By Michael Newman

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Some of the top teams in Illinois headed out of state this weekend coming back with some good results. Meanwhile back in Illinois, some great meets took place including the Palatine Invitational and the St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic.

Here are some of the highlights from this weekend’s action involving Illinois High School Cross Country teams.

Palatine Invitational Meet Page | Saturday Results

Culver Academies Invitational (IN)

Neuqua Valley and Lyons Township repeated their 1-2 finish from last year at Saturday’s race in Culver, Indiana. This year, it was Lyons Township’s turn to take home the top prize. The Lions placed their top five in the first 14 to win the Elite Division team title with 43 points. Lyons Township only had a 20 second split on their top five led by the fifth-place finish of Jack Ehlert and sixth-place finish of Ryan Bonfiglio. Jocqael Thorpe (10^th), Sawyer Madell (11^th), and Drew Dilcher (14^th) were the other runners in their top five.

Neuqua Valley also had a great team race in finishing second with 59 points. The Wildcats placed their scorers in the top 22 led by Michael Madiol’s fourth-place finish. Michael O’Connor (8^th), Chris Keeley (9^th), Nicholas Dreschler (20^th), and Spencer Teske (22^nd) were part of Neuqua Valley’s 36 second five-runner split.

Centerville Saturday Night Lights (OH)

Wheaton-Warrenville South traveled east to Ohio for the Saturday Night Lights Meet. The Lady Tigers finished fourth overall in a strong championship race field. Beavercreek, led by All-American Taylor Ewert, came from behind in the final mile to win the team championship with 120 points just one point ahead of host Centerville who scored 121 points to finish second. Hillard Davidson (OH) scored 139 points to finish third with Wheaton-Warrenville South fourth with 186 points.

Ewert ran 17:08 to win the individual title with Centerville’s Emma Bucher second (17:17). Wheaton-Warrenville South got out too slow and never recovered in this race. At the 1-mile mark, the team was in seventh. The Lady Tigers moved up three spots to fourth at 2-miles and maintained that place to the finish of the race. Samantha Poglitsch led her team with a sixth-place finish. Laurel Moneysmith (19^th), Kaitlyn Nenninger (41^st), Haley Ansiel (52^nd), and Tess Rucoba (82^nd) were part of the team’s top five. The split for the Tigers on five was 114 seconds. The split on their second through fifth runners was 81 seconds.

Midwest Invitational @ Janesville, Wisconsin

Hinsdale Central traveled north to the Midwest Invitational. The Red Devilettes scored 81 points to finish second overall just eight points behind Sun Prairie who scored 73 points. Sun Prairie is currently considered the top team in Wisconsin. McKenna Revord finished fourth overall to lead Hinsdale Central running 18:29 on the 5-kilometer course. Kayla Byrne led the Central pack that was only separated by 41 seconds. Their five-runner split off Revord was 95 seconds.

St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic

The streets fill with runners for one hour once a year on a September morning for this race. In both the Boys and Girls races, it was Monticello runners that claimed the individual races.

It was all Garrett Dixon in the Boys race. The Monticello senior led from the start on his way to running 14:40 to claim the Boys individual title. The gap was 32 seconds before Tremont’s Leland Sumer crossed the line (15:12). Three seconds separated the next three runners as Urbana University’s Aryan Lalwani placed third (15:15), Jackson Stewart of St. Teresa placed fourth (15:17), and El Paso-Gridley’s Noah Smith finished fifth (15:18).

Monticello displayed some great pack running behind Dixon to win the team title with 78 points. Luke Sokolowski was the team’s second runner placing 19^th. The Sages’ split from Sokolowski to fifth-runner Ryan Bright was only 14 seconds. El Paso-Gridley finished second (88 points) ahead of Urbana University (138 points).

Monticello’s Alyssa McPike ran her best race this season in winning the Girls Individual title. McPike’s time of 17:36 was 13 seconds faster than Shelbyville’s Ailey Mitchell and another four seconds ahead of Tolono Unity’s Caroline Bachert. The win was somewhat of a surprise as McPike had an 18:25 personal best for 3-miles run in 2016. McPike ran 19:06 last week at Detweiller Park. Mitchell and Bachert were both All-State last fall making this race huge for the Monticello senior.

1A Top Ranked Tolono Unity scored 62 points to win the Girls team title placing their scorers in the top 18. Jordan Harmon led the pack that had a 12 second split on their second through fifth runners. Host St. Joseph-Ogden finished second (106 points) ahead of Monticello (126 points).

Springfield Invitational @ Lincoln Park

Andrew O’Keefe of Granite City had a great race on Saturday running 15:04 to win the Boys individual race. His time ties for the ninth-fastest time ever on this historic course. Troy Maddux ran 14:41 to set the record in 1985.

Chatham-Glenwood was impressive in their win in the Boys team race. Dathan and Drey Maton along with Graham Turk finished 25 seconds behind O’Keefe with only two seconds between the three. Cooper Peterson finishing 10^th and Cameron Smith placing 28^th led the 2A top ranked Titans to 47 points and the title. Danville (92 points) and Springfield (116 points) finished second and third.

Belleville East was a surprise winner in the Girls Varsity race led by the 2-3 finish from Myecia Bright and Hannah Eastman. The Lancers scored 53 points to the 57 scored by Chatham-Glenwood.  Pleasant Plains’ Caroline Jachino was impressive in running 18:39 for the win 34 seconds ahead of Bright.

