By Michael Newman

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Rain did play havoc on the schedule this weekend with meets at Springfield Lanphier and Princeton. The Belleville West Invitational and Shelbyville Trail Invitational was postponed on Saturday and moved to Monday afternoon.

There were some great meets outside of the 188 team First to the Finish Invitational that took place at Detweiller Park. (FTTF Meet Page)

Here are highlights of some of the meets that took place this past weekend involving Illinois teams.

Lake Park Harvey Braus Invitational

This was the first race of the season for two-time defending state champion Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West. Hart took the lead early and cruised to the win crossing the line in 16:35. “This was my first race. I just wanted to see where I was at,” Hart told reporters after the race. “I went a little hard in the beginning. It’s my first race though. I’ll just have to get better from here.”

Three runners were under 18-minutes in the Girls race on the soggy Lake Park East Campus Course. Alice Abbott of St. Charles East ran 17:12 and was 37 seconds behind the time set by Hart. Katie Hohe of Glenbard West rounded out the top three running 17:50.

Glenbard West, as expected, took home the win scoring 46 points placing their top runners in the top 20. Their top five included two freshman as Audrey Allman finished 8^th while Delaney Engel was the team’s fifth runner placing 20^th. Abby Hoffman, a senior, was the team’s fourth runner placing 14^th.

Prospect finished second (109 points) running a 36 second split on their top five led by Jenna Baltes’ 13^th place finish. York finished third (132 points) led by the 6^th place finish from Sarah May.

St. Charles East dominated the Boys race winning their opening race of the season scoring only 26 points. If the Saints were trying to make a statement at Lake Park, they surely accomplished that taking the first three places and placing their top five in the first 11 spots. Bob Liking pulled away from the field to run 15:05 for the win. Teammates Bennett Melone and Aidan King followed both running 15:15. Charles Murphy (5^th) and Luke Schildmeyer (11^th) rounded out their top five. The split on their top five was only 45 seconds.

Jones College Prep used only a 26 second split on their top five runners to finish second (74 points) led by the 8^th place finish from AJ Fundator. Huntley placed three runners in the top 10 led by Jadon Conroy’s 4^th place finish to score 86 points.

Wauconda Invitational

The course changes at Matthews Middle School from a 3-mile circuit to that of a 5k course did not bother Wheaton-Warrenville South as they swept both the Boys and Girls Varsity team titles. Wheaton-Warrenville South’s top ranked Boys team were without Scott and Sean Maison but dominated the team race scoring 26 points for the win with their top 5 runners in the first 12 places. Juniors William Hauenstein and Jacob Kluckhohn led the Tigers with a 1-2 finish. Hauenstein’s time of 15:41 on the 5k course was ahead of Kluckhohn by six seconds. David Zeller (5^th) and Jared Peaslee (6^th) came in together with only three seconds separating the two. Joseph Franke (12^th place) was the team’s fifth runner. Without the Maison’s in the lineup this weekend, their split on five was 78 seconds, but only 33 seconds on their top four.

Wheaton North, rained out last week at Pleasant Valley (IA), made their seasonal debut by finishing second (67 points) behind top ten finishes from Connor Zydek (3^rd) and Will Roth (9^th). Warren Township scored 76 points to finish third.

Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Girls team was just as dominating placing their scorers in the first 11 spots with 24 points for the win. The Lady Tigers took home the top two spots as Samantha Poglitsch easily won the individual title (18:10) by 29 seconds ahead of teammate Laurel Moneysmith (18:39). Hailey Ansiel (6^th), Kaitlyn Nenninger (7^th), and Maria Rucoba (11^th) were the team’s other top five runners.

Round Lake’s Fatima Giron ran 18:53 to finish third overall with Kate Jortberg of Glenbrook South (19:01) and Kelli Tosic of Grayslake North (19:20) finishing fourth and fifth. Warren Township (78 points) and Glenbrook South (92 points) were the second and third place teams.

Joliet Steelman Invitational

Plainfield South used an individual win from Christian Knowlton and five runners in the top 15 to win the Boys team title with 49 points. Benet Academy, who is ranked in 2A and coming off a race Thursday at St. Viator, scored 76 points to finish second ahead of St. Charles North (103 points). Knowlton ran 15:33 for the win just three seconds ahead of York’s Daniel Klysh (15:36) and Glenbard North’s Marat Schatz (15:49). The Cougars ran a 53 second split off Knowlton’s win. Timmy Wade (7^th), James Sottosanto (12^th), Will Lathrop (14^th), and Jake Schoo (15^th) were the team’s top five runners.

York, 19^th in the Pre-Season Rankings, finished fifth (133 points) just behind Oswego (122 points). The Dukes do show promise as they were without one of their top five Ethan Kern. York took the first four spots in the Frosh/Soph race to score only 20 points.

Oswego scored 48 points to win the Girls team title. Oswego was without their top runner Isabelle Christiansen who was on a college visit. Becca Corbett stepped into Christiansen’s spot winning the individual title (18:55) ahead of the Lincoln-Way Central duo of Rachel Baumgartner and Merrigan Allen who finished second and third. Lincoln-Way Central’s team finished second (57 points) ahead of Lincoln-Way East (78 points) and Neuqua Valley (83 points). Oswego placed their scorers in the top 16 behind the win of the freshman Corbett. Ella Hale (5^th), Caitlin Guist (11^th), Peyton Brueck (15^th) and Paige Bohnert (16^th) were separated by 50 seconds. Their overall top five split was 70 seconds without Christiansen.

