By Michael Newman

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Niles West Sectional

Lake Park – It seemed that the weather would not cooperate again for Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart as winds gusted close to 40 mph at times during the Girls race. That did not bother Hart as the junior ran 16:08 to win the Girls individual title for the third time. She missed the three-year course record of 16:05 set by Judy Pendergast. You could feel that Hart ignored the weather as she buzzed the first mile in 5:15. She said afterwards in a post-race interview that she felt good and continued to up the pace. By 2-miles, Hart had opened up a 45 second lead ahead of teammate Katie Hohe, Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Samantha Poglitsch, and York’s Sarah May as she passed by that point in 10:48. Her pace picked up on the final circuit of the course as she won by 67 seconds ahead of Poglitsch who ran a good 17:15 considering the conditions. Hohe was next (17:21) followed by May (17:41).

Wheaton-Warrenville South was impressive in their team win with 34 points. Poglitsch led five Tiger runners in the first 11 that had a five-runner split of 70 seconds. York finished second with five runners in the top 13 and only a 22 second split from their second through fifth runners. Glenbard West was missing three of their top five runners due to injury. The Hilltoppers still finish third (60 points) placing five runners in the top 20.

Most of the fans braved the wintry weather to see three of the state’s top five teams face off in the Boys race. Top ranked Wheaton-Warrenville South made a statement in this race placing five runners in the top 10 to easily win the regional title with 26 points.

Glenbard West’s Rory Cavan pushed the pace early leading the pack through the first mile in 4:48. The first move in the race belonged to South’s Scott Maison as he stretched the pack out just before the halfway point in the race. Teammate Billy Hauenstein passed Maison with a kilometer to go and rolled to the individual win running 14:43 on the soggy three-mile course. Maison followed six seconds back with his brother Sean (5^th), Jacob Kluckhohn (8^th), and Jared Peaslee (10^th) as the Tigers ran a 32 second split on their top five.

Glenbard West, who finished behind York the week before at the WSC-Silver meet, switched places with the Dukes finishing second (49 points) led by Stephen Moody (3^rd) and Cavan (4^th) and five runners in the top 18. York was six points back in third (55 points) behind Colin Hill’s sixth-place finish. Ethan Kern and Daniel Klysh who are normally the top runners for York finished seventh and ninth overall. The team had a 30 second split on five with a 30 second split on the group.

Jones Prep – Whitney Young flipped the places with CPL champion Jones Prep in the Boys race placing five runners in the top 11 to earn the Regional title (33 points) ahead of Jones Prep (52 points) and St. Ignatius Prep (72 points). The Dolphins were led by the individual win from Sam Rivera who ran 15:04 and was 29 seconds ahead of teammate Charlie Nevins. Jones Prep, who ran an 11 second split in their City win, placed five runners in the top 18 with a split of 42 seconds on their scorers.

Oak Park-River Forest placed four runners in the first six with a nine second split on the group to win the Girls Regional title scoring 26 points. Whitney Young (40 points) and St. Ignatius Prep (65 points) finished second and third. Ella Behrens of Whitney Young won on the Washington Park course for the second week in a row. Her time of 17:37 captured the regional title winning by 49 seconds ahead of Oak Park’s Hannah Thompson.

Loyola Academy – New Trier held out some of their runners but still had the depth to win the Regional crown with only 26 points. The Lady Trevians advanced to next week’s sectional at Niles West placing five runners in the top nine led by the individual win from Marlee Fradkin. Her time of 18:47 was just one second ahead of second-place Sydney Partyka from Taft.

New Trier completed the team sweep winning the Boys Regional title. They put five runners in the top 11 with only an 11 second split on the group to score 38 points for the win. CSL Champion Maine South finished second (62 points) ahead of Loyola Academy (73 points) and Evanston (84 points. South’s Tommy Brady ran 15:24 for the win ahead of Evanston’s Max Peterson (15:48).

Waubonsie Valley Sectional

Oswego East – The new rolling course on the Oswego East’s campus got rave reviews from many fans. Runners in both races fought the high westerly winds. Alex Morris of Naperville North took the lead early in the race and never looked back. Morris crushed the field running 17:11 for the regional title finishing 40 seconds ahead of teammate Campbell Petersen. The top ranked Huskies were in total control of the team race placing all seven of their runners in the top 10 winning the regional title with only 20 points. Oswego, led by the fourth-place finish from Isabelle Christiansen, was next with 84 points. Benet Academy (111 points), Waubonsie Valley (126 points), Naperville Central (132 points), and Neuqua Valley (149 points) were the other team qualifiers. Oswego East, who was ranked #14 entering this race, missed qualifying for next week’s sectional by seven points finishing seventh.

