10 Takeaways from the 2019 Illinois IHSA Regional Meets

 

Let the state series start (Photo by Laura Duffy ©2019)

 

By Michael Newman

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Regional meets are the first of three weeks of state series meets leading up to the state meet on November 9. Championship season starts in earnest with conference meets. The process of finding runners and teams to toe the line at Detweiller Park started on Friday and Saturday.

45 meets to place on Friday and Saturday across the state. Here are some of things that we saw in these meets.

 

1 – Two great races at Glenbard West

It had figured to be close in both team races in the Class 3A Glenbard West Regional at Glendale Heights’ Camera Park. Expectations came true on Saturday morning.

The Girls individual race was not that close as expected. Katelynne Hart, who had not raced on this course since her first high school race her freshman year, pulled away from the pack on her way to running 15:57.88 to win the regional title and setting a course record in the process. The old record on this 2.88-mile course was set in 2015 by former Glenbard West runner Lindsey Payne (16:09). Hart kept her pace under control in this race passing 1-mile in 5:21 and 2-miles at 10:58. She has bigger races to go after in the next couple of weeks.

The Girls team race came down to the front running from #7 Glenbard West and the pack running from #8 Wheaton-Warrenville South and #11 York. In this meet that had only 63 runners, Glenbard West’s strength in the front paid off. The Lady Hilltoppers scored 41 points for the regional team win with WWS (43 points) and York (56 points) finishing second and third.

Glenbard West placed three runners in the top four with Hart’s win, Audrey Allman finishing third, and Delaney Engel placing fourth. Anna Nickoley (12th) and Ava Powell (21st) were the team’s fourth and fifth runners. Wheaton-Warrenville South received top 10 finishes from Samantha Poglitsch (2nd), Kaitlyn Nenninger (5th), and Haley Ansiel (7). The Lady Tigers top five split was 81 seconds. The split from two to five was 57 seconds. York had a 34 second split on their scorers led by the 8-9-10 pack of Katelyn Winton, Lydia Hickey, and Brooke Berger.

The top 11 finishers in the Boys race came from either #2 Wheaton-Warrenville South and #3 York making this regional race feel like a dual meet. It ran that way also as the Tigers scored 25 points for the regional win ahead of the Dukes who scored 31 points.

The race broke open just after a 5:03 opening mile when Billy Hauenstein broke away from the pack with his team following. Daniel Klysh started to go after Hauenstein but the break at that point was too big. Meanwhile, York’s pack stayed within touch waiting for the final mile.

York and Wheaton-Warrenville South battled for points in the final mile as York began to surge to catch up. The Tigers had the advantage as Hauenstein crossed the line (14:36) 10 seconds ahead of Klysh. Then came David Zeller (3rd), Jared Peaslee (4th), and Ethan Seng (6th) who finished within three seconds of each other. Jacob Kluckhohn was the team’s fifth runner finishing 11th.

The Tigers had a top five split of 34 seconds. The split from Zeller to Kluckhohn was 15 seconds.

York’s pack was even closer together running their best split of the season so far. Colin Hill was the Dukes’ second runner placing fifth overall. Then came York’s pack of Brian Pratt (7th), Michael Moriarty (8th), Will Yasdick (9th), and Ethan Kern (10th) who finished within four seconds of each other. York’s top five split was 21 seconds off Klysh and 22 seconds from their 1-6 pack. Their split from Hill to Yasdick was only 11 seconds.

 

2 – Small school doing big things

I did a double take towards the end of September when I was compiling my ranking lists for Class 1A and saw Christ our Rock Lutheran High School had an impressive third-place finish in the Boys race at the Sparta Invitational. The Silver Stallions recently dropped out of the top 25 but are still among the top five schools in the Class 1A Benton Sectional.

The Centralia school that has an enrollment of 119 students took a giant step in  qualifying for their first state meet on Saturday. They scored 32 points to win their first regional title at Chester placing ahead of Steeleville (73 points) and DuQuoin (86 points) who had finished ahead of CCORL in a meet earlier this year.

Ty Reynolds led his team with the individual win (16:56) by 11 seconds ahead of DuQuoin’s Landen Swiney. The Silver Stallions placed 5 in the top 11 in this race stamping their ticket to next week’s Benton Sectional.

 

3 – Showdown set in 1A Oregon Sectional

The first six teams in last week’s ILXTF Class 1A Girls State top 25 came from two sectionals. #1 Monticello, #3 Tolono Unity, and #6 St. Joseph-Ogden raced against each other on Saturday at Tuscola. Monticello had the edge with 37 points ahead of Tolono Unity (47 points) and St. Joseph-Ogden (85 points).

The Oregon Girls Sectional is just as tough with three teams in the top five set to face off this coming Saturday at Oregon Park West. Each team won their own regional setting up what could be a close team race.

#2 Winnebago, racing on their home course at Fuller Forest Preserve, ran without top five runner Grace Erb but still scored 16 points for the team win ahead of #20 Rockford Christian (53 points) and #16 Harvest Christian Academy (93 points).

