Cross Country: L-W West Boys & Girls Win Regional Titles

The freshman phenom showed up the old hands.

Lincoln-Way West freshman Natalie Waters was clocked in 19:34.8 for 2.95 miles and captured first place in the Class 2A Crete-Monee girls cross country regional on Saturday.

Waters led Lincoln-Way West to the team title and berth in the sectional Saturday in Normal. The Warriors totaled 29 points. Providence Catholic finished second with 42 points, followed by Morris 72, Crete-Monee 136 and Rich South 152.

Waters nearly 1:20 ahead of runner-up Sara Burns of Morris the chase for the individual title. Burns was clocked in 20:50.4. Providence's Brittany Garrett placed third 20:55.6.

Lincoln-Way West's Meghann Lange placed fourth in 21:003.9. The Warriors also picked up contributions from Toni Fiore (fifth, 21:13.9), Kendall Grigoletti (ninth, 21:41.6), Emily Owens (10th, 21:43.5), Natalie Stefka (22:18.6) and Brittany King (19th, 22:34.4).

"All the runners have been working so hard to reach this goal of being regional champions," Stefka said.

Providence's Emma Griffiths placed sixth (21:16.8). The Celtics also picked up standout performances from Brittany Pirc (eighth, 21:31.7), Andrea Zecca (12th, 21:51.8), Erika Powers (13th, 21:54.9), Taylor Black (14th, 21:56.7) and Clare O'Donnell (16th, 22:04.8).

Class 2A Crete-Monee Boys Regional: Lincoln-Way West bunched seven runners in the top-20 and ran away with the boys team title, too.

The Warriors finished with a team total of 46 points. Morris placed second with 79, followed by Ottawa Township 89, Providence Catholic 114 and LaSalle-Peru 134. All five move on to Saturday's sectional in Normal.

Lincoln-Way West was paced by Mark Pedziwiatr (third, 17:01.2). Adam Fabian (eighth, 17:27.7), Ryan Kennedy (10th, 17:41.1), Billy Crimmins (11th, 17:45.6), Trevor Jablonski (14th, 17:47.5), Chris Hunsaker (15th, 17:49.2) and Nate Stefka (18th, 18:14.9) also were part of the Warriors' pack.

Providence was led by Steve Sismelich (fourth, 17:03.4), Nick Beller (12th, 17:46.7), Mike Monroe (28th, 19:00.2), Cole Ferguson (33rd, 19:08.1), Christian Pantoja (37th, 19:15.0), Adam Morrison (43rd, 19:44.9) and Jack Doyle (44th, 19:49.7).