Neuqua Valley won the battle of the packs with host Oswego East placing four runners in the top 10, five in the top 16, to win the Regional title with 36 points. The Wildcats, led by the 2-3 finish of Chris Kelley and Michael Madiol, tan a 37 second split on their top five. Oswego East, second with 50 points, were led by Luke Wentz’s fourth-place finish. The Wolves placed five runners in the top 17 with a 26 second split on the group. Naperville Central (96 points), Naperville North (115 points), Waubonsie Valley (120 points), and Marmion Academy (138 points) were the other team qualifiers. Naperville Central’s Thomas Shilgalis pulled away from Madiol and Kelley in the final 800 meters to win the individual title (15:14) by nine seconds ahead of Keeley.

Hampshire – The scheduling of the Girls race starting at 2:00 PM hit smack dab into the winter storm that hit that region. It did not seem to bother Batavia’s Katrina Schlenker as she pulled away from the pack for the individual win running 17:14 on Hampshire’s campus course. The margin of victory was 20 seconds ahead of freshman Naomi Ruff of South Elgin (17:34). St. Charles East’s Alice Abbott was third (17:39) ahead of St. Charles North’s Rachel Price (17:43). Three of the top four finishers in this race were freshmen.

Schlenker’s win helped Batavia win the team championship with 41 points ahead of St. Charles North (67 points), Geneva (79 points), and St. Charles East (111 points). Batavia finished placing five runners in the top 14.

St. Charles East tuned up for next week’s sectional winning with 23 points, five runners in the top 8, and only a 19 second split on the group. The Saints did that even with their top runner Bob Liking falling on the slick course at the 1.5-mile mark. Liking got up and finished fourth as the team’s third runner. Geneva’s Ryan Kredell ran 15:19 for the individual win ahead of St. Charles East’s Aidan King by 12 seconds. Batavia (59 points) and Geneva (64 points) finished second and third in the team standings.

Rockford Guilford – Hononegah placed their top seven runners in the first 13 places to win the team title 24 to 55 ahead of DeKalb with Huntley (61 points) finishing third. Alicia Repka and Taylor Frommier finished second and third to lead Hononegah. DeKalb’s Katherine Olsen ran 18:18 for the regional title ahead of Repka by 16 seconds.

Led by the 1-2 finish from Ian Geisler and Jadon Conroy, Huntley placed five runners in the top 12 to repeat as Regional champions with 28 points. DeKalb, who placed four runners in the top 10, scored 40 points to finish second. Geisler’s winning time of 15:27 was 13 seconds ahead of teammate Conroy.

Hoffman Estates Sectional

Hoffman Estates – Hersey held out some of their top seven, but still had the depth to win the Regional title (40 points) with Rolling Meadows a close second (44 points). Josh Methner and Ryan Buch finished together with Methner getting the win. Both were timed at 14:59. Eddie Lennon finished third (15:12) to lead Rolling Meadows. Glenbrook South finished a strong third (54 points) behind Will Kelly and Will Houser’s seventh and eighth-place finishes. The Titans only had a split of 18 seconds on their top five.

MSL Girls champion Prospect also did not run some of their top runners but still won the regional title led by Jenna Baltes’ fifth-place finish. Fremd and Hersey (74 points), and Hoffman Estates (80 points) finished second through fourth. Glenbrook South’s Katie Jortberg ran 17:46 to win the regional title finishing 16 seconds ahead of Glenbrook North’s Natalie Sandlow.

Grant Community – The Girls race in this regional was close in both the team and individual race. Palatine used a fourth-place finish from Anne Marie Jordan to help them win the regional title with 59 points placing their scorers in the first 16 places. Grant’s Aly Negovetich surprised some by winning the individual title (17:54) by eight seconds ahead of Barrington’s Molly FitzPatrick. Round Lake’s Fatima Giron was another nine seconds behind finishing third (18:11).

Palatine’s winning 59 points was just three seconds ahead of Grant Community (62 points). Barrington (65 points) and Cary-Grove (70 points) finished third and fourth.

Barrington, led by the 4-5 finish from Greg Van Hollen and Patrick Furlong, captured the Boys Regional title with 58 points. Lake Zurich (66 points) and Jacobs (87 points) finished second and third. Palatine Richie Jacobo ran 15:40 to win the individual race by eight seconds ahead of Lake Zurich’s Jack Gilboy.

Libertyville – Warren Township came back from their win last week at the North Suburban Conference Meet with a tight win at Libertyville’s Adler Park. Warren, led by three runners in the top ten and Raina Rice’s third-place finish, won the Regional team title with 56 points ahead of Stevenson (65 points), Libertyville (66 points), and Mundelein (76 points). Stevenson swept the first two individual places as Natalie Sorensen ran 18:29 for the regional title 26 seconds ahead of teammate Kendall Roberts.