#4 Rock Falls had a similar performance on their home regional at Rock Falls’ Centennial Park. The Rockets placed six in the first seven spots to win with 17 points behind Bailee Fortney’s individual win. The senior ran 17:20 to win by 88 seconds ahead of teammates Erin Porter and Galin Gaulrapp.

#5 Rosary is the newcomer this fall in Class 1A after qualifying for state last year in Class 2A. The Royals placed four runners in the top six to score 22 points finishing ahead of city rival Aurora Central Catholic (56 points).

 

4 – Here comes Belvidere North

The Belvidere North Girls team started the season in search of defending their 2A state championship, but the prospects looked dim. An injury to returning all-state runner Gianna Sagona slowed the team down as they dropped as low as #8 in the top 25 rankings.

A healthy Sagona, along with closer pack running, has boosted the Blue Thunder with impressive wins last week at the NIC-10 Conference Championship and then Saturday in winning the Sterling Regional in a close 26-30 win ahead of #11 Dixon. Sagona, Madison Diercks, and Sydnee Elder and their 2-3-4 finish. North placed five runners in the top nine for their win. Dixon looked strong as well with 5 runners in the top 11 led by the individual win from Paige Stees.

This is the last season for Coach Troy Yunk as he will retire at the end of this season as the Boys Cross Country Coach. The #13 Blue Thunder finished second (58 points) behind #3 Dixon (22 points) as the Dukes placed four runners in the top five. Dixon’s Brock Drengenberg ran 15:46 for the win with North’s Max Beutel three seconds behind in second-place. Both teams have good chances of advancing to the state meet from next week’s Belvidere Sectional.

 

5 – Top two schools taking care of business in 3A Girls

The top two teams in the state Naperville North and Downers Grove South took different paths in winning their own regional races on Saturday.

Top ranked Naperville North did not need to race their top runner Maggie Gamboa in this race. The Lady Huskies placed their top four runners in the first seven places to win the Oswego East Regional with 33 points. North was paced by a 3-4-5 finish from Audrey Mendrys, Sophie Golobitsch, and Kate Donaldson separated by only five seconds. Campbell Petersen finished 7th for the Huskies. #9 Oswego finished second (90 points) led by Audra Soderlind who finished sixth. Waubonsie Valley’s Ashley Heidenrich ran 17:35 to win the individual title 16 seconds ahead of Metea Valley’s Sophia Sandy.

In the Boys race at that regional, Naperville North’s Jake Allen ran 15:01 to win by 13 seconds ahead of Neuqua Valley’s Nicolas Dovalovsky.  #9 Oswego East placed three runners in the top nine to win on their home course (47 points) ahead of #12 Naperville North (62 points), #21 Neuqua Valley and #15 Waubonsie Valley who both scored 95 points.

#2 Downers Grove South ran in the rain and wet conditions in the Lyons Township Regional. The weather did not seem to bother the Lady Mustangs as they scored 29 points for the regional win with #5 Hinsdale Central scoring 40 points to finish second.

Brenna Cohoon ran 17:20 to win the regional title for the second year in a row. Hinsdale Central’s Emma Watcke was 14 seconds behind (17:34) placing second. South had a 59 second split on their top five runners. Their split between second runner Erin Reidy (3rd overall) and fifth runner Rebecca Diddia (10th overall) was 34 seconds.

Naperville North and Downers Grove South do not race until state on November 9. Naperville North will race at St. Charles East next Saturday while Downers Grove South will be at Katherine Legge Memorial for the Hinsdale Central Sectional.

 

6 – Close Finishes

There were plenty of close individual and team finishes among the 45 regionals that took place on Friday and Saturday. Here are some of them:

At the Andrew Sectional, Brett Gardner of Lincoln-Way East won for the second week in a row ahead of conference rival Jared Kries of Lincoln-Way Central. The margin was nine seconds in last week’s race. It was closer on Saturday in what was a tactical wait to kick until the finish type of race. Gardner had the edge running 15:03.4 to win ahead of Kries by just three tenths of a second. The team battle was just as close as Lincoln-Way Central had the edge 39-42 ahead of Lincoln-Way East.

At the Lake Forest Sectional, Dillon Blake of Mundelein and Nathan Schmitt of Lake Forest both were timed in 14:36 with Blake credited with the win. The top five runners in the race all were under the four year old course record of 14:48 set by Matt Pereira in 2015.

In the 1A Quincy Notre Dame Regional, Noah McIntyre of Athens used a final kick to win the Boys race (15:25) two seconds ahead of sophomore Miles Sheppard of Hamilton-Warsaw.

#14 Maine South was led by the individual win from Joey Kasch at the Niles West Regional. They tied with #10 New Trier with both teams scoring 37 points. New Trier’s had a 23 second split on their top five with 6 runners in the top 11 to win the regional title on a sixth-runner tiebreak.

At the 2A Girls Kaneland Regional, #12 Prairie Ridge had three runners in the top 10 led by Collete Janik (3rd) to win the team title 47-51 ahead of Crystal Lake South. The Gators were led by the 1-2 finish from Mackenzie Aldridge and Isabella Gonzalez who both finished together running 18:14.

