A week of hot weather and hot action capped off the opening few days of the 2004 Illinois cross country season. A lot of great times were put up this week, while a few teams and individuals surprised the state with some stellar performances. Here is what went down:
St. Charles Invitational
With a bunch of good teams and many great individuals, the St. Charles Invitational did not disappoint as the big weekend opener in the state on the boys side. As expected, Downers Grove North won the team title with 59 points. However, they barely snuck past St. Charles North, who took second with 61 points. St. Charles North will be a very solid team this season, so keep an eye on them in the coming weeks. After the top two squads, Wheaton North (106 points), Bartlett (143 points) and Glenbard South (151 points) rounded out the top five. Individually, sophomore Ryan Jacobs (Hononegah) was perhaps the biggest surprise in the state this weekend, as he beat a number of potential all-staters, to win in 15:14. Jacobs beat Bruce MacTaggart (Glenbard South) by thirteen seconds, as MacTaggart took home second place for his team. Coming in a strong third was Matt DeSilva (St. Charles North), who finished in a time of 15:31 on the three mile spread. Curt Mademann (Wheaton North), Luke Ryan (Downers Grove North) and Ed Barron (Downers Grove North) rounded out eht top six.
On the girls side, York won with some solid scoring up front and nice pack to close up their scoring. Molly Sullivan (Jr., York) led her team, as she on the individual crown in 18:35. Rachel Barry (Glenbard North) and Kim Ebbesen (Bartlett) finished second and third only a few seconds behind Sullivan. York showed they are a force once again in cross country as they beat a strong Geneva squad 53-100 to take home the title. St. Charles East was third with 144 points, while Glenbard North was fourth finishing with 152 points.
Fenton Invitational
For the past few years Eureka has driven up north towards the suburbs of Chicago and laid it on the line with some of Class AA's better teams. This year, Eureka drove up once again and returned home with an impressive win that should leave them feeling confident for the races coming up in the next few weeks. Eureka, led by a talented group of experienced seniors, took home the title with 58 points, while Hersey scored 63 points for second just narrowly losing. Hoffman Estates had a very strong performance as they took third with 78 points. The two other teams that rounded out the top five were Wheaton St. Francis (111 points) and Champaign Centennial (114 points). Sean Houseworth (Eureka) led the way for his squad, as he claimed the individual title in 15:37. Coming in a strong second, and having yet another great race in the first week of competition, was Alex Sutphen of Hoffman Estates. Sutphen held on strong to finish in 15:42. Coming in a strong third was super freshman Kevin Havel (Hersey), as he ran 15:52. Rounding out the top five were Mike Richardson (Buffalo Grove) and Johnny Reel (Eureka).
Eureka: 1,5,9,15,28.
Hersey: 3,10,11,14,25.
Oak Park-River Forest v. Lake Park was the match-up of the meet on the girls side, but when the points were counted this really was no contest. OPRF ran a great race from start to finish and took home the team title with 93 points, while Lake Park finished over thirty points back in second with 124 points. Downers Grove South and Conant both had good days, as they finished third and fourth, while Eureka was the top A program, finishing seventh with 159 points. Individually, A'seret Dokubo (Conant) repeated as the Fenton Invite champion, winning this year's race in 19:00.
Chrisman Cow-Chip Invitational
Danville Schlarman was predicted by many to be top two in the Class A state meet this year. Well, this team is far from their top form if they hope to compete with the likes of Eureka come November. Schlarman was easily beat by a very strong Cumberland squad 10-25 in a seven flight meet, held on the hilly and hot course at Chrisman. Cumberland dominated the meet from the first flight, all the way to the championship flight, as they won five of the seven flights. Kyle Cash (Cumberland) led the way for his squad as he broke his course record from last season and was the only runner under sixteen minutes, taking home the individual title in 15:45. Second place was junior Scott Krapf (Danville Schlarman), who ran 16:08. Cumberland really showed their depth in this meet 1-7, while Danville Schlarman showed that they need a strong fifth man if they hope to be on top of the medal stand at Detweiller Park at the end of the year.
On the girls side, Robinson High School dominated. Robinson scored a mere ten points, beating second place Mahomet-Seymour easily (10-19). Argenta-Oreana was third with 32 points. Individually, freshman Hannah Hogan (St. Joseph-Ogden) easily won the title in 19:14, beating Tiffany Pinkston (Robinson), who finished second in 19:49. Hogan could be the best frosh on the class A girls side this season if this meet is any indicator of what's to come.
Oregon Invitational
Upset was the word of the day on the girls side of this quality invitational. Winnebago girls are figured to be one of the top two teams once the season comes to an end, but on Saturday they lost to Oregon, showing that A)Winnebago may not be as strong as some predicted and B) Oregon is a team to watch this season. As the tally of points came rolling in, Oregon took home the team title over Winnebago 75-80. Bureau Valley took third with 94 points. Individually Rachel Brubaker (Durand) won, outkicking Carlson (Winnebago) 19:17-19:21. One note of importance though...Lauren Thomas (Winnebago), who is one of the her team's top runners, was out with an injury and will not return to competition for at least another few weeks.
