Vernon Hills, Grayslake Central headed to state

Perhaps it was the cold, the wind, or the flat course that led to the fast first mile pace at the Class 2A Kaneland sectional. Or maybe it was just the strategy of the two senior brothers from Yorkville. Either way, the fast start led to new personal records for some of the runners, or a learning experience for those who couldn't adjust to the pace.

Vernon Hills (110) and Grayslake Central (120) each placed three runners in the top 25 team scorers to finish third and fourth respectively to advance to the state meet in Peoria next weekend.

Yorkville won the meet with 67 points, placing its top two runners first and second, and its third runner ninth overall. Crystal Lake Central (134) and Prairie Ridge (162) were fourth and fifth, respectively.

Yorkville's Jake Hoffert won the race in a time of 14:48, while teammate and brother Luke Hoffert finished right behind him in a time of 14:50.

Vernon Hills was led by sophomore Shane Williamson, who finished third in a time of 14:56. Williamson hung with the Yorkville brothers for the entire race, but in the end couldn't gain enough ground to catch them.

"I wanted to stick as close to the Hoffert twins (Yorkville) as I could," Williamson said. "I knew they were going to come out at a fast pace, so I was just thinking the same. My goal all season was to stick as close to the top as I could. Halfway through the race, I thought to myself it was time to start moving up. I started gaining a little ground, but I just wanted to stay as close to them as possible."

Tyler Smith (10, 15:15), Rob Williams (28, 15:51), Trevor Moyers (41, 16:05), and Tim Krashevsky (42, 16:05) rounded out the top five finishers for Vernon Hills.

Grayslake Central sophomore Jack Aho, won the Antioch regional last week, finished fourth overall in a time of 15:06. Aho said he was prepared for the fast start to the race.

"My goal today was to stay in the front pack," Aho said. "I knew Hofferts were going to take it out fast, and I knew Shane (Vernon Hills) was going to kick it out as well, so I just tried to stay close behind and then make my move around the two mile."

Max Brunk (23, 15:47), Jack Battaglia (29, 15:52), John Girmscheid (33, 15:53), and Eli Minsky (47, 16:13) rounded out the top five finishers for Grayslake Central.

Burlington Central senior Clay Musial finished 13th overall in 15:29 to advance onto Peoria next weekend as an individual qualifier.

"The wind played a factor today more than I thought it would," Musial said. "It died down a lot since yesterday. It really placed a factor when I was in a gap by myself behind the main pack. Kaneland did a really nice job with the course."

Rocket teammate Nick Harvey finished 26th overall in a time of 15:50, but didn't find that the elements affected his running as much as the runners did.

"I felt great today and the wind wasn't as much of a factor for me as I thought it would be," Harvey said. "My goal was to get a PR (personal record) today and stick to the guys in my box, and I pretty much accomplished that today."

Host Kaneland finished sixth as a team with 170 points, missing out on a team state berth by 8 points.

"Coach wanted us (Matthew Richtman) to hold strong in the middle and then get position in the second mile and then kick it at the end, and that's just what we did," Kintz said. "Having him right next to me the whole race was very motivational. This is where we practice and we dissected each section of the course."

Freshman Matthew Richtman finished 17th overall in a time of 15:39, narrowly missing out on a trip to state by 8 seconds.

"My goal today was to try to stay with my teammates and hopefully make it to state," Richtman said. "I was pretty surprised by the pace. After the first mile, I looked up at my time and was very surprised how fast it was."

Carmel Catholic finished 14th as a team with 386 points and were led by senior Patrick Pastika (49, 16:19) and junior Michael Cusask (60, 16:28)

"My goal was to go out really fast," Pastika said. "Mike (Cusack) and I tried to stay with them, but they kept speeding up and we fell back a little bit. We knew it was going to be fast because there was a lot of tension in the race."

"I came in with high expectations for myself," Cusack said. "I wanted to start out slower because that's how I run best. I was glad they went out fast because it stepped up my pace too, and it motivated to me to go faster the entire race."

Antioch finished 15th as a team with 392 points and were led by seniors Dan Ressler (43, 16:06) and Zach Besson (76, 16:46)

"This pace was so fast," Ressler said. "The course was so flat and the competition was so intense. The first mile went by so fast and the competition here was very tough today."

"It was really difficult out there today," Besson said. "It was very windy and cold and the competition was very difficult."

Grayslake North finished 18th with 418 points. Sophomore Liam O'Connell led the Knights, finishing 50th overall.

"My goal today was to get my best time and help my team the best I could," O'Connell said. "Today was my best time by far. It was a really fast pace today, but I think that will help me going into next year."