectionals.
“Our strength this year has
been our depth and how hard
our team works,” Young said.
“To see them come together
today and how tight a pack
they were, that’s how they
battle with each other in practice
and push each other.”
East placed second with
46 points and had two Top
10 finishers. Champion Couwenhoven
finished with a
time of 18:42, and freshman
Olivia Jacobs (19:16) took
sixth.
“It’s pretty cool to win,”
Couwenhoven said. “But I
really want the whole team to
make it to state. It’s not really
just my goal.”
West took third place with
83 points and had two Top
5 finishers. Diers (18:49)
placed second, and senior
Teagan Lyke (19:02) finished
fourth.
“Jenna and Teagan both
had fantastic races,” said
West coach Matt Bowden.
"They both went out smart
and didn’t try to win it in the
first lap. I think that helped
them maintain their strength
throughout the race.”
Andrew finished in fifth
place with 162 points as six of
the seven runners set personal
records on the same course
they ran one week earlier in
the conference meet. Junior
Olivia Tesher (20:54) led
Andrew and took 27th, cutting
32 seconds off her time.
Sophomores Brigid Tunney
(21:16) and Alexandra
Dennis (22:04) shaved 1:08
off their times. Juniors Sam
Termunde (21:30) and Kristina
Karstensen (21:31) ran
33 seconds faster. Sophomore
Cailin Robertson (22:08) lowered
her time by 48 seconds.
“We knew we had to run
our best races,” said Andrew
coach Mark Luttrell. “The
six girls who ran PRs, I was
happily surprised at how
well they improved from last
week."
Providence Catholic didn’t
advance as a team, but sophomore
Savannah Baker (19:43)
advanced as an individual.
She finished 14th overall
and second among individuals
who didn’t qualify with a
team. The Top-5 runners who
weren’t on a qualifying team
moved on as individuals.
“She’s had a great year
and come into her own as
a sophomore,” said Providence
coach Rob Kodura.
"She’s healthy. She’s running
well. Her mile splits are
good. She’s just strong right
now. She made it to sectionals
last year, so she’s trying
to beat her sectional accomplishment.”
Boys Cross Country
LW East finishes first in regional at Turtlehead Lake
Frank Gogola, Freelance Reporter
Lincoln-Way East coach Ross
Widinski wanted his team to win a
regional title, but he also knew that
a finish among the Top 6 teams was
the only thing necessary to move
on to the sectionals.
“Our goal this week was to run
hard and just stay healthy,” Widinski
said.
Four Griffins runners finished
in the Top 7 as East won the Saturday,
Oct. 22 regional hosted by
Andrew High School at Turtlehead
Lake in Orland Park. Lincoln-Way
Central, Lincoln-Way West and
Andrew placed second, third and
fourth to advance to the Saturday,
Oct. 29 sectional at Southern Illinois
University at Edwardsville,
respectively.
East finished first with 32 points
and was led by senior Noah Healy
(15:27), who won the regional by
six seconds. Freshman Brett Gardner
(15:45), senior Scott Platek
(15:54) and junior Mike Trost
(16:05), finished third, fourth and
seventh, respectively. Junior Will
Evans (16:38), a transfer from
Utah, placed 17th to round out the
scoring.
“Central had a great race today,
too,” Widinski said. “They’re always
tough, so we’re just happy to
show we could compete with them.
We had a couple nice workouts this
week, and they stepped up given the
colder-than-normal conditions.”
Central and West finished second
and third in a bit of a repeat of
their conference meet performance
the prior week, when they placed
first and second. At conference, the
teams were tied through the usual
five runners, so the tiebreaker of
the sixth runner’s place gave Central
the win.
On Oct. 22, it was Central’s pack
running that again made the difference.
West placed two runners
in the Top 5 to Central’s zero, but
Central placed all five scorers in
the Top 13 while West’s 3-4-5 runners
finished 14th, 23rd and 25th.
Central took second with 51
points, and its top finish came from
junior Zak Hutchinson (16:00)
in sixth place. Freshman Jared
Kreis (16:08) was ninth, junior
Nate Rittenbacher (16:14) came in
11th, sophomore Andrew Englert
(16:24) finished 12th and senior
Josh Perch (16:27) took 13th.
“We stressed to them to pack it
up and work as a team,” said Central
coach John Taylor. “The key to
success is team-wise in cross country.
You have to have that pack and
work together and count on your
fellow runner when you’re not
feeling good.”
West finished third with 69
points. Junior Ryan Taylor (15:33)
placed second, and sophomore
John Stiglic (15:58) took fifth. Senior
Casey Gervase (16:31) took
14th and ran a personal record
in his first year on cross country,
while senior Brady Green (17:02)
took 23rd and sophomore Cade Vetor
(17:04) was 25th.
Even though West finished behind
Central again, Warriors coach
Jason Van Swol thought the tie and
Saturday’s finish without top runner
Evan Mitchell — who was resting
for sectionals — will benefit
West as it seeks to qualify for state
for the first time as a team. West is
in its first year in 3A after winning
five consecutive 2A regional titles.
“It keeps you hungry,” Van Swol
said. “You don’t get complacent because
you didn’t win. You weren’t
first, you don’t have any hardware
to bring home for your school. So,
you want to do better next week. It
helped us stay angry and hungry
for more, not just [for] winning a
trophy, but getting better.”
Andrew placed fourth with 119
points, finishing three points clear
of Joliet Central’s 122. Sophomore
Moe Maro (16:10) finished 10th.
Seniors Tommy Doyle (16:58),
Justin George (17:07) and Matt
Ryan (17:09) took 22nd, 28th and
29th. Sophomore Jeffrey Serafini
(17:11, personal record) placed
30th in his first career varsity race.
“We know we’re not quite at
the level of the three Lincoln-Way
schools right now, so getting a Top
3 spot was out of the question,”
said Andrew coach Bobby Matz.
“ We said our first place is fourth.
If we could get fourth, it’s just as
good as first.”