Parekh zooms ahead for Girls Title at Naperville Twilight

Rogers in control in Boys race win; Naperville North wins Girls team title; Hinsdale Central leads WSC-Silver 1-2-3 finish in Boys team race

By Michael Newman

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Naperville, Ill – Ava Parekh of Latin School is going to be tough to beat as we head to the state meet and then post-season racing. Parekh dispatched a star-studded field in the Girls Varsity race Wednesday night at the Naperville Twilight Invitational. Her winning time of 16:31 was 28 seconds faster than the 16:59 second-place time from Mary Grace Hegberg of St. Viator.

RESULTS | VIDEOS

The sprinkling of rain that hit the Naperville North campus did not affect the runners or even the course in this rock-hard fast course. Grace Schager of Glenbard North was in attendance in this meet but did not run due to a minor injury. Audrey Allman of Glenbard West also had a minor injury from her last race and was held out. Downers Grove South’s third runner Kelsey Casella went home from school sick and did not run.

The pace was fast in this race as the lead pack went through the first half mile in 2:43. The pace slowed down but there was separation n the front with Parekh, Hegberg, and Caroline Schoen of Homewood-Flossmoor passed the first mile in 5:28 as they entered the stadium track for one lap around.

The race changed as Parekh made her surge just as she left the track, went under the stands on the course, and back out in the main part of the course. Her stride was as fluid as the sky above as her lead at that point was three seconds ahead of Hegberg. Elia Ton-That of Northside Prep was in the second pack but had moved up to catch Schoen and were eight seconds behind Hegberg. Katrina Schlenker of Batavia and Evelyn Hett of Jones Prep did not get caught up with the fast pace and were moving their way through the pack with their sights set on the two runners ahead of them.

Parekh entered the stadium as her lead was continuing to grow with her stride speeding up. She did not seem to be breathing hard as she crossed the line for the win.

The challenge for the next spots was exciting to watch as five runners stepped on the track fighting for the second spot. That belonged to Hegberg as she went under 17-minutes for the first time. Hett and Schoen finished third and fourth but crossing the line at 17:01. Both achieved huge personal bests in this race. Hett had run 17:26 on September 25 at the Palatine Invitational. Schoen had run 17:22 just four days before at the Peoria Invitational. Schlenker finished fifth (17:08) just ahead of Downers Grove South’s Holly Johnson who had run 17:09 to finish sixth.

It was Naperville North who again took home the team title. The #2 Huskies worked their way up through the pack in this race to win the team title with 98 points. Lucy Westlake led the way finishing 11th overall. Sophie Golobitsh was 39 seconds behind in 23rd. Marissa Magana (27th), Emma Berres (29th), and Logan Brennen (37th) were the next three Naperville North runners to finish.

Minooka finished second behind Naperville North for the second time this season as the Indians scored 116 points. Audrey Boles ran 17:55 to finish 15th overall. Gabriella McCollum was (18) followed by Gabrielle Kics (21), Jocelyn Host (28), and Kathryn Cichon (66). Minooka was missing some of their top seven runners who ran in the Frosh/Soph race. Their team in that race scored 38 points to win that level. Cassie Fuhrman ran 18:50 to win that race followed by Taya Gummerson in third and Maya Ledesma in fourth. The addition of those three runners in the Varsity race would have given Minooka the team win 94 – 98 according to Roland Hopkins of Ilxcspeedratings.com.

Naperville Central was only two points behind Minooka as they scored 118 points to finish third led by Liv Phillips finishing 11th and top 20 finishes from Kate Tueting (16th) and Ava Hendren (17th). Lyons Township behind Catherine Sommerfeld finishing 7th scored 154 points to finish fourth. Downers Grove North scored 159 points to finish fifth.

Norah Hess of Naperville North ran 18:56 to win the Girls Junior Varsity race by 29 seconds ahead of teammate Samantha Falkman. Brooke Horning of Metea Valley pulled away from the field after the halfway point to run 21:00 to win the Girls Open race.

BOYS RACES

Drew Rogers of Herscher has been doing well the past week after missing 10 days of training after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Rogers won this race making this race three wins in the last eight days.

Rogers let the race come to him from the starter’s gun. He led the race going through the first mile in 4:48 with Tim Neumann of Downers Grove South and Danny Watcke of Hinsdale Central right on his shoulder. Rogers made his move in the final mile pulling away from the two runners. The win for him was set in stone after that point.

Rogers entered the stadium for the final 500-meters of the race with an eight second lead. He ended by running 14:48 for the win.

The last half mile was crazy for the pack that followed. Neumann and Watcke led coming into the stadium complex of the course but were fading. Charlie McLawhorn of Lyons Township and Zachary Balzer of Minooka made the pass just before entering the track. Watcke was hurting at that point but did dig deep to catch the two with less than 200-meters left in the race. Watcke passed McLawhorn in the final stretch to capture second (14:58) just ahead of McLawhorn (14:59). Balzer finished fourth (15:00) ahead of Oliver Burns of Plainfield North and Gabe Ryan of Naperville North (15:06). Neumann was next in seventh (15:07) followed by Latin School’s Akili Parekh who ran 15:08 to place eighth.

Hinsdale Central led a 1-2-3 sweep for WSC-Silver schools in this meet as the Red Devils scored 99 points for the meet win. Colby Revord followed Watcke in 11th. Jessie Gamboa (22nd), Michael Skora (33rd), and Aden Bandukwala (40th) followed. The team had a 60 second split on their top five.

Lyons Township continues to improve as evidenced in this meet scoring 115 points to finish second. McLawhorn was followed by a strong pack of Hayden Constas (23rd), Cillian Henning (28th), Nicholas Strayer (34th), and Finn Gallagher (36th). The team’s top five split was 57 seconds. Their split from Constas and Gallagher was 20 seconds.

Downers Grove North placed third with 136 points paced by finishes from Roy Llewellyn (10th), Topher Ferris (24th), and Karan Shetty (26th). Their top five split was 47 seconds. Waubonsie Valley was without one of their top five Aidan Oster who is nursing a minor injury. The Warriors still scored 142 points to finish fourth behind top 20 finishes from Angel Solis (14th) and Ethan Marshall (19th). Their top four split was 23 seconds, 52 seconds on their top five. Neuqua Valley finished fifth (151 points) led by Noah Schalliol finishing 13th.

Alexander Papadopoulos of Jones Prep ran 16:03 to win the Boys Junior Varsity race. Caleb Kies pulled away to run 16:10 for the win in the Boys Frosh/Soph race. Josh Poeschel of Downers Grove South ran 16:12 to finish second. Neuqua Valley’s Bryce Chamberlain ran 17:37 to win the Boys Open race with Andrew Rhodes of Naperville Central running 17:45 to finish second.