Bartlett
COACH Beth Emody
HOME COURSE Sunrise Park, Bartlett
2008 RESULTS 3rd in Upstate Eight, 2nd at St. Charles North regional, 3rd at St. Charles East sectional, 16th in state
CONFERENCE Upstate Eight
NEXT HOME MEET Saturday at Bartlett Flyin’ Hawk Invite

TOP RETURNERS
Alyssa Schneider        jr.
Samantha Maiorana    sr.
Lauren Prescott          sr.
Janessa Baker            so.
Taylor Crawford          so.

PROMISING NEWCOMERS
Lindsay Bruzzini         fr.
Alex Leppert              sr.
Megan Seidl               fr.
Nicole Watkins           fr.
Emily Wilson             so.

OUTLOOK
Sam Salinas (Arkansas State), Kristen Schneider (Illinois State) and Alexa Tovella (Barton College) have been lost from last year’s Hawks team, the first to qualify for the state meet as a team.

However, the Hawks are in good shape to make a return trip to Peoria this fall for one reason: Alyssa Schneider.

As a sophomore last year, Schneider finished fifth overall in the state race. She showed she’s ready to tackle the course at Detweiller Park after a fifth-place finish last weekend at the Peoria Notre Dame Invite, one of the largest invites in the state and one that comes close to approximating the state meet.

Schneider and the rest of the Hawks prepared for a run at success in the offseason, and it’s already paying dividends.

“The girls worked hard over the summer and came into the season in great shape,” Emody said. “The girls are running well. Many are achieving personal bests each week. Our top seven runners fluctuate from week to week, which makes practices more competitive.”

Baker, Crawford, Maiorana and Prescott provide a solid quartet to bolster Schneider, but any runner in any race give the Hawks a great chance to reach one of their ultimate goals.

“One of their goals is to make it to state again, “Emody said. “In order to do that, they are going to have to run closer together and decrease the time gap between our first and fifth runners.”


South Elgin
COACH Jorie Bartholomew
HOME COURSE South Elgin High School; Kenyon Woods Forest Preserve, Barry Road, South Elgin
2008 RESULTS 7th in Upstate Eight, 7th at St. Charles North regional, 2 sectional qualifiers
CONFERENCE Upstate Eight
NEXT MEET Saturday at Bartlett Flyin’ Hawk Invite

TOP RETURNERS
Katie Goplerud        jr.
Karoline Kelly         sr.
Jessi Lenartowicz    sr.
Jordan Tuin            so.

PROMISING NEWCOMERS
Abby Kenny              fr.
Lauren McKay          so.
Casey Schoenborn    fr.

OUTLOOK
With the return of Goplerud and Tuin, who both qualified for the sectional meet last fall, the Storm is thinking bigger this season, as in a team berth in the sectional. The addition of some fast underclassmen — Kenny, McKay and Schoenborn — should help that cause. It's been so far so good for the Storm.

"I think that the are running well right now," Bartholomew said. " I think that there is always room for improvement as we move forward in the season with some larger meets ahead of us."

Goplerud and Tuin have picked up where they left off last season, running strong toward the front of races. The trick for reaching the team goal will be to shore up the pack behind the two front runners in order to achieve some better results.

"I am hoping that we can possible do a little better this year in the conference standings from last year," Bartholomew said. "I am also hoping that we can possibly get a team to sectionals this year instead of individual qualifiers."