Steady race plan gives Maryjeanne Gilbert win and fast time; Depth the key as Glenbard West holds off Palatine for team title

By Michael Newman

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Peoria, Ill – A year ago in this same race, Maryjeanne Gilbert (Notre Dame HS, Peoria) was forcing the pace leading the pack as she went through in 5:20. She paid the price for the fast early pace coming in struggling finishing fourth running 17:18. The tactics were different as she stepped to the line for the Girls Race at the Richard Spring Invitational at Detweiller Park. It did not matter if she was with the leaders at the mile in this race. It did matter if she was ahead of her competitors at the end.

The Notre Dame junior established the lead just after coming out of the triangle and then pulled away from Lindsay Graham (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) to win with a powerful 16:30 close to 21 seconds ahead. That time is one of the fastest non-state meet times ever on this course.

“In talking to Maryjeanne the past two days, I asked what she had opened up with in Richard Spring last year. It was 5:20 which was about 10 seconds off her PR at that time. She had some trouble in the last 1/2 of the race in 2013,” said Notre Dame Coach Dan Gray. “Due to that, I asked for a 5:30 opener advising it would feel SLOW. As she ran along, not leading early, a few fans wondered what was wrong. I stated that she is just running her strategy.”

Caitlin Shepard (Lake Zurich HS) pushed the pace early taking the lead pack through a fast opening 2:36 first half. The pace settled out the next half as the pack opened up to that of running in tandems. Graham and Audrey Ernst (North HS, St. Charles) went through in the first mile in 5:25. Two seconds later came defending 2013 champ McKenzie Yanek (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf IA) and Kelly O’Brien (Palatine HS). Then came Gilbert three seconds back going through the mile in exactly the pace that her coach wanted her to: 5:30.

Graham was the first to go in the triangle taking the lead and opening a gap on Ernst. “I did not want to go out too fast like everyone does going down the hill. When I got to the triangle, I wanted to pick it up a little.” Graham said afterwards. “I thought I was separating myself from everyone but then Maryjeanne just came right by me. I just tried to stay with her but she just ran phenomenally.”

You could call this the perfect paced race by Gilbert on this overcast morning at Detweiller Park. It is the kind of race that you dream about but when you get into the excitement of the race, it falls apart. That was not the case for Gilbert. 5:30 at the mile. 11:01 at 2 miles, 16:30 at the finish. What she established was a 34 second PR and a huge win. You can consider the fact that it is seven weeks to go before the state meet. There is plenty of time for improvement. “We had a fairly big week of mileage, and are still a couple weeks off from our speed work,” Gary added. It is a formula that has worked for us at PND for many years.”

“It felt so great. It was awesome,” Gilbert said with her classmates surrounding her. “I definitely wanted to go out conservative. I wanted to stay relaxed through the mile to save more energy for later in the race. I felt pretty good actually but I feel that I still have some work to do.”

Graham finished second 21 seconds back in second place. What makes her run more amazing is that on Thursday afternoon in a triangular meet against York and Oak Park-River Forest on her home course, she broke former teammate Madeline Perez’s course record running a sizzling 2.92 on the Camera Park course.

It was not the plan according to Graham. “I was not supposed to kill myself in it,” Graham added. “My legs really did not feel great today.”

“What a performance on Thursday. 16:42 course record ahead of Madeline Perez' 2011 record of 16:53 on a 2.92 course with lots of turns and to follow that up with a 16:51 says something about the talent and determination of Lindsay Graham,” said her coach Paul Hass.

There was another 26 second gap before the freshman Ernst finished in third. Yanek crossed the line in 17:20 three seconds behind in fourth. Torree Scull (St. Charles East HS) passed Kelly O’Brien in the final 50 meters to grab fifth place.

3A #1 Glenbard West has dominated their competition in their two meets this year. The story was different Saturday morning as the Hilltoppers were without two of their top five. Lisa Luczak had an injury that it was to the discretion of Hass to hold her out. “Lisa had an inflamed Achilles that improved immensely in treatment the last week and we wanted the healing to continue,” Hass stated. “She would have run if it was state but it wasn’t.” Lindsay Payne, a freshman who was the second runner for the team at Hinsdale at the beginning of the month, was not with the team in Peoria because of a personal commitment.

It did not slow Glenbard down as they held off #2 Palatine 70-80. “I was very pleased with our performance, especially considering how well the team ran on Thursday,” Hass added. “With our lineup today I thought we would score somewhere in the 80 point range and they certainly exceeded my expectations. We still managed to place ahead of a very talented Palatine team that ran extremely well, not to mention a solid Downers Grove North performance. I couldn't be more proud of the way the girls responded even though two of their teammates were missing. It was a good day.”

Grace Rogers, who according to Hass has been struggling with a lingering cold the last three weeks, stepped up to finish ninth as the second runner. Kathryn Kenwood (12^th) and Janie Nabholz (14^th) were within four seconds of each other and eleven seconds behind Rogers. Megan Ozog ran a great race in finishing 33^rd as the fifth runner for the team. Their five runner split of 1:38 was a little bigger than they have been running. If you consider the fact that they were without Luczak and Payne, this team is in good shape.”

#4 Palatine was also running their second race within three days. On Thursday, they had to run hard to beat #7 Schaumburg 22-36 in a dual meet. The Lady Pirates bounced back for a solid performance in this meet. “We did not have a lot of strategy. We just wanted to see what we could do,” Palatine Coach Joe Parks said. “We were a little more aggressive than Hinsdale and put ourselves in the mix. I thought we did a good job especially after coming back from that Schaumburg race. We put a lot of intensity and emotion into that race.”

O’Brien was the first Palatine runner in finishing sixth. Megan Beach (11^th) and Amy Kieliszewski (13^th) were the next two runners in for the Lady Pirates. Parks had a solid pack behind Beach and Kieliszewski with Sam Lechowicz (24^th), Kara Burton (26^th) and freshman Lauryn Simons (27^th) within nine seconds of each other. Their overall split was 48 seconds.

#20 Downers Grove North placed their top five runners in the first 50 to finish third with 168 points. Their split between their first runner Emma Moravec (16^th, 18:05) and fifth runner Grace Maletich (50^th, 18:41) was only 36 seconds. #16 St. Charles East finished fourth with 197 points. #7 Schaumburg rounded out the top five scoring 223 points.