Illinois High School Cross-Country Weekend Highlights – September 18, 2022

 

By Michael Newman [email protected]

 

Hot weather hit Illinois again for the second weekend in a row. Autumn season hits this weekend meaning we could have some great racing weather. That does not mean the races we saw on Saturday were not fast. Check out the recap and videos from the Richard Spring Invitational.

 

Here are highlights from some of the meets in Illinois from this past Saturday.

 

Minooka Flight Invitational

#13 Maine South won 5 of 7 flight races to win the Boys team title with 22 points Saturday at Channahon Park. Yorkville (31 points), Waubonsie Valley (32 points), Carroll OH (33 points), and Batavia (36 points) finished in the top five. Zachary Balzer of Minooka and Jack Agnew of Carroll OH broke away from the pack early in the championship flight race. Agnew had a good kick to outdistance Balzer to win with a 15:08 time. Balzer was two seconds behind in second-place (15:10). Tommy Nitz of Huntley led the pack running 15:37 to finish third.

 

#7 Minooka edged #6 Lyons Township 18-19 for the team title with their only flight wins coming from the fifth (Taya Gummerson) and sixth (Cassie Brushaber) flights. #4 Naperville Central (23 points) finished third ahead of #11 Huntley (28 points) and #17 Yorkville (38 points). Breanna Burak of Huntley ran 17:57 to claim the championship flight win. Kate Tueting of Naperville Central ran 18:16 to finish third. Sophia Bruhm of Carroll OH placed third (18:36).

 

Kaneland Eddington XC Invitational

#3 Downers Grove North made their first trip as a full team to this meet a successful one. The Trojans placed 5 runners in the top 10 to easily win the Boys Varsity team title with only 33 points. Riley Newport of DeKalb pulled away to win the individual title (14:57) by four seconds ahead of Evan Horgan of Belvidere North (15:01).

 

North only had a 26 second split on their top five runners led by the third-place finish from Topher Ferris. Grant Schroder (5th), Asa Gaspar (6), Caden Weber (9), and Ryan Eddington (10) rounded out the team’s top five. Benet Academy finished second (112 points) just one point ahead of third-place #24 Jacobs (113 points). DeKalb (124 points) and 2A #4 Belvidere North (127 points) finished fourth and fifth.

 

Hadley Ferrero of Crystal Lake Central won her second race of the season in a convincing manner. The all-state sophomore runner ran 17:47 to win the individual race by 14 seconds ahead of Louisa Diamond of Benet Academy (18:01). Heather Durrant of Larkin (18:08) and Bailey Schwartz of Jacobs (18:16) finished third and fourth overall. Benet Academy edged 2A #5 Crystal Lake Central 62-63 for the team title. Jacobs (104 points), Hampshire (143 points), and 2A #11 Dixon (156 points) finished third through fifth.

 

Bill Dawson Invitational

Mario Torres of Buffalo Grove picked up his second win of the season in this meet at Warren Township High School. Torres, who finished third last week in Peoria, ran 15:16 to win by 12 seconds ahead of Fremd sophomore Rory Gaan (15:28). Gaan led Fremd with 5 runners in the top 25. The Vikings scored 64 points to win the team title edging Evanston who finished second with 69 points. Glenbrook North scored 119 points to finish third.

 

Isabella Gonzalez of Crystal Lake South pulled away to run 17:51 to win the Girls Varsity race by nine seconds ahead of Warren’s Mia Pasha. Fox Valley Conference rivals were in charge of the first two spots in the team race. 2A #7 Crystal Lake South, led by Gonzalez’s win and 4 runners in the top 20, scored 72 points to win the team title. 2A #13 Cary-Grove had a 4-5 finish from Jocelyn Onstot and Ada Saletnik to help them finish second with 106 points. Host Warren Township and Zion-Benton scored 143 points finishing third and fourth. 2A #2 Lakes finished fifth with 146 points.

