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Out of all of the awards, this was the hardest to determine. It was close between Mimi Smith (New Trier HS, Winnetka) and Alexa Haff (Central HS, Hinsdale). Very close.

The two runners faced each other twice during the season. Haff broke on the cross country scene in Illinois by winning the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational at the beginning of September by five seconds over Smith. The other time the two raced was at the 3A race at the IHSA State Meet. In perhaps the most exciting race of the day, Smith came from six seconds back in the last mile to nip Haff in the last 400 meters and win by two seconds.

Haff finished second one other time during the year in the 3A race at the First to the Finish Invitational at Detweiller Park. Kaitlyn Ko (Buffalo Grove HS) passed Haff as well in the final straight to win by two seconds over Haff. In the other races that she ran, the Hinsdale freshman dominated winning by at least 20 seconds. Perhaps her most impressive win was at the West Suburban Silver Conference Meet where she pulled away from 2012 3A state champion Madeline Perez (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) in the last kilometer to win the individual race by sixteen seconds.

Smith had a few more blemishes on her racing resume. At the Richard Spring Invitational, she finished third behind Mackenzie Yanek (Davenport, IA) and Lindsay Graham (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn). The following week at the Roy Gummerson Invitational, she finished second behind 2A champ Mailin Struck by ten seconds. That margin was the closest that any Illinois runner was to Struck during the entire cross country season. Smith dominated her conference and regionals winning easily.

The best thing to happen to Mimi Smith is when she got out too slow and could not catch Madeline Perez. The Glenbard state champion won that race by 10 seconds. If made Smith re-evaluate her strategy for the state meet. She went out in her usual pace at state but made sure that she was in striking distance of the lead runners. “I knew that Madeline and Alexa like to go out hot for the first two miles. I knew I had to be six or seven seconds behind them at the mile at then catch them at the 2 mile. I did not catch them until the two mile,” Smith said after her state win. “I had imagined the race going exactly how it was all this week. I imagined myself crossing first at least 100 hundred times. I had enough confidence in myself to take the lead when I did.”

After the state meet, Smith qualified for the Nike Cross Nationals by finishing seventh at the Midwest Regional. She ran a strong race in Portland finishing 33rd.

One runner that should be mentioned in this as well is Madeline Perez. She was hampered most of the season by a leg injury. She came back to win her regional and sectional races. The future student athlete at Georgetown University finished third in the 3A race. Not many runners could do what she did at the end of the year. Perez was one of the reasons why Glenbard West captured the 3A state championship. The one thing that cannot take away from her is the heart and courage of the champion that she will always be.

So who is the 3A Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year?

Haff was an unknown runner at the beginning of the year. That changed quickly with her performances in her first two races. Her only two losses were at Detweiller and that was by a combined four seconds. She made her presence known in every race that she was in taking control of the race within the first 800 meters. She raced like a wily veteran even though it was only her first year of cross country.

Smith is the state champion defeating Haff in that race, but her three losses during the season cannot be ignored. She had great wins at Wheaton North, the Central Suburban League Meet, and the Niles West Regional. Even though she ran a race for the ages at Detweiller in November and a great race in Portland, I have to look at the balance of work in all of her races, not just a few. That made the difference in my decision.

We congratulate Alexa Haff of Hinsdale Central HS as the DyeStat Illinois 2013 Girls 3A Cross Country Runner of the Year.