By Michael Newman

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Judy Pendergast – SR – Naperville North

Judy Pendergast had a memorable senior season resulting in a 3A state championship. History will determine if her 2015 cross country season was the best ever by an Illinois female runner. In my eyes, it was.

Judy caught the nation’s attention when she won the First to the Finish Invitational in 16:18 on September 12. She caught her Coach Dan Iverson’s attention during a time trial at the end of September. “We had a mile time trial at the end of September and Judy ran 4:50,” Iverson said after the NXN Championships. “We started looking at runners that had run faster to win the state championship in the 1600. There are only a couple. We knew that Judy was doing something special.”

All of Pendergast’s 3 mile races were under 17 minutes. Her slowest time of 16:50 at the West Aurora Sectional could have been one of the most memorable of her races. Pendergast fell 800 meters into the race in which temperatures hovered near 40 degrees in a downpour. She still won the race by 28 seconds.

Her state meet race was one for the ages. She passed by the 2 miles in a personal best 10:26. She crossed the line breaking Madeline Perez’s state meet record by nine seconds when she ran 15:53.8.

Pendergast had a great post season earning All-American honors when she finished eighth at the Nike Cross Nationals and then fourth at the Foot Locker Nationals the following week. Her two finishes were the best by any of the athletes that qualified for both national races.

Acknowledgements also go out to Lindsey Payne of Glenbard West. The sophomore ran 16:16 to finish second behind Pendergast at the 3A State Meet. Payne’s time is the second fastest state time ever for a sophomore. She also qualified for the Nike Cross Nationals where she finished 30^th overall.

Pendergast next step after her track season this coming spring will be at Harvard University this fall where she will attend.

Congratulations to Judy Pendergast of Naperville North in Naperville as the 2015 DyeStat Illinois 3A Girls Runner of the Year.