Elly DeTurris finishes fourth as Naperville North takes DuPage Valley title

Elly DeTurris was not her in her customary position Friday afternoon at the DuPage Valley Conference Meet in Glendale Heights.

The Naperville North senior, the two-time defending DVC champion, had to settle for fourth place, but the Huskies captured their third consecutive league title by placing five runners in the top 10 at Camera Park.

Naperville Central runners Rachel Hoffman and Alana Austin bested the field, and the Redhawks eventually tied the 37 points their city rival accumulated.

But Naperville North freshman Natalie Dunnett finished 13th to give the Huskies the tiebreaker.

Wheaton Warrenville South was third with 58 points, followed by Wheaton North (107), Lake Park (144) and Glenbard North (158).

“Anyone would (rather have a team championship than an individual title) in this situation,” DeTurris said. “Every race is different. I did the best I possibly could [Friday].”

Sarah Schmitt, Judy Pendergast, Emily Hamilton and Claire Hamilton were sixth, eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively, to lead the Class 3A reigning state runners-up.

Hoffman captured her first career conference title by touring the 2.88-mile layout in 17 minutes, 4.3 seconds, almost a half-minute faster than her sophomore teammate Austin.

“It was nice to go out there and race my hardest,” Hoffman said. “I was with a group of girls (midway through the race). I tried to break out and things worked out OK.”

“We took a big step [Friday],” Naperville Central coach Aislinn Hicks said.

Sara Atkins’ third-place result paced state-ranked Wheaton South.

The Naperville North boys made it a clean conference sweep as the team results were very similar to the girls’ final standings.

Jon Klaiber turned back WW South senior Kyle Cepeda by almost six seconds to win the championship in 14:48.5.

The Huskies’ Kerry Gschwendter, slowed by injuries for much of the year, complemented his senior classmate with a fourth-place finish.

Christian Moore and Andrew Ladeur were sixth and seventh for Naperville North, which turned back Naperville Central 35-46.

Geoffrey McCullough was third to lead the Redhawks, who also leaned heavily on Scott Hicks’ fifth-fastest time.

“I was with the leaders the whole way,” Klaiber said. “(My strategy was) to make my move in the middle, to separate myself from the pack and help my team.”

“I have had a variety of problems (this fall),” Gschwendter said. “Going into the state series, I am very confident as to what my abilities are.”

It was the Huskies’ first conference title in two years.

“We knew that Naperville Central would [run] very hard at us,” Naperville North coach David Racey said. “Jon Klaiber has done great the whole year. Team-wise, we had two guys (Moore and Emerson King) in our top five who really came through for us. They were the difference.”

Wheaton North, WW South, Glenbard North and Lake Park rounded out the boys’ field.