The runners at the Class 3A Bolingbrook High School boys and girls regional cross country meets at DuPage River Park enjoyed the experience, especially those who advanced to next week's sectional at Dellwood Park.

The photo opportunities for parents and well wishers were plentiful as one mud-caked runner after another entered the finishing chute.

But, hey, it was all about competing, regardless of the conditions.

"I almost wiped out at the end, but I like running in the mud," said Lockport sophomore Megan O'Brien, who won the 3-mile girls race in 18:33.16, leading the Porters to the team title. "My dad was yelling during the race, 'You gotta be a mudder.'"

"This was cross country the way it used to be, before we had all the country club courses," said Plainfield Central boys coach Steve Lawrence, whose team finished fourth to qualify for the sectional. "It was a fun experience for all the kids."

Especially, though, for Lockport. Not only did the Porters win the girls race, but the boys finished second to mighty Neuqua Valley, the No. 2-ranked team in the state.

On the girls side, Lockport won with 22 points. Neuqua was second with 46 and Oswego East third with 79. Plainfield North and Plainfield Central grabbed the other team qualifying spots with 107 and 129, respectively.

For the boys, Neuqua won with 22 points to Lockport's 59. There was a Plainfield favor in the final three qualifying positions as South scored 73 points for third, Central claimed fourth with 134 and North was fifth with 138.

O'Brien's winning time may not have been anything special, but she relished the victory.

"I had not won a race in quite a while," she said. "It was nice to win for mental reasons, really a boost to my confidence."

"It's unfortunate that because of the conditions, all the girls are not able to see where they are time-wise," Lockport coach Evon Schlotter said. "I told them before the race to stay on their feet, that's the main thing.

"Our goal was to close the gaps in our pack and move the pack up a bit, and we did that."

In addition to O'Brien, Lockport placed sophomore Stephanie Sanders third, freshman Courtney Correa fourth, senior Stephanie Houts sixth and sophomore Samantha Stanley eighth.

Plainfield North's young team placed five girls between 13th and 31st in finishing fourth. Desiree Salb ran 13th, Jen O'Neill 15th, Taryn Seeland 18th, Giana Lilas 30th and Katie Ready 31st.

"Our big goal was to move on, and I'm happy with how we did it," Tigers coach Tammy Gummerson said. "I'm real happy with how we ran together. Next week will be more good experience for our young team."

Plainfield Central's qualifying team also is young, with three freshmen, a sophomore, a junior and two seniors in the top seven. Freshman Emily Vihnanek finished 10th and also led the Wildcats in last week's conference meet. Freshman Kim Martin moved into the regular lineup the last two weeks and finished 35th Saturday, five spots ahead of teammate Grace Lawrence.

"We're coming together well," Wildcats coach Jenna Zayid said. "Valeriya Baker (who finished 19th) is a junior and gives us experience, and Sarah Palya (26th) is a senior who had a fabulous day."

Five girls not on advancing teams also move on the sectional. They are Bolingbrook's Mariana Hernandez (12th), Shelby Manning (27th) and Zuri Carbajal (33rd), Romeoville's Megan O'Mally (20th) and Plainfield South's Erin David (25th).

The top local finisher in the boys race was Plainfield South senior Jake Ferris, who finished in 15:42.80, just behind the 15:29.51 of Neuqua's Aaron Beattie.

"I try to block out everything on a day like this and focus on the race," Ferris said. "Every time I get out there, I try to run hard and fast because you never know what life will throw at you.

"I knew Aaron (Beattie) was fast and I stuck with him for a little less than two miles. I just have to work even harder for next week and hopefully help get our whole team to state."

Lockport's second-place finish was fueled by the fourth place of David Inczauskis and a pack mentality. David Sajdak was eighth, Joe Oldendorf 11th, Thomas Razo 13th and Scott Hickstein 23rd.

"I told the guys to get out and run and not get hurt," Lockport coach Tom Razo said. "The times go out the window today. It was about place and staying in position to strike."

Following Ferris for Plainfield South were Nick Maher 14th, Alex Deeter 18th, Kyle Ryan 19th and Tyler Ryan 20th.

"Our team loves to run in this stuff," Cougars coach Jason Crowe said. "Jake's (Ferris') goal always is to win, and he hung with Aaron (Beattie) as long as he could. Maher ran a good race, and Deeter and the Ryan twins stepped up."

Plainfield Central finishers were Antonio Lubanski 16th, Frank Cobian 21st, Dan Allen 30th, Matt Lawrence 32nd and Erick Barraza 35th.

"We had a nice pack today, now we have to move up some," Lawrence said.

Plainfield North's scoring came from Austin Stone 17th, Andrew Sandoval 22nd, John Price 24th, Steven Wilder 37th and Dan Woolridge 38th.

The individuals moving on are Romeoville's Sergio Miranda 10th, Plainfield East's Niko Petrusich 15th and Colin Warke 25th and Bolingbrook's Jesus Hernandez 25th and Ricardo Rodriguez 29th.