Check out the Register Star's Cross Country All-Area Team, Runners of the Year
The boys and girls cross country seasons run their course this year, with several standouts on both sides from the Rockford area.
There was only one team that finished in the top 10 at state this year, and that was the Rockford Christian boys who placed eighth as a team. But there were a lot of individual standouts from this region.
When it comes to the Rockford Register Star's Cross Country All-Area Team, a lot was based on how the runners finished. How they finished the big races, and how they finished the season — at state. This year's state race, run at Detweiller Park in Peoria on Nov. 4, was in near-perfect conditions, unlike last year's showdown which came in a downpour. This year: No excuses.
The top overall finish from the Rockford area, for the second week in a row, came from our Rockford Register Star Boys Runner of the Year, Nicolai Martino, a junior from Winnebago.
Rockford-area cross country: Winnebago's Nicolai Martino and Belvidere's Nina Fiore are top finishing locals at state
Martino poured it on and, for the first time in his career, knocked off Rockford Christian star senior Weston Forward in the Class 1A boys sectional back on Oct. 28. He did it again the next weekend, this time at Detweiller Park, to finish seventh overall in the 1A state championships with a personal-best time of 14:57.55.
"I have just found a way to do it lately," said Martino, who finished the season with his two best times ever on a three-mile course. "This is what it's all about."
On the other side, some of the best battles came from the teammate of this year's Rockford Register Star Girls Runner of the Year, and that must have only made her better. Hononegah sophomore Kylie Simpson, who battled with senior teammate Alyson Niedfeldt all year, came on strong at the end of the season, once again, and qualified for state for the third straight year as a junior.
Simpson also came in 38th place in 17:49.72 at state in the Class 3A showdown, easily the top finish in that state finale. Her teammate, Niedfeldt, was the next fastest from the area in just about all of the postseason races. All of that earned Simpson the Girls Runner of the Year honor.
Here are the other four boys and other four girls for the Rockford Register Star All Area Teams, in order of finish at state:
BOYS
Weston Forward, Rockford Christian
Forward was stellar all season long, he just happened to get caught (and couldn't recover) by his rival Martino from Winnebago in the last two big races of the season. Still, this was a four-time all-conference runner and one of the best around while he was doing it. He placed 11th at state in 15:09.87 in his final high school cross country race.
Andrew Kurien, Rockford Christian
Kurien was one of the strongest locals down the stretch of this season as well, and he showed it at state, running a time of 15:15.45 to place 14th as a junior.
Tim Starwalt, Byron
Starwalt had a great finish to his sophomore year, running a time of 15:38.99 to place 32nd in the 1A state race. He is going to be a very strong runner to watch over the next couple of years.
Joe Erb, Jr., Winnebago
Erb is just a sophomore, and he showed what the rest of the area, and the state, have in store by finishing strong. He took 34th as a sophomore with a strong time of 15:41.90 in the 1A finale at state. Watch for him in the next two seasons.
GIRLS
Allyson Niedfeldt, Hononegah
Niedfeldt had given Simpson and all of the rest of the NIC-10's best good battles all season long, and she was the next best from the area in the 3A race with a 55th-place time of 18:04.71. This senior finished strong.
Nina Fiore, Belvidere
As a senior, Fiore came in 38th place in the 2A race with a time of 18:15.97. She has been a fixture at state for the Bucs and will be missed and hard to replace.
Natalie Tekampe, Boylan
Next up in the 2A race was this Boylan junior, who took 41st with a mark of 18:18.09. She will be one of the top to watch next year.
Morgan Capriola, Winnebago
Capriola, a week after leading Winnebago to the sectional team title with a sixth-place finish, came in 43rd in the 1A state showdown with a time of 18:42.89.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Nicolai Martino, Kylie Simpson lead Register Star Cross Country Team
