Girls cross country: Record Newspapers preview capsules for the 2023 season

The girls cross country season is underway. Here are previews of teams from around the Record Newspapers coverage area.

Oswego

Coach: Alicia Rafferty

Top returners: Addi Richter, jr.; Lucy Kler, jr.; Kate Soderlind, sr.; Samantha Ventura, jr.

Key newcomers: Morgan Bradley, fr.; Kristin Soderlind, fr.; Lexi (Alexa) Richter, fr.; Anna (Joanna) Rimington, fr.

Worth noting: Audra Soderlind, who swept conference, regional and sectional championships last fall, has graduated and is now running at Iowa. Kelly Wong, who would have been Oswego’s top runner, will not be running cross country as she is working through some non-emergency medical issues and is not medically cleared to run right now. “We are hoping she can be back for track, but it is not certain. She knows how good she can be,” Rafferty said.

With Wong out, Richter has stepped into Oswego’s lead runner position and is gaining confidence to lead the team after a strong summer. Kate Soderlind, plagued by injuries throughout her high school career, had her most consistent mileage and workout summer since her freshman year and is looking strong heading into the fall. Cler and Ventura also had great summers and should be factors in Oswego’s top five this year, with Josie Reiseck, Rowan Barker and Hannah Wilson possible contributors to the top 10 and Bradley, Kristin Soderlind, Richter and Rimington freshmen looking to make an impact.

“It will be a big unknown what my team can do this year,” Rafferty said. “Obviously, without Kelly that leaves us without a returning ‘top runner.’ The girls have stepped up in workouts and runs and mileage but it will be a learning curve of how they race together in this new mix of girls. Many girls are in new positions on the team and how that will play out is pretty much unknown. The goals are to get as many girls into the 19:00s as possible and see where we can go from there. The possibilities are exciting but they have to trust the process.”

Oswego East

Coach: Lisa Cook

Top returners: Morgan Dick, sr.; Josslyn Gaona, sr.; Olivia Van Denend, jr.; Emma Berglund, jr.; Julia Burney, so.; Annie Schiltz, jr.; Mae Robinson, jr.; Izzy Ramirez, jr.; Ashley Gumm, so.

Key newcomers: Macy Dick, fr.; Maya Langel, fr.

Worth noting: The Wolves last season placed second at the conference, regional and sectional meets and took 18th at the Class 3A state meet. Morgan Dick was all-conference, third at regionals, fourth at sectionals and 38th at state. Gaona and Van Denend are also returning all-conference runners. Van Denend and Berglund are juniors who have been varsity athletes in both cross country and track. Cook said that the junior class will be a group to watch as the season progresses. “We had four seniors race at state last season, which means we have a lot of opportunities for our younger athletes to step in and make big contributions to the team this year,” Cook said. Macy Dick is an athlete to watch, and placed fourth at the season-opening Yorkville Invite. Burney and Gumm could also work their way into the top seven.

“Our goal is always to be the best team in program history, so our goals are set on beating our 18th place finish at state last year,” Cook said. “Our team has put in a lot of miles over the summer, and we can’t wait to see their teamwork pay off in races.”

Plano

Coach: Andrew DeBolt

Top returners: Alex Lemke, sr.; Alison Goodyear, jr.; Ash Armstrong.

Key newcomers: Aliyah Reyna, so.

Worth noting: DeBolt said that the Reapers are excited to have a full girls team this year with most of the girls having a year of experience now. “Ash Armstrong did not miss any summer runs and will be much improved this season,” DeBolt said. “The girls do an excellent job of pushing each other in workouts and I expect a season with many personal bests.”

Sandwich

Coach: Michael Lee

Top returners: Sunny Weber, so.; Joanna Rivera, jr.; Emily Urbanski, jr.; Erin Lissman, jr.; Hannah Treptow, jr.

Key newcomers: Sierra Beatty, fr.; Kayla Kressin, fr.; Norah Vick, fr.

Worth noting: The Indians, in moving to Class 2A, have their work cut out for them – but this is a strong group that returns intact from last season. Weber is coming off a sensational freshman season. She took second in the state in Class 1A, won regionals and sectionals and took second at the Interstate 8 Conference meet, then followed that up by taking second in the 3,200-meter run and third in the 1,600 at the state track meet. Rivera was ninth at conference, sixth at regionals and 24th at sectionals, Urbanski was eighth at conference, eighth at regionals and 15th at sectionals, Lissman was 31st at conference and 14th at regionals and Treptow was 27th at conference and 25th at regionals.

“With the incoming freshmen ready to compete, our entire team returning from last year, and a very positive preseason under our belts, we are confident that we can be a force of competition this season,” Lee said. “We have kept all our major competitions and invites from last year which brought with it various levels of competition from conference leaders to state qualifiers and medalist. Our athletes have already built a strong relationship with one another and are pushing each other every day in practice. I see great things happening for this rather younger team in the near future.”

Yorkville

Coach: Chris Muth

Top returners: Sophia Keeler, jr.; Allegra Triner, sr.; Ashley Schraeder, so.

Key newcomers: Annabelle Reeder, so.; Mia Evans, fr.; Nikki Kraus, fr.; Bella Edwards, fr.; Lily Camargo, jr.;

Worth noting: The Foxes return three of their top seven runners from a team that placed ninth at Class 3A state last season. That group does not include Ava Galloway, who would have been Yorkville’s top runner if healthy but won’t be competing this year due to hip surgery in June. Keeler, 63rd at state last year, worked on her speed during track season, iproving her 800/1600 times and gaining some big meet experience at the state meet finals. She was third at the season-opening Kailey Fox Invite that Yorkville won. “We look for her to be a top two runner this season and think she can lead this team as she gains confidence and better race strategies.” Schraeder built on a solid improvement during track season, ran a 5:18 mile and Muth said has used that confidence to consistently train at the level of Keeler. Reeder, Camargo, Green, Werderich and a few members of Yorkville’s freshman class could potentially fill some holes left by graduations.

“This summer and early season we are stressing the fact that we have to out work, work harder than and do the little details better than other teams to keep pace,” Muth said. “We have potential but some have to realize potential isn’t enough in 3A and coming together as a team is one of the most important aspects of success. It would be unrealistic to expect them to achieve standards set by past years’ teams, but they can pave their own path and accomplish great things.”