Illinois HS Cross Country Weekend Highlights - October 3, 2021

By Michael Newman

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Weathers conditions were not that bad on Saturday with rain holding off in most meets until Saturday afternoon. The NSAF Meet in Terre Haute, Indiana did not have much luck with downpours happening during the championship races of their meet.

Here is a look at highlights of some of the meets that took place on Saturday. You can read more about the Peoria High School Invitational and watch the videos from the meet here.

Saturday October 2 Results

Wheaton North Falcon Classic @ St. James Farm, Warrenville

A perfect score for a flight meet is 7 meaning you would have to win each of the seven races ion the varsity level. #1 York came close in this meet scoring 10 points in winning the team title ahead of #6 New Trier (27 points), #29 St. Charles East (29 points), and #13 Glenbard West (34 points). Grace Schager of Glenbard North tuned up for Wednesday Naperville Twilight Invitational running 16:49 on the 2.95-mile course to win ahead of Aly Negovetich of Grant (16:55), Katherine Klimek of York (17:11), and Anna Harden of Hersey (17:16). York won five of the seven flights with Katelyn Winton winning Flight 2 (17:32), Brooke Berger winning Flight #3 (17:53), Bria Bennis winning Flight 4 (17:31), Michaela Quinn winning Flight 5 (18:00), and Maggie Owens winning Flight 6 (18:08). Amelia Bellizzi of St. Charles East ran 18:53 to win Flight 7 ahead of York’s Erin Powers (19:05).

Locktoberfest Invitational @ Dellwood Park, Lockport

#20 Plainfield South placed 5 runners in the top 19 to win the team title with 46 points in this Boys Meet. #16 Naperville North (60 points), Bolingbrook (74 points), and #21 Wheaton North (116 points) were the next three teams. Wheaton North was without one of their top five runners Ryan Schreiner in this race. Caden Simone of Lincoln-Way Central covered the 5k Dellwood Park course in 16:01 to win by 11 seconds ahead of Plainfield South’s Camryn Viger (16:12) and Naperville North’s Gabe Ryan (16:18).

Elmwood Invitational @ Maple Lane Country Club

Mason Stoeger of Fieldcrest is a runner to watch in Class 1A in the next month. The senior ran a fast 15:05 to win by 46 seconds ahead of Elmwood’s Thomas Harmon and Illinois Valley Central’s Brecken Fahrenkrug. Harmon led 5 Elmwood runners in the top 26 to help his 1A #11 team win with 78 points. 1A #24 Eureka (123 points) and El Paso-Gridley (127 points) finished second and third. 1A #4 Eureka took 3 of the first 4 races in the Girls race to win with only 37 points. 1A #19 Mercer County (100 points) and 1A #12 El Paso-Gridley (144 points) finished second and third. Anna Perry led the Eureka charge running 17:57 to win the individual race by 57 second ahead of EP-G’s Nellie Melick (18:54).

St. Charles North Invitational @ Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve

1A #1 Winnebago won the Girls team title with 73 points behind top 10 finishes from Grace Erb (6) and Marissa Roggensack (10). Bago placed 5 runners in the first 23 with an 88 second split on the group. #15 Downers Grove North and St. Charles North finished second and third both scoring 75 points. Katrina Schlenker of Batavia covered the course in 17:41 for the win with Naomi Ruff of South Elgin (17:48) and Bella DiCrosta of St. Charles North (17:51) finished second and third. #30 Wheaton-Warrenville South, behind the individual win from Michael Atkins,  won the Boys team title with 53 points. #7 Waubonsie Valley, without one of their top five runners Aidan Oster, finished second with 63 points ahead of #27 Naperville Central (81 points). Atkins winning time of 15:22 was seven seconds fastest than Nicholas Keeling of Naperville Central (15:29).

Lisle Mane Event @ Community Park, Lisle

Drew Rogers of Herscher played the tactical route to win the Boys race on this 5-kilometer course in Lisle. Rogers ran 15:25 to win just ahead of Daniel Winkelman of Harvest Christian Academy (15:27) and Cooper Marrs of Riverside-Brookfield (15:30). This was the second win of the week for Rogers. On Tuesday, Rogers ran 15:41 on the extremely tough Furrow Farm course to win the El Paso-Gridley Invitational. 2A #13 St. Francis packed it up placing 5 runners in the top 21 to edge 2A #10 Riverside-Brookfield for the team title. The top 5 split for the Spartans was 44 seconds. 2A #20 St. Francis also won the Girls team title with 93 points finishing ahead of 2A #3 Latin School (110 points) with 1A #16 Wheaton Academy and 1A #20 Joliet Catholic finishing third and fourth both scoring 132 points. Latin School was without their #1 runner Ava Parekh who will race Wednesday at the Naperville Twilight Invitational. Latin’s Mia Kottler dominated the Girls race running 18:11 to easily win by 89 seconds ahead of Joliet Catholic’s Claire Blotnik.

