It’s the final sprint to the finish of the Cross Country season. Championship season is in full gear for Cross Country and both Glenbard West teams are preparing for their kick.  The Glenbard West boys and girls teams are moving on from Conference and Regionals and are now looking toward the Sectional and State meets.

The coaches poll has ranked the girls team in the top ten in state throughout the entire season, and the Glenbard West boys have been making noise as of late, climbing up the rankings to sixth in the coaches poll for the week of 10/9.

“It’s fun to see us move up [the rankings] because I think the kids feel like they’re being noticed and their hard work is being recognized,” head Boys Cross Country coach and science teacher, Mr. Nugent said.

The boys recently placed fifth at Conference which was held October 16th. Glenbard West is a part of the West Suburban Silver Conference which is arguably the best Cross Country Conference in the state.

“We ran well,” Mr. Nugent said of the Conference race. “It wasn’t our best race as a team, it’s a really hard conference, so if you mess up at all, you’re going to fall down in the standings.”

Juniors Stephen Moody and Rory Cavan placed in the top 10 at Conference, high enough to earn All-Conference Honors. At Regionals, the boys team placed second to Wheaton Warrenville South. Rory Cavan was the Regional champion and Stephen Moody placed fifth.

The girls team won Conference for the seventh consecutive year. Their 43 points narrowly beat second place Hinsdale Central’s 48. In Cross Country, the team with the lowest score wins.

“The conference meet went very well,” Mr. Hass, head Girls Cross Country coach and social studies teacher, said. “The girls ran a very strong race, probably one of their better races of the year.”

Sophomore Katelynne Hart was victorious at Conference, followed by second place finisher, senior Lindsey Payne, and fifth place finisher, junior Katie Hohe. All three athletes earned all conference honors.

At regionals, the girls placed second to Wheaton Warrenville South. The girls followed up their 1-2-5 Conference finish with a 1-2-3 Regional finish.

“It’s awesome to have somebody to push me, and we always push each other,” Lindsey Payne said of teammates Katie and Katelynne.

Katelynne Hart could potentially be undefeated this season. She was the Conference and Regional champion for the second year in a row.  “It was really exciting, this course is a really fun course to run on,” Katelynne said of St. James Farm, the regional course.

The girls team has strong runners in addition to Katelynne, Katie and Lindsey. Their top seven also include senior Claire Kenwood and juniors Chloe Connolly, Abby Hoffman, and Lauren Pappas.

Lindsey Payne has been a contributor on Varsity since her freshman year, when she placed 5th at State. This year, Lindsey is looking for yet another strong performance at State. “If you run your best and give it all you have, you can’t ask yourself for anything more and a lot of times the results will come,” Lindsey said.

The boys team last traveled to State in 2014 when they placed 5th. The team is eager to qualify for State this season. “If we do make it to the State meet, I think we can really do some damage down in Peoria because we have a very talented team,” Mr. Nugent said.

Seniors Cameron Benes, Luke Malek, Teddy Borkowski and Kalen Yeager along with juniors Rory Cavan, Stephen Moody, and Ian Repking were the top 7 Varsity runners at Sectionals and have high expectations for their team in the upcoming meets.

“For the sectional meet, we hope to qualify [for State] and contend with Wheaton Warrenville South,” junior team member Will O’Brien said.

“Throughout the season, we’ve proven that we can hang with the top dogs in State and with that in mind we can look forward to the State meet with great confidence” Cameron Benes said of the season and upcoming meets.

The Sectional meet is Saturday, October 28 at the Lake Park east campus. The top five teams out of eighteen qualify for the State meet.

The State meet for Boys and Girls Cross Country is Saturday, November 4 at Detweiller Park in Peoria.