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Cross country preview: Ashley Verplank is back for BHS
Ashley Verplank will race in the traditional colors of Bloomington High School this cross country season. Opponents, however, should picture her in red, symbolic of danger. As one of the nation’s fastest 800-meter runners and the reigning Class AA state champion in the 1,600, Verplank can sprint at the end of a 3-mile cross country race like few others. “It doesn’t matter how long the race is, she always has a kick,” said BHS coach John Szabo. Verplank is the clear leader of a talented crop of Intercity girls out for cross country. She ran a 2-minute, 7.59-second 800 this summer to rank ninth nationally after she had gone a Pantagraph area record 2:09.7 during the high school track season to go with a 4:54.95 1,600. Her cross country prowess in the state meet has not matched her track exploits as she placed 58th last year. “Last year she gutted through some pain (with a leg injury),” Szabo said. “It’s a credit to her she qualified for state.” Verplank showed strength in the spring, lowering her 3,200 best to 11:06.3. “She is very smooth and efficient,” Szabo said. “She is naturally gifted. You add speed and if we continue to get her stronger, she has a heck of a future ahead of her.” Division I colleges have been calling Szabo all summer about Verplank. The race for Intercity team supremacy figures to be between reigning Big 12 champion Normal Community and reigning Intercity champion Normal West. Both will compete in Class 3A of the new three-class system with BHS. First-year runner Marie O’Leary, who ran 2:25.1 in the 800 last spring as a freshman, will lead NCHS, which returns five of its top seven from a 27th-place state team. “We feel we have the depth to possibly make it to state (for the sixth consecutive year),” said NCHS coach Tom Patten. Normal West returns Kayla Braffet, Sarah Marrochello and Kirsten Boesen, who placed third, 11th and 12th, respectively, in the Intercity last year. “I think we’ll be a solid team,” said Wildcat coach Den Patten. “We’re not as strong up front as we were last year.” A freshman will lead the way at University High where ninth-grader Emily Clay, third in the junior high state meet, joins a solid nucleus of six returnees from last year’s top seven. “I would say she probably has a chance of getting under 19 minutes (for 3 miles),” said Coach Lester Hampton. Another star to watch is Central Catholic sophomore Kelly Curran, who placed 21st in the Class A state meet last fall and then took fourth in both the state 1,600 (5:07.93) and 3,200 (11:28.3) last spring. “She looks great,” said Coach Tom Engelhorn, whose 12-girl team is the largest he has coached. Among the 105 girls running Intercity cross country will be Cornerstone Christian Academy freshman Katie Wilhelm. Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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