HH_110818

38 | November 8, 2018 | The Homer Horizon sports
homerhorizon.com
LTHS girls cross country 22nd at state in Peoria
Wojcikiewicz, Bober
top Porters finishers
at Detweiller Park
Tim Cronin, Freelance Reporter
Josephine Bober had advice
for Lockport Township
teammate Kate Wojcikiewicz
with a half mile left in
Saturday’s Girls 3A cross
country championship race.
Actually, it was more of a
directive.
“Go!” Bober said to
Wojcikiewicz.
Go, she did.
Bober, a sophomore, finished
in 17:59.77, good
for 76th in the field of
210, and only five places
and about three seconds
behind Wojcikiewicz’s
17:56.55 timing, which
placed the senior 71st in her
fourth state championship
appearance.
They paced the Porters to
a 22nd-place finish in the
25-team competition. Like
Lockport’s boys team, that
was one spot better than last
year’s state placing.
“We wanted to place in the
teens,” Wojcikiewicz said.
“But with so many returning
girls, we wanted to prove
ourselves again.”
Her time was 30 seconds
better than the 18:26 Alexandra
Skibicki recorded as
the lead Porter in last year’s
title race, when the five scoring
Lockport runners were
only 11 seconds apart. This
year, the spread back to fifth
Porter Eleanor Fahrner’s
18:47.43 timing (a 35-second
career-best for her) was
51 seconds.
“They all did awesome,
so I’m happy,” coach Regan
Cronholm said as a blizzard
of leaves fell on the team
camp. “They work a lot in
summer and during the season
talking to each other
LTHS sophomore Josephine Bober ended with a time of
17:59.77, which was good for 76th overall out of a field of
210. 22nd Century Media File Photo
during runs so they can talk
to each other during races.”
Verbal commands aside,
the Porters needed more
pure speed to place higher.
Based on previous finishes
at Detweiller Park, everyone
needed to be from 10 to 15
seconds faster to assure a
spot in the teens.
The Porters’ strategy
was in running together
until someone breaks
loose.
“We have a front four pack
and another pack,” Wojcikiewicz
said. “We stick together
for about a mile and then reassess.
If anyone was really
feeling it today, just go.
“Me and Josephine stayed
together until about a half
Lockport’s Eleanor Fahrner (1873) runs in the 3A state championship held Saturday, Nov.
3, at Detweiller Park in Peoria. Photos by Tim Cronin/22nd Century Media
Abbey Kozak (1876) runs on the second mile straightaway at the state meet for the Porters.
mile left, and she told me
to go. I was like ‘OK’ and I
just went for it. Up the hill,
you definitely feel it, but it
was one more girl, one more
girl, one more girl. I pushed
to leave no regrets my senior
year. You’ll never regret
pushing.”
Beyond Wojcikiewicz and
Bober came Anna Kozak
(140th, 18:31.12), freshman
Samantha Weisner (156th,
18:39.30), Fahrner (168th,
18:47.43), Skibicki (172nd,
18:52.36) and Abbey Kozak
(196th, 19:19.91).