2021 ILXCTF.com XC Season Awards - Girls Newcomer XC Runners of the Year

By Michael Newman [email protected]

2021 ILXCTF.com XC Season Awards - Girls Newcomer XC Runners of the Year

By Michael Newman [email protected]

The following runners were chosen as the 2021 ILXCTF.com Girls Newcomer Cross Country Runners of the year. Three runners were chosen one each by classification.

Class 3A

Congratulations go out to Scout Storms of Barrington High School as the ILXCTF.com 3A Girls Newcomer XC Runner of the Year. The freshman was the highest finisher for her class when she placed eighth in the IHSA Class 3A State Meet running a personal best of 16:53 for 3-miles on a cross country course. Storms came on strong at the end of the season finishing second in the Mid Suburban League Championships, winning the Schaumburg Regional, and then finishing ninth at the Hoffman Estates Sectional.

Holly Johnson of Downers Grove South was also considered in this category. The freshman was the top runner for the Mustangs in the 3A State Meet as she finished 13th at Detweiller Park. Johnston won twice during the season picking up wins at the Naperville Girls Invitational and the WSC-Gold Championships.

Class 2A

Congratulations are in order for Mia Kotler of the Latin School in Chicago as the ILXCTF.com 2A Girls Newcomer XC Runner of the Year. It was evident that this freshman would be one of the top runners in this class when she won the Freshman/Sophomore race at the beginning of the year at the Hornet/Red Devil Invitational. Kotler gave Latin School a solid 1-2 punch up front with teammate Ava Parekh. Kotler finished second behind Parekh at the Mather Regional and Fenton Sectional before finishing third running 16:41.4 at the 2A State Meet.

The Class 2A State Meet showed the promise it could have in years to come with three freshman finishing in the top eight in that race. Hadley Ferrero of Crystal Lake Central had a great season concluding by running 16:55.3 to finish fourth overall in the state race. Lucia Ton-That of Northside Prep came on strong during the season that finished as the team’s second runner behind her sister Ella who finished fifth at state. Lucia ran 17:28 to finish eighth in that race.

Class 1A

Congratulations to Louisa Wilson of Williamsville as the ILXCTF.com 1A Girls Newcomer XC Runner of the Year. This was the toughest of the categories that I will write about to decide on just one runner. Elana Rybak of Father McGivney was also given strong consideration. The two runners faced each other once during the season. That occurred early in the year when Rybak finished second in the 1A race at the First to the Finish Invitational where Rybak finished second while Wilson placed eighth. Wilson went on to win four races before the state meet including the Farmington Regional and then the Elmwood Sectional where she defeated Eureka’s Anna Perry. Rybak won her next six races including wins at the Peoria Heights Patriot Invitational and the Belleville Althoff Regional. Rybak’s season came to an abrupt halt when she was injured during her sectional race at Trenton-Wesclin but still finished 17th. The injury prevented Rybak from racing in the state meet.

Wilson ran such a strong race at state finishing third in the 1A State race making this decision even tougher since Rybak could not run. Rybak finishing ahead of Wilson in September at Peoria was not an influence in the choice. Both runners had great seasons this past fall. Wilson’s finish at the end of the season was a deciding factor running 17:34.