On the boys side, defending champion Jeremy Stevens (Winnebago) outlasted Michael Grieve (Bureau Valley) in the last mile to take home the individual crown in a time of 15:58. Grieve, who is a junior and is running his first season of cross country after doing football his first two years, ran a great race, hanging with Stevens through 2.5 miles, but fading the last half mile to finish second in 16:06. Team wise, Oregon won the team title with 85 points, beating Rockford Christian, who finished second with 101 points, while Rock Falls was third with 113 points.
Athens Invitational
Rochester's girls squad pulled off the upset as they beat Petersburg PORTA. Rochester scored 1,2,5,10,15, while PORTA, who is considered by many as a top three team in the state, scored only four going 4,7,8,19. Rochester proved their strength, while PORTA showed that they indeed need a fifth runner if they are going to win the top spot at state this season. On the boys side, junior Eric Obert (Liberty) destroyed the field by over a minute as he ran 17:00 on a hilly 5k course. Rochester won the boys race, while Liberty was second.
Hornet/Red Devil Invitational
The Pirates of Palatine came into the boys race at the Hinsdale Invitational ranked number five in the Midwest region. They should have left the meet feeling like they were just as good. Palatine dominated the meet, scoring a mere 35 points, to easily outdistance runner-up Neuqua Valley (106 points). Palatine was led by junior Glenn Morris, who won the race in 15:12 over the three mile course. He was followed by his teammate senior James Macatangay, who was second in 15:16. Breaking up a Palatine sweep of the top three spots was Andy Kubiak (Sr., Bloomington), who was third in 15:33, while Palatine senior John Lancaster was fourth in 15:34. Coming in a strong fifth was Sean Angst (Glenbard East), who ran 15:38. A key individual who was missing from action was junior Jon Popejoy (Wheaton Warrenville South). Without Popejoy the Tigers finished third with 116 points. A team to watch both this season and next is Naperville Central, who has a team dominated by juniors. They finished a strong fourth with 120 points. Palatine was also competing without one of their top runners, Steve Finley, who was sitting out of the meet recovering from a lung infection. He should return to competition in another week or so.
On the girls side an upset occured. Naperville Central has been a program on the rise the past few seasons and this year they have a shot to garner a top three trophy. They are well on their way as they beat Palatine 53-59 to win the team championship. While Palatine had a few runners effected by the heat (one dropping out and one being taken by ambulance after the race), Naperville Central's performance still marked how strong this squad truly is. Senior Christina Beaird and junior Emily Fischer led the way for the Redhawks, as they finished third and ninth respectively. Palatine on the other hand had a great top three, as junior Amy Laskowske won the individual title in 18:29, beating runner-up Danyelle Somerfield by 33 seconds. Junior Carly Bates and senior Katie O'Brien finished sixth and seventh for Palatine, showing that they will be tough to beat up front all season long. You can expect a lot of great things out of both Naperville Central and Palatine this year.
What Else Took Place?...
- At the Crystal Lake South Invitational a slew of girls ended up needing medical treatment because of the heat, which scared officials into cancelling the boys race. Before it was all said and done though, Katie Ellis (Wauconda) beat defending AA champion Paulina Garcia (Streamwood) in the final few meters of the race, finishing in 19:45.5 to Garcia's 19:46.3 on a very challenging course. Potential all-stater Kelly Vrshek (Rolling Meadows) was a strong third in 20:06. Ellis led her team to the team title as well, as Wauconda beat runner-up Mundelein 110-118. Ellis had a great spring, and assuming she stays healthy, should be a top five threat this fall at the state meet.
- At the Plainfield Central Invitational Benet Academy won the girls team title 43-54 over a surprising Lemont squad. Benet was led by Abby Higgins, who finished first in a strong time of 17:31. Jennifer Roberts of Romeoville was second in 18:10. On the boys side, Plainfield South continued to show why they are a team to watch, as they beat Benet 31-62 on the 2.8 mile course. Patrick Greene and Anthony Trubich led the way for Souh finishing 1-2, while Bill Grimm (Plainfield Central), Kevin Vesleik (Benet) and Nick Geyer (Benet) rounded out the top five. Plainfield South showed their depth, as they placed six runners in the top 15 spots, after placing seven runners in the top 15 spots a few days earlier at a small invitational.
- Machesney Park Invitational: Jacobs sophomore Evan Jager continues to show he could be an all-state threat this season, as he beat Jared Richardson (Harlem) 15:16-15:45 to take home another invitational title, after winning the McHenry County Invite earlier in the week. Jacobs also won the team title.
- The Aurora Invitational was dominated by Waubonsie Valley, as they WV scored only 25 points, to easily outdo second place Marmion Academy, who scored 42 points. Senior Durrell Williams (Waubonsie Valley) won the individual title in 15:11 on the three mile course.
- Muphysboro Invitational - Class A Sparta showed that they could very well be a top team in A this season, as they beat Hamilton County for the team title scoring 63 points in a quality field. Individually, junior Charlie Hatch (Nashville) outlasted a strong field on his way to a one second victory over Bradford (Wayne City), running 16:44 on a tough course. Dane Zeiler (Sr., Massac County) was third in 16:59, while Sparta teammates Jeff Baird and Greg McBride finished fourth and fifth respectively.
