Richard Spring 2024 Results
September 21, 2024
It was HOT at Peoria's famous Detweiller Park course. The home of the IHSA State Cross Country meet hadn't seen rain in weeks so runners kicked up dust as they ran and found it everywhere after they finished their races. The temperature was 79º when the girls varsity race started at 9:50, but had increased 5º by the end of the race and was nearly 90º when the freshman/sophomore girls ran at 11:10. It was not a day for P.R.'s (although some girls ran them), but it was a day for strong mental fortitude and the girls who ran certainly had that going for them.
Anna Wilcox once again led the way for the varsity team. While she went out a bit faster than she probably should have, she still pulled off close splits in the 2nd and 3rd miles and ran a season P.R. of 20:57. Andy Esposito, who was running her first race coming off an injury, had a great season debut, running 22:02 and making her case as our #2 runner. Anna Frankel, also making her season debut, ran a solid race with a collected first mile in 7:21 and catching a lot of runners in the final mile during the inner loop of Detweiller Park. Her focus and smart race led to a lifetime P.R. of 22:57. Emma Koehler, not a fan of the hot weather, still ran a solid race and finished with a time of 23:31. Lucy Wang, running the first varsity race of her career, ran a lifetime P.R. of 24:05. Sam Kantz also ran in the varsity race, but stopped after two miles with a time of 17:21 to protect her recovery from an injury. It was great to see so many of our formally-injured runners on the course again!
The freshman/sophomore race saw a number of athletes who were running their first or second high school races. Detweiller Park can be an intimidating place for new runners, but the girls did a great job focusing and running as much of the race as they could. Alyssa Pendon and Yelenda Haidamaka were the only two runners to complete the entire three-mile course in the 90º heat. Alyssa ran a season P.R. of 26:50 and Yelenda finished the race in 34:29. Emma Gonzalez, running only her second high school race, finished with a two-mile time of 18:52 while Gianna Picardi made her high school debut and ran two miles in 19:18. Sarah Shumard finish one mile of the Detweiller course with a time of 10:27. There is a lot of promise and room to grow with our sophomore class!
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