Schaumburg boys, girls sweep
The Schaumburg boys cross country team, which took sixth at Saturday’s Peoria Notre Dame Invite, kept rolling on a special day Thursday.
Schaumburg christened the newly dedicated Macnider Cross Country Course at Hoover Park by cruising to 19-37 Mid-Suburban League West Division dual-meet victory over Conant.
Junior Evan Prizy came from behind in the final mile to secure the victory in 16:17, as Conant senior Tyler Schneider (16:20) took second.
Former boys coach Jim Macnider and former girls coach Jon Macnider were honored by the Schaumburg Park District before the race.
Current Schaumburg boys coach Scott Lilley helped the Saxons to a state title in 1988 with a ninth-place finish and finished second individually in Class AA in 1989.
“Being part of this program it is hard to put into words what the Macniders have meant,” said Lilley, who had been a Schaumburg assistant the past 15 years. “It has been a great road and we’re hoping to keep that tradition going.”
The Saxons’ Tyler Anderson (16:23), Juan Barajas (16:25), Pat Swiech (16:37) and Brian Flight (16:43) went 3-6.
“We definitely wanted to come out there and win it for both Macniders,” said Prizy, who helped lead a powerful Saxons race-changing surge at the midway point. “We have a bunch of guys jostling for position. We just want to keep improving.”
Last year Schneider dealt with some injuries and also was learning to manage his asthma condition. This year the Cougars’ senior is healthy — and it shows.
Schnieder pushed the pace for the first two miles and gave Prizy, who is looking more and more like an all-stater, all he could handle.
“It’s a breakout season,” said Schneider. “I wanted to see how long I could hold on today, and I felt great.”
Cougars junior Joe Sulentic (16:51), senior Alex Miller (17:12) and senior Dominick Massa (17:20) went 7-9.
“I feel good about team,” said Cougars coach John Powers. “They understand what they need to work on and they are doing a good job of targeting that.”
Schaumburg girls win
Last fall, Schaumburg captured its third state title — but the Saxons lost three all-state runners and their hall-of-fame coach Jon Macnider.
The Saxons are starting to fill the spaces, taking the top seven spots in a 15-50 MSL West division dual-meet victory.
Saxons senior Kelsey Steenstrup was first in 20:54, followed by Sam Nordli (20:55), Caroline Kurdej (20:55), Sarah Richter (20:55), Hannah Coombs (20:55), Debra Sodimu (20:56) and Maika Kumamoto (20:57).
Coombs, Steenstrup, and Nordli were members of last season’s championship run and are helping the Saxons’ transition this season.
“It’s definitely different,” said Steenstrup. “But we’re just trying to build up and get everybody to work as a team.”
“It’s different without Mac,” said Coombs who has become the Saxons’ lead runner this season. “He’s a great coach and we definitely didn’t want to lose today.”
The Saxons showed a bit of promise at the Peoria Notre Dame Invite with a ninth-place finish as Coombs took 25th individually.
“We have a lot of girls learning new roles,” said first-year Saxons coach Jason Beer. “I knew it would take some time, but they are getting better each and every meet. It has been a great culture established by Mac. Now we are looking to maintain that culture.”
The Cougars’ Sophia Huang (21:19), Rebecca Moore (22:31) and Carly Acks (23:01) finished 8-9-10.