After one three-peat streak ended on Friday in Class 5, another emerged on Saturday. In the driving rain, the state's next big dynasty made another stamp on their legacy.
The second race of a day that had already experienced a great deal of rain throughout the early morning, the Class 3 girls race ended up being quite probably the most miserable of the day from a weather conditions standpoint. As the girls crossed under the 1K split monitor, a strong and steady rain, with wind blowing it side-to-side, had begun, soaking both the runners and the course on an already brisk morning.
St. Charles West's Brianna Krueger emerged first from the starting line chaos and immediately moved to the front. The heavy favorite in this race, Krueger made her presence felt right away as, even after navigating probably the muddiest part of the course after the first turn, she crossed the pads at 1K in 3:25 - the fastest first split of the weekend. Nearly eleven seconds back was Owensville's Ilene Limberg and a chase pack of Kelly Frank, Martina Ressel, Madalyn Mahoney, and Hollyn Zangaro had formed at 3:38.
"I don't like to leave any doubt so (taking the lead early) was just kind of what I wanted to do," Krueger told MileSplit after the race.
Krueger had extended her lead to 18 seconds as she crossed the 2K mats and made her her way back down the first long straight away. With the rain still falling steadily, this part of the course was becoming soggier by the second, but Krueger continued to push the envelope. Limberg crossed the mats second with Notre Dame's Ressel in third now and her teammate Lily Coy in fifth. Frank had moved back to fourth. The athletes were starting to separate from each other as Limberg came through in 7:22, Ressel 7:25, Frank 7:28, and Coy 7:34. Mahoney was fifth in 7:40. Even after losing five places from 1K to 2K, St. Charles West was still flexing their muscles in first with 51 points. Herculaneum was 85 points behind in second and Owensville was another 24 points back in third, looking to achieve the rare feat of not earning a plaque at the District meet, but then earning one at the State meet.