Fenwick High School freshman Juliana Gamboa won the IHSA Class 2A Chicago Latin girls’ cross-country regional individual title on Oct. 21 in a time of 18:01.70.
Gamboa’s teammate, senior Anna Scholtens, placed third in 19:05.40. The duo helped lead the Friars to a second-place finish in the team standings – along with advancement to the sectionals – with 61 points.
“It was fun. We shocked a few schools by taking second,” said Fenwick coach Latoya Zubowicz-Hill. “What’s even more exciting is that we have two girls who due to nagging pain we didn’t run, but we may bring them back for sectionals.”
Freshman Lily Kotynek (13th, 21:01.30), junior Kyra Miller (21st, 21:41.40), freshman Allison Austin (23rd, 21:45.70), sophomore Romy Bergetz (26th, 22:07.30), and junior Emma Brennan (28th, 22:25.90) were Fenwick’s other runners.
The Friars advance to the Class 2A Trinity Sectional, which is Oct. 28 at Lewis University in Romeoville.
Trinity
Trinity High School sophomore Molly McGreal won the Class 2A Trinity Regional individual title on Oct. 21 with a time of 17:48.20, setting a new school record.
“It was an awesome race to watch,” said Trinity coach Johann Gonzalez. “Molly ran so poised and looked confident out there. She was patient, and when she made her move, she outkicked (Benet Academy’s Delilah Helenhouse, who finished second in 17:48.50) over the last 100 meters.”
The Blazers finished fifth with 136 points, enough for team advancement to their aforementioned sectional on Oct. 28. Junior Jade Morelli (12th, 19:55.10), sophomore Alessandra Pineda (33rd, 21:59.40), freshman Charlotte Houlihan (47th, 24:26.80), sophomore Ginger Perry (55th, 25:12.30), freshman Emily Mielich (56th, 25:21.20), and senior Andrea Garcia (60th, 25:40.80) completed Trinity’s lineup.
“We were looking at the times going into regionals and thought we were on the outside looking in (in terms of advancement),” Gonzalez said. “We worked this week on building up the confidence of our girls and told them anything could happen; race as if it’s your last. Five of our seven girls ran personal-bests, and we were able to pull it off and get into our own sectional.”
OPRF Girls
Oak Park and River High School finished fourth in its Class 3A regional at Schiller Woods on Oct. 21 with 94 points. The Huskies advanced to the Lake Park sectional, to be held on Oct. 28.
Seniors Katie Stabb and Lennie Sterritt had top-ten finishes individually for OPRF Stabb placed fourth in a time of 17:41.46, while Sterritt clocked a time of 17:52.68.
Others in the Huskies’ lineup were sophomore Violet Schnizlein (21st, 19:05.29), junior Alana Gerona (29th, 19:20.24), senior Anne Lynch (33rd, 19:36.34), and senior Ingrid Medgysey (41st, 20:18.76).
OPRF and Fenwick Boys
The OPRF boys won their 3A regional at Schiller Woods Oct. 21 with 60 points and to advance to the Lake Park sectional.
The Huskies had four individuals place inside the top 11: senior Daniel Johnson (6th, 15:17.90), senior Lewis O’Connor (7th, 15:26.71), junior Liam O’Connor (8th, 15:26.76), and junior Andrew Harmon (11th, 15:31.29).
Seniors Michael Michelotti (28th, 15:52.11) and Mariano Escobedo (38th, 16:09.94), and junior James Nacke (46th, 16:23.87) were OPRF’s other runners.
Also at Schiller Woods, Fenwick placed eighth with 152 points, failing to advance as a team to the sectionals. However, the Friars had two runners move on to Lake Park since their times were among the ten fastest from individuals representing non-qualifying teams.
Senior Nathaniel McKillop placed fifth in a time of 15:17.20, and classmate Dean O’Bryan came in 17th at 15:40.81 to advance.
Juniors Finnbar Munley (27th, 15:51.81) and Benicio Carideo (51st, 16:44.89), sophomore Aidan Powers (52nd, 16:45.29), junior Christopher Zielinski (54th, 16:52.73), and sophomore James Kiesewetter (62nd, 17:10.01) completed Fenwick’s lineup.
