LINCOLN PARK — It didn't take long for the fifth- and six-grade girls at Alcott College Prep to become the fastest team in the city.
In its second year of existence, the fifth- and sixth-grade cross country team won the Chicago Public Schools City Championship in the elementary division.
The victory was Alcott's second City Championship in school history, joining a fifth/sixth-grade girls soccer squad that won in 2013.
Paul Biasco says it was a banner day for Alcott in many ways:
The Alcott girls were led by sixth-grader Marley Kravitz, who ran the 1-mile race in 6:33.
Kravitz finished in 12th place overall and earned All City Honors.
Alcott's team beat a field of 20 teams and a total of 146 runners to take the championship in Washington Park Oct. 25.
All seven Alcott runners set new personal records and four posted times under seven minutes.
The championship came on the same day local and state politicians announced Alcott was the recipient of a $750,000 grant to help construct new playing fields, including a track, at the school.
Kravitz, the team's top runner, made it back from the race in time to present the City Championship trophy to Alcott's principal Elias Estrada during the Field of Dreams announcement.
"It was so exciting," said the team's coach, Keli Wildermuth.
Alcott's girls won their CPS Network qualifying meet, beating out more than 20 teams, and later their North Sectional Qualifying meet, beating 25 teams to reach the finals.
The team's runners included Taylor Pinalto, Meredith Phelps, Shelby Jacobson, Tess Scrivner, Isabel Zhang, Linnea Shu and Kravitz.
All seven runners placed in the top 40.
Wildermuth started the team in 2013 with a limited number of runners who all ran in the seventh- and eighth-grade division.
Those fifth-graders who ran with the seventh- and eighth-graders gained valuable experience, Wildermuth said.
“It was a new sport at our school, so when some of them came out last year they didn’t even know what it was," she said. "Last year when they ran in the city championship they had never run against that many runners."
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