Schlenker leads Batavia to DuKane Girls title

A wild finish gives Schlenker the win just ahead of Schager; Close in the Boys race as St. Charles East edges Wheaton North by one point behind Wilson win

By Michael Newman

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Roselle, Ill – It took until the runners got onto the track for the final 300-meters of the Girls Varsity race at Saturday’s DuKane Conference to decide the winner. Katrina Schenker of Batavia made a slight gap on Grace Schager of Glenbard North in the final stretch to capture her third DuKane individual title running 17:16.3 for the win. Schager, who missed the Naperville Twilight Invitational last week due to a minor injury, was less than two seconds behind running 17:18.2 to finish second

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Times were expected before the race to be faster than they were considering Schager had run 16:57 a month ago at an invitational on this course. The rains during the week made the course softer than expected as well as the course having longer grass than normal since it was too wet to mow the grounds.

It did not matter to the top two finishers Schlenker and Schager along with Bella DiCrosta of St. Charles North as the three runners broke away from the pack in the first mile of the race.

The pace slowed down in the second mile, but it did not seem to concern Schenker. The Batavia senior had run on this course so many times and she knew when she wanted to go. She did so after the three passed the two-mile mark. Schager stayed close as the two ran side-by-side. DiCrosta dropped off that pace at that point.

Schlenker and Schager entered the stadium together wondering who would take the lead. Schlenker won that discussion as she pulled away with 200-meters left.

“The rankings are the rankings. There is nothing we can do about that. (Coach) Hillman has says when you get to the race, anything can happen,” Schlenker said. “It does not matter what we are ranked. We know what we are capable of.”

St. Charles North, St. Charles East, Wheaton-Warrenville South, and Batavia were the teams to watch in this race as they all were ranked close to each other. Schenker’s win helped the Bulldogs win the conference title with 51 points. Just like last year, Batavia appears to be peaking at the right time. Liliana Bednarek joined Schlenker in the top 10 as she finished 8. Then followed Olivia Gebhardt (11th), Sasha Semanision (13th), and Madison Winek (18th) in their top five. All three of those runners are freshmen finished within 20 seconds of each other. The team’s top five split was 106 seconds.

St. Charles East finished second (58 points) with Morgan Sandlund (5th) and Brooklyn Walker (7th) finishing in the top 10. St. Charles North finished just one point behind their crosstown rival as they scored 59 points to finish third. DiCrosta ran 17:45 to finish third. The North Stars also had Norah Dorrance (4th) and Rachel Price (9th) finish in the top 10. Wheaton-Warrenville South finished fourth (89 points) behind top 10 finishes from Nicole Poglitsch (6th) and Annie Macabobby (10th).

The message that St. Charles East Boys Coach Chris Bosworth told other coaches and media before the meet started on Saturday is that we are finally healthy. His top runner Micah Wilson had tested positive for COVID-19 just after the Peoria Invitational on October 2. He was on the starting line Saturday as the gun went off in his race.

Wilson was the runner to beat in this race. It was evident as he led the pack around the curve in the opening 400-meters of the race. The pack that also included Michael Atkins of Wheaton-Warrenville South and Wheaton North’s Ryan Schreiner and Ryan Zydek were content to let Wilson set the pace as the group passed the first mile in 5:00.

The 3A state 3200-Meter Run Champion from last spring decided enough was enough at that point. Wilson made the turn heading back up the hill pushing to extend himself away from the rest of the race and he did. Atkins had raced Wilson at the Harvey Braus Invitational in September staying within six seconds of Wilson at the finish.

The outcome was different in this race as Wilson ran 15:00 to claim the individual title. He became the third straight St. Charles East runner to win the individual title (Bob Liking – 2019, Luke Schildmeyer – 2020, Wilson 2021). Atkins solidified his second place spot the rest of the race as he ran 15:18 crossing the line. Quintin Lowe of Batavia moved up through the race to run 15:25 to finish third.

The team title chase was much closer as St. Charles East 46-47 ahead of Wheaton North. East put 5 runners in the top 18 without one of their top five runners Jedidiah Wilson who did not race. Wheaton North put 5 runners in the top 17. St. Charles East had 3 runners in the top 10 with Wilson, Mitch Garcia (6th) and Joey Xotla (7th) leading the way. Lexton Rockwell (14th) and Ethan Percy (17th) were the team’s fourth and fifth runners that had a 68 second top five split off Wilson.

Wheaton North ran a great race to stay close to St. Charles East. Ryan Zydek (4th) and Ryan Schreiner (5th) were within three seconds of each other finishing in the top 5. Caleb Youngstedt (8th), Jonah Noyes (12th), and Ben Shebar (17th) were also part of the team’s top five. The Falcons split on their top five was 48 seconds.

Wheaton-Warrenville South finished third (63 points) behind the finishes from Atkins and Michael Macabobby (9th) that finished in the top 10. Lowe’s third-place finish helped Batavia finish fourth with 95 points.