PEORIA — Maria Baldwin was the lone runner from Fieldcrest High School to qualify for the IHSA State Cross Country meet.
But when the starting gun sounded Saturday on the IHSA Class 1A State Finals, Baldwin wasn’t running alone — she had her friends, schoolmates and family right beside her.
The Fieldcrest sophomore used the energy from the roar of the Detweiller Park faithful and the adrenaline provided courtesy of her own personal cheering section to surge down the home stretch and claim a 17th-place finish in 18:17.
Baldwin’s time set a new Fieldcrest High School record, surpassing the former mark of 18:36 held by FHS alumna Molly Springer, the 2005 NewsTribune Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.
“I saw my family, all my uncles and my brother and my sister, my mom and my dad. They were all screaming at me. You could tell they were with me through the whole race,” Baldwin said. “I bet they felt the same pain I did and I bet they were sweating. They were everywhere, I heard them everywhere so they were running everywhere.”
Baldwin estimates she picked up nine or 10 places on the long final straightaway as she made her final push to secure the top-25 All-State medal.
“It absolutely feels amazing,” Baldwin said. “I was willing to take the pain and do whatever it took to get my goal and succeed. I really wanted it.”
Bureau Valley freshman Regan Weidner also used a late push to lock-down her first state medal as the Storm standout raced to a 21st-place finish after keeping a deliberate pace to open the race.
“To not go out too fast, that was the main thing,” said Weidner of her race strategy, which saw her running near 40th place for much of the course. “(I wanted to) try and find the right pace, not go too fast, but not hold back too much. … I knew we had one more loop left and I could hear coaches around yelling to the girls what place they were. When I was hearing around 40th, I started getting a little nervous.”
Surging past and coming in as part of a large pack, Weidner did not know initially if she made the all-state cut. She found out a few minutes later thanks to some signaling from Storm coach Dale Donner.
“I was happy. (The finish) was actually better than I expected, so it’s exciting,” said Weidner, who admitted the brief wait was harder than the race. “I was so anxious. I couldn’t quit talking.”
While the underclassmen launched promising careers at the state race, a pair of area seniors saw their careers come to a close in the Detweiller Park chute just short of repeat state medals.
Hall’s Liz Mosbach finished 33rd in 18:36, while BV’s Kimi Sanden crossed the line 38th in 18:42.
While both runners were disappointed to not earn a return trip to the awards stage, they both left without regrets.
“I did OK. I didn’t do as well as I hoped to do, but my time was good. There’s just a lot of good girls out there. I’m still happy about getting down here and my career in high school,” said Mosbach, who picked up a win at the Oregon Sectional last Saturday. “It’s just kind of sad it’s ended.”
Sanden shared her sentiments.
“I thought it went alright. It wasn’t like what I wanted it to be, but I ran as hard as I could. I guess that’s the best I could do,” said Sanden, who placed 16th last year at state. “I love running here. It’s a really good course so I’m glad I got to finish the season here.”
Notes: St. Joseph-Ogden senior Chelsea Blaase was the Class 1A state champ, crossing the line with a new Class 1A State Meet record time of 17:12. … Decatur St. Theresa staked a dominating win in the team competition, landing four runners in the top 10 and their fifth at 18th to blow past second place Westmont 46-174.
Chris Yucus can be reaced at 223-3200, ext. 195, or at sports@newstrib.com.
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