It is being reported that Margo Richarson has won the IHSA Class 2A Girls' Cross Country State Championship Meet at Detweiler Park in Peoria this morning.

An unofficial Illinois State Championship time of approximately 17 minutes and 30 seconds is being reported.

Official results have yet to be released by the Illinois High School Association, but are expected around 12:30 pm this afternoon.

Awesome!!

17:41 is the official time.

Congrats to Margo!

Some great genes from the Bergbower side certainly don't hurt. Of course, Margo's dad is pretty athletic as well! I can only imagine how proud they are!

that time seems to be a lot faster than she had been running. Fantastic.......congratulations to Margo and her coach. It takes a lot of hard work to get to the point she is at ...and so young. enjoy it coach ( and I know you are).....a Margo comes along only once every few years.

WOO HOO!!!! Way to go Margo!!!

Way to go!!!

17:30 slaughters her previous post season time this year of 18:32.2 in the Regional and she is only a Junior to boot.

What was the second place finisher. Obviously someone pushed her some to produce such a quick trip.

Did anyone hear what the Walters boy or Webber's Bergbower did?

GOOD JOB MARGO!!!!

In case you missed it, here's the link to the interview with Margo on Google:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4534754340408633004&hl=en

Margo's winning time was 17:41. Second was 17:43. Campbell Walters was an All-Stater as well, taking 21st in the boys race (top 25). In the Class A girls race, Bergbower was 61st.

Victim, her time was much faster in large part to Detweiler being a very fast course. It's basically flat. The Centralia course (sectional) is really hilly.

Anyone who has met and spoken with her will tell you Margo is so very deserving of this accomplishment. The commitment necessary for such an achievement is beyond what most of us can fathom. And any minor bump, bruise, illness or injury can alter the end result in a big way. As a former MV athlete who ran in the Olympic trials said over the weekend, it is amazing when everything falls into place for "the race." I cannot imagine, as a non-runner, what exactly that means. But those who have run competitively probably get it better than I do.

While I congratulate Margo on the state title, I hope people don't lose sight of the fact that this was also a very deserving accomplishment for Connie Harre-Blair, who has poured 30 years into the girls running program at the high school. CHB deserves to have an athlete and young person the caliber of Margo as well as the experience of Saturday's race and all that went with the state championship.

I was very impressed by Margo's maturity in the posted interview. Way to go!

Just looking at the full results from the 3A meet, I thank goodness the meet got split into three classes starting last year.
In 3A, 25 girls went 17:40 or better and the winner was under 17 minutes. That is amazing. This isn't a criticism of Margo at all, it just shows how much talent is out there. 17:41 is a great, great time. For 27 runners (25 plus Margo and the Class A state champ) to have that or better speaks to how good cross country was this year around the state.

Yes, max kudos to the coach, who, as I have seen only from write ups over the years, has poured her heart n' soul into making the girls' athletics at Mt. Vernon not just good but of State caliber.....every year. I cannot imagine the reservoir of "something intangible" that she must have inside to impart as she does the constant effort to do the very best each and every meet and event.

That says something about her as a person as well as about her as a coach.

Is CHB a member of the Sports Hall of Fame? If so, when?

If not, for Heaven's sake why not?

For Mount Vernon to have coaches such as she, Coach Mings, and ( one can only hope the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...)upcoming Coach Gamber......Now that's a nexus of coaching talent if the Rams' programs have ever had it in history!

Jim-Current coaches are not eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. She must be out five years before she can get in.
Having been around coach Harre-Blair, for the last number of years, I am impressed with the job she does year in, year out. Margo came to MVTHS a good runner, Connie has helped make her a great one.
I was at the finish line of the race and was overcome by emotion to see someone I have followed bring home the win. Tactically, Margo ran a very smart race. She laid off the leaders and let them take in all the wind before she took off.
There isn't much glory in cross country and I have said you have to be crazy to want to do it, because of the work that must be put in. Not sure if there is a sport where you have to practice more to get the optimum result.
Margo lost just two races all year and did not lose to a Class AA runner all season.

quote:

Originally posted by JiminPA:
Yes, max kudos to the coach, who, as I have seen only from write ups over the years, has poured her heart n' soul into making the girls' athletics at Mt. Vernon not just good but of State caliber.....every year. I cannot imagine the reservoir of "something intangible" that she must have inside to impart as she does the constant effort to do the very best each and every meet and event.

That says something about her as a person as well as about her as a coach.

Is CHB a member of the Sports Hall of Fame? If so, when?

If not, for Heaven's sake why not?

For Mount Vernon to have coaches such as she, Coach Mings, and ( one can only hope the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...)upcoming Coach Gamber......Now that's a nexus of coaching talent if the Rams' programs have ever had it in history!

From Ram, Posted September 22, 2008, in "Most successful sport since '55", " Cross Country may in reality be the most successful sport at MVHS as the girls have won 10 Regional titles since 1985 and have qualified to State 13 out of 14 years. ".

Sounds Hall of Fame worthy to me, especially now after adding a State Champion to the list.