It was a cool Saturday morning in Peoria, Illinois. The captains for Naperville North’s girls cross country team had just returned from cheering on the boys team in their race for state. The Lady Huskies had finished their own race earlier that morning, and the results were announced while the captains were out. When those six returning girls saw their beaming teammates, the truth became evident.

They had won state.

With five runners among the top 50 finishers, the girls cross country team secured their first place finish, according to head coach Dan Iverson. The girls entered the tournament ranked fifth in state, and they faced tougher competition than most previous years.

“It’s always tough to win a state championship,” Iverson said. “This year, there were four teams that would be state champions in most other years. When that happens, to win means that everybody ran pretty well.”

Senior captain Elly DeTurris recalls the days leading to the state meet.

“We definitely were working towards being the best, but we never were ranked in state as the best during the season,” DeTurris said. “We knew we had a very solid top seven girls, running with each other throughout the race and building up to the front together.”

Heading into the state meet, the girls ran with confidence. They won regionals without a hitch, and sectionals were nothing short of a blowout. At sectionals, the girls placed first with a 70-point margin.

Despite their success, the Lady Huskies faced and grew from several trials during the season. DeTurris recalls the girls’ performance at the DuPage Valley Conference meet. Nearly tying with Naperville Central, the team stole the win with one-point from their fifth runner. This was not the margin that the girls wanted, but their results gave them a helpful reality check.

“After DVC, we were put in the right mindset to go onto regionals and sectionals to improve,” DeTurris said. “I think that was kind of our low point, but we brought it back up.”

Now, with the 2015 season looming in the distance, Iverson hopes the team’s success will motivate them to keep running as a team.

“What you hope is that people get a taste for this, and instead of getting complacent, they redouble their efforts, refocus and want to be a part of this next year. We rely on that,” Iverson said. “If that happens, I think that we will be very good next year. If that doesn’t happen, it could be a rough year.”