First day of 2018  XC season starts with a blast

By Michael Newman

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Downers Grove – The first meet of the season is a time to rejoice that cross-country is back for the next several of months. It is a time for runners to knock the rust off their legs racing for the first time in a long time. The first meet of the season is a time for parents of freshmen to figure out what this sport of cross country is all about from finding the starting line and then what a finish chute is.

It did not seem like a rust buster for some runners that we will be talking about all fall.

Although this was a small triangular meet at Downers Grove South’s home course at O’Brien Park, Naperville Central’s Thomas Shilgalis did not treat this race like a lark in the park. It was rather what could be the start of a great season for the Naperville Central senior.

Shilgalis pulled away in the final mile of the race from Downers Grove South’s Eddie Siuda to win with a time of 15:01. Siuda was next finishing in 15:18. The two appeared to be running at a tempo pace going through two miles in 10:08. That is when Shilgalis made his move. He was not resting for this race. Shilgalis had been on a college visit over the weekend where he gotten in some tough runs.

“I was actually just cruising throughout the race,” Shilgalis said. “He (Siuda) was just sticking with me and then he started to fall back. I really just wanted to get out there against some of the top guys. I enjoyed this race today.”

His time was the third fastest ever on this course. The two fastest times came from the Hinsdale South duo of Charlie Nodus and Roman Drabchuk who had run 14:45/14:46 at the WSC-Gold Conference Meet. That race was run in October. Shilgalis did this in the first meet of the season in August. There is a long way to go in the season and Shilgalis looks to be ready for the challenge.

The team battle was close between #7 Downers Grove South and #9 Naperville Central. It came down to a 28-28 tie for the two teams in which Naperville Central won on a sixth-runner tiebreak.

The Girls race spotlighted one of the top teams in the state Downers Grove South. The #3 team in the state rolled to the win with 22 points placing five runners in the top seven with a 50 second split on their scorers. The Mustangs showed their depth with two of their top seven runners as freshmen.

The individual race broke open in the first mile when Oswego’s Isabelle Christiansen and Downers Grove South’s Brenna Cohoon and Melissa Weidner separated themselves from the pack. The three runners stayed together until the final 400-meters. Christiansen pulled away down the stretch to take the win (17:50) ahead of Weidner (17:53) and Cohoon (17:58). It was a great starting meet for Christiansen who did not have that kind of a start a year ago suffering from an injury.

“The final lap of the race I was just thinking about just sticking with them and just kicking with them as hard as I could at the end. I am just trying to improve on that. I got a good start on that today,” Christiansen said. “I am so excited. This was better than the start from last year. Especially after the Detweiller at Dark performance, that was just a huge confidence booster. I was just say this meet is another step in that process.”

#15 Oswego second in this small quad meet (64 points) just ahead of #13 Naperville Central (65 points) and Marist (95 points)

Freshman makes statement at Yorkville

One of the most shocking results on this first day of meets came at Hoover Forest Preserve. We knew that Rosary freshman Lianna Surtz was good especially after she ran 17:18 at Detweiller Park in July. To see her run 17:15.5 on the Hoover Forest Preserve course was even more amazing.

The course defines cross-country with dirt trails, gravel and cement roads, and starting and finishing on a grass field. It is not a course where you can run wear spikes on. Surtz’s time is just that more mind boggling.

She was pushed the first two miles by Yorkville’s Emily Eberhart. The senior had to drop out of the race because her levels were not good. Eberhart is in a battle with Type 1 Diabetes in which she has to deal with it every day.

The times were fast on this day with the top four runners all under 18-minutes. It usually takes 18-minutes to win this race normally. Not on this day. Surtz’s time was the fastest ever on this course.

#2 Yorkville had three runners in behind Surtz with Olivia Borowiak (17:36), Helena Kleronomos (17:39), and Kailey Fox (17:43) were all separated by just seven seconds. The Lady Foxes scored 22 points placing five runners in the top seven to outdistance Oswego East (55 points) and Rosary (80 points).

“She is a stud and will be very, very, good this year,” Yorkville Coach Chris Muth said about Surtz after the meet. “Emily after 2 miles had to drop because her levels weren’t good. Olivia, Helena, Fox all broke 18:00 which is solid times but not great. We ran flat. Emily is doing good. It’s just impossible to control it and there are so many factors. We knew the season wouldn’t be perfect but up until this point things have been great. This is just one small setback.”

Yorkville also won the Boys meet with 25 points placing their five scorers in the top nine with a 52 second split. Marist’s Thomas Leonard controlled and won the race (15:36) by 37 seconds ahead of Yorkville’s Alex Loos and Ben Tholen.

SWSC Pre-Season Meet at Lockport Campus course

#11 Sandburg looked good in their first meet of the season involving all of the schools from the Southwest Suburban Conference. The Eagles placed their first five runners in the first ten spots to win the team competition with 29 points ahead of #20 Lockport (84 points) and Lincoln-Way Central (102 points). Sandburg were led by brothers Ben and Will Giblin who crossed the line together on the 3-mile course in 16:13 placing third and fourth. Teammates Sam Rodriguez (6^th), Nico Calderon (7^th), and Griffin Lehnhardt (10^th) were only separated by 30 seconds. It was a close finish for the individual win between a pair of juniors. Tyler Cushing of Bolingbrook brought home the win (15:34.2) by just two seconds ahead of Jared Kreis from Lincoln-Way Central (15:36.6).

#19 Lockport used some strong pack running to win the Girls race with 28 points ahead of Lincoln-Way East (42 points) and #22 Lincoln-Way Central (88 points) who had some of their top seven runners in the Frosh/Soph race. Jenna Couwenhoven ran 20:14 for the win ahead of Lockport’s Madison Polinski by six seconds (20:20).

Photo – Thomas Shilgalis on his way to the win (Laura Duffy Photo Credit)