Roberts, Stogsdill take different roads to race wins

By Michael Newman

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Naperville – Jack Roberts of Downers Grove North and Juliana Stogsdill of Plainfield North both took different roads on their way to wins at Wednesday’s EIU Showdown held at Greene Valley Forest Preserve in Naperville.

Stogsdill had control of the race from the sound of the gun opening up an 18 second lead as she went through the first mile in 5:48 on this three lap 1-mile loop course. By the next time around, the lead grew to 45 seconds. She looked back to find no runner in sight. The senior crossed the line in 18:13 and 56 seconds ahead of Alyson Doherty from Jacobs (19:09). “My coach (Tammy Gummerson) said around the mile and a half to work on the half mile and then the final mile and I picked up from there,” Stogsdill said about the last half of the race.

The race experience for Roberts was different in the Boys race. The idea for him and his Downers Grove North teammates was to keep the pack together for the first mile of the race. That happened as a pack of purple clad -runners did not push the pace for the first mile as Highland Park’s Jose Reyes and Jason Polydoris led the race through the first mile in 5:15. Roberts, Matt Moravec, and the Downers Grove North team passed by in 5:30 talking and encouraging each other to stay close together.

The dynamics of the race changed during the second mile when Burlington Central’s Anthony Farmer took over the lead and started to push the pace. The two Highland Park runners started to drop off the pace.

The race was just beginning for Roberts and Moravec. At the half way point, Farmer had a 10 second lead on Roberts and Moravec who had moved up to sixth and seventh. By the time, the race lead had approached the 2-Mile mark in 10:35, Roberts had caught up to the Burlington Central junior and kept on going. That was the plan for today.

Roberts was in charge in that point. He crossed the line in 15:23 which on this course is not that impressive. The way that he got to that time completing the final mile in 4:48 is impressive.

“We had a group of guys and we just wanted to stick together (in the first mile). We wanted to get them on a pace where they could run some good times,” Roberts said. “The second mile we wanted to pick up the pace. The third mile we wanted to rip it from there.”

Moravec finished second in 15:39. Farmer was third crossing the line in 15:51. The #10 Trojans showed their packing ability placing their scorers in the first 13 with a 73 second split off Roberts scoring 32 points for the win. Downers Grove North swept both team titles as their Girls team scored 31 points putting their top five runners in the top nine positions for the win. They were led by Katie Figliomeni (4^th), Eva Bednard (5^th), Melissa Jachim (6^th), Ellie Gross (7^th), and Rylan Gaspar(9^th). Plainfield North finished second with 64 points with Jacobs third (66 points).

Both Roberts and Stogsdill are facing the same challenges entering this season. Stogsdill has been Plainfield North’s top runner in the three years she has run for the team. This year, she is “on her own” with the runner that she trained with in those three years Megan Patton has graduated. The hard work outs she will now have to do on her own.

“She (Patton) definitely showed me how to lead the team,” Stogsdill added. “Last year it was the three senior captains and me. They have definitely been my best friends. I’m going to miss them.”

Roberts is in the same situation as the team’s only returning top seven runner from last season’s state championship squad. The lessons that he learned from the 2017 season will show as he leads this Downers Grove North team.

“We were all kind of leaders to a degree last year. We were all taking during the races last year and that won’t change this season,” Roberts stated. “Last year it was my first state meet. My teammates were really there for me. We were expected to win. They showed me how to take the pressure off to make it feel easier. That is something that I am going to try to share with the guys this year.”

Both Roberts and Stogsdill will take different roads to get to Detweiller Park. The one thing that could be similar for the two on November 3 is finishing in the top 25 at the IHSA State Cross Country Meet.

Photo – Jack Roberts and Anthony Farmer together at 2-miles in the EIU Challenge Boys Varsity Race (Mike Newman Photo)