Samantha Polock finally conquered the curse of Detweiller Park.
The Wheaton North senior, a two-time state champ at 800 meters, had been to the Class AA cross-country state championships three previous times and was considered a state-title contender each season.
But year after year, the Peoria course placed a black mark on her resume. Polock didn’t even finish the race as a freshman, placed 81st as a sophomore and did not crack the top 20 until last year.
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“Just coming to this place makes me nervous,” Polock said. “More than anywhere else.”
After looking over her shoulder one last time to check on her mounting lead, Polock crossed the finish line in 17 minutes 10 seconds and was swarmed by teammates and well-wishers screaming her name and reveling in her championship.
She had finally hit her home run.
“Yeah, she’s faltered here a couple of times, but today was a real good closure for her,” Wheaton North coach Ron Piro said.
Polock’s title run also brought Wheaton North its first team title in girls cross country.
The 21st-place finish of Polock’s freshman sister Lauren and the strong outings of Wheaton North’s 3-4-5 runners Jenna Cerone, Julie Minch and Amanda Laesch gave Wheaton North 87 points to 123 for York. Sandburg was third at 148.
“I don’t think the top three teams were a surprise, but the order was,” said York coach Larry Bassett, whose squad was led by Kara Henry’s 12th-place finish. “Everybody knew [Polock] was capable. It was just a matter of when she would do it.”
Sandburg did one better than last year’s finish but went into the meet unbeaten and favored to win the team title?which would have been the first girls cross-country championship by a SICA school.
“I sense the kids are a little embarrassed, but I hope they use this as motivation to make another run at it next year,” said Sandburg coach Jim Frye, who had two runners?junior Kim Archer and freshman Melanie Glander?finish in the top 25.
Glenbard West’s Farah Jadran was a surprise runner-up with a time of 17:26. The senior transferred from Glenbard North before the school year and had to sit out the first half of the season until the IHSA determined no transfer rules had been broken. She knew there was no catching Polock.
“I saw her take off and there wasn’t much I could do from where I was,” Jadran said. “Second place is fine.”
Normal Community West’s Meghan Braffet, heavily favored to win the race, set a blistering pace at the start. But almost 2 miles later she began to falter and eventually finished 30th.
“I didn’t think I would be able to catch her,” Polock said. “After I did I was like, ‘Holy cow!'”