Forest Park XC Festival @ St. Louis, MO

If you left this race clean Saturday at Forest Park, then you must not have been running. Torrential rains in the St. Louis area turned the course muddy on Saturday morning. That seemed not to bother Neuqua Valley. The Wildcats took home the title in the Green Championship race with 91 points ahead of Missouri teams St. Louis University (114 points) and Rockhurst (115 points). Michael Madiol led Neuqua Valley finishing fourth followed by teammates Chris Keeley (12^th), Nicholas Drechsler (15^th), Matt Jett (26^th), and Michael O’Connor (33^rd). Their split on the Wildcats’ top five runners was 60 seconds. Considering the conditions of the course, that was pretty good.

O’Fallon was in the Green race finishing sixth overall (209 points) led by the ninth-place finish from Will Van Alstine.

In the Boys Varsity White race for small schools, Belleville Althoff finished sixth overall (254 points) just ahead of Marissa who finished seventh (263 points). Camden Sadler led Althoff with a third-place finish. Benton was the top Illinois team in the Varsity Gold race placing fifth (122 points) with Joey Sample (13^th) and Mason Wills (16^th) leading the way. Freeburg, who was missing two of their top five runners due to ACT testing) scored 230 points to finish eighth overall.

In the Girls Varsity Gold race, Benton’s Ameia McLain ran 21:08 on the sloppy 5k course to win the individual title. Freeburg, led by Breanna Chandler’s fifth-place individual finish, placed fifth as a team (184 points). Althoff Catholic finished third in the Girls White Varsity race with Julia O’Neill (9^th) as the team’s top runner. Reagan Albers of Breese Central was the top Illinois runner in the race finishing sixth.

O’Fallon Girls team looked strong in winning the Green Championship Varsity race with 126 points. Two points separated the next three teams as Blue Springs South (135 points), Francis Howell (136 points), and St. Teresa’s Academy (137 points) were next in line. O’Fallon had four runners in the top 26 led by Sofia Parker’s eighth-place finish. Kaitlyn Walker (11^th), Julia Monson (15^th), Emma Jordan (26^th), and Abi Jackson (71^st) were the other scorers for the Panthers.

Paxton-Buckley Loda Invitational

The top ranked 1A teams were in action in rainy conditions Saturday morning. Clifton Central used a 2-3 finish from Isaiah Ditta and Jeremy Snejberg while placing their scorers in the top 19 to win the team title with 44 points. Host Paxton-Buckley-Loda (99 points), Herscher (105 points), and Tolono Unity (106 points) finished second through fourth. Herscher freshman Drew Rogers picked up his first invitational win (16:15) edging Clifton Central’s Ditta by one seconds. Snejberg finished six seconds behind Ditta in third.

Girls 1A top ranked Tolono Unity used their depth placing three runners in the top eight, five runners in the top 14 to win the team title (44 points) ahead of three other 1A ranked teams.

Fran Hendrickson of St. Thomas More dominated the Girls race running 18:43 for her third win of the season 38 seconds ahead of second-place Caroline Bachert of Tolono Unity. The Rockets had an 81 second split in their top five. Herscher used a 5-6 finish from Jillian Milton and Josie Mendell to finish second (62 points). Cassidy Bagby finished third to lead St. Joseph-Ogden to a third-place finish (69 points) ahead of Bishop McNamara (147 points).

Royal Cadet Invitational

Rosary’s Lianna Surtz pulled away early and coasted to the win in the Girls race (17:54) finishing 44 seconds ahead of second-place Sophia McDonnell of Geneva (18:38). Violet Harper finished third leading Oak Park-River Forest to the team win (39 points) ahead of Benet Academy (46 points) who raced two days earlier at St. Viator. The Huskies looked impressive placing their scorers in the top 14 behind Harper.

Geneva placed 6 runners in the first 11 to win the Boys team title (28 points) ahead of Lincoln-Way East (60 points). Brett Gardner of Lincoln-Way East ran 15:59 for the win 12 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Ryan Kredell of Geneva.

ICCP Knights Invitational

A runner to watch this fall is freshman Julia Wolke from Christian Liberty Academy. Wolke won the Girls race in Elmhurst’s Plunkett Park (19:01) 17 seconds ahead of IC Catholic Prep’s Frankie Chaidez (19:18). Chaidez finished third as a freshman in last year’s 1A State Meet. IC Catholic Prep, with Chaidez leading and freshmen Carly Manchester and Kennedy Calcagno placing third and fourth, won the team title with 20 points.

Montini Catholic’s Jayden Gertsen ran 16:41 to win the Boys race ahead of Leyden’s Patrick Sarad. Leyden placed 5 runners in the top 11 to win the team title (35 points).

DePaul Prep Golden Ram Invitational

Spencer Dzyacky won the individual title to lead Loyola Academy to the Boys team title with 44 points. The Ramblers placed three runners in the top seven to secure the win. Payton Prep (124 points) and Northridge Prep (127 points) finished second and third. Dzyacky’s winning time of 15:55 was five seconds ahead of second-place finisher Ethan Breen of Lake View (16:00).

Taft placed four runners in the first six to secure the Girls team win with 25 points. Sydney Partyka led Taft with the individual win (19:14) ahead of Wheeling’s Christina Pierini (19:42).

Photo – Katelynne Hart on her way to the win at Lake Park (Photo Credit – Gary Mattes)