LF_110917

LakeForestLeader.com SPORTS
the lake forest leader | November 9, 2017 | 29
Girls Cross-Country
Chody ends career on high
note, finishes 15th in state meet
Brittany Kapa, Sports Editor
Brett Chody ended her
cross-country running career
on a high note.
The Lake Forest senior
finished 15th in the Illinois
High School Association’s
Class 3A State Competition.
Chody finished in 17
minutes, 5 seconds, just 43
seconds behind Glenbard
West’s Katelynn Hart who
took home the first-place
win.
The race was held at
Detweiller Park in Peoria
on Saturday, Nov. 4, and
despite less than desirable
running conditions, Chody
was about to tough out the
race and finish in a spot she
was proud of.
“It was a great finish to
our season and to her career,”
said Stephen Clegg,
Chody’s cross-country
coach. “She was 17th as a
freshman [in Class 2A]. It
was a nice bookend to her
career with us.”
“Since we moved up a
class I definitely wanted
to be up there with the top
girls,” Chody said. “My
goal was to get All-State
and I knew I was fit enough
to run a solid race.”
Chody knew that the
competition would be
tougher in Class 3A, but
she trained for that added
competition.
Chody, and the other
girls in the 3A race, ran in
the fifth race of the day. Six
total races were held, three
for the girls and three for
the boys. Forty-degree temperatures
and on-and-off
rain made the course less
than desirable for the runners,
but Chody navigated
it well.
“There was a part that we
[went] by three times, right
at the 800-meter mark, and
then at the 2-mile point
and then again at the finish
line,” Chody said about the
slight up-hill climb towards
the end of the course. “By
the end of the race you can
feel it. That part was pretty
muddy. I didn’t get super
good footing, and I was
slipping back through every
step a little bit.
“It was just kind of hard
to get a good grip. That was
the only part that was kind
of bad, but other than that
the course was just kind of
damp, no parts were super
muddy.”
Chody said she was
happy with how her high
school cross-country running
career ended.
“I went in just really
wanting to have a good
race and controlling what I
could control and having a
positive mindset and everything,”
she said. “I knew I
gave it my all. It was bittersweet
ending my career but
also ending on a high note.”
Clegg and Chody had
talked about her plan for
the state competition prior
to going down there. It was
solid, and one that Clegg
felt like she accomplished.
“When we talked about it
she wanted to feel like she
had a good race,” Clegg
said. “She has been down
there four times. She has
only been the second Lake
Forest person to be down
there all four years. She
wanted to walk away from
Peoria like she had run a
good race.”
Clegg also said that
Chody’s fastest recorded
time, on the Scouts home
course, was 16:57. So, considering
the weather constraints
for the day, he was
proud she only added on
eight seconds.
The week prior to the
state race, Chody experienced
back pain and spasms
through the sectional meet.
Thankfully, after a day of
rest and a trip to the chiropractor,
Chody didn’t experience
back-pain during the
state meet.
“Looking back on that
[sectional] race, and we
talked about that this week,
it was quite an accomplishment
to hang in there like
she did last week,” Clegg
said. “She fell off from that
front group and that’s a
tough place to be.”
Clegg said that being in
the spot, where a runner
is all alone is a dangerous
place to be in for a cross
country runner.
“That was a good indication
of her mental toughness,”
Clegg said.
Chody used that mental
toughness in her race in
Peoria.
“She was up with the
leaders all day,” Clegg said,
which is usual of Chody’s
race plan. “Then eventually
the winner and the runner
up pulled away.”
Chody now has a bit a
break between cross country
season and the start
of track and field, which
begins in the spring. She
plans on taking it easy, at
least for a little while.
“I will just take some
time off from the competitive
training every day,”
Chody said of her plans.
“I’ll do some other exercises,
like spin classes. I’ll feel
it out, and give my body a
break.
“It’s good to step away
and recharge mentally.”
Girls Swimming
Young Lake Forest squad
places fifth at the NSC meet
Brittany Kapa, Sports Editor
Even after losing 25
seniors last year to graduation,
Lake Forest coach
Carolyn Grevers is still
proud of what her young
team has accomplished
thus far in the season.
“It’s exactly where we
expected,” Grevers said.
“This year is not a year
we’re worried about placefinishing.
This is a rebuilding
year for us. We have
really young athletes that
are figuring how to be
leaders.”
For as young as the LF
team is, Grevers said that
she was impressed with
how they swam during the
Saturday, Nov. 4 North
Suburban Conference conference
meet. The team
placed fifth for the varsity
level, but many girls set
their all-time best records
during the race.
“We swam out of our
minds,” she said. “It was
amazing. Those kids are
preparing for sectionals
next week and they were
right where they needed to
be.”
Going into the conference
meet, Grevers knew
her team would not place
first, second or third but
that was okay.
“I’m really excited to
see where they’re going
to be next week,” Grevers
said. “We’re not going to
be a Top 3 team but we’re
focusing on where we
need to be for state.”
Emily Vodovoz is the
lone senior swimmer on the
squad this season. Grevers
said the leadership role
on the team has fallen on
Vodovoz’s shoulders and
returning swimmers like
Kendra Joachim and Ashley
Updike. The two sophomores
were able to learn
from the seniors last season
have used that experience
this season. Grevers said
they both have taken on
leadership roles and helped
Vodovoz lead the rest of the
young squad.
Like most area swim
teams, Grevers squad is
not fully tapered yet which
means the team will have
another week to get their
times down a bit more.
“Every swim but one was
a personal record,” she said.
“We did so well. It was not
even a joke how amazing
they did. Anyone who was
rested for the meet yesterday
had a personal record.
You can’t ask for anything
more than that.”
With another week to
prepare for the sectional
race, that extra time may
be especially important for
swimmers like Joachim
and Updike.
“Kendra [Joachim]
and Ashley Updike, my
two sophomores, are two
that I see going to state,”
Grevers said.
Joachim and Updike
were both put in a unique
situation this year. Even as
sophomores they are some
of the more talented swimmers
on the squad this
year. They were essentially
thrust into a leadership
role. Grevers said both
have responded well to the
added responsibility.
“They had a full year
of being with outstanding
seniors last year,” she
said. “They’re throw into
it this year and they’re doing
well.”
Updike finished second
in the 100-yard freestyle
race with a time of 54.50
seconds. She finished third
in the 50-yard freestyle
race with a 25.23-second
time. Joachim finished
fifth in the 100-yard butterfly,
1:00.07. She took
the third spot in the 500-
yard freestyle and completes
the race in 5:15.49.
Joachim and Updike
were joined by Isabella
Lewin and Flynn McClellan
for the 400-yard freestyle
relay race where the
team took fourth place.
During the dive portion
of the event Isabel Rose
finished ninth with an
eight-dive score of 302.20.
The Scouts have had a
unique situation this year.
Their previous dive coach
needed to be replaced after
she had her baby early in
the season.
The Scouts have welcomed
Patrick Schulze as
the head diving coach.
Schulze only started
coaching the dive team
around the time of the Libertyville
dual, which was
mid-September.
“They’ve really only
had a month or so of being
in the pool with [Schulze],”
Grevers said. “I’m
excited to see what [Rose],
and her teammates can do
next week.”
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