Welcome to the Girls Cross Country home page. For additional information
on the Girls Cross Country program please contact Head Coach Mr. Matt Haffner at
matthew.haffner@ignatius.org.
For a complete faculty and staff contact list, please visit our Contact Info page.
IHSA Sectional Champions
1987, 1989
IHSA Regional Champions
1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2005, 2010, 2011
Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Champions
1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1989, 2008
Introduction
Cross Country is an endurance sport that incorporates both team and individual components.
Saint Ignatius has a modified no-cut policy with respect to this program. This policy
allows new student-athletes the opportunity to learn the sport at their own rate.
Returnees of all skill levels are expected be in shape when the season starts so
they can handle the training volume of the varsity team. To remain on the team,
all student-athletes must commit to all of the meets and practices on the schedule.
Team
In cross country, there are three different team levels: varsity, freshman/sophomore
and junior varsity. While all three levels practice together on a daily basis, the
team is divided into these three levels for meets. Race distances range from 2.0
to 3.1 miles. Runners are expected to set individual goals while working together
with their teammates in order to achieve team goals throughout the season. The standards
for earning a varsity letter are: 1) running in two varsity races during the season,
2) running 20:30 on a 3-mile course or 3) being on the IHSA State Series roster.
Saint Ignatius competes in the Girls Catholic Athletics Conference
and the Class Saint Ignatius competes in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference
and the Class 3A Division of the IHSA. All-Conference honors are extended to any
athletes achieving first through 15th place finishes in the varsity conference championship.
State Championship participation is determined by team and individual finishes at
the IHSA Regional and Sectional Meets.
Last Season Recap
The frosh-soph girls cross country team finished one of its best seasons ever with
a record of 61-3. In the four F/S events, the team posted two victories (ICOPS and
St. Scholastica), a runner-up finish (Ignatius-Fenwick Invite) and a third-place
finish (Niles West). Highlights included a 1-2-3 finish at ICOPS by Jill Porretta,
Maggie Connolly and Helen Roach, Clare Egan's runner-up finish at our home invite
and the F/S B-team winning at St. Scholastica. Other top ten finishers during the
season were Kirstyn Ruiz, Katie Oksas, Roisin Goebelbecker, Caroline Herman, Caroline
McGowan, Mary McNulty and Olivia Meyer. The JV girls cross country team finished
with a final record of 130-18 and in 2nd place at the GCAC Championship. The team
placed in the top three at seven of the eight invites this season. The Wolfpack
was victorious at ICOPS, Lake Park's Open Race, St. Scholastica and the GCAC Open
Race. Highlights included Abby Grohmann winning at ICOPS as the Wolfpack took 14
of the first 20 places, Jill Porretta winning at Lake Park in a field of 469, Olivia
Meyer finishing 7th at the Midwest Catholic race in Ohio, Cara Zadeik finishing
2nd at Niles West and Erin Boulger winning the Open Race at the GCAC Meet. Once
again, the JV team was successful because of its depth as 18 different girls recorded
top 10 Invitational finishes at the JV level.
The varsity girls cross country team won four of its seven invitational meets this
season. Wins at ICOPS, the Ignatius-Fenwick Invite, Niles West and St. Scholastica
were complemented by 3rd place in the GCAC Championship. Jennifer White ran the
team’s best 3-mile this year with her 18:08 at Lake Park. At Niles West, the team
won in a field of 36 teams. At the GCAC meet, Alexis Jakubowski finished 2nd and
was joined on the All-GCAC team by Emily Brennan (9th), Kelly Kohler (13th) and
Jill Porretta (14th). The team won its 10-team IHSA Regional for the second consecutive
year. Regional champion Alexis Jakubowski was named to the All- Regional team along
with Emily Bridges (3rd) and Jill Porretta (4th). At the Sectional meet the team
finished 10th out of 21 behind seven state-ranked teams.