Prospect edges York by one point in team thriller at Richard Spring Invitational

OPRF dominates in Boys team race; Grace Schager, Conner Burns run great solo efforts in individual wins

By Michael Newman [email protected]

Peoria, Ill – This kind of race is only supposed to happen in November on this fabled course.

The top two teams in Illinois, York, and Prospect, faced off Saturday morning in the Girls Varsity race at the Richard Spring Invitational at historic Detweiller Park on the north side of Peoria. Temperatures in the 80’s with high humidity at 80% made it feel like a summer morning in July compared a Saturday in September just about ready to enter autumn.

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It was an epic battle between these two powerhouse teams. #2 Prospect had the edge in this meet winning with 53 points. #1 York was just one point back scoring 54 points.

The race was close throughout. Both teams packs found each other before the first turn. By the time the race got to the first mile, it was a sea of blue and green at the front of the pack. Prospect actually had a two point lead (64-66) ahead of their counter parts from York. It was just a sign of what would happen in the final two miles.

A big plus for Prospect in this race was the addition of Frosh/Soph runners Veronica Znajda and Meg Peterson to the Varsity level of this meet. The two runners had been running great in the lower level races with their times compared highly to the team’s varsity runners. Now Peterson and Znajda had their chance.

“After last week my coach (Pete Wintermute) suggested that I run on the varsity level in this race,” Znajda said after the race. “He asked me again if I was ready for the race. I was mentally ready for this thinking of running next to my teammates.”

Prospect made a move during the second mile as they entered the triangle portion of the course. Hailey Erickson and Znajda tried to stretch the pace out on York’s Bria Bennis as they tried to catch Hersey’s Anna Harden. The other five Prosepct runners used the same strategy making that surge. It was not a move that York reacted to immediately. Erickson, Bennis, and Znajda all passed 2-miles in third through fifth five seconds behind Harden. Prospect had a 28 second split on their top five at that point. They had also opened up a 53-65 lead on the Dukes. York had a 36 second top five split and would have to do work in the final mile of the race.

It came down to final moves by York to try to close the gap. Prospect was just trying to hold their positions and not let York’s pack came close to them.

One point was the difference in the end. Erickson finished third with Znajda 14 seconds back in fifth. Peterson, a freshman, ran her best race of her young high school life running 17:41 to finish ninth. Samantha Patterson had her best season race 10 seconds back to finish 14th. Cameron Kalaway was the team’s fifth runner with an 18:16 time to finish 28th. The team’s top five split was 66 seconds. Ireland Wildhart (31st) and Lily Ginsberg (34th) were the team’s sixth and seventh runners.

York also ran a solid pack race. The difference in this race was that Prospect put three runners across the line before York’s 2-4 pack could come in. Bennis made a charge down the home stretch but ran 17:15 to finish fourth overall. Then came York’s pack with Michaela Quinn (10th), Katherine Klimek (11th), and Brooke Berger (13th) all finished within eight seconds of each other. Then came York’s second pack with Lily Bianchi (21st), Lily Beerhalter (23rd), and Maggie Quinn (25th) all crossing the line before Kalaway could cross for Prospect. That pack split for York was only two seconds. Their overall split was 57 seconds on the top five, 59 seconds on their top seven.

If there would have been a tie in this meet, York had the advantage on the sixth runner. It was the first three runners for Prospect that paid made the difference for their team.

“We know York has a great team. It was good to race them,” Kalaway said. “They are good competition.”

“I think this week especially in our workouts we worked together in our pack running,” Bennis said after the race. “We would change out leading throughout that time. That translated well for us in today’s race.”

Prospect also had an advantage in team times with their top five of 88:24.3 averaging 17:40.9 per runner. York’s team time was 88:41.6 averaging 17:44.4 per runner. Those are good times considering we are only in September.

#9 Downers Grove North finish third (202 points) led by Lilly Eddington’s 20 place finish. Hersey finished fourth (262 points) with Oswego East scoring 298 points to finish fifth.

The individual race for the title seemed like an after thought especially after Glenbard North’s Grace Schager took the lead running 2:33 for the opening half of the race. There were expectations before the race after Schager broke the Lake Park record last week. However, Schager and her coach, Eric Day, had plans of their own.

“There were a lot of expectations coming into this race. We just wanted to focus on what we wanted to do,” Schager said. “We wanted to run the first two miles faster than we had in past races. I wanted to feel how that pace was. I think I accomplished a lot today.”

