Palatine gets tough, wins own Invite

Palatine’s boys cross country team wasn’t at its best on Saturday — but the Pirates still proved to be better than the rest.

Senior Anthony Gregorio (14:49) took seventh place in leading the top-ranked Pirates to the 28th annual Palatine Invitational title with 110 points at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve on cool, overcast Saturday morning.

Palatine coach Chris Quick admitted his team was a bit flat physically, but the determined Pirates still placed four runners in the top 25 to secure only their second Invite title, and the team’s first since 2007.

“I told them we might not be at our physical best, but we’ll be at our emotional best,” said Quick of his team that took the title in the loaded 30-team field. “I thought they ran with some fire and ran as a team, that’s all you can ask. We definitely can run better, and we just have to keep getting better every week.”

Missouri’s top-ranked team, Rock Bridge, placed three runners in the top 16 to take second place with 126 points, followed by defending state champion York (136 points), Niles North (178 points), and New Trier (179 points).

New Trier senior Leland Later (14:34) used a powerful third mile in edging Loyola senior Todd Ford (14:35) and St. Ignatius junior Jack Keelan (14:35) for the individual title.

Barrington senior Erik Peterson (14:41) took fourth, followed by Beecher junior Grant Nykaza (14:42) and Prairie Ridge senior Mitch Wilkins (14:42).

A tight pack of 15 runners cruised through a sluggish first mile. Later worked the second mile of the race and finally took the lead for good with a little over 400 meters remaining; he held on down the home stretch to take the victory.

“I was able to maintain a pretty good second mile and then really drop in the last mile,” said Later, who took 44th in Class 3A last year but has definitely switched gears this season. “It’s just been a lot of hard work.”

Palatine was coming off a tough week, as the Pirates took first last Saturday at the Peoria Notre Dame Invite and also had tough dual meet win against Barrington on Thursday.

So the Pirates were a little banged up physically, but they found an extra gear on Saturday.

Senior Peter Tomkiewicz (15:05), senior Marcus Garcia (15:11) and senior Tim Johnson (15:20) added 15th, 17th, and 25th place for the Pirates.

“We were a little bit tired, but we wanted to defend our course,” said Gregorio. “The win was big but we just have to get back to work. We still have some big goals.”

Junior Christian Zambrano (15:41) stepped up big for the Pirates in securing 50th place and nailing down the team victory.

“I think our confidence is pretty high,” said Garcia. “Obviously we didn’t have our best race but we still won it.”

Senior Jordan Cook (14:55), senior Caleb Wilfong (14:58), and junior Nathan Keown (15:07) took 11th, 12th, and 16th place to pace Rock Bridge to an impressive second-place finish.

Junior Scott Milling (15:01) and senior William Clink (15:18) took 14th and 21st place to help York secure third place.

“We’re going to keep working hard and I think good things will come,” said Milling of York’s progress. “We need to get our pack higher up. The next two weeks we will be working really hard.”

Senior Aron Sebhat (14:52) and junior Micah Beller (15:20) finished 9th and 24th leading a fast-rising Niles North team to fourth place.

Later combined with senior Chip Schaff (15:19) in leading New Trier to a fifth-place finish.

The individual race proved to be as entertaining as the team race. Thirteen runners went under 15:00 minutes on the Deer Grove East course; last year only five runners went under that mark.

Ford and Keelan battled it out with Later down the final stretch. Ford was able to take second place by nipping Keelan near the finish.

“It was fun to be out there with the top guys,” said Ford. “I was able to stick with that lead pack — I just stayed in contact. I have a lot of confidence in myself and I feel I can compete with anyone.”

Keelan also made a statement. Last year the he finished 12th in Class 3A.

“I wanted to stay back early and kick at the finish,” said Keelan.

Peterson also clung to a tight lead pack and the Barrington senior, despite not feeling it in the final mile, was still able to pull out an impressive fourth-place effort.

“It definitely picked up after the first mile,” said Peterson of the pace. “I definitely wasn’t feeling my best today, my legs just weren’t there.”

Beecher junior Grant Nykaza took fourth in Class 1A last season, and is one of the contenders for that title this season. He showed his talent in a deep field on Saturday with a fifth-place finish.

“I just wanted to hang on as long as I could,” said Nykaza, who led Beecher to a Class 1A title last season. “I’ve been wanting to work on my second mile and these 3A guys really hammer the second. It definitely gives me some confidence.”

Lake Zurich senior Pat Juras finished 17th in Class 3A last season as the Bears earned the state runner-up trophy. The LZ senior is having no letdown this season as he took seventh place in 14:48.

“Last year I tended to stay behind our top guys, but they are all gone this year so I’ve needed to step up,” said Juras, who is on the mend after a knee injury. “I’m coming back strong, and today I was able to hang on. I feel I can really do something this year.”

Crystal Lake Central junior Alex Baker (14:55) took 10th place, with Loyola senior William Hague (14:59) adding 13th place.

Prairie Ridge junior Joe Cowlin (15:14) took 18th place, followed by Barrington junior Ryan Burgoon (15:15).

Libertyville junior Nicholas Korhumel (15:15) and senior Dan Ryan (15:22) added 20th and 26th place for the Wildcats.

Maine South junior Jon Vaccaro (15:20) finished 23rd for the Hawks.