2025 Cross Country Conference
On Saturday, October 18th, the boys and girls Cross Country team had their Central Suburban League (CSL) Conference meet at Glenbrook South. This is the first meet in the State Series where the runners try to place high enough, individually or as a team, to qualify for state. After months of preparation beginning in the summer, the pressure was high for the HPHS runners, and they delivered an amazing performance. Despite heavy rain and thunder, by the time the Varsity Girls 3 mile race rolled around the weather was perfect for running, even if the grass was a little wet.
Over the entire season, there have been some exciting highlights for both of the Cross Country teams. At the First to the Finish Invite in Peoria, the biggest meet in Illinois, the boys team had three medalists: Senior Henry Gamson who finished 35th out of 355 runners in the varsity race with a time of 15:26.60, Senior Lucas Hoobler who finished 47th in the varsity race at a time of 15:35.10, and Senior Daniel Doyle who finished 30th out of 1104 runners in the open race with a time of 17:20.40.
As for the girls team, a highlight of the season was the Lights Out Invitational in Lake Forest. A fast and only two mile race, the girls team saw lots of personal records (PRs), especially Katelyn Rosen who broke the 13 minute barrier with a time of 12:52.52. With such an exciting season, the HPHS Cross Country teams had exciting prospects for the CSL Conference meet.
One of the special aspects of Cross Country is the amount of training that goes into it. Since late May/early June, the runners have been training for success in the CSL Conference meet and state series. One can only imagine how exciting and stressful it must be to finally get to the meet that all the training has been geared towards. Varsity sophomore runner Kate Kubicki encompassed these feelings: “I was nervous, but I was confident in my training and I knew what I was capable of. I also had run the course before, so I knew what to expect.” When the gun went off at 9:30 to signal the start of the race, Kubicki was geared for success. The race went out fast, and while aiming for good times, the main priority of the HP girls was to try and move up the pack to get better placement and potentially win an All-Conference Award. This meant placing top fourteen in the CSL North Division of six teams. Kubicki had an incredible performance at CSL Conference, placing 9th in CSL North and getting an All-Conference award for the second year in a row. Other All-Conference runners for HPHS were junior Katelyn Rosen (7th), junior Penelope Kapple (10th), and freshman Charlotte (Charlie) Wilhite, who placed 12th. When asked about the rest of the season, Kubicki said that she hopes to run well in her last guaranteed race: Regionals at Fox Lake (Grant).
Kubicki also highlighted how overall, Cross Country is not about the meets or how well one performs: “My favorite part of Cross Country is the friendship I’ve made and the supportive community. I have never seen a community like Cross Country where we all genuinely wish each other to improve and be the best we can be-even when we ourselves do not benefit.” This is especially seen in senior Bella Oviedo. Although she could not run all season due to injury, still came to every meet and practice that she could to cheer on the team, took splits, and gave advice to the team as an experienced runner. Oviedo truly encompasses the definition of a teammate and shows how Cross Country is so much more than racing.
As for the boys team, when the race started at 10:00 am, expectations were high. The weather was perfect, and once again the runners were trying to move up in order to place in the top 14. Senior Henry Gamson had an incredible performance, placing second in the CSL North Conference. Senior Lucas Hoobler placed 4th, Caleb Haggarty placed 6th as only a sophomore, and junior Landon Chase placed 11th. These runners have been strong all season, winning medals in multiple meets. Their performance at CSL Conference did not disappoint and a good performance is expected in the next few meets of the season.
Overall, the Boys and Girls teams crossed the finish lines with extremely successful races. All of their training for the past few months had indeed been worth all of the effort: the Girls team placed 3rd in the CSL North conference and the Boys team placed 2nd. The Giants race once again at Regionals next week at Fox Lake (Grant). This is the last guaranteed race of the season, and in order to move on in the State Series, either the team or individual runners must qualify for the Sectionals meet. The Sectionals meet is followed by the State meet in Peoria.