 

7 – Not so close finishes

Then there were wins that had margins larger than anticipated.

We start with Katelynne Hart winning by 75 seconds ahead of Samantha Poglitsch at Glenbard West. That is one that we mentioned. Some of the others were:

#6 Yorkville tuned up for the state meet scoring a perfect 15 points at the Minooka Regional to win the Girls title. #16 Minooka scored 60 points to finish second. Helena Kleronomos ran 18:09 for the individual win and led the Yorkville pack that had only an 18 second split on their top five runners.

Olney Richland County’s Tatum David has been way ahead of her competition all season. The freshman made her win at the 2A Mattoon Sectional. David ran 1:02 to win by almost three minutes ahead of Mt. Zion’s Emory Mallory (19:58).

It was supposed to be a tempo run for Staunton’s Lydia Roller at the 1A Shelbyville Regional. The junior showed she is ready for a fast run in two weeks at Detweiller Park as she ran 17:31 for the race win 55 seconds ahead of second-place Riley Vickrey of Alton Marquette Catholic.

Dawson Smith of Rock Falls will be one of top 1A Boys runners when we get to Peoria. Smith won his own regional (15:07) winning by 41 seconds.

 

8 – Taking it easy

There were some teams that did not have to go 100% in their regional race saving their energy for next week’s sectional competition. Top ranked St. Charles East did not have to go all out in winning the St. Charles North Regional but still scored only 21 points placing five runners in the top seven with only a 13 second split on the group. Aidan King led the Saints with the win. Their normal #1 runner Bob Liking was the team’s fourth runner in this race. They will be back at Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve this Saturday as they host their own sectional.

#5 Sandburg did not run their top seven runners at the Plainfield South Regional. The Eagles, led by the sixth-place finish from sophomore Brock Rice, still had the advantage winning with 52 points ahead of Plainfield North (54 points) and Plainfield South (65 points). Sandburg placed 5 runners in the first 14 with only a 20 second split. Sandburg races next on Saturday at the Hinsdale Central Sectional.

#2 St. Ignatius Prep was in the same situation as Sandburg in their 2A Regional at Lincoln Park in Chicago. Sophomore Samuel Hansen ran 16:37 for the individual win leading the Wolfpack to the Latin School Regional title with 16 points. St. Ignatius will be the team favorite in next week’s 2A Fenton Sectional.

 

9 – Other Highlights

It was a good Boys team race at the 1A Ida Crown Regional Friday afternoon in Skokie. #8 Northridge Prep won the team title 42-44 ahead of #6 Latin School. Northridge placed four runners in the top eight paced by the third-place finish from Andrew Brockmeier. Both teams will compete again in the high powered Lisle Sectional on Saturday.

Chatham-Glenwood swept both team titles in the 2A Jacksonville Sectional. Nia Gibson ran 17:39 for the individual win as her team placed all 7 runners in the top 11. #10 Chatham-Glenwood scored 19 points for the win ahead of conference rival Springfield (67 points(. Their Boys team lost their #1 runner Graham Turk for the season due to an injury. The #6 Titans packed it up winning the Boys title (38 points) again ahead of Springfield (56 points).  Glenwood had 21 second split on their top five runners led by Cameron Smith’s fourth-place finish.

 

10 – Season ends for Chicago Public League student/athletes

One of the heart breaking moments of the weekend occurred Saturday at the 3A Whitney Young Regional. 14 runners toed the line for the start of the Girls race. There were supposed to be many more. There by the starting line interlocked in unity were athletes from different Chicago Public League Schools that were wishing that they could be on that line too.

They could not. Early Friday evening, a Cook County Circuit Court judge ruled against an emergency injunction filed by the families of 14 Jones College Prep student athletes, who were part of the Boys Cross Country team, that would have allowed them to compete in the IHSA Regional Meet..

“Today hurts.  A lot,” said Jones College Prep Coach Andrew Adelman said in a message on Twitter Friday night. “For our program and in each of the 52 hearts that make it.”

It is hard to imagine these kids have to go through now. I can’t think if this happened to me when I was running how I could deal with it.

It hurts that some were blaming the IHSA. The language in the rules that the IHSA has in their policies regarding strikes is clear, not murky. It is not a good example that rules can made to be broken as some on both sides insinuated.

What hurts me the most the kids were thrown in the middle of the strike between the Chicago Public School District and the Chicago Teachers Union. You can’t use kids as bargaining chips. This is what happened here. I hope that an agreement is found soon so that these kids can return to the classroom.

I think the most important thing is on how that these young adults handled this while their hearts are breaking. They acted more adult than some of the adults that are involved in this teacher’s strike. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot walks away from her office two minutes before a group of CPS Student-Athletes came to meet with her. It is not a good example to set for anyone yet it happened.

In a number of press conferences, these young adults faced endless questions and answered them completely and in a mature manner. It’s a hope that we don’t see in the political world now.

With these kids leading the way in what ever decide to do, maybe there is a glimmer of sunshine in our future when they decide to lead.

Their actions show that they are already leading.