 

Libertyville Invitational

Sheila Tucker of Libertyville took the win on her Adler Park course running a 19:42 time. Hannah Diete of Taft finished second (19:44) with Josie Cahill of New Trier finishing third (19:49). Host Libertyville scored 43 points in winning the team title ahead of New Trier (68 points) and Stevenson (79 points). #15 New Trier did not run their top runners in this meet. Their depth showed as they only scored 22 points for the win placing 6 runners in the top 10. Nate Wehner of Highland Park ran 16:14 for the individual win ahead of Michael Polizzi of Taft by 34 seconds. Highland Park finished second with 52 points.

 

Dunlap Invitational

2A #3 Dunlap were rude hosts placing their top 5 runners in the first 10 places to easily win the Girls team title with 23 points. Saniya Mathew stepped up as the team’s top runner running 18:41 to win the individual title by 11 seconds ahead of teammate Abby Tudeen. The Eagles had a 46 second split on their top 5 runners. Laure Munson finished third (18:54) to help 1A #4 Eureka to finish second with 61 points. 2A #17 Morton (93 points), 2A #Metamora (103 points), and 1A #12 Stanford Olympia (111 points) rounded out the top five teams.

 

Brenden Heitzig off a great race at Peoria put in another dominating run in the Boys Varsity race. The Lincoln senior ran 15:07 for the win and ahead of Eureka’s Charlie Bardwell by 54 seconds. 1A #8 Eureka, led by Bardwell’s second-place finish, put 5 runners in the top 16 to win the team title 42-46 just ahead of 2A #21 Dunlap, Eureka’s top five split was 62 seconds in this race.

 

Woodstock Byrne XC Festival

Rachel Soukup of Prairie Ridge ran 18:23 to win the Girls Championship flight Saturday at Emricson Park. Danielle Jensen of McHenry finished second (18:48) with Isabella Marisco of Lake Forest (19:47) and Anna Todd of Vernon Hills finishing third and fourth. Will Gelon of Prairie Ridge took home the Boys title running 16:32 for the win. Woodstock’s Ishan Patel ran 16:59 to finish second.

 

Highland XC Invitational

Dylon Nalley of Marion continued his undefeated streak in the 2022 XC season. The junior ran 14:40 to win the race by almost 50 seconds ahead of Ethan Hogan of Columbia (15:27). Jackson Collman of Bethalto Civic Memorial was the only runner under 16-minutes in the Boys Varsity race running 15:52 to finish third. In a battle of Class 2A Boys top 10 teams, it was 2A #10 Marion that had the advantage. The Wildcats put four runners in the top 10 to help them win the team title with only 30 points. 2A #9 Champaign Central scored 59 points to finish second ahead of 2A #26 Highland (77 points) and 2A #17 Civic Memorial (86 points. The key for the win by Marion was putting four runners across the line before Central’s second runner could finish.

 

1A #14 Breese Mater Dei scored 38 points to win the Girls team title led by the second-place finish from Isabella Hacker. Highland (53 points) and Litchfield (89 points) finished second and third. Hannah Meiser of Civic Memorial won the individual race (18:30) by 84 seconds ahead of Hacker.

 

Tuscola XC Classic

1A #10 Tuscola edged 1A #26 Effingham St. Anthony 102-105 for the Boys team title. Tolono Unity finished third with 134 points. Logan Beckmeier of Arthur-Lovington won by 38 seconds running 16:07 for the victory ahead of Tuscola’s Josiah Hortin and Jackson Barrett who both ran 16:45. Griffen Elder of St. Anthony (16:45) and Drew Moser of Clinton (16:47) finished fourth and fifth.

 

1A Top ranked Tolono Unity placed 4 runners in the top 10 to hold off 1A #5 Marshall 47-60 for the Girls team title. 1A #22 Shelbyville scored 93 points to finish ahead of 1A #7 Urbana University (98 points). The individual race was great as Tessa Bowers of Shelbyville ran 18:01 to win the Girls individual race. Fellow freshman Molly Farrell of Marshall ran 18:21 to finish second ahead of Urbana University’s Kate Ahmari (18:35).

