Kayla Beattle wins first individual title for Woodstock since Katie Hartmann back in 1999.
Tim Plotke w/Tony Jones
Girls 2A State Recap
-Tim's opening thoughts-
For me the day after the state meet is a day I dread. After five months of summer training, preparation for the season, and all the competitions, the season is over and I start feeling a bit empty. This is a sport that teaches so much...(in my mind) cross country is the greatest sport there is. Congratulations to all who competed at the state meet, as well as those who competed through out the season. I am already looking forward to next season.
-The team race-
Top Five Teams:
Springfield H.S. 4,15,34,47, (68), (112)= 124 pts
Yorkville 5,12,26,27,60, (93), (100)= 130
East Peoria 8,20,21,42,71, (78), (103)= 162
Geneseo 17,22,37,40,66, (82), (127)= 182
Peoria (Notre Dame) 11,28,32,51,74, (83), (89)= 196
 | Springfield's Kirby Hale
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The team race ended up being a nice battle between Springfield H.S. and Yorkville. In fact, Yorkville had a seven-point lead after four runners (70 - 77). Both teams had two all-state runners: Springfield H.S. was led by Kirby Hale (4th) and Madie Alexander (21st) while Yorkville's all-state runners were: Ali Hester (5th) and Esther Bell (18th). Springfield's strength all season has been their 5th runner and Jessica Larson came through for her team when it mattered most beating Yorkville's 5th runner by 13 places which gave Springfield HS the 6 point victory. East Peoria, led by all-state runner Emma Preston (11th) put together a solid race to finish in 3rd place. Geneseo, who I will admit flew well under my radar this season, put together a whale of a race to finish in 4th.
Some things don't always go according to the script. For instance, pre-season #1 Springfield (Sacred Heart-Griffin) slipped to a disappointing sixth place with 200 pts. Top runner Madz Negro (Dyestat #10) who was running in 4th place much of the race dropped out in the closing stages of the race due to heat related issues. As a consolation prize, Emily Delvo placed 15th.
Peoria (Notre Dame) placed fifth but it wasn't exactly the slot the Irish were looking for. However, it was the flu and several injuries getting the best of the team. Sophomore Jessie Wynn could not manage much more than 70th place overall and finished as the team's #4 runner. Her teammate Maggie Clark did her best for the team in grabbing all-state honors with a solid 17th place finish.
-Individual look-  | Kayla Beattie (#231) and Margo Richardson
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Indvidually, it was pretty much a battle of wills between Kayla Beattie of Woodstock and defending champion Margo Richardson (Mt. Vernon) despite Kayla's older sister Elise Beattie (Woodstock) hanging around in the early going. K. Beattie shadowed Richardson for much of the race that took the pair through a blistering first mile that would rival 3A, in 5:26. As the race entered the backloop it was clearly a two runner show. But at the 1.25-mile mark, K. Beattie put on a surge and opened a slight gap on Richardson. The move was decisive but it didn't completely knock out Richardson. Finally, with just a half-mile to go, K. Beattie opened up some daylight on Richardson and coasted to victory in 17:14. Afterwards, a very elated K. Beattie shared her thoughts on the race: "With all my training last summer, [winning state was my goal],.. I was hoping for a little faster time, but a state championship is a nice tradeoff for a better time."
This years' 2A race ended up producing six sub-18:00 performances on a dry day. The all-state cut off this year was an impressive 18:41.
Photos by Cassandra Geiger
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