Hosting Regionals

The Wildcats had the chance to get to race IHSA Regionals on their home course. The team was ready to go out and run their best when it matters the most.

The girls race kicked things off. Brooke Rochacz was aggressive from the start and put herself in a great position early in the race, in 5^th place through the first half mile. By the 1 mile she was in 6^th, but looking strong. Brooke knew with a strong run she would be in a good position to move on to next week’s Sectional. Brooke was able to battle the last stretch, finish in 7^th place overall and run a new lifetime PR (and become the fastest PHS girl on our home XC course), and qualify for next week’s Sectional. Brooke should be in a great spot to potentially punch her ticket to Peoria for the IHSA State Finals.

Poppy Hohman was the next runner in, she ran an aggressive race from the gun. Getting out strong and fighting with each stride. Poppy is a gamer, who brings her best on race day, and today was no different. Poppy was able to run over a 10 second PR and finish as the Wildcats number 2 runner, Poppy became the 4^th fastest girl in PHS history on our home course. The future is bright for this Wildcat.

Nessa Rodriguez has had an up and down season. She has not been able to have much in the way of consistent training due to some injury setbacks. But what Nessa always has on her side is a competitive drive once that gun goes off and the race is going. Today was no different, she moved up well throughout the race, and was able to run a lifetime PR as a great way to finish her sophomore season.

Sam Norville has taken a big jump in her training the last 6 months, she was incredibly consistent this summer, logging a ton of miles. She was an athlete that we always knew we would get a strong performance from. Today, Sam took an aggressive approach to the race, and had to really fight the second half of the race. Sam was able to maintain her pace and ended up running her second best time of the season.

Sophie Salkas rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats today. Sophie ended up running a very consistent race, and moved through the field very well. Sophie has done a good job this year of training smart to be able to be healthy and ready to go on race day. She was able to end her season with her fastest time of the year. Running her best when it matters most.

Emily Fannin unfortunately missed about 4 weeks of both training and racing in the middle of the season. She made the decision last week to try to gut out a race effort at SPC, and she was able to complete the race and feel alright doing so, that meant she was going to give it a go at Regionals. Racing your way back in shape is tough physically, but significantly tougher mentally, and Emily should be very proud of the fight she had on the course today.

Ashlynn Sabatini finished up the day for the Wildcats. Ashlynn has taken a big step as both a runner on the team, but also a leader on the team, she played a vital role in the team’s success this year. Ashlynn was able to be consistently in the 25-minute range this year (and was again today at Regionals), running times that were on average 2 plus minutes faster than what she was running last year.

The team will not race as a group next week, but Brooke Rochacz will represent the Wildcats at the Normal Community Sectional.

Spencer Kazak is a first year junior XC runner, he continues to build confidence with each race. Regionals was no different. He knew before the race, with a great run, he had a chance to move on to the IHSA Sectionals next week. At halfway, Spencer was roughly the 8^th or 9^th individual not on a qualifying team (top 5 advance) but he looked strong and was moving up in a big way. By the 2.5 mile mark he was in position, where if he closed well enough he would qualify. He did, and he did. Although, it took until awards to confirm. But congratulations to Spencer who, ran a big PR and will race again next week.  

Caden De Graaf has big goals, and getting opportunities to race varsity as a freshman is a great learning experience. Caden ran a strong, and consistent race as the Wildcats number 2 runner, and was able to break 17 for the second time this season, and come away with a nice little PR. A great way to round out his freshman year. The future is bright for Caden.

Ty Vitanovec had a very rough time from the end of Regionals last year until really a few weeks into this XC season. He was coming off a stress fracture and was regaining race fitness slowly, but to Ty’s credit, he kept at it. A Lakes a few weeks ago, he had a breakthrough and then at SPC he was running with the confidence he had last fall. Regionals was Ty’s best race of the year. He got out fast, and raced strong the whole way. Coming away with a big PR!

Dominik Barrios has been a leader for the team this season. Unfortunately for Dom, he was battling a little illness all week. He knew that Regionals would be go time, and he wanted to be there for his team. Dom got out a little more conservative and then joined the pack with Ty, Will, Diego, and Emerson. Dom kept pressing the second half of the race, moving up well. Dom finished just 1 second off his lifetime PR, despite how he was feeling all week, to step up and run like he did speaks to his character.

Emerson Raino had a strong run at the Wildcat Invitational in September and then hit a patch of races where he was a little frustrated with his performance. Until, Lakes when he had another good one, and then again on Tuesday at Fast Cat. Those performances earned him a chance to line up in his first varsity race, and the stage was not too big for him. Emerson got out under control and moved well through the pack to join our pack at the mile mark. Emerson continued to moved up and finished as the team’s 5^th runner in his first varsity race, running a 40 second PR in the process. Emerson and Caden brough the heat as freshman at Regionals, they lead the way for the class of 2029 who can make big moves in the future.

Will Carter is another first year junior to the XC team (Spencer Kazak), every race will has continued to improve. Will’s big breakthrough came in Peoria where he was able to break 19 for the first time. Will moved himself into a position to be a consistent varsity runner after that. Will ran a very tough race at Regionals, coming away with a 23 second PR. Will was able to improve nearly 3 minutes from Wildcat Invitational to Regionals.

Diego Arce rounded out the day for the Wildcats. Diego has been managing an injury the last few weeks and wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to race at Regionals. Diego warmed up and decided to give it a go. He got out with his typical aggressive start, unfortunately for Diego the injury held him back a bit the last mile or so. Despite the setback Diego ran his 2^nd fastest time of the season. Diego has seen consistent improvement all year, and it’s a reflection of hard work.

Two athletes from PHS will toe the line at IHSA Sectionals next week in Normal. The team will be behind them every step of the way.