Surtz first at Aurora City, Minooka sweeps at Normal West, Roller rolls to win at First to the Finish Kickoff

By Michael Newman

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Lianna Surtz of Rosary concluded a big first week of her freshman season Saturday by winning the Girls Race in the Aurora City Championships at Waubonsie Valley High School. Surtz had the lead in the first 200-meters of the race and smoothly moved away from there.

The instructions that she got from her coach Vic Mead was to stay with the front runners for the first of two 1.5-mile laps on this course and then go from there. “I was supposed to stay with the leaders for the first lap of the race,” Surtz said. “If I felt good, then I was supposed to take off.”

It was not her fault that she did not follow instructions on this day. Surtz was just that much better than the rest of the pack. She did not look like she was pushing on her pace throughout this race. The freshman was just slowly pully away from the pack. By the time she got to the halfway point, her lead was up to 30 seconds. By the time she passed 2.25-miles, the lead had rocketed up to a minute. Surtz crossed the line in 18:01.1 for the win.

On Tuesday at Yorkville, she broke the course record at Hoover Forest Preserve by 35 seconds. Saturday, Surtz did not close to the course record set by Naperville North’s Sarah Schmitt when she ran 17:15 to win the 2017 sectional race. But, considering that Surtz was all by herself for almost all of the race and she won by 72 seconds shows that this freshman will be challenging for the 2A individual state championship in November.

We will see her in some good races over the next month including the Sycamore Invitational on Tuesday and the Richard Spring Invitational where she will face a field including state champion Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West, Isabelle Christiansen of Oswego, and Samantha Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South.

Ashley Heidenreich of Waubonsie Valley, the defending race championship, edged West Aurora freshman Megan Sporny for second both timed at 19:13.

Metea Valley displayed some strong pack running in winning the team championship with 39 points. The Mustang pack of five runners were together at 1.5-miles between 15^th and 20^th places. They moved the second half of the race placing their scorers in the top 11 led by the fifth and sixth-place finishes from Carly Cast and Emily Kohlberg. Their spread on their top five runners was only 36 seconds. That’s a good starting point for the 2018 season for this team. Waubonsie Valley scored 56 points to finish second ahead of West Aurora (63 points).

Marmion Academy controlled the Boys race placing their top five runners in the first ten places scoring only 33 points for the team championship. The Cadets seized control of the race early in the first lap as all of their top five led the pack in the front. Anthony Zangler and Jack Brewster led their team with a third and fourth-place finish. The five-runner spread for the Cadets 24 seconds.

Jesus Nava of East Aurora and Wes Beitler from Waubonsie Valley pulled away from the pack just before 1.5-miles. It was Nava that slowly pulled away from the Waubonsie Valley junior in the final mile to take the win (15:56.7) by over ten seconds ahead of Beitler (16:07.6).

West Aurora (62 points) just edged Waubonsie Valley (65 points) for second in the team standings. Waubonsie Valley was without two of their top five runners.

Roller rolls to win on SIU-Edwardsville course

When the temperatures and humidity levels rise, and you have to run on the challenging Mud Mountain course at SIU-Edwardsville, the course usually wins. Such was the case Saturday morning for the First to the Kickoff Meet where some of the top 1A runners and teams were in competition. Lydia Roller of Staunton, who finished 17^th at last fall’s 1A state meet, proved she was ready for this campaign. The sophomore took the lead in the first mile of the race and powered away from the rest of the pack. Roller, who won this race last year in 19:53, defended her title running 19:58 for the win finishing ahead of two 1A All-State runners that finished ahead of her last November. Breanna Chandler of Freeburg, 12^th in the 1A race last November was 55 seconds (20:53) behind Roller in second-place. Veronica Hein, 8^th in the 1A race, finished third (21:06).

Mascoutah defended both of their team titles in this meet. In the Girls race, the #23 2A Indians used some strong pack running. Mascoutah scored 75 points to finish ahead of 1A #12 Freeburg (97 points), Breese Mater Dei (121 points), and 1A #23 Decatur St. Teresa (143 points).

Mascoutah placed their first four runners between 10^th and 19^th led by Arianna Climaco’s 10^th place finish and Naya Busbea’s 11^th place finish. Their first four runners were separated by only 33 seconds. Their top five spread 90 seconds. Freeburg, led by Chandler and Jessica Shepherd (7^th) in the top ten, were without their second runner Reagan Lucas who had a twisted ankle and was rested for next week’s race at Granite City according to Freeburg Coach Carl Florczyk.

Missouri runners took the top two spots in the Boys race. Blake Morris of Cape Girardeau Notre Dame, who finished 8^th in last year’s Missouri Class 3 State Meet, ran 16:39 for the win 12 seconds ahead of Caleb Cornelius of Saxony Lutheran (16:51). Cornelius is the Missouri Class 2 defending state champion. Jackson Stewart of Decatur St. Teresa was the first Illinois runner across the line finishing third (17:08).

Three of the first four teams in the Boys standings were 2A schools. Mascoutah scored 90 points for the team win ahead of 1A #3 Freeburg (102 points) and 2A Rochester (191 points) and 2A Columbia (196 points). Mascoutah placed their five scorers in the first 36 places led by the fourth-place finish from Casmir Cozzi (17:21). Their top five spread was 107 seconds. 1A ranked Freeburg was only 12 points in back of Mascoutah and without one of their top five runners Blake Hatter who was away from the team taking the SAT tests. Corbin Schwable led the team by finishing sixth overall (17:47). The Midgets had four runners in the top 25 with a 59 second split on the group. Their overall top five spread was 108 seconds.

