Katherine Rack has her own shoes to fill this season. It was Rack last year who, as a freshman, led the OPRF girls cross-country team to a 12th place overall finish at the Class AA State Meet. The sophomore returns this season to try and improve on her own 10th place finish at state, and to lead a relatively young crew.
Rack, who finished third overall on Saturday at the Fenton Invitational with a time of 18:29, will have help with Evangelie Zachos, another young but experienced runner. Zachos, a sophomore, also ran at state last season, finishing in the top 150 out of 250.
“The thing about some of the young runners during early season practice is that they have been wondering who they are supposed to be following,” said OPRF head coach Sarah McCabe. “There’s no one to follow anymore. They’re the leaders.”
Along with Rack and Zachos, Pauline Lazzeretti, Marnie Kinnaird, Daiga Eizis, and Heather Joyce are expected to be top contenders this season. However, McCabe said she’s not set on one particular lineup yet.
“There could easily be a lot of movement to the lineup this season,” said McCabe. “We need to have runners stepping up and filling in at some open spots.”
With Katherine’s sister, Alison, now running at Loyola University, and Marianne Kirk competing at Rhodes College, this year’s team has some big shoes to fill.
Those in contention for a spot in the top seven include seniors Shannon Egan and Sarah Methe, and juniors Christina Himelick, Allizarin Menninga, and Mia Salamone.
The Huskies will need all the help they can get in the West Suburban (Silver) Conference. Last year’s state champ Hinsdale Central returns most of its runners, as does Lyons Township, who finished seventh overall at the meet last season. Not only that, OPRF and other schools have to deal with the new three-class system in cross-country this season, which limits the state playoffs to just four sectionals.
“I’m disappointed to see this happen,” said McCabe, who is now entering her 19th season as head coach. “I was on the advisory committee awhile back that fought and got six sectionals instead of five, and now we’ve taking a huge step back with only four. It’s really a disservice to the sport. Teams that are conceivably in the top five will not make it to the state meet. I’m hopeful that it will be adjusted as the years go by.”
The Huskies take on Rosary on Saturday (8 a.m.) and then return home to Schiller Woods to host Glenbard West on Set. 13.
OPRF awaits return of Geoghegan
The OPRF boys cross-country team will have to be without its best runner Patrick Geoghegan for at least another two weeks, according to head coach Jose Sosa. Geoghegan, a senior, is currently nursing a stress fracture in his foot.
Mark Keating, Ryan Granholm, Kevin Binns, Coby Hague, Colin McCorey, Eunhwan Yoo, and Alex Brown are expected to step up their running for the Huskies, who finished seventh out of 15 teams at the Fenton Invitational on Saturday.
Even with Geoghegan’s return, OPRF will be hard-pressed to make a run at the West Suburban (Silver) Conference title. York won the Class AA State championship last season and returns two of its three top runners in senior Tom Achtien and junior Steve Sulkin. Achtien and Sulkin finished in the top 15 at state last season.
OPRF travels to Wauconda Saturday and Peoria on Sept. 15 for invitationals. They’ll host the Roy Gummerson tournament at Schiller Woods on Sept. 22 (9 a.m.).