By Michael Newman

mike@dyestat.com

Here are the awards for the most improved Girls runners in each classification for the 2015 Cross Country season in Illinois. Congratulations to all the winners and to the runners that were considered.

3A Girls – Reilly Revord – SO – Hinsdale Central

Things looked bleak for the Hinsdale Central Girls team at the beginning of this season. The first thing was the loss of their #1 runner from 2014 Alexa Haff who would miss the season due to a hip injury. The second thing was the loss of their lead runner Annie Zaher who missed most of the season due to an injury. Zaher returned in time for the state series. It gave the opportunity for Reilly Revord to step up as the #1 runner for her team.

Revord finished 58^th at the 2014 IHSA State Meet as a freshman. During the regular season, Reilly finished in the top ten in all of the major invitational meets that she competed in. She finished sixth at the IHSA 3A State Meet this fall running 16:44 for the 3 mile course at Detweiller Park. Her time in that race was a 19 second personal best. It was a breakout sophomore season for Revord.

The future looks bright for her and Hinsdale Central in 2016. With the hopeful return of Haff for her senior season along with Grace McCabe, the Red Devilettes could have three runners in the top 25 next November. Revord could have her sights on an individual state championship.

Congratulations to Reilly Revord of Hinsdale Central High School as the 2015 DyeStat Illinois 3A Girls Most Improved Runner of the Year.

2A Girls – Kayla Schiera – SO – Sandwich

Sandwich HS is one of the smaller schools in the 2A classification with 732 students. It means that their schedule is against mainly 1A schools with the biggest meets they are in include the Rock River Run in Sterling at the end of September and the Amboy Columbus Day Invitational. The competition against the smaller schools did not hurt Kayla Schiera and the way that she ran at the end of the season.

Schiera had a non-descript freshman season ending with a 28^th place finish at the Kaneland Section. She emerged as one of the top runners in her region this year winning the Princeton Invitational on September 12 and also the Interstate 8 / Independents Classic in the middle of October. Going into the state series, the 18:34 that she ran to win the Princeton Invitational was her fastest time for 3 miles. She punched her ticket to Detweiller Park finishing ninth at the Woodstock North Sectional. She took advantage of the opportunity that she had in running at the state meet. She ran almost 50 seconds faster than she ever had before running 17:49 to finish 17^th in the IHSA 2A State Meet race. That performance made her the clear choice for this honor.

Congratulations to Kayla Schiera of Sandwich HS as the 2015 DyeStat Illinois 2A Girls Most Improved Runner of the Year.

1A Girls – Nygia Pollard – SO – Elgin Harvest Christian Academy

This was the closest of the three classifications with four athletes considered for this award.

Claudia Magnussen of Pana High School had a breakout cross country season finishing 12^th in the 1A State Meet. We thought that she would be all-state this fall after she finished 9^th in the 3200 and 10^th in the 1600 in last spring’s 1A State Track & Field Meet. Katie Glew transferred to North Shore Country Day from New Trier High School this fall where she had a great cross country season. It culminated with an 8^th place finish at the 1A State Meet with a 17:54 personal best. Shelby Siltman of Olympia High School emerged as one of the best in 1A this fall after finishing 31^st at state in 2014. Siltman finished 5^th last November at Detweiller Park.

Nygia Pollard was the one runner that caught our attention. The schedule for Harvest Christian Academy is not power packed. Her only individual win came in the Frosh/Soph Division of the Aurora Central Catholic Charger Classic at the end of September. She finished 5^th at the 1A Winnebago Regional and then 6^th at the 1A Oregon Sectional. She was the big surprise in the 1A State Meet when she ran 17:54 to finish 10^th overall.

Congratulations to Nygia Pollard of Harvest Christian Academy in Elgin as the 2015 DyeStat Illinois 1A Girls Most Improved Runner of the Year.