Libertyville won the Boys team race with 72 points led by the second and fourth-place finishes from Will Gordon and Liam Tucker. Warren Township and Mundelein both scored 78 points with Warren getting second with the sixth-runner tiebreak. Mundelein did not run top runners Dillon Blake and Robert St. Clair in this race.

Marist Sectional

Burbank Reavis – Marist swept the first five places and put seven runners in the top five to win the Girls Regional title with a perfect 15 points. Freshman Nora McClorey ran 20:12 for the individual win 24 seconds ahead of teammate Jill Borza.

Marist’s Thomas Leonard won the Boys individual race running the Reavis 3-mile course in 16:37. He won by 44 seconds ahead of Stagg’s Grant Wright. Brother Rice, led by Dan Spellman’s third-place finish, had five runners in the top 11 to win the team title 39 to 49 ahead of Stagg.

Hinsdale Central – Lyons Township paced it up in the Boys race led by a 2-3 finish by Ryan Bonfiglio and Jack Ehlert. The Lions placed their scorers in the first 13 with a 35 second split to win 34-44 ahead of Downers Grove South. The Mustangs ran a 30 second split on their top five led by the fourth-place finish from John Norris. Downers Grove North (85 points) and Hinsdale Central (93 points) finished third and fourth. Morton Township’s Guillermo Ibarra edged Bonfiglio by one second to win the individual race. Ibarra’s winning time was 15:28.

Argo’s Abby Lopez led most of the Girls race. Downers Grove South’s Brenna Cohoon came from 30 meters back in the final mile for the win (17:45) by four seconds ahead of Lopez. It was also close in the team standings as Downers Grove South edged Lyons Township 36 to 38 for the regional title. Melissa Weidner led the pack behind Cohoon that had a 39 second split form their second through fifth runners. Kate Dickman led Lyons finishing third as they had five runners in the first 14.

Sandburg – Plainfield South won the Boys team title led by the individual win from Christian Knowlton as well as placing their top five in the first 14 spots. Knowlton’s time of 15:10 was 10 seconds ahead of Bolingbrook’s Tyler Cushing. Host Sandburg finished second (57 points) without most of their top seven runners in the lineup.

Plainfield North won their first regional title in the program’s history scoring only 28 points for the win ahead of Mother McAuley (87 points) and Plainfield South (92 points). Julianna Stogsdill with the individual regional title running 18:36. The senior was 29 seconds ahead of second-place Brielle Morris of Sandburg. Plainfield North placed four runners in the top six, five runners in the top 12 in their regional win.

Quincy Sectional

Normal Community – Yorkville tuned up for their sectional race placing five runners in the top seven to win the Girls Regional title with only 18 points. The Lady Foxes swept the first three individual places with Helena Kleronomos running 17:11 one second ahead of Kailey Fox. Emily Eberhart ran 17:23 to finish third.

Minooka finished second (46 points) while placing their top five in the first 14 places. Vivian Van Eck’s fourth-place finish led the Indians. The team’s second through fifth runner split was 45 seconds.

Minooka scored 49 points to win the Boys team title behind the second-place finish from Vincent Van Eck and fifth-place finish of Jordan Freese. Minooka had a 34 second split on their scorers that finished in the first 16 places. Yorkville (67 points) and Normal University (72 points) finished second and third.

Edwardsville – Three runners in the top five was more than enough to put Edwardsville in position to win the Boys Regional title with 30 points. The Tigers placed their top five in the first 11 places led by the individual win from Roland Prenzler. His time of 15:49 on the SIU-Edwardsville course was seven seconds ahead of second-place Fiker Rosen of Quincy.  Belleville East finished second (65 points). O’Fallon did not run their top five runners but still finished third (105 points).

Edwardsville completed the team sweep in this regional meet placing five runners in the top ten to score only 31 points. Belleville East (51 points) and O’Fallon (82 points) followed. Abby Korak of Edwardsville ran 18:49 for the win while Belleville East’s Hannah Eastman finished second (19:16).

Andrew – Lockport Township won both teams titles in this regional held at Turtlehead Lake. The Porters placed five runners in the first ten places to score 34 points in the Boys race. Marc Schelli led Lockport by finishing fourth. The split on their top five was 31 seconds. Lincoln-Way Central (58 points) and Lincoln-Way East (74 points) finished second and third. East’s Brett Gardner ran 15:11 to win the individual race by 15 seconds ahead of Jared Kries from Lincoln-Way Central.

Lockport dominated the Girls race placing their scorers in the first eight places to win with only 24 points ahead of Lincoln-Way East (59 points). Lincoln-Way Central’s Merrigan Allen ran 18:59 for the win as Lockport’s Kate Wojcikiewicz was seven seconds in finishing second.