Sports
Spartan Girls Race To 5-0 in Conference
The Glenbrook North girls cross country team went 3-0 at a CSL North quad meet on Tuesday, while the boys went 1-2.
As coach Bob LeBlanc put it, the girls cross country runners did what they came to do at the Central Suburban League North quad meet Tuesday in Highland Park.
The Spartans dominated the race, taking the top five spots and six of the top seven at a sloppy Sunset Woods Park. The girls picked up three wins, 15-50 over Maine West, 15-48 over Highland Park and 15-47 over Maine East.
“Conference races are always about place and we had a lot of green at the front," LeBlanc said.
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Conference-wide, the team has a record of 5-0 going into the conference meet Saturday, Oct. 15, at Glenbrook North--"which is all you can really hope for,” LeBlanc said.
Sophomore Ellery Marrinan finished first with a time of 18:46. Junior Val Bobart was seven seconds behind in second place. Allie Herriott (19:23), Katherine Weber (19:24) and Cassie Bobart (20:34) rounded out the top five.
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Molly Karr placed seventh at 21:10, and Tyler Emery took 11th with a time of 21:24.
The Spartans appear to be in position to make another trip to state, following last year’s seventh place finish, but LeBlanc didn’t want to compare this year’s group to that team.
“That’s like how do you compare to the ’85 Bears?” LeBlanc joked. “That’s the greatest team ever in GBN history.
“This team is finding its way. We’ve sort of been up and down. They’re very committed to having more ups and I think that showed today.”
On the boys side, GBN went 1-2 to drop to 1-4 in the CSL North. The Spartans beat Maine East 24-37, but lost to Maine West 23-34 and Highland Park 15-43.
“While we'd like to have a stronger conference record, the reality is that the CSL North is a very strong group,” GBN boys coach Bill Race said. “Niles North is ranked in the top ten in the state and Deerfield and Highland Park are close behind. Our team is young and getting stronger with each race.”
Dan Cheung took eighth place with a time of 16:51. David Neal also earned a top ten spot coming in at 17:04.
Both varsity teams travel downstate to Peoria for an invite this Saturday at Detweiller Park.
“This group is excited to head down to Peoria this weekend and run the state meet course,” Race said. “It should be a great opportunity for the varsity-seven to bond together, race on a typically fast course and compete against some of the best teams in the state.”
