Above – Judy Pendergast celebrates with her father Sean after winning the 3A IHSA State Individual Championship in Peoria on November 7 (Sean Pendergast Photo via Facebook)

By Michael Newman

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Congratulations to Judy Pendergast of Naperville North High School in Naperville as the 2015 DyeStat Illinois Girls XC Runner of the Year.

It was a tough decision that came down to Pendergast and Peoria Notre Dame’s Maryjeanne Gilbert. The two raced each other twice during the cross country season. Pendergast finished second ahead of Gilbert’s third place finish at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional on November 28. Two weeks later, Gilbert missed winning the Foot Locker Nationals by less than a second while Pendergast finished a strong fourth.

Judy gets the edge over Maryjeanne especially with her performances during the regular season. Both won state championships last November. It was the course records that Pendergast set at the state meet when she ran 15:53.8 to break Madeline Perez’s course record by nine seconds, and then the following week at Terre Haute when she broke Anna Rohrer’s course record by eight seconds in the Nike Midwest Regionals at the Lavern Gibson National Course. Pendergast also followed that up with an eighth place finish at the Nike Cross Nationals the week after her Foot Locker Regional race.

Both student/athletes were worthy of this award.

Other runners that should be acknowledged include Effingham St. Anthony’s Anna Sophia Keller, Glenbard West’s Lindsey Payne,  Barrington’s Jocelyn Long, Gardner South Wilmington’s Daly Galloway, Prospect’s Brooke Wilson, and Minooka’s Ashley Tutt.