By Michael Newman

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Here are the DyeStat Illinois Girls Coach of the Year during the 2014 Cross Country Season by classification. Congratulations to all the award winners and to the coaches that were considered for this award.

3A Girls – Dan Iverson, Naperville North

It was a tough choice in what was the most competitive 3A Girls season in the IHSA’s history. There were so many teams that stepped up. There were two coaches that stood out a little bit more than the rest of their peers.

Naperville North’s Dan Iverson had his team ranked second in the pre-season rankings. An early season setback to Hinsdale Central at the First to the Finish Invitational was the team’s only loss to an Illinois school during the year and finished 4^th in the final DyeStat Illinois 3A rankings. Their only set back was when they finished third at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota at the end of September. They did have a close call when they tied Naperville Central in the DuPage Valley Conference meet in which they won on the sixth runner. It was not one of their best performances of the year. Still, Iverson preached to his team the importance of keeping a close pack. That showed at the end with an overwhelming win at the 3A St. Charles East Sectional and then the 3A State Championship win in which they placed their 5 runners in the first 31with only a 26 second split. The principles that the team learned from Iverson carried over to the post season when Naperville North qualified for the Nike Cross Nationals with a 2^nd place finish at the NXN Midwest Regional and a 4^th place finish at Portland.

Palatine’s Joe Parks has just as an impressive record. The Lady Pirates finished 3^rd in the final DyeStat Illinois rankings. They suffered two early season losses finishing second to Hinsdale Central at the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational and then second to Glenbard West at the Richard Spring Invitational at Detweiller Park. They were undefeated after that meet until the state meet. Their pack got tighter just at the right time. They finished 2^nd in the 3A State Meet behind state champ Naperville North and 2013 champion Glenbard West. They were the first team in Girls State Meet history to have all seven runners under 18 minutes. In the post-season, Palatine continued finishing third at the NXN Midwest Regional in which they earned an at-large bid to the Nike Cross Nationals. They placed 12^th at Portland.

It did not look like that Naperville North would place in the top three in the state meet after their performance at the DuPage Valley Conference Meet. Iverson got the team together to do what they did in winning the 3A State Championship.

Congratulations to Dan Iverson as the 2014 DyeStat Illinois 3A Girls Coach of the Year.

2A Girls – Tim Plotke, Lemont HS

It would be easy to give this award to Yorkville’s Chris Muth. The Lady Foxes were the pre-season favorite to repeat as the state champion. They met expectations winning their 4^th straight 2A Girls State Championship.

I also liked what Lake Forest’s Steve Clegg did. Lake Forest was not ranked in the DyeStat Illinois 2A Girls Pre-Season Rankings. Part of that ranking was due to the fact that he had two stud freshman that were not included in the rankings process. They won the Lake County Invitational and rocketed up towards the top. He took this young team and molded them into a podium team that finished second in November at Detweiller Park.

What Lemont’s Tim Plotke did this season was also quite remarkable. At the First to the Finish Invitational, Lemont finished fifth in the meet. They did not have a high powered schedule not facing a ranked team until they got to the state series. In that time, Plotke took a young team and worked on packing principles. Their splits were low against easy competition, but they got the idea that staying close to each other would result in big things when it counted. They crushed six ranked teams in winning the Rosary Regional and then defeating the same teams at the Wheaton Academy Sectional running an 18 second split on their 2 through 5 runners. Taylor Campos finished 23^rd in the 2A State meet leading her team to a 4^th place finish missing a trip to the podium by only four points.

Even though Lake Forest was unranked at the beginning of the season, they faced good competition to solidify their ranking towards the front. Lemont did not have that competition but had the confidence to race against some of the top teams and performed when the time was right at the state meet. That was the edge that put Plotke just ahead in this award.

Congratulations to Tim Plotke as the 2014 DyeStat Illinois 2A Girls Coach of the Year.

1A Girls – Jason Retz, St. Joseph-Ogden HS

The one coach that deserve this award and the only coach that was considered was St. Joseph-Ogden’s coach Jason Retz. The Spartans started off ranked 5^th in the DyeStat Illinois 1A Girls pre-season ranking. They proved that they belonged at the top winning their own invitational ahead of then #1 Urbana University and defending 1A state champion St. Teresa. They rolled into the state series with a convincing win at the Patriot Invitational. Their convincing win at the tough St. Teresa Sectional ahead of the host team proved that this squad was ready to win the state championship. Retz had three all-state runners in his team’s somewhat easy win at the 1A state meet. Urbana University was 84 points behind in second place. That is how dominating that SJO’s performance was at Detweiller Park in November.

Congratulations to Jason Retz as the 2014 DyeStat Illinois 1A Girls Coach of the Year.