PEORIA - Mild-mannered, easy-going, soft-spoken Kelly Curran destroyed the field in the Class 1A girls state cross country meet Saturday.

The Central Catholic High School junior, who says she likes and respects her fellow competitors as athletes and people, showed no mercy on Detweiller Park's chilly 3-mile course, winning by 16 seconds.

Curran's career best time of 17 minutes, 27 seconds tied the 1A meet record set by Eureka's Olivia Klaus last year. Curran would have won in 2A by 14 seconds and placed 12th in 3A.

"I think Kelly would fight you playing chess, playing cards," quipped her coach, Tom Engelhorn. "Kelly is a competitor. She is so ferocious.

"I'm glad she won the state championship because with anything less than first, she would not have been a happy camper."

Curran and all-state teammate Kerry Pelton (21st, 18:44) helped their school place fourth in its state meet debut with 145 points, missing a trophy by 12.

The Pantagraph area also saw Eureka take sixth (205), Tremont 11th (282) and Tri-Valley 17th (325).

Other area all-staters were Eureka's Kalla Gold (5th, 17:54), Tri-Valley's Stephanie Brown (10th, 18:19) and Tremont's Jamee Holmes (15th, 18:38).

"It was unbelievable knowing no one in the state can beat me right now," Curran said. "I can't even wrap my mind around it."

Curran also won last spring's Class A state track 3,200-meter run to help Central place third.

She covered the first mile Saturday in 5:40 to trail the 5:35 of Tri-Valley's Brown. By midway, Brown was joined by Curran and Rockford Lutheran's Sarah Kortze. Curran and Kortze passed 2 miles in 11:30.

"She started to pull away," Curran said. "I just stayed confident. With 400 left, we were even and then I started to stride out and took it from her."

Engelhorn loved it.

"Watching her the last 250 yards: her cadence, her determination, she looked great," he said. "It's a thrill to have a state champion."

Winnebago (115) won for the fourth straight year while upping its state record for titles to 11. Elmwood (119) and Rockford Lutheran (133) followed.

"They ran hard," Engelhorn said of the Saints. "They ran well. I'm so proud of these girls. I hope they're not disappointed we aren't taking home a team trophy. It wasn't like we went out and bagged our races. We just got out run."

Pelton's all-state effort as a senior was dandy for a former tennis player in her first cross country season.

"At the end, I was giving all I've got, but there wasn't much left," she said.

Eureka's Gold, who placed third among freshmen, punctuated a remarkable comeback from a stress fracture, which cost her a month of the season.

"When I hurt myself, I didn't thing I would get back to where I was before that," she said after clocking a personal best.

Eureka's 11th consecutive state trip tied the fourth-best showing in school history.

"Our goal was top three," said Hornet coach Brett Charlton. "The kids gave it their all."

Tri-Valley's Brown, second last year, didn't play it safe as she built a 10-yard lead in the race's first four minutes.

"I went up there the first mile and after that, I didn't have it," said the disappointed three-time state 800 champion.

Being joined at state for the fourth straight year by her team helped Brown cope with her individual placement.

"Nobody in Tri-Valley history in any sport has done that," she said.

"We wouldn't have been here without Stephanie's leadership this year," said Viking coach Todd Schneider. "She really got the most out of the girls."

Tremont's Holmes in 15th got a medal from her first state trip while placing second among sophomores.

"I tend to go out pretty fast so I tried to keep under control this time and not be too fast at the mile so I could have even splits," said Holmes, who ran a 6:00 first mile.

Tough day in Class 2A: After winning medals a year ago, University High's Emily Clay and Mahomet-Seymour's Amy Clawson were hoping to do better than 40th (18:47) and 65th (19:14), respectively.

"I thought she had a great start," said U High coach Lester Hampton of Clay. "She was in 25th (midway). She just wasn't able to hold it. As I watched her run, she just didn't look fluid today."

Class 3A even tougher: Normal Community, the smallest of 25 3A qualifiers by 500 students, finished last with 645 points. Marie O'Leary led the way in 74th (18:14).

"They got the experience and now we want to bring them back next year and see if we can do something with them," said Coach Tom Patten.