Illinois HS XC - Weekend Highlights - October 7, 2019

Photo: Batavia’s Mia Gianfrancesco passes South Elgin’s Naomi Ruff to win at St. Charles North on Saturday (Gary Mattes : Photo Credit)

By Michael Newman

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No meets were cancelled this weekend!

It looked like we would have a huge cancellation last week at this time with Detweiller Park under water. That cancellation never came to fruition with some fast times happening Saturday at the Peoria Invitational.

York and Yorkville made statements in their respective races Saturday night at the Nike Valley Twilight Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Saturday was the last huge weekend for meets as team’s gear up for their conference meets and then the state series races. There were no huge surprises throughout most of the meets that took place. Here are highlights of some of the meets that took place over the weekend.

Meet Coverage: Peoria Central Invitational | Nike Valley Twilight Invitational

St. Charles North Invitational

Wheaton-Warrenville South easily won the Boys team title in this meet placing five runners in the top seven to score only 19 points. Naperville Central (100 points) and Waubonsie Valley (130 points) finished second and third. Waubonsie Valley was without one of their top five runners Wesley Beitler in this race.

A new course layout was introduced at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve with flooding wiping out a section from 2.25 miles to 2.5 miles.

This race was more tactical than anything with South running only an 11 second split on their top five runners. Billy Hauenstein led the way for the Tigers as he ran 15:16.0 for the individual win. David Zeller (2nd), Ethan Seng (4th), Jacob Kluckhohn (5th), and Jared Peaslee (7th) followed. St. Charles North’s Ryan Arnold (3rd) and Arthur Graham (6) of Naperville Central broke up the Wheaton-Warrenville South pack.

Class 1A top ranked Winnebago showed at the First to the Finish Invitational that they were one of the top Girls teams in the state with a commanding performance. The Indians reaffirmed how good they are by winning the Girls team title with 65 points finishing ahead of five ranked Class 3A teams. Winnebago ran a 53 second split on their top five runners including putting four runners in the top 12. Katie Erb (7th), Natalia Martino (8th), Grace Erb (10th), and Marissa Roggensack (12th) were only separated by 12 seconds. Kaylee Woolery (28th) was the team’s fifth runner.

Lyons Township finished second (118 points) behind Maggie Abbs sixth-place finish. Downers Grove North (130 points), Metea Valley (135 points), and Batavia (152 points) rounded out the top five teams. Batavia ran without Katrina Schlenker who was rested ahead of Wednesday’s Naperville Twilight Meet. Her teammate Mia Gianfrancesco was the individual race winner covering the 3-mile course in 18:08.4.Naomi Ruff of South Elgin (18:09) and Sophia Sandy of Metea Valley (18:12) finished second and third.

Wheaton North Falcon Classic @ St. James Farm, Warrenville

The “Girls-Only” meet featured some of the top Girls runners in the state. Class 2A’s Benet Academy scored 25 points to take home the team title behind wins in Flight 3 from Joy Jackson and Flight 6 from Amelia Parisi. Neuqua Valley and York both scored 42 points placing second and third. O’Fallon and Glenbard West scored 43 points placing fourth and fifth. Glenbard West did not run Katelynne Hart in this meet.

Rosary’s Lianna Surtz tuned up for Wednesday’s Naperville Twilight Meet with a convincing win in the Championship Flight. Surtz covered the 2.95-mile St. James Farm course in 16:49.5 finishing 15 seconds ahead of St. Charles East’s Alice Abbott (17:04). Aly Negovetich of Grant Community (17:17), Ashley Heidenrich of Waubonsie Valley (17:21), and O’Fallon’s Peyton Schieppe (17:36) were the top five runners in that race.

Locktoberfest Invitational @ Dellwood Park, Lockport

This was a typical race from Jared Kreis of Lincoln-Way Central going out fast and daring his competition to run with him. The senior ran an impressive 15:19.3 on the hilly 5-kilometer course at Dellwood Park to easily win the Varsity race with Jake Allen of Naperville North his closest competition (15:42). Tyler Cushing of Bolingbrook ran 16:00 to finish third ahead of Stevenson’s Cory Pacernick and Jay Dworak of Joliet Central who both ran 16:08 to finish fourth and fifth.

Naperville North, behind Allen’s finish, placed all their scorers in the top 14 to win the team title with 42 points. Their top five runner split was 48 seconds. The split from second runner Tommy Paltzer (7th) and fifth runner Gabe Ryan (14th) was only 11 seconds.

Neuqua Valley finished second (85 points) led by the eighth-place finish from Nico Dovalovsky. Wheaton North, behind the ninth-place finish from Will Roth, scored 97 points to finish third.

