Cross Country: L-W North's Waldier Pushes the Pace in Regional Title Run

Two seconds.

After running 3 miles, that was the margin of victory for Lincoln-Way North’s Dena Waldier in the Class 3A Andrew girls cross country regional Saturday at Turtle Head Lake Forest Preserve.

One one-thousand, two one-thousand. Count it out. Two hard-fought seconds.

Waldier was clocked in 19:16 to capture the individual championship in a tight race that featured five runners bunched within 10 seconds of each other at the head of the pack. Lincoln-Way Central’s Alena Pacheco placed second in 19:18 and led the Knights to the team title.

Lincoln-Way Central finished with 44 points. Lincoln-Way East placed second with 50, followed by Andrew 60, Lincoln-Way North 89 and Homewood-Flossmoor 105. All five advance to the Class 3A Quincy Sectional on Saturday.

Taylor Martinez (5th, 19:26), Mallory Johnson (9th, 19:55), Heidi Killinger (12th, 20:01), Bridget Sullivan (16th, 20:08), Elizabeth Venezio (20th, 20:15) and Cara Robinson (25th, 20:31) bolstered the Knights’ effort.

Lincoln-Way East was paced by Nicole Nepote (3rd, 19:25), Kaley McLawhorn (4th, 19:26), Abby Madden (6th, 19:33), Samantha Ostmann (18th, 20:12), Anna Conboy (19th, 20:14), Kristy Dertz (29th, 20:39) and Olivia Beggs (31st, 20:55).

Andrew was led by Tiana Karopulos (7th, 19:38), Dezzy Arce (10th, 19:56), Colleen Tesher (11th, 19:58), Jorie Dypcio (15th, 20:07), Jalyssa Rodriguez (17th, 20:08), Maggie Schultz (22nd, 20:18) and Paige Buerger (34th, 21:16).

To view more girls results, visit the IHSA’s cross country results page.

3A Andrew Boys Regional: Andrew’s Mike Keller ran away from the pack to capture the individual championship, while Lincoln-Way East won the team title Saturday at Turtle Head Lake.

Keller was clocked in 16:02 for 3.0 miles. Tom Rotondi of Lincoln-Way East placed second in 16:11 and Dru Rozewicki of Lincoln-Way Central placed third in 16:12.

The Griffins scored 51 points to finish first in the team chase. Lincoln-Way Central was second with 71, followed by Thornwood 80, Andrew 111 and Homewood-Flossmoor 114. All five move on to the Class 3A Quincy Sectional on Saturday.

Ben Hedges (8th, 16:27), Luke Johnston (10th, 16:37), Eamonn Hughes (12th, 16:37), Eric Padgett (19th, 16:32), Alex Gilmore (21st, 16:35) and John Mizwicki (54th, 18:36) led Lincoln-Way East’s charge.

Lincoln-Way Central picked up contributions from Chris Kaminski (7th, 16:20), Ben Zibricky (13th, 16:44), Andrew Robbins (22nd, 16:29), Kevin Fabian (26th, 17:07), Jackson Waters (43rd, 17:46) and Matt Kacor (48th, 18:01).

To view more boys results, visit the IHSA’s cross country results page.