Plainfield South edges Hinsdale Central by one point in 3A Boys State Team Championship

It’s Bandukwala this time for the state title ahead of Newhart, Watcke

By Michael Newman

Peoria, Ill – There was still a buzz in the air after the finish of the 3A Girls race as the 3A Boys runners were preparing for the final race of the day at muddy Detweiller Park. Rain had turned a grassy plain for running into a mud trail that runners were search for the cleanest path.

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One fan said to the other “How can you beat that” describing the 3A Girls race. I thought that those two fans had not been here for the state meet that had the reputation of the final race of the day, 3A Boys, was the best of the six or perhaps the most anticipated. The 3A race was the showstopper on this day. Saturday’s final race will go down in state meet lore as one of the closest ever both in the team and individual races.

One point decided the team title. 31 hundredths of a second decided the individual state champion. How close can you get than that?

Plainfield South and Hinsdale Central were considered the top two teams entering this race ahead of 26 other teams. The two school met once before at the Nike Twilight Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana on October 1. In that race, Plainfield South finished third with 140 points finishing 128 points ahead of eighth place Hinsdale Central.

Both teams had improved since the last time they met. Plainfield South was getting faster in every race they ran. Hinsdale Central was extremely tested in their final three races leading into their showdown in Peoria. In fact. The Red Devils finished second by three points to conference rival Downers Grove North the week before at the Waubonsie Valley Sectional.

This would not be a speed race. This would be about the team that ran the best tactically. As I look back at video and the race results, I am still having a hard time deciding who did it the best. In that decision, let’s call it a tie.

It is a sight during this race every year to see a large number of runners coming up the incline towards the finish line together. It was not happening in this race. The middle part of the course was torn up by previous races and by the lead vehicles that made that middle section less runnable than before. Runners were making a choice either running on the left or right fence line where there was actually grass to run on.

The pace was calculated with no runner really wanting to lead heading to the first mile. The pack went through in 4:51 with Marcellus Mines of Joliet West, Oliver Burns of Plainfield North, and Riley Newport of DeKalb heading that pack. Mines had missed a good portion of the season due to a back injury, so it was good to see him back in the front. Unfortunately, the hard winds that were gusting to 30 mph with the temperatures dropping took effect on Mines where he was forced to end his race just before two miles. It is a shame. Hopefully, he recovers so that we can see him at full strength in 2023.

There were the blue pinstripes of Plainfield South in the front as there were the Red and White of Hinsdale Central. A few strides back a seas of purple and Downers Grove North. The race was starting to play out as expected.

The pace usually picks up in the triangle portion of the course in a normal state race. There was nothing normal about this day with what the conditions that these runners were dealing with.

The winds were hitting the lead runners in the front went through two-miles in 10:00. Newport had taken the lead with Liam Newhart of Oak Park-River Forest moving into striking position into second place. Burns and Viger were still in the front line on the right side of the course. Parker Nold of Oswego East and Zachary Balzer of Minooka were hanging close. Dan Watcke of Hinsdale Central was moving up through the pack and was now with Balzer. His teammate Aden Bandukwala was close behind following the moves of Watcke with Dylan Myers of Lake Zurich doing the same.

The runners made the turn now running behind the starting line in the mud. They made another turn left running on the course that was parallel to Illinois Route 29 that passed to the east of the park. The most important thing was that the wind was now at the backs of the runners.

Moves were starting to happen in that next quarter mile. Newhart made his move to take the lead with Newport doing his best to try to stay even. Watcke and Bandukwala were moving in unison through pack and saw that Newhart was making his move. The two runners had raced him twice in the last three weeks. They knew it was coming.

It was a battle of three WSC-Silver runners that had experienced this three weeks ago in the conference meet. It was Bandukwala that had the lead on that day only to be passed by Newhart and Watcke.

“This became a half mile race which in my mind favored me,” Bandukwala said. “I was thinking that this race was just like conference. I was hoping that the outcome would be a little different.”

Bandukwala was patient as the pace continued to get faster and faster. Newhart had been running great in the last month and had the edge as the made the turn for the final 300-meters of the race. Newhart and Bandukwala were now side by side on the left side of the course digging deep to make it up the incline through the brutal wind just to make it through the end. Watcke and Myers had fallen back and were deciding who would finish third.