Pat Savage Invitational @ Niles West HS

One of the top teams in Class 2A Vernon Hills flexed their muscles in this meet placed five runners in the top 18 to easily win the Girls Varsity title with only 39 points. The Cougars placed two runners in the top 10 led by the individual win from Rose Sheridan. The freshman ran the muddy 3.0-mile course on the Niles West campus in 17:59. She won by 23 seconds ahead of Argo’s Abby Lopez and another two seconds ahead of Evanston’s Hope Leman.

Whitney Young scored 178 points to finish second ahead of St. Viator (186 points) and Evanston (189 points).

Oswego East was an easy winner in the Boys Varsity race. The Wolves scored only 29 points placing five runners in the top 12 spots. East’s Brad Wiggins was the individual winner crossing the line in 15:33. Marist’s Thomas Leonard (15:42) and Oswego East’s Luke Wentz (15:45) finished second and third. Oswego East’s top five split was 35 seconds.

New Trier’s “JV” team scored 123 points to place second with St. Ignatius Prep (129 points) and Deerfield (134 points) placing third and fourth.

Pat Harland Invitational @ Lakes HS, Lake Villa

The Boys race was dynamic at Lakes High Schol with three runners under 15-minutes on this 2.91-mile course. It was a photo finish to determine the race winner as Antioch’s Charlie Smith edges Nathan Schmitt of Lake Forest for the individual win. Both runners were timed in 14:50. Kaneland’s Austin Adams was just two seconds back placing third. Anthony Farmer of Burlington Central (15:02) and Daniel Occhipinti of Kaneland (15:05) were the next runners across the line.

Class 2A top ranked Kaneland dominated the team competition scoring 56 points with a 78 second split on their top five runners. The split from their third through fifth runners was 43 seconds. Warren Township (103 points) and Lake Forest (110 points) finished second and third.

The Girls Individual race was just as close as the Boys race. Grayslake North’s Kelli Tosic ran 17:39 to captured the individual race two seconds ahead of Siobhan Stoll of Marian Central Catholic.

Prairie Ridge edged Warren Township 57-62 placing three runners in the top nine. Crystal Lake Central (89 points) finished third.

This meet is usually held at Fox River Park in Wilmot, Wisconsin. Due to flodding, the meet was moved to Lakes High School.

Elmwood-Brimfield Invitational @ Maple Lane Country Club, Elmwood

Elmwood-Brimfield defended their home turf winning the Boys team title with 86 points. The Trojans, led by Luke Hoffmann’s fifth-place finish, placed five runners in the top 35 spots. Deer Creek-Mackinaw scored 103 points while Eureka and El Paso-Gridley scored 138 points finishing third and fourth.

Elias Bergman of Illinois Valley Central ran 15:29 to capture the individual race with Tremont’s Leland Sumer running 15:35 to place second.

A 1-2 finish from Anna Perry and Alexi Fogo as well as four runners in the top nine gave Eureka the Girls team win with 30 points. Perry’s winning time of 17:42 was 13 seconds ahead of her teammate.

Tremont finished second (69 points) with El Paso-Gridley scoring 87 points to finish third.

Lisle Mane Event @ Community Park, Lisle

Brett Gardner of Lincoln-Way East ran a controlled pace in winning the Boys individual race in 15:59 on the five-kilometer course. Herscher’s Drew Rogers was the closest to Gardner running 16:09 to finish second. Wheaton St. Francis, who was without their top runner Dan Weizeorick, still had Chris Covone and Luke Orwig finish 3-4 to led the Spartans to the team win with 99 points. Herscher (137 points) and Hampshire (142 points) were in the top three teams.

Collette Kinsella of Nazareth Academy was the clear winner in the Girls race. The freshman ran 19:23 for the individual title 20 seconds ahead of second-place Taylor Jurgens of Riverside-Brookfield. West Chicago, paced by Caroline Pacer’s third-place finish, won the Girls team title with 80 points ahead of St. Francis (146 points) and IMSA (171 points).

Quincy Invitational @ Bob Mayes Park, Quincy

The Boys individual race came down to two of the top sophomores in the state. Fiker Rosen of Quincy took the individual win (15:42) five seconds ahead of Hamilton’s Miles Sheppard. Quincy was the Boys team champion with 43 points ahead of Burlington IA (73 points).

Robinson Invitational (Thursday)

Tatum David of Olney East Richland was the easy winner in the Girls race covering the 2.96-mile Lakeland Community Course in a fast 17:00. Tolono Unity took the next three spots as Evelyn Atkins, Kylie Decker, and Taylor Joop finished within 15 seconds of each other with Atkins running 18:36. Tolono placed five runners in the top 14 to score 32 points for the team win. Marshall (106 points) and Richland County (109 points) finished second and third.

Negus Bogard of Robinson captured the Boys race on his home course. His time of 15:04 was eight seconds faster than second-place finisher Gavin Kirby of Richland County. Kirby led his team to the win (65 points) ahead of Father McGivney (78 points) and Robinson (98 points).