Five area teams, top local runners to compete at state

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Mark Derrick of Neuqua Valley crosses the finish line in first place last Saturday at the Lockport Class A Sectional. Derrick leads the Wildcats to Saturday's state finals at Detweiller Park along the Illinois River in Peoria. | Art Vassy~Sun-Times Medi

Updated: January 3, 2012 1:44AM

The Naperville area will have plenty of representation this Saturday for the girls and boys Class 3A state races at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

In all, five teams and an additional six individuals will be making the trip downstate.

The Naperville North girls qualified for their 21st straight state appearance and head into the final event of the state series surging in confidence.

“Our confidence comes mainly from the fact that the girls can sense that we’re running really well right now,” coach Dan Iverson said. “That’s a feeling — regardless of whether you win a trophy or run a certain time — that is extremely powerful and cannot be replaced.”

The Benet girls return to state for the first time since 2008.

“This is a group that grew up a lot after last year’s elimination at regionals,” coach Scott Brooks said. “They really stepped up in terms of work ethic and desire, and they have worked very hard to improve since last year and I was very happy to see it pay off for them.”

Naperville North won the Wheaton North girls sectional and Benet was fifth there. Neuqua Valley joins those two in Peoria, as the Wildcats qualified for state for the second consecutive season. They placed fifth in the Lockport Sectional to clinch the final state spot out of that meet.

The Huskies finished 15th in state a year ago, while Neuqua Valley was 21st.

Naperville North stands the best chance of earning a trophy, which goes to the top 3 teams for each gender.

Individually, Naperville Central’s Amanda Fox, Waubonsie Valley’s Ashley Bruner and Metea Valley sophomore Kendall Cast earned state berths. Fox very realistically could contend for a medal (top 25), considering she won nearly every race she ran this year. Fox finished 34th in state last year, running a 17:33 race. Bruner also has been hot this season, and she and Cast will be running at state for the first time this year.

North, Neuqua vie for boys title

Neuqua Valley and Naperville North will vie for team trophies in the boys competition. Both the Wildcats and the Huskies won their respective sectionals, so it’s not too hard to foresee either or both squads standing on the awards stage at the end of the day.

Neuqua Valley qualifies for the 11th straight year and joins York as the only programs to have finished in the top 15 each of the past 10 seasons. Seniors Mark Derrick and Taylor Soltys anchor a top 7 that has seen significant turnover since last year.

“It is actually not unique to us,” coach Paul Vandersteen said. “Last year, we had only one runner return from our top 7 and we took third (at state). The year before, we had two runners return and we won. Our guys understand that they may have to wait until their senior year before they become one of our top 7 and make a difference at state.”

Naperville North finished 19th in the state last season and has made state the past 14 seasons. The Huskies, like the Wildcats, have made winning a yearly tradition.

“In the end, it is the little things that the kids have to do correctly to earn a state trophy,” Naperville North coach Dave Racey said. “Personally, I am very proud of all the kids that have run on our state teams over the years. I hope that we can reach higher in the next several years and make a state trophy more of a common occurrence.”

Individually, Metea Valley twins Joe and Matt Stewart pose formidable threats to other medalist hopefuls. They were Nos. 1 and 2 at the Wheaton North Sectional, where Joe (14:50.1) set a course record. Joe made state last year but Matt did not.

They’ll be joined by Benet’s Matt Rurka, who qualified for state for the first time as a senior.