Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year: Helena Kleronomos was clear leader of Yorkville's pack

Helena Kleronomos' two favorite things in life occasionally coincide.

Kleronomos is Yorkville's top cross country runner. A junior, she is also the owner of three family dogs.

One of them, a huskie named Bolt, sometimes joins her for runs.

"When we have double run days I always run with him," Kleronomos said. "He's very fast. We do a lot of quick miles.

Kleronomos is the leader of the Foxes' pack.

A top runner at Yorkville since she was a freshman, Kleronomos clearly has emerged as Yorkville's undisputed No. 1 this fall. Part of that was Kleronomos' natural progression. Unfortunately, however, an injury to Kailey Fox made Kleronomos oftentimes training in her own group.

"It was definitely difficult," Kleronomos said. "Last year, I had Emily [Eberhart] and Kailey. They are amazing workout partners and familiar faces. This year was definitely difficult. I had to do every workout by myself. That is tough mentally to get through, but we got through it."

Indeed, with Kleronomos taking the lead Yorkville ended up back in an accustomed spot.

She won races at conference, regional and sectionals to lead the Foxes to team championships. At state, she earned All-State honors for the third straight year, leading Yorkville to second place in Class 3A. The Foxes, ranked seventh going in, took home a trophy for the 11th straight year.

"We were all in tears, it was a crazy moment," Kleronomos said. "Going in, nobody expected us to do that well. To show everybody how hard we are working reassured us."

For her individual and team achievements, Helena Kleronomos is the Record/Ledger girls cross country Runner of the Year.

Until a week before the season, Kleronomos probably expected to have Fox with her every step of the way. Without a running partner, Kleronomos had to deal with the physical and mental stress of being Yorkville's No. 1.

"That was hard for her, but she stepped up; this was her best year of training," Yorkville coach Chris Muth said. "It was new for her to race as the No. 1 with the expectations and stress of leading the team, and that was hard on her, but she did an excellent job running a ton of races, and she was not satisfied. Now that she has this experience I think the next year will be a whole new level for her."

Kleronomos won a number of races without truly being pushed, but those weren't the ones that best met Muth's eye test.

"The ones she gave the most heart and effort and consistency, state and Nike Midwest Regionals, she might not have had the best day, but I could tell with every step and every stride she gave every ounce of effort she possibly could," Muth said. "You could tell that she was fighting for her teammates every step of the way."

Kleronomos is a lead by example type who gives 100% percent every day. She is a quiet person, but Muth has noticed a girl that's come out of her shell quite a bit and is hopeful she emerges as an even more vocal leader next year.

"It's interesting, coming into freshman year I didn't talk to anybody; people say it's weird to watch me open up," Kleronomos said. "Over the last couple years, I've become a little more of a leader and talk more, apparently. As I've become closer to the girls, it's easier to talk. It took me a while to get to know them more."

Record/Ledger All-Area girls cross country team

Naylah Allen, Oswego East, jr.; Peyton Brueck, Oswego, jr.; Rebecca Corbett, Oswego, so.; Morgan Ede, Oswego East, sr.; Ella Hale, Oswego, jr.; Maggie Hunter, Yorkville, so.; Sara Klemm, Yorkville, jr.; Helena Kleronomos, Yorkville, jr.; Claire Roberts, Sandwich, jr.; Hailey Simmons, Yorkville, jr.; Audra Soderlind, Oswego, fr.; Kara Webb, Oswego East, sr.; Maddie Zarembski, Oswego East, so.