York wins 51^st Boys conference championship; Lyons Township stops Glenbard West streak in Girls team win; Hart, Kern with convincing individual wins

By Michael Newman

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Hillside, Ill. – This was not expected in 2018. York only had Ethan Kern returning from last year’s top seven and this was expected to be a “down year”. The young Dukes that have four juniors and three sophomores in the top seven have a chip on their shoulders and have been willing to prove doubters wrong. They took another step in that direction Saturday afternoon winning the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Championship with 40 points. Glenbard West finished second (52 points) ahead of Lyons Township (62 points).

It was the first conference championship for York since 2015 and their 51^st conference title in the program’s history. It was also the first conference meet they have run since the passing of their legendary coach Joe Newton last December. There was no celebration by this team after the race. These young runners knew that there is more work to be done, more races to be contested to get to where they want to be.

“Our varsity performance was outstanding. We have three guys all year that have been running like gangbusters,” York Coach Charlie Kern said. “They knew what their goals were today. Just after the mile, three guys were doing their job and four were not. Three of them were getting a tongue lashing during that race. They went from feeling sorry for themselves to being scared since they are not used to be yelled at like that by me.”

York’s trio of Ethan Kern, Daniel Klysh, and Colin Hill put themselves in good position getting with the front pack of Matt Moravec of Downers Grove North and the Glenbard West trio of Rory Cavan, Stephen Moody, and Will O’Brien through the first half of the race. The York back pack that Coach Kern was referring to in Michael Moriarty, Sam Ayers, and Brian Pratt was too far back. If the race was called at that point, Glenbard West and Lyons Township would have won ahead of York.

Movement came during the second mile of the race. Cavan started to fade back. An illness at the end of the week had hit him and he was starting to feel the effect of it starting to lose sight of the front pack. It was also the time for Ethan Kern to make his move in the front.

“The plan at the start was just to stay with Cavan. What ever pace he set I was just going to stick with him and see if I could out kick him at the end,” Ethan Kern said. “Just after the 1.5-mile mark, there was a turn that was muddy. I know once we got out of the mud, some of those guys would take a couple of slow steps. I thought if I could make a surge out of that mud and another surge at the turn that it might get to some of their minds.”

That surge did as Kern started to pull away from the pack. Glenbard West’s Stephen Moody made a charge in the final 600 meters, but Kern did have enough lead to secure the win. His time of 15:29.4 on the 3.05-mile course was excellent considering that the grass was long, and the footing was treacherous in some points of the course.

“A lot of people were telling that he (Moody) was coming on me,” Ethan Kern added. “I still had a couple of gears left that I hadn’t used. To compete for the individual championship was great. That York tradition is not about the individual but the team. That’s engrained in our mind. Just if I win is not good enough. Its putting in the work day in and day out as a team to have a performance like this as a team.”

When Kern moved, the rest of the team sensed that and moved closer passing runners. Klysh moved up as the team’s second runner as he placed third. Hill moved up to finish fifth. Then their pack came as Brian Pratt moved up to finish 14^th while fifth and sixth runners Michael Moriarty and Sam Ayers finished 17^th and 18^th. York had their six runners in ahead of Glenbard West’s and Lyons Township’s fifth runners. That was the key to the race. York’s five runner split of 55 seconds was improved from the 60 second split that they ran two weeks before at Peoria.

“I’m super proud of these guys,” Coach Kern added. “We know that we won this race but there a lot of teams waiting there for us. We have to go back to work on Monday and keep doing the things that we have been doing.”

Glenbard West was led by Stephen Moody’s second-place finish as he finished five seconds behind Kern. Will O’Brien stepped up as the Hilltoppers second runner as he finished sixth just ahead of Rory Cavan who placed seventh. Ian Repking (16^th) and William Hohe (21^st) were West’s other scorers. Their five-runner split off Moody was 59 seconds.

Lyons Township had a little bad luck as one of their normal top five runners Drew Dilcher lost a shoe early in the race running most of the race with just one shoe. The Lions ran their best five runner split of the year at 16 seconds with Jack Ehlert and Jocqael Thorpe leading the pack placing eighth and ninth. Owen Hays was next in placing 11^th followed by Sawyer Madell (15^th) and Dilcher (19^th).

If York’s team run in the Boys race was convincing, the individual race by Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West in the Girls race was even more of an eye opener considering the windy conditions and the conditions of the course. Hart was the overwhelming favorite entering this race. She confirmed that opening up a 15 second lead at the mile. It was a lead that grew even bigger from that point. Her winning time of 17:14 was 64 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Kate Dickman of Lyons Township.

“I really did not have any time goals today. I just wanted to come in here, work on racing fitness, and have some fun,” Hart said after her cooldown. “I just wanted to get back into racing shape today. Mrs. Hass (Glenbard West assistant coach Kelly Hass) was helping me work on my form. When I get tired, my form changes a little so making sure that my arms were moving at those points were some of the things that I was working on.”

Glenbard West offered no excuses after their race as their seven-year conference streak came to an end in the hands of Lyons Township. The Lady Lions placed three runners in the top seven to help them score 53 points to win the title ahead of Oak Park-River Forest (74 points), Glenbard West (75 points), York (82 points), and Hinsdale Central (90 points), and Downers Grove North (102 points) in a tight six team battle. Dickman led Lyons Township finished second running 18:18. Glenbard West’s Katie Hohe finished third (18:27) ahead of York’s Sarah May (18:37).

Lyons Township placed their top five in the first 22 led by Dickman, Marta Kogucki (6^th) and Maggie Abbs (7^th) in the top 10. Maddie Cranny (16^th) and Sarah Barcelona (22^nd) were the other scorers for the Lady Lions.

A team to watch for is Oak Park-River Forest who just edged Glenbard West by one point for second-place. They ran a 14 second split on their top four runners with Samantha Duwe (8^th), Hannah Thompson (9^th), Nora Wollen (11^th), and Josephine Welin (12^th) part of the group. Violet Harper, who is normally up leading that pack, had an off race and finished 34^th as the team’s fifth runner.

Glenbard West ran shorthanded without two of their top seven runners. Chloe Connelly had to drop out of the race not finishing and freshman Audrey Allman not running due to an injury. The Hilltoppers still had the power of Hart and Hohe finishing in the top three. Abby Hoffman was the team’s third runner (13^th) followed by Delaney Engel (26^th) and Lauren Pappas (32^nd).