Senior duo leads Batavia

Chris Spadafora understands there are some unknowns about the Batavia cross country team this fall, but the senior has a pretty good idea of at least a couple certainties.

That would be seeing him and fellow senior Mike Redmond leading the Bulldogs across the finish line.

The two were at it again Saturday at the Royal-Cadet Invitational hosted by Marmion. Redmond took fifth in 16:33 and Spadafora wasn’t far behind in seventh in 16:41.

“We’re just figuring out the lineup now,” Spadafora said. “We’re still playing with people to see who will be there. I’m not sure where we’ll be this year. We’re still molding it. Usually Mike and I are at top and whoever is behind us is what we are trying to mold.”

A pair of runners from Jones broke away from the other front-runners early in the race. Jamison Dale and Luke O’Connor’s 1-2 finish — Dale won in 15:50 — led Jones to a narrow team championship, 41-42 over Plainfield East.

“They took it around the 400 and kind of held the lead and pushed away,” Spadafora said. “I know I gave it my all and held onto what I had left. It seemed a little hot out. The course seemed a little slow.”

Batavia finished fourth as a team at 102. Seniors Kevin Millen, Sean Sommer and Brandon Phillips took 23rd, 32nd and 35th, respectively.

Geneva came in sixth led by Blake Peik in 27th.

Peoria Woodruff: Marmion’s top runners weren’t even on hand at its own invite Saturday. They traveled south to run at Detweiller Park in Peoria where the Cadets won the 2A race.Nolan Dickson (7th, 15:16), Matt Choice (19th, 15:47), Kevin Grahovec (29th, 15:59), Will Graft (30th, 16:03) and Brady Hunt (32, 16:03) led Marmion to a 117-144 victory over runner-up Yorkville among the 47 Class 2A schools.Other local finishers included Burlington Central in eighth, Kaneland ninth and Aurora Central 13th. Clint Kliem took fifth for the Rockets while Kyle Carter in 40th and John Meisenger 52nd led the Knights. Matt Meyers finished first for ACC in 16th.