The Benet girls cross country team ran home from the IHSA State Competition with 11th place overall. During the competition, 3 runners finished under 18 minutes for the 3 mile race. The team is in the 3A division, the top tier. It was a huge accomplishment to be the only Catholic school to make it to State. The girls cross country team has made it to State in the past, but this time was different. With a lot of fast runners and new blood on the varsity team, this was one of their strongest performances yet.
Out of all the Catholic schools in the ESCC (East Suburban Catholic Conference), Benet came in 1st beating out the ever strong Nazareth team. Kelly Andrews won the 2017 Athlete of the Year Award and Coach Scott Brooks won Coach of the Year. Earlier in the season, the Benet Herald asked sophomore Nicole Kowalczyk how she thought the season was going as well as what she contributed their success to. She said, “I’m really proud of how we work together, and I think it motivates us to do better.” Coach Brooks agreed that the girls were having a great season and many of the players concurred that, with a little more practice, they would be ready for conference; and they were. The team can’t wait to see what’s in store for next season.