Illinois High School XC Weekend Highlights - October 10, 2021

By Michael Newman

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Photo Courtesy of Joe Parks, Palatine HS - Sierra Parks of Niwot HS CO ran Friday night at Loyola finishing second

This weekend in most cases ended the regular season as we step into championship racing season with Conference week. One race we were hoping to see was between Drew Rogers of Herscher and Ryder James of Paxton-Buckley-Loda at the Prairie Central Invitational. That meet was cancelled due to wet grounds. The meet’s hosts at the Indian Creek Golf Club felt that the golf course would be torn up.

While some teams raced at the Naperville Twilight Invitational on Wednesday, a majority of the teams trained through getting ready for the next four weeks of high stakes racing.

Here are highlights of some of the meets that took place over the weekend.

Loyola Flight Night @ Loyola Glenview Campus

#11 Hinsdale Central made their presence known in this meet Friday Night where there were two flights in this meet. The 6 through 10 runners ran first followed by the 1 through 5 runners. The Red Devillettes placed 5 runners in the top 15 to win this invitational with only 50 points. Brooke Johnston of Lake Zurich dominated the individua race running 17:34 for the win. Sierra Parks of Niwot CO ran 17:54 to finish second. Parks is the niece of Palatine Boys Coach Joe Parks.

Hinsdale Central took advantage of this format with some great pack running. Catie McCabe was the team’s top runner finishing 3rd. Then came the pack with first Sarah Fischer in 11th, and then Erin Milligan, Gabby Thanos, and Louisa Brorson finishing 13th through 15th. The team’s top five split was 47 seconds.

#3 Prospect was a distant second it seemed with 85 points. The Lady Knights were without one of their top five runners Cameron Kalaway for the second meet in a row. Haley Erickson (5th) and Lily Ginsburg (6th) led the Prospect pack with Audrey Ginsburg (23rd), Ireland Wildhart (27th), and Samantha Patterson (29th) following. The team’s top five split was 73 seconds. #8 Loyola finished third (86 points) missing their top runner Morgan Mackie also for the second meet in a row. Maeve Norman led the Ramblers placing 7th.

It was MSL rivals Hersey and Prospect in front in the Boys race. #26 Prospect had the edge winning with 64 points while placing 5 runners in the top 28 with a split on the group at 67 seconds. #17 Hersey finished second (68 points) placing 5 runners in the top 22 with a split on the five at 68 seconds. Spencer Werner of Loyola used his finish speed to claim the individual race (15:43) by two seconds ahead of Hersey’s Sean Safford. Ryan Hardiman of Latin School ran 15:53 to finish third.

Runnin’ Red Invitational @ Black Partridge Park, Metamora

The big meet of Saturday took place on this 2.94-mile course at Black Partridge Park. 2A #4 Dunlap once again showed their packing ability similar to what they did the week before in Peoria. The Eagles placed 4 runners in the top 10, 5 in the top 19 to easily win with 44 points. 21 seconds separated their top four runners led by the 5th place finish from Kate Robertson. Abbie Gleason (7th), Morgan Phillips (8th), Abby Tudeen (10th) and Saniya Mathew (19th)were next. Their top five split was 54 seconds. Colleen Zeibert of Rochester ran 17:44 to claim the individual title with Delaney Fitzgerald of Normal University (17:50) and Abigail Jordan of Palatine (18:05) finishing second and third.

#27 Palatine finished second (90 points) behind Jordan’s finish. 2A #14 Mahomet-Seymour finished third 107 points with 1A #2 Tolono Unity scoring 110 points to finish fourth.

Wilson Georges of limestone bounced back in this meet running 14:39 to claim the individual win. Oswego East’s Parker Nold finished second (14:49) with Palatine’s Jack Carrasco running 15:18 to finish third. Palatine’s packing was the story of the team race as the #13 Pirates put 5 runners in the top 21 to score only 48 points without their top runner Mason Krieg who did not run in Saturday’s race. Andy Hansen (6th) followed Carrasco with Mukal Verma (7th), Tyler Murphy (13th), and Owen Elliot (21st) in the Palatine top five. Their overall split was 62 seconds. 2A #10 Mahomet-Seymour finished second (105 points) behind the 5th place finish from Joseph Scheele. #24 Oswego East was third (120 points) and was without one of their top five runners Alex Das in this race. 2A #9 Glenbard South finished fourth (137 points) paced by Ryan Chung’s 14th place finish.

