Prospect edges York by one point in team thriller at Richard Spring Invitational
OPRF dominates in Boys team race; Grace Schager, Conner Burns run great solo efforts in individual wins
By Michael Newman [email protected]
Peoria, Ill – This kind of race is only supposed to happen in November on this fabled course.
The top two teams in Illinois, York, and Prospect, faced off Saturday morning in the Girls Varsity race at the Richard Spring Invitational at historic Detweiller Park on the north side of Peoria. Temperatures in the 80’s with high humidity at 80% made it feel like a summer morning in July compared a Saturday in September just about ready to enter autumn.
It was an epic battle between these two powerhouse teams. #2 Prospect had the edge in this meet winning with 53 points. #1 York was just one point back scoring 54 points.
The race was close throughout. Both teams packs found each other before the first turn. By the time the race got to the first mile, it was a sea of blue and green at the front of the pack. Prospect actually had a two point lead (64-66) ahead of their counter parts from York. It was just a sign of what would happen in the final two miles.
A big plus for Prospect in this race was the addition of Frosh/Soph runners Veronica Znajda and Meg Peterson to the Varsity level of this meet. The two runners had been running great in the lower level races with their times compared highly to the team’s varsity runners. Now Peterson and Znajda had their chance.
“After last week my coach (Pete Wintermute) suggested that I run on the varsity level in this race,” Znajda said after the race. “He asked me again if I was ready for the race. I was mentally ready for this thinking of running next to my teammates.”
Prospect made a move during the second mile as they entered the triangle portion of the course. Hailey Erickson and Znajda tried to stretch the pace out on York’s Bria Bennis as they tried to catch Hersey’s Anna Harden. The other five Prosepct runners used the same strategy making that surge. It was not a move that York reacted to immediately. Erickson, Bennis, and Znajda all passed 2-miles in third through fifth five seconds behind Harden. Prospect had a 28 second split on their top five at that point. They had also opened up a 53-65 lead on the Dukes. York had a 36 second top five split and would have to do work in the final mile of the race.
It came down to…
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