It was for the finish one that you hope to see in any championship race where two warriors not willing to give an inch to the other. Newhart and Bandukwala were side by die with 100-meters left. Newhart stumbled on two of his step losing momentum ever so briefly. Bandukwala took advantage of that and grabbed the advantage. The Hinsdale Central junior had never won a race this season even finishing fourth the week before in the sectional race behind Newhart.

This moment was Bandukwala’s time. His teammates call him “Bunny”. He hopped across the line with Hinsdale Central’s first individual state champion with Newhart just finishing behind. Bandukwala’s winning time was 14:46.16. Newhart was 31 hundredths of a second behind in 14:46.46. What a finish.

“I was in so much shock crossing the line,” said Bandukwala. It still has not settled in.”

“ I knew that the mud and the wind would play into it. I did not expect to be that big of an effect as it was today,” added Newhart. “I knew that they (Watcke and Bandukwala) had a lot of talent and had to watch out for both of them. Winning those races in the state series helped with my confidence.”

The team race was just as exciting as both Hinsdale Central and Plainfield South runners were moving through the pack to get themselves in position to finish. Eyeballing the race, it was so close to determine. Hinsdale Central had two runners in with Bandukwala and then Watcke just finishing ahead of Myers for third.

Both teams got all seven runners in, and the team scores populated on the huge scoreboard just east of the finish line. For a minute Hinsdale Central had a one point edge on Plainfield South with the fans of both schools getting excited as the scores changed due to the video review that was happening.

The order then switched to Plainfield South having a one point lead. That score held for about 20 minutes. A huge roar of cheers came from the east side of the starting line. The scores had been made official. Plainfield South had one its first state championship 89-90 ahead of Hinsdale Central in what was one of the closest team finishes in Illinois High School State Cross Country history.

Plainfield South had run with great pack running this season and dug deep down with another great race with four all-state runners and five runners in the top 35. Camyn Viger led the Cougars in finishing 11th. Dylan Maloney was the team’s second runner nine seconds behind his teammate in finishing 16th. BJ Sorg (22) and Ethan Reynoso (25) were also all-state as South’s third and fourth runners. Owen O’Shea was the team’s fifth runner placing 35th. The team’s top five split was just 30 seconds as they ran their best race of the season so far. Their hard work during the summer and chasing a dream all season became fact as they stepped to the stage to accept the trophy. This group had realized their dream.

Hinsdale Central had also showed great improvement especially in the last month of the season and it showed in this race. Michael Skora just missed all-state but finished 26 as the team’s third runner. Jesse Gamboa was just two seconds behind Skora in finishing 29th. Max Lowe was running his first year of cross country and had stepped into Central’s top seven as the team’s fifth runner. He was 54 seconds behind his team’s first four runners in the race in Terre Haute. On this day, he finished 53rd overall behind Gamboa by just 17 seconds.

The top five teams in this race came from either the WSC-Silver or the Southwest Prairie Conference which is saying a lot about the strength of the two conferences. Four WSCS schools finished in the top seven teams.

Downers Grove North ran a strong race to finish third (150 points) for the second year in a row. The Trojans had three all-state runners in this race led by Caden Weber and Ryan Eddington finishing together in 13th and 14th. Topher Ferris was also all-state finishing 10 seconds back in 23rd. Asa Gasper and Grant Schroder finished together in 67th and 68th as the team’s fourth and fifth runners. The team had a 40 second split on their top five.

Plainfield North also ran their best race of the year as they finished fourth with 215 points led by Oliver Burns finishing fifth and their second runner Owen Stahl placing 34th. Oak Park-River Forest finished fifth (233 points) led by Newhart’s finish and then Michael Michelotti (36th) and Nick Parrell (40th) as the Huskies third and fourth runners.

Lake Zurich was just three points behind OPRF finishing sixth with 236 points led by Myers finishing fourth and Braden Eckman placing 47th. Lyons Township had three all-state runners as they finished seventh with 239 points. Nicholas Strayer and Cillian Henning crossed together in ninth and tenth. Aidan Collins was the third all-state runner finishing 19th overall.