Fenwick junior Juliana Gamboa and sophomore Bridget Brunick hope to return to the girls cross country state meet with plenty of company. Gamboa, Brunick and junior Mia Bagato earned individual all-regional medals Saturday with top-five finishes at the Class 3A Lyons Township Regional. Gamboa (18:08.51 for 3.0 miles), Bagato (18:31.49) and Brunick (18:47.26) were second, fourth and fifth.
The third-place Friars (86 points) also advanced their team to the Hinsdale Central Sectional, Nov. 1, with a top-six finish. They’ve reached state the past two years but this season have moved from 2A to the sport’s largest-enrollment 3A class.
Fenwick juniors Lily Kotynek (35h, 21:17.41), Victoria Alegre (40th, 22:01.24), Allison Austin (41st, 22:24.04) and Maya Trouillhet (42nd, 22:28.02) also finished among the top 45 Saturday.
“The team did really well. I feel like my teammates have been putting in so much work lately and it’s starting to show,” Gamboa said. “I’m just really glad we’ve made it this far, especially since we moved up to 3A. We’re excited to race with some different teams.”
At sectionals, the Friars need a top-seven finish to reach state. Three sectional opponents are among the top 25 in both latest 3A state polls. The top 10 sectional finishers not among the qualifying teams also advance.
Gamboa is a two-time 2A top-25 all-stater, finishing 13th in 2023 and 21st last year. Brunick was 30th at 2A state in 2024. They’ve received a boost from Bagato, a track veteran who has joined cross country for the first time.
“[If needed] I hope we can make [state] individually but the goal is to make it as a team so hopefully we will,” Gamboa said. “[Bagato] usually runs with me and Bridget so it’s nice having someone join us on long runs and runs in general. She’s really good at pushing the pace in workouts because she does sprints, middle distance in track. She definitely brings an extra layer of speed to the team.”
Fenwick boys
In the boys race at LT, Fenwick grabbed the final team qualifying spot for the sectional thanks to their fifth-place finish with 156 points.
“We ran extremely well,” said Fenwick coach David Rill. “We had a couple of PR’s [personal records] and a couple of season-bests, and it was the right time to do it.”
Junior Burke Burns led the way for the Friars as he finished 26th with a new season-best time of 16:48.87. Fenwick also received personal-best times from senior Jason Garza, who was 31st in 17:16.41, and freshman Peter Hasenauer, who was 34th in 17:24.65.
“In the past two weeks, Peter’s knocked off over a minute,” Rill said. “He’s doing really well and gets better and better.”
Senior James Kiesewetter (30th, 17:15.41), sophomore Wolfie Bergetz (35th, 17:30.75), and seniors Nicholas Casaccio (38th, 17:36.48) and Aidan Powers (40th, 17:38.17) completed the Friars’ lineup.
“Wolfie struggled a little bit last year running three miles,” Rill said, “but this year it’s clicking for him. It’s been good to watch him.”
Fenwick advances to the Hinsdale Central Sectional, Nov. 1. Rill knows that the field will be tough, and so he is hoping to get more personal and season best performances from his team.
“If everybody runs their best,” Rill said, “I’ll be happy with that. Making it through regionals this year is a success.”
Trinity
The Blazers finished seventh at the Class 2A Fenton Regional, Oct. 25, with 178 points and did not advance as a team to the sectional, which will be held on the same course, Nov. 1.
However, two Trinity runners qualified as individuals. Senior Alessandra Pineda finished 13th in a time of 21:31.93. Her time was the best among the top ten individuals from non-qualifying schools. Senior Grace Ramel will join Pineda as she took 39th in 23:53.45.
Junior Alexa Rodriguez narrowly missed qualifying as she finished 43rd in 24:49.52, 11.06 seconds behind Ella Mendoza of Resurrection, the final qualifier. Right behind Rodriguez in 44th was freshman Janiyah Vazzena with a personal-best time of 24:55.38. Junior Mary Margaret Wynne (46th, 25:12.89), senior Gigi Vitto (47th, 25:30.79), and freshman Ava Dirnberger (52nd, 26:41.88) also competed for the Blazers.
