By Randy Whalen

As the regular season winds down, the Joliet West girls' cross country team wants to take flight.

After not advancing out ot the regional last season, the Tigers are aiming to move on to the sectional as a team this season. Toward the end of September, they got to see how they matched up with some of the top teams in the area. That was at the 49th Annual Minooka Flight Invite on Saturday, September 20, at Channahon Community Park.

"It's a different type of race," Joliet West girls' cross country coach Renae Batsch-Haaker said. "Our goal for each runner in their flight is to go out, race, and be with the other runners. I want us to just hang in there."

A flighted format is where competitors are grouped into different, smaller races (flights) based on their assigned number or skill level, rather than all runners competing in a single large Varsity and JV race. In a flighted format, runners are grouped into flights, such as "number-7 runners" or "5/6" runners, to create a more competitive environment for athletes who might typically be in the middle or back of the pack. 

This format gives runners a better chance to compete against and potentially win against runners of similar ability, fostering a different type of team strategy and offering opportunities for individual achievement for those who usually don't score low on their team.

In Flight 1, the top flight, junior Paola Gonzalez placed 8th for Joliet West with a time of 19 minutes: 35 seconds in the 3-mile race. 

"I felt good going into the race," Gonzalez said. "I was in the competitive heat, going with a lot of great talent, and I thought I did well. I stuck with the group and was running with someone. I always had my eyes going forward."

Junior Caitlyn Podell (21:11) was ninth in Flight 2. Senior Briahna Klobnak (22:56) placed 10th in Flight 3, junior Kendall Santerelli (21:52) had a nice time in Flight 4 to place 9th. In Flight 5, junior Leah Blunk (22:34) was 8th. Junior Rachel Saxon (24:29). placed 10th in Flight 6, and Bailey Williams (22:45) was 9th in Flight 7. Since it was flighted, varsity team standings were not kept.

"We can see what we plan to change," Batsch-Haaker said. "We're making good progress. It's nice to race consistently here at Channahon Park. There are different vantage points where we know where to make moves and take risks. We have that confidence."

It was the second consecutive race for the Tigers at Channahon Park. They did well at the Steelmen Invitational on Saturday, September 13, against the teams in the Southwest Prairie Conference. 

Lincoln-Way Central (44) took first. Downers Grove South (69), Lincoln-Way East (94), Fenwick (121), and Neuqua Valley (134) rounded out the Top 5. Waubonsie Valley (145), Joliet West (222), West Aurora (235), Oswego (237), Plainfield Central (243), Joliet Central (266), Stagg (298), Andrew (321), Oak Lawn Community (363), and Reavis (402) rounded out the 15-team field.

The times for Joliet West were Gonzalez (28th, 20:07.20), Podell (36th, 20:34.70), Santerelli (49th, 21:19.10), Klobnak (57th, 22:01.90), and Blunk (68th, 22:46.40). 

The Tigers will be back at Channahon Park two more times before the end of the season. One is soon, on Wednesday, October 1, for the Will County Invite. The other is the SPC meet, which will be held on Friday, October 17, again at Channahon Park.

Last year, Joliet West didn't make it out of the Class 3A Minooka Regional, which was also held at Channahon Park, missing it by two points. 

"The goal isn't to get out of the regional; we just want something more than last year," said Batsch-Haaker, who took the Tigers to the sectional in 2023, earlier this season. "Last year, I think the team let doubt set in. So this year, we want to just be positive and show up. Not just that day, but all year around."

This year, the Tigers won't be at Channon Park for a Class 3A regional. They are assigned to the Lincoln-Way Central Regional, which will be on Saturday, October 25, at Mokena Park. That feeds into the Normal Community Sectional, which will be held on Saturday, November 1, at Maxwll Park in Normal.

"Last year we didn't make it," Gonzalez said of getting to the sectional as a team. "So this year, to make that happen, we all have to push each other."