Schager was by herself after the first mile running past that point in 5:19.6. A pack led by Sarah Fischer of Hinsdale Central, and Anna Harden went past in 5:33 already more than 13 seconds behind the lead. Schager went past 2-miles on Saturday in 10:46.3. The week before at Lake Park, she passed that point in 10:55. Her final mile in Peoria was a steady 5:21.3 as she crossed the line in 16:07.6.

“I felt tired after 2-miles, but I always feel tired at that point. It is just a mental game, Schager said. “My teammates and parents and coaches are confidence boosters for me. They helped me get up for this race.”

Anna Harden ran a school best of 17:06 to finish almost 60 seconds behind Schager in finished second. Then came the Prospect duo and York’s Bennis. Katie Stabb ran a great race with a 17:25 time to finish sixth. Audra Soderlind of Oswego finished seventh just ahead of Hinsdale Central’s Sarah Fischer who finished eighth.

There must have been a reason why Connor Burns made the close to 300 mile trip from Southern Boone High School outside of Columbia, Missouri to Detweiller Park. Burns was racing for the second time this season after a track season that included him running sub-four minutes for the mile.

He disclosed after the race that his goal was to run after Josh Methner’s course record of 13:49.9 set in 2019. His goal was to run lower than that time. This was a homecoming in a way. His dad Marc ran in Illinois in his High School and College career before becoming the coach at Bradley University in Peoria. His mother Alana Crisman was an all-state cross country runner three times including a state champion at Rushville in 1996 and 1997.

Both parents had experience at this course. Now it was Connor’s turn. “The only advice my Dad gave me was to try to run not as bad as he did,” he said. Marc Burns ran 15:14 at the 1985 IHSA State Meet.

The confidence showed in the face of Burns at the start of the race as he charged ahead to the lead. He passed the first half-mile in a swift 2:09. His time at one mile was 4:33. He looked to the left as his Dad yelled out the split. He was close to the pace that Methner had set three years ago. Methner had passed through the first mile in 4:27 in that state race.

“My dad also told me to keep the pace up in the back half (the Triangle) of the course. I should not fall asleep in that portion,” Burns added. “He told me that is when people tend to relax.”

That did not happen on this day. He held a seven second lead at the mile on Marcellus Mines of Joliet West. That lead grew to 11 seconds as he came out of the triangle. Burns passed 2-miles in 9:20. He was still just seven seconds off record pace. Mines was forced out of the race just before 2-miles due to back spasms according to his coach, Adam Conrad.

Burns’ final mile slowed down. Somewhere after reaching the top of the 4% incline for the second time, he hit that mythical wall.

“I was a little drained at that point. It was a little muggy. I’m used to these kind of conditions in Missouri,” Burns added. “I wanted to show that I was more of a cross country runner. After this, I feel more like a miler.”

Burns crossed the line to win in 14:22.2. It was not the time he wanted but still was the fastest time after two meets this year on this course. With Miles dropping out, the battle was for second. Parker Nold of Oswego East had the edge by two tenths of a second ahead of Oak Park’s Liam Newhart. Both were timed in 14:42. Aden Bandukwala of Hinsdale Central was his team’s top runner in this meet running with a huge personal best of 14:45 to finish fourth. O’Fallon’s Dylan Ybarra ran 14:48 to finish fifth. 10 runners ran under 15-minutes in this race.

The narrative in the Boys team race changed when top ranked Hinsdale Central ran only five runners that included Daniel Watcke who was on a college visit and was not with the team. In the first mile of the race all eyes were on the navy clad Huskies of Oak Park-River Forest who had a strong pack near the front. At that point, Hinsdale Central and Wheaton-Warrenville South were just ahead of Oak Park.

That changed in the second mile as the Huskies made their move in the triangle to secure the lead for good. They passed 2-miles with 76 points with Hinsdale Central and Wheaton-Warrenville South a good distance back. Oak Park scored 79 points to claim the team title placing 5 runners in the top 32.

Newhart led the way with his third place finish. Daniel Johnson (10th), Michael Michelotti (17th), and Nick Parrell (18) were separated by only 12 seconds. Owen Augustine finished 32nd as the team’s fifth runner. The team’s top five split was 45 seconds similar to the split they had at Fenton in their first meet.

Hinsdale Central finished second (186 points) behind top 10 finishes from Bandukwala and Michael Skora (8th). Wheaton-Warrenville did not have a runner in the top 20 but ran a solid pack race to finish third (211 points). Led by sophomore Josiah Narayanan and his 25th place finish. Sandburg ran a good race to finish fourth (216 points) led by the 11 and 15 place finishes from Trent Anderson and Grant Giblin. Lake Zurich in their first race of the season finished fifth (258 points) led by the seventh-place finish from Dylan Myers.