In today’s sports environment, which can be clouded by controversy, Buffalo Grove’s Jean Marinangeli is a silver lining.
Though she is in the midst of a junior cross-country season that gives her reason to boast, Marinangeli remains modest.
As she prepares for the toughest three consecutive weekends of the season, beginning with Saturday’s St. Viator regional meet, her goals are simple: “to run my hardest, to have fun and be the best I can be right now.”
And, adds the soft-spoken Marinangeli, “to make sure that I don’t forget why I run. Running helps keep your mind and body healthy. It’s a cleansing thing. It relieves stress, and it’s a great way to stay disciplined.”
Not exactly the kind of killer-instinct you might expect from such a determined runner. But in this, her breakout season, Marinangeli has turned from a solid, reliable middle-distance runner into a state-quality contender.
At last weekend’s Mid-Suburban Conference meet at Busse Woods, Marinangeli ran into her toughest foe in the league, Wheeling freshman Alison Coren, who set the 2.5-mile course record of 14:46, 21 seconds better than Lake Park’s Katie Steffan’s mark in 1998.
Marinangeli’s runner-up time of 14:57, and that of Palatine’s Diana Ainsley (15:04), also shattered the record. For Marinangeli, the highlight was besting her 32nd-place finish in last year’s Mid-Suburban meet.
This weekend will be showdown time at the Salt Creek Sports Complex in Rolling Meadows, where Marinangeli and Coren again will go head to head. Also joining the pack will be St. Viator junior Lori King, who claimed the East Suburban Conference crown last week at Chicago’s Catherine Chevallier Woods (14:45) and has not been beaten this season.
Based on past results, Marinangeli would appear to be the underdog of the three, which suits her fine.
She was known last season as a reliable No. 3 runner on her team, but something changed by the time she started running track in the spring that gave her a boost in the fall.
“I think a lot of it started when she just started believing in herself,” track coach Steve Gibble said. “Coming in, we knew she was going to be a good runner for us, but I wasn’t sure that she would be one of the best in the conference. She just has a great work ethic.”
The season was capped with a sectional championship in the 3,200-meter run and a 15th-place finish in the state meet with an impressive time of 11:13.72.
After a summer of running–with a short break to participate in a foreign-exchange program in France–the cross-country season began, and the improvement was instantly noticeable.
In a preseason 5-mile run, Marinangeli cut nearly three minutes off her best time last season and posted the best time the school has registered in two years. Then came a lopsided 40-second win at the Crystal Lake Invitational, followed by invitational titles at Libertyville and Palatine.
“Her real key is that she’s very competitive,” cross-country coach Don Nelson said. “I don’t know what to attribute [her improvement] to. I think she’s now just a young woman who has realized her talent.
“She was always a solid runner, but she didn’t have the speed. This past summer, she turned it around. She realized that if a car has three gears, she always knew she had first and second, and maybe she just found her third.”
“This season has helped my confidence. But it’s not necessarily the winning that makes me feel stronger,” said Marinangeli, an honors student who ranks among the top 10 of her class. “It’s more the running a better time and trying to stay positive about a race and enjoying it.”
Case in point: Marinangeli considers the highlight of her season so far to be a personal-best time of 14:53 at the Wheeling Flight Meet two weeks ago, even though she finished fourth.
The only thing holding her back this season has been a lingering upper respiratory infection. Even with the illness, she managed to stay toe to toe with Coren for most of the Mid-Suburban race before faltering toward the end.
This weekend brings another shot at Coren as the competition gets tougher in preparation for the Nov. 4 state meet in Peoria. But for Marinangeli, it’s just another good reason to run. And another reason to be positive.
“This is going to be a great challenge,” she said. “I want to mentally prepare myself and be positive. But it’s going to be great to have those girls there. They will push me. But Allie [Coren] is a nice girl, and it’s nice to see her do so well.”
There’s that killer instinct again.
