Hungry Huntley impresses at Lake Park
Huntley's junior duo of Seth Conroy and Keagan Smith fed off each other on Saturday at the 40th annual Harvey Braus Invitational at Lake Park.
And the pair helped Huntley take a big bite out of the 20-team boys cross country field in Roselle.
Conroy (15:12) and Smith (15:20) went 1-3 in leading Huntley to an impressive second-place finish with 77 points.
Markivan Protsiv (15:14) finished in second place, powering Chicago Jones College Prep to the team title with 56 points. The Eagles place five runners in the top 20 to secure the title.
Conroy and Protsiv were neck-and-neck as they entered the track for the final stretch, but Conroy slipped on the mud, allowing Protsiv to take the lead.
But Protsiv took a wrong turn allowing Conroy to regain the lead briefly. Protsiv then made a surge to regain the lead, before Conroy matched the move in the final 100 meters in regaining the lead for good.
“I wanted to see what he was going to do,” said Conroy of the multiple exchanges. “I was able to counter. It definitely gives me a boost in confidence and was a good measuring stick.”
Conroy and Smith worked off each other in the opening 2 miles to set the pace.
“We just found each other early,” said Smith who finished 16th in Class 3A in a breakout sophomore season last year. “We have been working well together so it wasn't an unfamiliar situation.”
Smith is coming back from a stress fracture in track, while Conroy is building off a strong track season. The two were in prime form on Saturday, combining with junior Mike Grocholski (15:42 10th) to give the Red Raiders a strong attack.
“We put in a strong summer of running and the team is really coming together,” said Conroy.
“This is a big step forward,” added Smith. “We knew we were going to be good this year, we have the talent set in place to achieve big things.”
Hoffman Estates also is gearing up for a big season. Junior Bryan Gamboa (15:39) and junior Matt Petersen (15:40) went 7-8 leading Hoffman Estates to third place with 83 points.
“We're feeling pretty confident,” said Gamboa. “That's our plan — to keep moving our pack up.”
Junior Shiv Patel (15:48) and senior Michael Sanfillippo (15:50) led the Hawks' second surge, taking 15th and 18th place, with junior Nathan Otto (16:22) completing the scoring with a 35th-place finish.
“We talked about each guy needing to step up,” said Hoffman Estates coach Brenden Mariano. “They did an outstanding job of getting in position.”
Hoffman Estates lost Billy Thomas, who finished 21st in Class 3A, to graduation. But clearly, the Hawks are right back on track.
“With Billy graduating nobody thought we had anything,” said Petersen. “We knew we were a lot deeper.”
St. Charles East was missing its No. 1 runner Mark Sciurba, who was taking the ACT. But junior Michael Gerkin (15:46) stepped up to fill the gap and take 12th place. Senior Mike Skora (15:50), senior Will Muckian (15:54), and junior Jack Rzepecki (15:54) had key finishes in 17th, 21st, and 22nd place.
“We should have got out a bit faster,” said Gerkin. “But we did the best we could. This year we are looking to peak at the right time.”
Junior Justin Isla (16:12) took 29th place in leading Bartlett (220 points) to eighth place.
Junior Nick Olvera (16:05) secured 27th place, lifting Schaumburg (285 points) to ninth place. Junior Sean Frinter (16:33) finished 40th to aid Elk Grove (303 points, 10th).
Individually, Maine West junior Alex Liston (15:38) used strong to start in securing seventh place for the Warriors.
“It was a good move to get up front,” said Liston of his early surge that had him sitting in fourth place at the 2-mile mark. “I think my experience will help this year — I know what to expect.”