Illinois teams reign again at NXR Midwest Championships

3A State Champs Sandburg Boys, York Girls win team championships; Super-sophs Hauser and Forsyth claim individual titles

By Michael Newman [email protected]

Terre Haute, Ind – The year without the NXR Midwest Regionals in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic had some thinking that there would be a change on top of the two championship races Sunday at Lavern Gibson National Cross-Country Course. Illinois teams had been in charge in the past. Perhaps another state would have a team on top when all was said and done.

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Not so fast my friend. What was the normal, stayed the normal again in this meet.

Sandburg Boys’ team and York Girls team came off Illinois state championship wins and overcame less than optimal conditions to claim the Midwest Regional titles.

Sandburg used a 29 second top five runner spread placing five runners in the top 31 to win the Boys title with 63 points. Indiana State Champion Brebeuf Jesuit was close in second with 84 points. West Suburban Conference Silver Division teams Downers Grove North (123 points) and Hinsdale Central (129 points) finished third and fourth. Lake Zurich (204 points) finished fifth.

York used the same formula of staying together in this race that kept them successful this season. Kroy scored only 49 points to claim the region championship with a 42 second spread on their top five. Prospect was without one of their top five runners but still finished second with 116 points. Indiana State Champion Columbus North scored 124 points to finish third ahead of Naperville North (140 points) and Minooka (200 points).

(NOTE: Michigan schools are not permitted to have teams compete in out of state meets according to their state association MHSAA. Ann Arbor Pioneer and Holland West Ottawa had enough runners to score in the Girls Championship race. If they were to be scored, this final UNOFFICIAL score would have been York 73, Pioneer MI 78, West Ottawa MI 137, Prospect 140).

Temperatures were in the upper 30’s, a light drizzle, and winds that were gusting at a westerly 30 mph. It slowed both races down considerably. Roy Lewellyn of Downers Grove North led a group of nearly 30 runners through a 4:59 opening mile.

The pack started to slim out but there was no favorite as the runners entered the final mile. With a kilometer to go, Rock Bridge MO sophomore Andrew Hauser took charge making a surge to make this race his.

Hauser ran 15:44 to claim the win ahead of Hunter Jones of Benzie Central MI (15:48) and Izaiah Steury of Angola IN (15:53). Tommy Rice of GlenOak OH (15:57) and Connor Ackley of Hillard Davidson (15:59) rounded out the top five. Lewellyn finished sixth (16:03) and was the top finisher from Illinois.

Declan Tunney was the top runner for Sandburg as he ran 16:07 to finish seventh overall. Sean Marquardt finished 11th as the team’s second runner just 10 seconds behind Tunney. Brock Rice (16th), Trent Anderson (30th), and Grant Giblin (31st) were the other team scorers for Sandburg. Krishna Thirunavukkarasu led Brebeuf Jesuit by finishing tenth. The Indiana state champion only had 33 second split on their top five.

Third-place Downers Grove North duplicated their state meet finish in this race. The Trojans had a 54 second split on their top five that included Lewellyn, Caden Weber (25th), Topher Ferris (37th), Kyle McNally (61st), and Jack Benge (66th). Hinsdale Central finished their season in fourth led by all-region performances by Daniel Watcke (8th) and Colby Revord (13th). Abhinav Reddy (49th), Aden Bandukwala (55th), and Michael Skora (73rd) were the team’s third through fifth runners. Lake Zurich finished fifth with a 44 second split led by a 26th place finish from Dylan Myers.

The muddy course conditions did not seem to bother Rachel Forsyth of Ann Arbor Pioneer MI as she broke away from three other runners after the first mile. Forsyth pulled away in the final mile to capture the individual title (17:58). Addison Knoblauch of Homestead IN, who finished fifth in the Indiana State Meet, ran her best race of the year running 18:11 to finish second. Indiana State Champion Lily Cridge of Bishop Chatard ran 18:14 to finish third. Aly Negovetich of Grant Community ran a smart race staying in the “chase pack” and moving up in the final mile to finish fourth (18:17). Rachel Forsyth of Ann Arbor Pioneer ran 18:21 to finish fifth.

Brooke Johnston of Lake Villa (8th), Anna Harden of Hersey (9th), Audrey Allman of Glenbard West (12th), and Catherine Sommerfeld of Lyons Township (15th) were Illinois runners that finished in the top 15.

York’s team win was led by Katherine Klimek running 18:56 to finish 17th. Michaela Quinn ran her best race of the year as the team’s second runner as she finished 21st. Bria Bennis (24th), Maggie Owens (38th), and Katelyn Winton (46th) were part of the team’s top five that was separated by 42 seconds.

Prospect’s second-place finish was done without their #3 runner from the state meet, Audrey Ginsberg. The Knights responded by all-region finishes from Hailey Erickson (11th) and Lily Ginsberg (20th). They were supported by Cameron Kalaway (61st), Bridget Derengowski (85th), and Ireland Wildhart (87th) in their top five.

Columbus North IN had a 65 second split on their top five to finish third behind the 32nd-place finish from Lily Baker. Naperville North bounced back from their seventh-place state race to finish fourth with a 23 second split on their first four runners led by Lucy Westlake finishing 41st. Minooka placed fifth and was only separated by nine seconds on their first three runners. Gabrielle Kics finishing 59th led Minooka.

Open Race and Frosh/Soph Race Highlights

The second of the two Girls Open races proved to be the fastest. Holly Johnson of Downers Grove South broke away from the pack early and went on to run 19:03 to win that section. Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Nicole Poglitsch (19:45) and Annie Macabobby (19:49) third and fifth in that race. Huntley’s Breana Burak finished fourth. Naperville North (115 points) won the open team championship followed by Wheaton-Warrenville South (123 points), Raymore-Peculiar MO (142 points), York (161 points), and Downers Grove South (196 points).

Gabriel Connelly of Concordia Lutheran pulled away in the final kilometer to win Open Race #1 (16:46) ahead of Illinois runners Dylan Nalley of Marion (16:55), Jackson Ward of Washington (17:00), and Luca Arcuri of Maine South (17:01).

Parker Nold of Oswego East led from the gun holding off Nicholas Keeling of Naperville Central to win Open Race #2. Nold’s winning time of 16:40 was three seconds ahead of that from Keeling (16:43). Gabe Ryan of Naperville North finished third (17:09).

The third Boys open race was the fastest. Barrington’s Joey Furlong appeared to have the win in hand entering the final 400-meters of the race. Garrett Schwan of York made a charge taking the lead with less than 200-meters to go. Furlong responded repassing the York runner to claim the win with the fastest open time of 16:32. Schwan’s time was 16:34.

Medina OH scored 165 points in claiming the Boys Open title. They were only six points ahead of York who scored 171 points to finish second. Minooka (184 points), Lyons Township (270 points), Barrington (290 points), and Deerfield (293 points) were the next four teams.

Louisa Wilson of Williamsville won the Girls Frosh/Soph race (19:20) by 20 seconds. Downers Grove North edged Naperville North 53-57 for the Frosh/Soph team title.

Dale Johnson of Sterling (16:46) and Will Gelon of Prairie Ridge (16:50) were the top Illinois finishers in the Boys Frosh/Soph race finishing third and fourth. Carmel IN (56 points) was the team champion ahead of Lancaster OH (104 points). Plainfield North scored 116 points to finish third.