Girls XC takes on West Suburban Conference on home course
October 23, 2019
This past Saturday, Oct. 19, the York girls cross country team ran against the highly competitive West Suburban Conference-Silver Division on their home course of Berens Park. Competing against the schools of Glenbard West, Lyons Township, Oak Park-River Forest, Hinsdale Central, Downers Grove North, and Proviso West is a tough feat, however, both the varsity and junior varsity squads took third and the freshmen/sophomores won it all with a very low score of 20 points.
There were excellent performances from the varsity girls all across the field. Freshman Brooke Berger ran a speedy 17:49.48 placing 9th overall and receiving an “All-Conference” honor, sophomore Katelyn Winton ran an 18:06.86 also receiving the “All-Conference” honor, and freshman Bria Bennis ran an 18:13.09. They were followed by senior Lydia Hickey, sophomore Kathleen Buhrfiend, senior Maggie Clink and sophomore Katelyn Leonard.
“I tried to run my best to help my team place well,” freshmen and top-runner Brooke Berger said. “My favorite part from the meet was hugging and congratulating all my teammates at the end of our races.”
The junior varsity race was filled with fierce competition and was spearheaded by senior Maya Curry who placed 8th overall and ran a 19:14.60. Following Curry was senior Ayesha Siddiqi, who ran a 19:45.89, senior Courtney Dunlap raced a 20:02.10, and the following scorers included senior Mary Kritikos, senior Bella Walker, senior Emma Kern and lastly, junior Emily Ebsen who rounded out the rest of the JV team.
“I’d say that cross country helps bring people together who never would’ve met otherwise, and that’s a beautiful thing,” senior Sophia Muren said after reflecting on the season. “There are so many different kinds of athletes on the team, and every person gives something special to the team that can’t be replicated for any other sport. We will always remember the friends and memories we made because nothing will ever be the same as having a family of 104 girls.”
The freshmen and sophomores didn’t hold back in their race and ended up taking home the first place title. Leading the race for the Dukes, and winning the entire race was sophomore Bella Swanson who raced a speedy 18:35.87, freshman Maureen Buhrfiend ran an 18:57.24, and sophomore Charlotte Reedy ran a 19:11.32. Succeeding Reedy were sophomores Shannon Farrow, Allison Fitzgibbons, Erin Powers, and lastly freshman Kate Pratt.
“My favorite memory was spending time running after school with the girls in my group [3B] we always have so much fun running together even if its a hard workout we make it a good time,” sophomore Emily Baker said.
The 2019-2020 season has been deemed successful thus far for the Dukes. The top 12 athletes will continue practicing and the top seven girls will be competing in the regional meet on Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. at Camera Park in Glendale Heights. Their sectional meet is on Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. at Lake Park High School’s East campus and the state meet, as always, will be hosted at Detweiller Park in Peoria, IL on Nov. 8. The girl’s race will begin at 1 p.m. and the boys at 2 p.m.
“I am really really proud of the girls,” Assistant Coach Jimmy Kold said. “Whether they were running or injured the support and enthusiasm they provided to their teammates was incredible to see.”
