Photo: Katelynne Hart wins her second race of the year at Lake Park running 16:08 (Gary Mattes Photo)

By Michael Newman

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While most of the focus in the state was on Detweiller Park, there were a ton of performances that warrant recognition.

Here is a look at some of the meets that took place throughout Illinois.

Coverage of the First to the Finish Invitational can be found here.

Lake Park Harvey Braus Invitational

What will Katelynne Hart do next?

The Glenbard West sophomore put on a display of dominance on Lake Park’s East Campus Course once again pulling away from the pack in the first 400-meters. Hart passed through the first mile in 5:15 and just went from there. Her winning time of 16:08 is a meet record. It was also the second fastest time by a Girls’ runner ever on the course. Judy Pendergast ran 16:05 in 2015 at the DuPage Valley Conference Meet.

#2 Glenbard West won the team race with 45 points taking the first three places. Lindsey Payne and Katie Hohe were within seven seconds of each as Payne crossed the line in 17:29. Chloe Connolly (13^th) and Abby Hoffman (26^th) were the other two finishers for the Hilltoppers. One thing to take notice of the team’s performance is that their split from Payne to Hoffman was 91 seconds. It was 110 seconds last week at Hinsdale.

#12 York packed it up running a 57 second split on their top five to finish second with 83 points. Sarah May (8^th) and Emma Kern (10^th) led York with top ten finishes. Prospect with 136 points, St. Charles North (141 points), and #10 Maine South (150 points) rounded out the top five.

#25 Huntley placed five runners in the first nine to win the Boys Varsity race with 37 points. Junior Jarod Conroy ran 15:02 to win the individual race finishing 11 seconds ahead of Lane Tech’s Julian Higueros. The split for Huntley’s top five was 49 seconds. St. Charles East (59 points) and Jones College Prep (121 points) were the next two teams in.

Lee Halberg / Lanphier Invitational @ Lincoln Park

Mundelein moved into the top ten last week in the ILXCTF rankings based off an impressive performance at the Lake County Invitational. How high will they move up after another good team race?

#7 Mundelein used strong pack running putting all five scorers in the first nine to win the team championship 29-49 ahead of 2A #1 Mahomet-Seymour.

Mundelein only had a 17 second split on their top five led by the individual win from Michael Parduhn. The junior covered the rugged Lincoln Park course in 15:37 finishing five seconds ahead of the Mahomet-Seymour duo of Ryan Hodge and Mathias Powell. Robert St. Clair (5^th), Dillon Blake (6^th), Carl Schoenfield (8^th), and Aidan Afonso (9^th) were also parts of the Mustangs’ top five. Mahomet-Seymour did not run bad. It was just Mundelein ran that much better. Mahomet put four runners in the first 13. It was just that they had a 25 second split from their fourth to fifth runners.

2A #3 Chatham-Glenwood finished third (106 points) but was without their top two runners Dathan & Drey Maton who were taking the ACT test. 2A #7 Springfield finished fourth (125 points) led by the 4^th place finish by Kyle Boughter.

The Girls race featured 2A #12 Mahomet-Seymour with their second good team performance within the last two weeks. The Bulldogs put four runners in the first seven to easily win the team title with 38 points. 1A #4 Monticello was next (94 points) followed by 2A #21 Springfield (120 points). Urbana took the first two spots individually as Libby Cultra and Olivia Rosenstein crossed the line together in 18:19. Lydia Kurfman of Quincy ran 18:39 to finish third.

Wauconda Invitational

Wheaton-Warrenville South swept both team titles in this meet that was moved this year from Lakewood Forest Preserve to Matthews Middle School in Island Lake. The #4 Wheaton-Warrenville South Boys team placed four runners in the first eight winning the team title 38-52 ahead of #18 Wheaton North. The Tigers was pack was alive with Sean Maison, William Hauenstein, and Scott Maison finishing 3-4-5 and within 2.4 seconds of each other. Their split on their first four was 18 seconds. Their split on five was 56 seconds. Alex Tam of Libertyville was the individual winner covering the 2.95-mile course in 14:56 and 11 seconds ahead of Geneva’s Josh Rodgers and then the Wheaton-Warrenville South pack.

The outcome was the same for South’s Girls team as they scored only 29 points placing all five scorers in the top ten. Geneva scored 70 points to finish second. Maria Rucoba led the South charge running a fine 17:39 to win the individual race by 33 seconds ahead of Glenbrook South’s Kate Jortberg. The split for the Tigers on their top five was 75 seconds in the Varsity race.

Joliet Central Steelmen Invitational @ Channahon Park

#11 Plainfield South ran a 39 second on their top five led by the individual win from Christian Knowlton to win the Boys team title 40-42 over #2 York who was without top five runners Charlie Kern and Jackson Bode. Knowlton’s time of 15:23 was seven seconds faster than the York duo of Sean MacGregor and Tim Stevenson who finished second and third. York placed four runners in the first eight with only 16 seconds separating the group.

#14 Oswego used a 1-3 finish from Grace Pagone and Isabelle Christiansen as well as 5 runners in the top 11 to win the Girls team title 30-50 over Lincoln-Way Central. #25 Neuqua Valley was third (73 points). Pagone’s time of 18:32 was nine seconds ahead of Lincoln-Way Central’s Mackenzie Brownrigg and Christensen as both runners crossed the line in 18:32.

Gary Coates Invitational @ Princeton

The Girls individual race at this meet stole the show. It came down to a final kick with LaSalle-Peru’s Rachel Hickey finishing less than a second ahead of Kayla Schiera of Sandwich. Hickey crossed the line in 17:54.84. Schiera followed in 17:55.26.

Amboy placed three runners in the top ten to win the team title with 66 points. Morris (74 points), Sandwich (89 points), and LaSalle Peru (90 points) were the teams that followed.

Spencer Mauch of Sterling Newman controlled the Boys race running 16:20 for the win. He finished by more than 15 seconds ahead of Amboy’s Tom Stamberger and Westley Schmidt of Spring Valley Hall. LaSalle-Peru put all five of their scorers in the first 17 to win the team title with 45 points. 1A #14 Sterling Newman was next with 59 points followed by Morris (73 points) and Spring Valley Hall (83 points).

Paxton-Buckley-Loda Invitational

ACT testing took some of the top runners away from this meet. It did not slow down Arthur-Lovington’s Logan Hall as he cruised to a win running 15:43. Trey Houmes of Hoopeston Area led the pack 35 seconds behind Hall followed by Tolono Unity’s Cameron Woodward and Herscher’s Tyler Howard. 1A #21 Clifton Central, led by Isaiah Ditta’s 7^th place finish, won the Boys team title with 90 points. 1A #9 St. Joseph-Ogden (125 points) finished second without their top runner Wyatt Wolfersberger. Herscher (126 points), St. Thomas More (129 points), and Paxton-Buckley-Loda (132 points) rounded out the top five.

It was not the typical battle between the two top 1A Girls teams Tolono Unity and St. Joseph Ogden. It was Unity that prevailed as they put three runners in the first four led by the individual win from Jordan Harmon. The Unity junior ran 18:25 to win the individual title by 44 seconds ahead of St. Thomas More’s Fran Hendrickson. St. Joseph-Ogden ran short handed as their top runner Faith Houston taking the ACT test. #8 Herscher finished second (73 points) followed by Bishop McNamara (76 points) and #2 St. Joseph Ogden (79 points).