 

Tolono Unity was led by Emily Decker and her eighth-place finish followed by the pack of Erica Woodard, Mackenzie Pound, and Olivia Shike who finished eighth through tenth. The split on their top four runners was 45 seconds. Marshall’s top 3 included Farrell, Isabel Arthur (4th), and Brooklyn Bender (7th).

 

Althoff Crusaders XC Invitational

A 1-2-3 finish led by the individual win from Gavin Genisio gave 1A #13 Benton the team win in this meet with 29 points. Mascoutah (53 points) and 1A #20 Freeburg (69 points) finished second and third. Genisio’s win was his second win of the season and second in as many meets; His winning time of 15:46 was 56 seconds ahead of teammate Gabriel McLain and another 17 seconds ahead of Benton sophomore Cole Buchanan. Leo Cozzi of Mascoutah was the first non-Benton finisher running 17:21 to finish fourth.

 

2A #8 Waterloo placed their top four runners between fourth through seventh led by Angelynn Kanyuck and Cameron Crump. 5 runners in the top 15 gave the Bulldogs the win with only 21 points. There was a three way battle for second with 1A #27 Roxana with 80 points edged Freeburg (83 points) and Mascoutah (85 points). Elana Rybak of Father McGivney rebounded from her so-so race last week in Peoria running 18:32 to win the individual race by 47 seconds ahead of teammate Kaitlyn Hartley (19:19).

 

Geneseo Invitational

#16 Wheaton-Warrenville South was in full control of the Girls side of this meet. The meet is scored by each age class. The Tigers won all four divisions. Nicole Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South had the fastest time of the day running 19:01 to win the Sophomore race. Other race winners included Rubi Tapia-Macias of East Moline United in the Freshman Girls race (20:09), Rhylee Wade of Sterling in the Junior race (20:06), and Kira Mothershed of Wheaton-Warrenville South in the Senior race (20:12).

 

Dale Johnson of Sterling had the fastest time of the day in winning the Boys Junior race with a 15:53 time. Luke Knepp of Pleasant Valley IA won the Senior race (17:51) by eight seconds ahead of Tyler Gehl of Geneseo. Dylan Gehl of Geneseo ran 17:05 to win the Sophomore race. Gabe Mahn of Rock Island ran 17:29 in winning the Freshman race.

 

Riverside-Brookfield Invitational

2A #2 Riverside-Brookfield, led by a 1-3 finish from Cooper Marrs and Jack O’Brien, placed 5 runners in the top 13 to win their own invite with 32 points. 1A #9 Aurora Central Catholic scored 56 points to finish seconds two points ahead of third-place Berwyn-Cicero Morton (58 points). Marrs was in control of this race after winning last week in Peoria. The junior’s time of 15:45 was 37 seconds ahead of second-place Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic. O’Brien ran 16:38 to finish third. The Bulldogs had a top five split of 83 seconds off Marrs’ win. Their 2-5 split in that race was only 30 seconds.

 

2A #21 Riverside-Brookfield also won the Girls Varsity race with 2 runners in the top 10 scoring 51 points. 2A #24 Nazareth Academy finished second with 65 points ahead of Leyden and 2A #20 Trinity who both scored 87 points. Nazareth Academy’s Colette Kinsella ran 18:52 to claim the individual win. Bella Daley of Fenwick (19:14) and Bryce Pacourek of Riverside-Brookfield (19:22) finished second and third.

 

Edwardsville Invitational

#19 Edwardsville placed their top 5 in the first 6 spots to win the Girls team title with only 16 points. Nerinx Hill MO scored 62 points to finish second. Emily Nuttall led the Tigers running 19:47 to claim the individual win. Teammate Madison Popelar a 2-4 finish and split of only 23 seconds. The freshman ran 20:30 to finish second.