Minooka sweeps team titles at Normal West

Both Minooka’s Boys and Girls teams are ranked in Class 3A season to start the season. They showed why with team wins in both races Saturday at Normal’s Maxwell Park. The Girls team, ranked ninth in 3A, used a 1-3 finish from Vivian Van Eck and Julia Dames to win the Girls team title with 58 points. 2A #8 Dunlap, who was without their top runner Abby Johnson, finished second (85 points) ahead of 2A #11 Washington (93 points) and Lincoln-Way West (99 points).

The individual race was not close as Van Eck pulled away from the pack early in the race and crossed the line with the win in 18:07. Morton’s Aspen Gordon was 32 seconds back in second-place (18:39). Dames (18:56) held off Pekin’s Paige Arseneau (18:59) for third. Macy Priess of Dunlap rounded out the top five (19:05).

Minooka placed their scorers in the top 27 but that might not be the story in this meet. The Indians have a strong freshman group ready to jump into the top seven. Kathryn Cichon won the Girls Open race with a time (11:58) that was 10 seconds faster than what former Minooka All-State runner Emily Shelton ran as a freshman. Their second and third runners Alyssa Hrusosky and Jocelyn Host were within five seconds from what All-State runner Ashley Tutt ran as a freshman. The future looks good for this Minooka team.

The Boys individual race had the same scenario as the Girls. Jared Kries of Lincoln-Way Central took the lead early and went on for the win (15:10.7) by 13 seconds ahead of Normal West’s Charlie Wetzel (15:23). Jordan Freese of Minooka (15:37), Jonathan Stiglic of Lincoln-Way West (15:51), and Brody Blackwell of Pekin (15:58) rounded out the top five.

Minooka placed all their scorers in the first 18 to easily win with 46 points with a 73 second spread off Freese. Minooka was without one of their top five Mark Dames who was sick and did not run. 2A #9 Washington ran a 37 second split off 13^th place finisher Avery Davidson to finish second (105 points) ahead of Lincoln-Way Central (114 points) and 2A #5 Danville (133 points).

Clifton Central surprises top ranked Monticello at Saber Corn Run

1A #9 Clifton Central used a 2-3 finish from Jeremy Snejberg and Isaiah Ditta to surprise 1A pre-season top ranked Monticello for the team title in this season opener. The Comets scored 71 points to finish ahead of Monticello (96 points), 1A #7 Stanford Olympia (128 points), and 1A #2 Urbana University (133 points). One of the top 1A runners returning Garrett Dixon of Monticello was in control of this race running 15:30 for the win ahead of Clifton Central’s Snejberg (15:58) and Ditta (15:59). Arthur-Lovington’s Layton Hall finished fourth overall (16:16).

2A #15 Mahomet-Seymour was in charge in the Girls team race placing four runners in the first seven to take the win with only 30 points. The Bulldogs, led by Brisa McGrath’s second-place finish, ran a 126 second spread on their top five but only a 76 seconds on their first four runners. 1A #9 Stanford Olympia finished second (53 points) ahead of 1A #10 Monticello (81 points), 1A #20 Urbana University (98 points), and 1A #18 St. Thomas More (138 points).

Fran Hendrickson of St. Thomas More won the individual race on her home course covering the three-mile circuit in 18:43 by nine seconds ahead of McGrath and another five seconds ahead of Clinton’s Payne Turney (18:57).

Plainfield City Championships

3A #22 Plainfield South ruled the individual and team races Saturday at Plainfield’s Van Horn Park. The Cougars, paced by a 1-2 finish from Christian Knowlton and Timmy Wade, placed their scorers in the first 11 to take home the team title with 31 points ahead of Plainfield North. Knowlton cruised to the win covering the three-mile course in 15:58 ahead of his teammate Wade by 32 seconds. Their five-runner spread to start the year was at 53 seconds.

It was all Plainfield North in the Girls race as they took nine of the first ten places to easily win with only 16 points. Plainfield South scored 61 points to finish second in this four team meet.  It was also in easy win for Juliana Stogsdill of Plainfield North as she picked up her second invitational win of the week. The senior ran 18:46 for the win ahead of teammate Emily Bedford by 102 seconds. Plainfield North’s spread on their second through fifth runners was only 26 seconds.

McHenry County Meet

3A #6 Huntley was without one of their top runners Jeremy Roe but still placed three runners in the top ten in this non-scored meet. The story of this meet was the individual win from Jacobs’ Mark Lemke who usually is in the shadows of their top runner Zach Albrecht who missed his second meet due to an injury. “Zach would have run today but he has a slightly sprained ankle. We just did not want to take a chance today,” Jacobs coach Kevin Christian said on Wednesday at the EIU Showdown. “If this was October, he would have been racing.”

It left the door open for Lemke who is usually the team’s second-runner. The first four places were separated by eight seconds with Lemke taking the win at Cary-Grove’s Hickory Nut Grove course. Lemke’s time of 16:20 was ahead of Huntley’s Jadon Conroy (16:23) and Ian Geisler (16:25) with Marian Central Catholic’s Ryan Jones finishing fourth (16:28).

Mackenzie Aldridge of Crystal Lake South won the Girls race (19:16) ahead of Jacobs’ freshman Elisabeth Kania (19:27) who finished second. Aldridge’s teammate Olivia Beckwith was two seconds back (19:29) in third.

Photo – Rosary’s Lianna Surtz on her way to the win at the Aurora City Championships (Mike Newman Photo)