advertisement

Boys cross country: Lake Zurich earns downstate trip

As is always the case, there was nothing left to chance, and no room for error Saturday morning in the Class 3A Schaumburg boys cross country sectional.

When all was said and done, a 20-year old course record was broken and a Lake County area squad would be heading to the state meet for the seventh straight year.

Temperatures in the upper 30's made for a very fast 3-mile race at Busse Woods as McHenry senior Jesse Reiser set the course record in 14:32 to break the 1994 record of Prospect's Lou Petricca by three seconds.

Hersey captured the championship with 92 points to topple McHenry (109 points) in second place.

Barrington took third place with 143 pointswhile Lake Zurich made it seven straight trips to Peoria's Detweiller Park with a fourth-place score of 158 points. Hoffman Estates (170) earned the fifth and final team berth downstate.

Warren had a solid seventh-place showing with 212 points. But the Blue Devils fell just short of reaching the state meet.

Besides Reiser, runner-up Zach Dale (14:38) of Conant and third-place Lake Zurich sophomore Matt Pereira (14:39) also posted blisteringly impressive times in the pressure-packed meet.

The Bears' winning formula to qualify for state once again also featured freshman Patrick Burns in 20th, sophomore Kyle Griffith in 27th, and senior Justin Shim in 43rd.

"I didn't expect it to be that fast and they really picked it up in the last mile," said Pereira, who should be one of the front-runners at the state meet. "I'm hoping to be up with Jesse and Zach again (at state) and see what I can do just like this week."

Lake Zurich coach J.B. Hanson was happy to see his team come through again when the chips were down to continue the streak of early November trips to Peoria.

"Matt looked really good, all three of those top guys were among the top times on this course so he (Pereira) was running with some really good runners today," said Hanson, whose team won conference and regional crowns the previous two weekends. "I think we've got to run our best race (at state) because we haven't run a good team race since the conference meet."

Warren's team might not have advanced to state. But junior standout Dustin Macuiba will be returning to Detweiller for the second straight year as he placed sixth to earn the third of seven at-large individual berths. Warren senior Jakob Martinez (15th) missed the cut-off for an individual berth by only a few places.

"We ran really well, we were in the mix, and this was the best we've run all year probably," said Warren coach Bill Dawson. "He (Macuiba) has been running well all year and up to the conference meet the lowest he finished in an invite was second so he's pretty confident in his ability."

What a great day Saturday turned out to be for Stevenson senior Sam Oh.

After getting tripped and falling in the first 50 meters with a mark on his right shoulder to show for it, Oh got up and started to work his magic through the aggressive pack of runners on a day when he refused to be denied.

And low and behold when the smoke had cleared, here came Oh bolting down the final stretch in ninth place to earn the sixth of seven at-large berths to state.

Stevenson junior Jared Borowsky also had a great race in 14th place, but the "no room for error" rule meant that Borowsky fell just one place short of joining Oh in the legendary meet next Saturday.

"I got out really slow in 50th place, I was way back and the whole way through I was trying to catch up," said Oh, who placed second at regionals. "I saw a couple of runners I knew I had beaten the whole season and I sprinted 200 yards to catch them and I stayed with them."

The true grit that Oh displayed was very impressive as he became the second Stevenson runner to reach state since Kevin Wood was all-state in 2011.

"I think they (Oh and Borowsky) both ran really well and it's too bad (Borowsky) missed state by one spot," said Stevenson coach Scott Sommers. "He (Oh) has to get a lot of rest and just keep doing what he's been doing all season (at state)."

Grant was led by senior Frank Cardy in 35th while senior teammate Jeffrey Brundidge placed 46th.

Class 2A: The Kaneland sectional proved to be a really tough test for Vernon Hills as the Cougars (110 points) took second place to powerhouse squad Yorkville by 43 points.

Vernon Hills was led by sophomore Shane Williamson's third-place clocking of 14:56 with great support from teammates Tyler Smith (10th), and Rob Williams (24th). The Cougars took third in the state last year.

Yorkville's senior duo of Jake and Luke Hoffert went 1-2 in the 3-mile race as Jake posted a winning time of 14:48.

Third-place Grayslake Central (120 points) also earned back-to-back trips downstate behind Jack Aho (fourth), Max Brunk (20th), Jack Battaglia (25th), and John Girmscheid (29th).

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.