 

Edwardsville made it a team sweep by scoring 48 points to win the Boys team title. Jaxson Copelin of Fort Zumwalt West MO ran 16:50 on the SIU-Edwardsville 5k course to win the individual race ahead of Edwardsville’s Jackson Amick (17:01) and Ben Perulfi (17:07).

 

Bureau Valley Dale Donner Invitational

Sandwich freshman Sundara Weber ran 19:00 to win the Girls race in this meet by 13 seconds ahead of another freshman, Emily Downing of Cambridge, who ran 19:13. 1A #21 Elmwood, led by a top 10 finish from Addie Symonds, scored 87 points to win the team title with 1A #20 Rock Falls (98 points) and 1A #17 Seneca (115 points) finishing second and third. 1A #16 Sandwich (117 points) and Sherrard (119 points) finished a close fourth and fifth.

 

Sam Springer of Delavan ran 16:26 to win the Boys Varsity race by 12 seconds ahead of Isaiah Hill of Elmwood and another 15 seconds ahead of Sandwich senior Wyatt Miller. 1A #14 Elmwood, led by Hill’s finish and then a 15 second split on their second through fifth runners, scored 70 points to win the team crown ahead of 1A #18 Sandwich (94 points) and #29 Rock Falls (113 points).

 

Argo Dave Brady Invitational

Bradley-Bourbonnais took three of the four places in the Boys Varsity to win the team title with 28 points. Reavis (65 points) and Andrew (76 points) finished second and third. Bradley junior Jeremiah Lanum ran 16:04 for the win by 18 seconds ahead of teammate Jose Lozano.

 

Andrew has been keeping their younger runners in the lower level races in the first three meets of the season. Paige Swaw, a sophomore, ran up in this meet finishing second to lead her team with the win scoring 54 points. Reavis, with 69 points, finished second. Madeline Mellin of Bradley-Bourbonnais ran 18:41 to easily win by 54 seconds ahead of Andrew’s Swaw.

 

Julian Urbina Memorial Invitational

1A #13 Chicago Christian placed 5 runners in the top 10 led by the individual win by Anna Enderle to win the Girls race at this meet easily with 20 points. Kankakee McNamara finished second with 51 points. Enderle’s winning time of 19:46 was 14 seconds faster than second-place Evita Martinez of Kankakee McNamara.

 

Daniel Kasperan of Marian Catholic ran 16:19 to win the individual Boys race. He won by 33 seconds ahead of Noah Luke of Chicago Christian. Marian Catholic put four runners in the top 8 to win the team title with 35 points. Bloom Township scored 64 points to finish second.

 

Carbondale Invitational

Mt. Vernon placed 5 runners in the top 14 to help them edge host Carbondale 32-38 for the Boys team title. The Rams were helped by an individual win from Trey Mygatt. The junior ran 17:06 to win by 30 seconds ahead of teammate Caedmon Cook. 1A #8 Anna-Jonesboro put their scorers in the first 8 places to win the Girls team title with only 25 points. Carterville scored 47 points to finish second. Anna Jonesboro’s Brodie Denny ran 19:28 in winning the Girls individual race by 34 seconds ahead of Molly Robertson of Carterville.

 

Olney Invitational

Tatum David won her second race as in many meets running 18:53 to win on her home course. Louisa Wilson of Williamsville (19:07) and Jessica Larsen of Effingham (19:30) finished second and third. Effingham scored 48 points to win the Girls team title ahead of Robinson (62 points) and Newton (93 points).

 

1A #11 Newton had a 71 second split on their scorers that all finished in the top 17. Newton scored 51 points to win the team title with 1A #23 Williamsville (76 points) and Princeton Community IN (77 points) finishing third. Holden Haugh of Richland County ran 16:07 to win the Boys race with Andrew Donaldson of Effingham (16:18) and Daniel Giacomini (16:24) finishing second and third.