Sterling Invitational @ Hoover Park, Sterling

#6 Oswego was not challenged in this meet using it as a tune-up for this Friday’s Southwest Prairie Conference Meet. The Panthers placed their pack between third and seventh with only a one second split to easily win the team title scoring only 25 points. Riley Newport of DeKalb ran 15:13 to claim the Boys’ win with Dale Johnson of Sterling at 15:36 a distant second. Benjamin Huey started the Oswego pack running 15:39 to finish third. #28 DeKalb was second (75 points) with Fenwick placing third (104 points). Fenwick was without their top runner Grayden Rill in this race.

It was close in the Girls Varsity race as Pleasant Valley IA freshman Grace Boleyn running 17:33 to claim the win just a second ahead of Oswego’s Audra Soderlind (17:34). Audrey Luell of Zion-Benton led the pack running 18:13 to finish third. The Iowa school paced by Boleyn’s individual win scored 49 points to win the Varsity team race. 2A #2 Chatham-Glenwood had a 19 second split on their first four runners to score 58 points to finish second behind Ava Gorrie’s 6th place finish. Oswego finished third (83 points).

Wheeling Invitational @ Heritage Park, Wheeling

Barrington freshman Scout Storms ran 18:29 to claim the win in the Girls individual race. Bree Ponchak of Libertyville (18:50) and Brenda Torres of Wheeling (18:54) finished second and third. #15 Barrington edged #23 Libertyville 43-48 for the team win. Wheaton North scored 101 points to finish third.

Jack Agnew of Carroll OH ran 15:31 to claim the Boys race win as Joey Furlong of Barrington ran 15:40 to finish second. #14 Lake Zurich used a 3-4-5 finish from Dylan Myers, Danny Burns, and Braden Eckman to help them win the team title 36-44 ahead of #17 Barrington. The Bears put 5 runners in the top 15 with a 50 second split to help them to the win.

Cumberland County Invitational @ Cumberland HS, Toledo

With Bismarck-Henning’s state track champion Eli Mojonnier not racing on Saturday, all eyes were on Benton sophomore Gavin Genisio in front of the Boys race. Genisio ran 15:47 to cruise to the win with Mattoon’s Brock Davee running 16:17 to finish second. 1A #5 Arthur-Lovington made a huge statement in this race as Logan Beckmeier, Jace Green, Jacob Adcock, and Lyle Adcock placed third through seventh to help their team win with 49 points. 1A #12 Benton (62 points) and 1A #9 St. Teresa (87 points) finished second and third. It was an easy win for 1A #11 Marshall in the Girls race as they scored 25 points for the win. Marshall placed three runners in the top five led by the individual win from Isabel Arthur (19:40). Her teammate Brooklyn Bender finished second (19:54) with Gabby Moreman of Bismarck-Henning running 20:16 to finish third.

Liberty Invitational @ Uhland Acres, Liberty

Miles Sheppard of Hamilton-West Hancock won for the second time on this course in less than a week. Sheppard had run 15:08 to claim the win in the West Central Conference Meet on Tuesday. In this meet, Sheppard blew away the field running a course record 14:54 to claim the win. 1A #10 Hamilton-West Hancock placed 5 in the top 15 to win with 40 points. Quincy scored 55 points to finish second. Quincy’s Girls team scored 26 points to claim the win in their race behind the individual win from Anna Schuering (18:47). Louisa Wilson of Williamsville finished second (18:51).

Illini Prairie Conference @ Stanford Olympia

Conference Meet season started in earnest last Tuesday in this tough 1A meet. 1A #3 Monticello edged 1A #2 Tolono Unity 48-51 as the Lady Sages placed 4 runners in the top 7. Mabry Bruhn (3rd) and Rachel Koon (4th) led Monticello followed by Estella Miller (6th), Sylvia Miller (7th), and Kyara Welter (29th). Tolono Unity packed it up placing 5 runners in the top 14. Erica Woodard (8th) and Reagan Stringer (9th) led the Unity pack with Olivia Shike (11), Maila Fairbanks (12), and Caelyn Kleparski next. Their top five split was 56 seconds. 1A #6 St. Joseph-Ogden was third (64 points) behind the individual win from Savanna Franzen (18:16) and second-place finish from Ava Knap (18:20).

1A #2 St. Joseph-Ogden was in control in the Boys race with 5 runners in the first 12 in winning with 36 points. Carson Maroon (4th), Luke Stegall (5th), and Charlie Mabry (6th) were within 2 seconds to lead the Spartans. Their top five split in this race was only 12 seconds. 1A #7 Stanford Olympia (68 points) and 1A #16 Monticello (79 points) finished second and third. Ryder James of Paxton-Buckley-Loda made his debut in this meet and won covering the 3-mile course in 16:01. Brecken Fahrenkrug of Illinois Valley Central (16:24) and Ed Mitchell of Monticello (16:34) finished second and third.