St. Raymond School 300 South Elmhurst Avenue Mt. Prospect, IL 60056

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bill Pinter 847-577-5895 [email protected]

St. Raymond Parish School Cross Country Team Finishes NWCC Season In Three-way Conference Second Place Tie! SRS Girl’s Sectional Team Places 11th at IESA State Final

November 7, 2016—The 85-member St. Raymond Parish School Cross Country team wrapped up its season recently competing at the Northwest Catholic Conference Championship, followed by its Class 1A Sectional meet, and then the Illinois Elementary School Association State meet. After two months of three practices per week and three in-season meets, the SRS team brought home trophies in three out of four NWCC divisions on September 24th at Melas Park in Mount Prospect: JV Girls, 2nd Place; Varsity Girls, 2nd Place; and Varsity Boys, 3rd Place. For Overall NWCC Team Champion there was a three-way tie for 2nd Place between St. Raymond (Mount Prospect), St. James (Arlington Heights), and Our Lady of the Wayside (Arlington Heights) who all finished behind St. Thomas (Palatine).

At Sectionals in Westmont, IL on October 7th, St. Raymond was placed into an entirely new field of competitors at Westmont High School, hosted by Clarendon Hills Notre Dame School. The seven girls competing finished first as a team and qualified to advance to the IESA State meet. The seven SRS boys running all recorded personal best two- mile times but came up four points short of the total needed to qualify for state.

On Saturday, October 15th at the IESA meet in Normal, IL the SRS team of seven girls competing at the state level placed 11th in the overall team awards led by the strong performance of eighth-grader Reese Lettow who earned All- State honors by placing 24th in the Class 1A two-mile race.

St. Raymond Cross Country Coaches Padra Meyer, Melissa Sawadski, Jim Hennig, Marisa Nash, and Kendra Pollizze said that they were impressed by the improvement of so many of their runners throughout the season.

"There is nothing more awesome for a coach than seeing the kids who train so hard in the practices and give the 110% effort achieve times they never thought possible,” said Meyer. “The smiles on their faces when they cross the finish line say it all. Cross Country is all about kids learning how to set goals, work towards them throughout the season and ultimately achieve them—it’s all about that personal improvement which can be so rewarding."

“St. Raymond School is always sad to say goodbye to our eighth-grade girls and boys, but excited to continue to grow the Cross Country program and keep the kids striving for setting new accomplishments. We already are looking forward to the 2017 season.”

National 2009 Blue Ribbon School Saint Raymond School, as a parish elementary school (Pre-K though 8), is an integral part of the Faith Community of Saint Raymond de Penafort in Mount Prospect, Illinois. As Christian educators, Saint Raymond School encourages its young people to pursue excellence to their greatest level in faith, academics, and service. For more information, call 847-253-8555 or visit: wall.st-raymond.org/school.

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Photo Captions on page two SRS Cross Country Photo Captions, pg. 2

Photo Large Group SRS Sectional Team Caption: The St. Raymond School Cross Country team featured the following runners at the Sectionals meet October 7th in Westmont, IL: Back row from left: Coach Marisa Nash, Coach Melissa Sawadski, Rory Whetstone, Abby Sutton, Coach Jim Hennig, Jillian Sawadski, Emily Neugebauer, Maddie Cowen, Bella Peshek, Zach Peshek, Charlie Bullock, Jonathan Ziemianin, Sam Carrico, Wally Ratzki, Coach Padra Meyer, Coach Kendra Pollizze. Front row from left: Natalie Suto, Abby Diblik, Emily Hennig, Reese Lettow, Danny McKenna, Tommy McGuire, Kevin Cantieri, Matt Meyer. Not pictured: TJ Garland.

Photo of SRS Girls 1st Place Sectional Team Caption: The St. Raymond School Cross Country team featured the following girls who finished in first place as a team at Sectionals October 7th in Westmont, IL: Back row from left: Abby Sutton, Emily Neugebauer, Maddie Cowen, Bella Peshek, Reese Lettow, Rory Whetstone. Front row from left: Jillian Sawadski, Emily Hennig, Abby Diblik, Natalie Suto.