Sports
Geneva Girls Run to STC North Invite Title
A 1-2 finish from Tess Ehrhardt and Rachel Hammond push Vikings past the host North Stars.
Led by a 1-2 individual finish from seniors Tess Ehrhardt and Rachel Hammond, Geneva's girls cross country squad captured the team title at Saturday's St. Charles North Invitational.
Ehrhardt covered the three-mile LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve course in a winning time of 18:08.0, five seconds ahead of teammate Hammond's 18:13.0 clocking.
Geneva won the 14-team event with 35 points, 15 better than runner-up St. Charles North (50).
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It was the Vikings' second team title in three weeks, as they captured the Kaneland/Larry Eddington Invitational Sept. 18 in Elburn before taking third at the Sterling Rock River Run Sept. 25.
"The team did very well," said Ehrhardt. "We're looking strong right now."
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And the Vikings appear poised to become even stronger down the line when senior Kelly Whitley returns. Whitley recently earned a bronze medal in the triathlon at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
"We haven't run with all of our top people yet because Kelly is easing back into running with the team," said Ehrhardt. "We're excited to actually run our top five."
Whitley is expected back for the Upstate Eight Conference River Division meet Oct. 16 at Lords Park in Elgin.
Until then, the Vikings still possess a potent punch fueled by Ehrhardt.
"I wanted to go under 18 (minutes) but I was pretty close so it still feels really good," she said after Saturday's race. "The hardest part was running alone. When no one is pushing you, it's hard to go faster."
Megan Brady (18:24.5) and Liza Tauscher (18:44.7) placed fourth and ninth, respectively, while Cory McLauchlan (19:25.6) provided the Vikings' fifth counting finish in 22nd.
"I know they were happy and when they're happy, I know they did a good job," said Geneva coach Bob Thomson.
On the boys' side, the Vikings took ninth in the team standings (204 points) behind Connor Bartel's 16th-place time of 15:48.1. Sophomores Nathan Wendt (30th, 16:06.3) and Michael Bianchina (41st, 16:21.9) supported the cause.
"I think they all PRd," Thomson said of his runners reaching their personal milestones. "I'm not as worried about what place they got."
Geneva will compete in the West Aurora Stampede Oct. 9.
