1-3 finish from Watcke and Revord help Hinsdale Central win their second WSC conference title in 65 years

Watcke’s comes from behind to win individual title; Welin charges away from field for Girls WSCS individual win; York pack better than rest in Girls team win

By Michael Newman

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Western Springs, Ill. – The first thing that Hinsdale Central junior Daniel Watcke did after crossing the line in winning the West Suburban Conference-Silver Division Boys title was to look back on to the course and cheer for his teammates to come in.

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He had a lot to cheer about as 4 other teammates crossed the line in the top 17 to give the Red Devils their second conference title in their 65-year history of their program. This conference has proved year in and year that it is the toughest cross-country conference in the United States. Lyons Township and Downers Grove North ran great races finishing second and third. York edged Oak Park-River Forest for fourth by one point.

“I did not want to be in no-man’s land especially with this wind. I did what I did best and chilled and waited for the right minute to go,” said Watcke. “We have high hopes this season.”

There was no give in the first mile of the race as all 40 runners in the race were within five seconds of each other after the first kilometer of the race. The action began at the end of the first mile as Roy Llewellyn of Downers Grove North started pushing the pace issue as he opened up a gap as he passed the first mile in 4:49. The pack led by Watcke, and his teammate Colby Revord were two seconds back in 4:51 with now 25 runners in that pack.

Runners had said after the race the wind that had picked up during the meet did affect how they ran their race. It did not seem to effect Lewellyn as he passed two miles in 9:55. Watcke, Revord, and Charlie McLawhorn of Lyons Township were six seconds behind waiting to make their move. Lou Delano of Oak Park-River Forest was leading the next group. This team race was not decided yet.

Runners were switching spots. Some runners were moving up. Some were feeling the fast early pace and falling back. Llewellyn was holding the lead. A freight train named Watcke was closing the gap quickly. Watcke had run a 48 split to help his team win the 4x4 in June at state and had run 1:50 for 800-meters. That speed was showing itself in the final 300. The gap closed quickly with Watcke taking the lead with 250-meters left in the race. There was nothing that Lewellyn could do.

Watcke crossed the line in 15:33 for the 5-kilometer course. Lewellyn held his pace at the end and was just three seconds back in 15:36. Revord has been coming on strong in the past few races and showed that again for the Red Devils as he ran 15:40 to finish third. McLawhorn ran 15:47 to finish fourth ahead of Delano (15:49) who ran his best race so far this season.

Hinsdale Central had their top five runners in the top 17 to score 40 points that was the difference with a 56 second split. What will make this team a trophy contender in Peoria is their strength in the front. Aden Bandukwala was the teams third runner finishing 7th. Jesse Gamboa (12th) and Michael Skora (17th) were the team’s fourth and fifth runners.

Lyons Township finished second (55 points) led by McLawhorn and top 10 finishes from Cillian Henning (8th) and Finn Gallagher (10th). Downers Grove North finished third (59 points) behind Lewellyn’s great race and top 10 finishes from Karan Shetty (6th) and Caden Weber (9th). York finished a distant fourth (92 points) led by Jeff Luka’s 11th place finish. Oak Park-River Forest was one point behind (93 points) in fifth.

Josephine Welin of Oak Park-River Forest had not been in an invitational race since she finished second at the Palatine Invitational on September 25. Welin, who missed training early in the season due to a stress fracture, was anxious to get back to racing in Saturday’s race.

“I had not gotten in a lot of long runs coming back,” Welin said. “ I got some good runs in getting ready for the final stretch of the season.”

Welin showed her drive in this race determined not to let anyone close to her during this 5-kilometer race. Welin as ahead of the pack passing through the first mile in 5:20. The only runner that dared to stay close to the pace was Audrey Allman of Glenbard West. The senior had missed due to a slight injury that sidelined her from the Naperville Twilight Invitational a week before. In this race, Allman was only five seconds back staying in touch of Welin.

That was the closest that Allman got to Welin in this race. The Oak Park senior was not letting the wind affect her as she pushed the final two miles of the race opening up close to a 10 second lead on Allman after the second mile.

Welin went on to run 17:34 to capture back-to-back conference wins. Allman did close the gap in the final mile as she was within seven seconds of Welin at the end running 17:41.

Catie McCabe of Hinsdale Central finished third (18:01) finishing ahead of York’s Bria Bennis in the last 10 meters. Bennis was timed at 18:02.

This race has six ranked teams in the top 15 according to ILXCTF.com and it showed with how close it was after York finished. The top ranked team in Class 3A demonstrated their strength and depth in this race placing 6 runners in the top 11 to score a low 34 points to win the conference championship for the second year in a row.

Saturday was Bennis’ turn to lead the Dukes as she ended up finishing fourth. Catherine Sommerfeld of Lyons Township finished fifth just four seconds behind Bennis.

Then came York’s pack separated by 34 seconds. Katheryn Winton at 18:09, Katherine Klimek at 18:11, Michaela Quinn at 18:22, and Brooke Berger at 18:43 took 6 through 9 and the next four spots. Margaret Owens charged in at the end to finish 11th (18:49). The team had a 41 second split on their top 5 runners.

The next four teams were separated by only nine points. Oak Park-River Forest finished second (83 points) led by Welin’s win and Katie Stabb finishing 12th. Hinsdale Central finished third (86 points) led by McCabe and her teammate Sarah Fischer placing 15th. Lyons Township was fourth (89 points) led by Sommerfeld and her teammate Shannon Cranny placing 14th. Glenbard West was next with 92 points led by Allman and Anna Nicoley finishing 10.

Downers Grove North was without one of their top runners but still was close to the pack of four as they scored 107 points behind the 13th place finish by Claire Pyne.