Rock River Run @ Sterling’s Hoover Park

Yorkville tuned up for next Saturday’s Roy Griak Invitational placing five in the first ten to easily win the Girls team title with 27 points. Rosary freshman Lianna Surtz ran 17:39 to win the individual race. Yorkville runners were next with Kailey Fox second (17:47), Emily Eberhart third (17:54), and Helena Kleronomos fourth (17:59). Sara Klemm (8^th) and Olivia Borowiak (10^th) were the fourth and fifth runners of their top five. The split on that group was 41 seconds. 2A top ranked Belvidere North, led by the 6-7 finish from Madison Diercks and Gianna Sagona, finished second with 83 points ahead of Hononegah’s 91 points.

Top ten finishes from Daniel Occhipinti (2^nd) and Jacob Wielgos (6^th) led Kaneland to the team title with 67 points. Yorkville was next in second (75 points) followed by Sycamore (108 points). Rock Falls’ Dawson Smith ran 15:30 for the individual win ahead of Occhipinti (15:38) and Yorkville’s Ivan Westcott.

Bartlett Flyin’ Hawk Invitational @ Sunrise Park

Batavia placed four in the first 10, five in the top 14 to win the Girls team title with 37 points. It was Batavia’s Katrina Schlenker that fans at the meet had their eyes on. The freshman ran one of the fastest times ever at Sunrise Park (17:04) to win the individual race by 38 seconds ahead of DeKalb’s Katherine Olsen (17:42). Mia Gianfrancesco of Batavia (17:48) and Rachel Price of St. Charles North (17:59) finished third and fourth running under 18-minutes.

3A ranked DeKalb placed Emmanuel Yepiz (3^rd), Jacob Trapp (4^th), and Aidan Donohue (6^th) in the top 10 to lead the Barbs to the Boys team win by three points 52 to 55 ahead of Batavia. Lincoln-Way Central’s Jared Kries continues to have a great junior season running 15:09 to win the individual race title 28 seconds ahead of Jesus Nava of East Aurora.

Macnider Invitational @ Harper College, Palatine

St. Charles East’s Alice Abbott was racing at Palatine on Saturday. It was just at Harper College in the southwest section of the town. The sophomore was dominating again running 17:07 on the 3.05-mile course winning the Girls individual race by 47 seconds. Minooka’s Vivian Van Eck was the only other runner in the race under 18-minutes as she was clocked at 17:54. It was Minooka that was in charge in the team race as five other runners besides Van Eck finished in the top 15 scoring 40 points for the team win. St. Charles East (100 points) and Hoffman Estates (124 points) finished second and third.

Minooka also captured the team title in the Boys race despite Huntley sweeping the first three individual spots. Minooka countered by placing their five scorers between fourth and tenth-place to win the team title with 35 points. Huntley (51 points) and Oswego (93 points) finished second and third. Huntley’s Jadon Conroy ran 15:30 for the individual win followed by teammates Ian Geisler (15:33) and Jeremy Roe (15:38). Minnoka’s Jason Hoffman was next in fourth (15:45). The split on five for Minooka was only 15 seconds.

JT Taylor Invitational @ Grant Community HS.

Lake Forest captured both the Boys team and individual titles at this meet. Nathan Schmitt ran 15:35 for the win 17 seconds ahead of Jimmy McDonald of Vernon Hills. Lake Forest, supported by Ben Rosa’s fourth-place finish, captured the team title with 83 points. Host Grant Community (120 points), Crystal Lake South (122 points), and Vernon Hills (124 points) were close together from second to fourth-places.

Four runners in the first 11 helped Grant Community win the Girls team title with 37 points ahead of Woodstock (103 points) and Carmel Catholic (113 points). Aly Negovetich ran 17:34 on her home course to win the individual title with Round Lake’s Fatima Giron finishing second (17:54).

Fleet Feet Invitational @ Washington Park, Chicago

Riley Wells of Rockford Christian was the Boys individual winner in a tactical kick to the finish race. Wells’ time of 16:01.7 outdistanced Deerfield’s Bradley Brodsky by two seconds with Rockford East’s Noah Friske finishing third (16:07). Rockford Christian placed five in the top 27 to capture the team title (66 points) ahead of Deerfield (81 points) and Whitney Young (151 points).

St. Viator won the Girls team title (60 points) behind top ten finishes from Katie Castelli (2^nd), Joy Bergstrom (8^th), and Payton McDonnell (10^th). Whitney Young’s Ella Behrens ran 18:15 for the individual win 15 seconds ahead of Castelli. Whitney Young (73 points) and Taft (93 points) finished second and third in the team standings.

Freeburg Invitational

Defending 2A state champion Jenna Schwartz of Waterloo was in full control of her race Saturday. Her time of 17:46 was 51 seconds ahead of DuQuoin’s Gabrielle Alongi. Waterloo placed three runners in the top nine to win the team title (42 points) finishing ahead of Breese Mater Dei (96 points) and DuQuoin (100 points).

Centralia, led by Crede Correll and his fourth-place finish, captured the Boys team title with 66 points. Triad (74 points), Belleville East (93 points), and Freeburg were the next three team finishers. Waterloo’s Eli Ward ran 15:34 to win by 12 seconds ahead of Belleville East freshman Byron Jones (15:46).

Photo – Lyons Township after their win at the Culver Academies Invitational (Photo Credit: Mike Danner of Lyons Township)