Cross Country: Lockport packs up a win
By Tim Tierney For Sun-Times Media September 1, 2012 7:30PM
Shepard's Lauren Loomis came in 3rd place with a time of 19:11.72 at the Plainfield Central Invitational boys and girls cross country held at Plainfield Central on Saturday, September 1, 2012. | Larry Kane~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 3, 2012 6:20AM
Before the drizzle turned into a downpour Saturday morning, Courtney Correa and Bianca Wiemeyer led the Lockport pack that brought home the championship at the Wildcat Invitational.
No one could catch DeKalb’s Kelsey Schrader, the 2011 Class 2A runner-up who ran the Plainfield Central course in 18 minutes, 54.41 seconds, but five of the next 10 runners into the chute were from Lockport.
“It went great,’’ Correa said. “We had a plan to stick together as a pack, and we did that for the first mile. We did that for the two-mile, too. From there it was go with a partner and go. Bianca and I did our best to catch the girls in front of us.’’
Correa (4th, 19:12.69), Wiemeyer (5th, 19:16.32), Kim Johnson (9th, 19:41.32), Aubry Elwood (10th, 19:52.54) and Madeline Rodriguez (11th, 19:59.20) held to the plan.
“We were trying to stick together, seven in the pack for the mile, and then break off into five for the two mile,’’ Wiemeyer said. “Courtney and I, we felt really good. We just kicked it in.’’
“I was really proud of myself with how I handled the pack and being a leader,’’ said Correa, a senior.
With the graduation of All-Staters Megan O’Brien and Stephanie Sanders, Lockport coach Evon Marie Schlotter was looking for new leadership this season.
“We have some great leaders this year and they’re two of them,’’ Schlotter said of Correa and Wiemeyer. “You can show leadership in all kinds of ways. They show it not only by what they say, but what they do. They’re doing what they preach.’’
Taylor Latta (24th, 20:39.94) and Kristin Fisch (21:37.98) also ran for Lockport.
“Five kids were supposed to stick together to the last mile, and they did,’’ Schlotter said. “They’re talking. They’re communicating. They know how important that is.’’
Lockport (31 points) finished ahead of runner-up DeKalb (47) and third-place Lemont (76), which was led by Claire Gagen (7th, 19:32.64) and Victoria Salazar (13th, 20:02.53).
Shepard’s Lauren Loomis finished third (19:11.72) behind Schrader and Westmont’s Maggie Arndt (19:07.63).
In the 16-team boys race, Lockport had two runners in the top 10. Will Giroux (4th, 16:02.05) and Kristian Hernandez (10th, 16:20.12) led the Porters to second place behind team champion Plainfield East. Gabe Davalos (16th, 16:33.32) and J.T. Orban (19th, 16:34.90) also had solid efforts for the Porters.
“We had some good races,’’ Lockport coach Tom Razo said. “We’re just kind of figuring out as a team how we can get people to move up.’’
Lincoln-Way East was fourth, led by Luke Johnston (5th, 16:03.06) and Ben Hedges (9th, 16:14.70).