Pat Savage Invitational @ Niles West HS, Skokie

This huge meet again produced some top performances on this flat but curvy 3-mile course on the Niles West campus. Mary Grace Hegberg of St. Viator took control early in the Girls race running 17:25 for the win. Her closest competition came from Elia Ton-That of Northside Prep who was timed in 17:56 to finish second. Isabella Marasco of Lake Forest led the pack with a 18:27 time to finish third. 2A #2 Vernon Hills did not run their full line up in this meet. They still put 3 runners in the top 12 led by a 4th place finish from Anna Todd to win this meet with 121 points. 2A #5 Lake Forest (142 points) and 2A #16 Payton Prep (158 points). 2A #4 Deerfield edged St. Ignatius Prep 68-70 for the Boys team title behind top 10 finishers from Lucas Moskovitz (4th) and Cole Bernstein (5th). Michael Schumacher of St. Viator ran 15:20 to win the Boys individual race by four seconds ahead of Loyola’s Aidan Simon (15:24).

Nike Valley Twilight Invitational @ Lavern Gibson National Course, Terre Haute IN – Results

Heavy rain hit the meet site just as the championship races started on Saturday night slowing down the times on this rolling course. Kole Mathison of Carmel IN ran 15:37 to win the Midwest Race of Champions seven seconds ahead of Reese Kilbarge-Stumpff of Columbus North (15:44). #3 York packed it up to finish sixth in this 28-team field. Ethan Summer led the way for the Dukes running 16:30 to finish 15th. Teammate Jeff Luka followed 8 seconds later in 23rd. Then followed Garrett Schwan (32nd), Simon Hildy (53rd), and Colin Lewandowski (60th). Their team split was 36 seconds. 1A #22 St. Joseph-Ogden finished 22nd.

Pat Harland Antioch Invitational @ Fox River Park, Wilmot WI

2A #6 Crystal Lake Central placed 5 runners in the top 14 to win the Girls race at this meet with 46 points. Hadley Ferrero led the way with the individual win running 18:35 on this hilly 3-mile course at Fox River Park in Wisconsin. It was close between the next three team with 2A #8 Prairie Ridge and 2A #1 Grayslake Central finishing second and third both with 72 points. Grayslake Central was again without 2 of their top 5 runners. 2A #23 Lakes scored 82 points to finish fourth. Rachel Soukup of Prairie Ridge ran 18:53 to finish second. Yusuf Baig of Burlington Central was in control in the Boys race running 15:50 to win by 31 seconds ahead of Crystal Lake Central’s Daniel Hamill (16:21) and Karson Hollander (16:29). 2A #6 Kaneland placed 5 runners in the top 15 to win with 55 points ahead of Libertyville (74 points) and 2A #9 Crystal Lake Central (83 points).

Solorio Sun Warrior Invitational @ Marquette Park, Chicago

Nicole Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South was in control in the Girls race. The freshman won her first high school varsity race clocked in 18:30 on this 3-mile course. She won by a whopping 55 seconds ahead of Marist’s Emma Karczewski (19:25) and South teammate Ashlyn Adams (19:29). #17 Wheaton-Warrenville South did not run their full lineup but still scored 29 points to win this meet ahead of 2A #26 St. Ignatius Prep (62 points) and Downers Grove North’s second varsity team (64 points). Landon Gillespie and Sidney Morris led a 1-2 finish for Kenwood in the Boys race. Gillespie’s winning time was 17:28. Curie scored 67 points to win the Boys team title ahead of Chicago Agricultural Science (72 points) and Elmwood Park (81 points).

Dan Moy Jacksonville Invitational @ Community Park

Brendan Heitzig of Lincoln easily won the Boys Championship race in this flight meet. The junior was timed in 15:11 for the win on this 2.9-mile course. Jackson Collman of Bethalto Civic Memorial (15:58) and Daniel Giacomini of Williamsville (15:56) finished second and third. Colleen Zeibert of Rochester ran 17:20 to win the Girls Championship race. Louisa Wilson of Williamsville ran 17:50 to finish second with Bethalto Civic Memorial’s Hannah Meiser running 18:14 to finish third.

Tom Oakley Invitational @ Bob Mays Park, Quincy

Miles Sheppard of Hamilton West Hancock easily won the Boys Individual race running 15:28 to win by 67 seconds ahead of Liberty’s Cannen Wolf. 1A #4Hamilton placed 4 runners in the top 10 to win the team title 38-43 ahead of host Quincy. Anna Scheuring of Quincy won on her home course with a 19:32 time. Quincy scored 16 points to win the team title.