Positives for Palatine in victory over Barrington

Palatine's boys cross country team was looking for a bit of momentum, and the Pirates found some it on Thursday.

Host Palatine placed five runners in the top seven in running to a 19-37 Mid-Suburban West victory over Barrington at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve.

Senior Dan Trejo (15:51) and junior Ben Kontney (16:01) went 1-2 in leading a group that rebounded nicely from a 15th-place finish at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational last Saturday.

"We just wanted to be aggressive today," said Palatine coach Chris Quick. "We didn't seem to seize the race in Peoria, but the team's attitude was much better today."

Both Palatine and Barrington find themselves in an unusual position this fall. Usually both teams are gearing up for extended state runs, but this season both are trying to find the right gear without their No. 1 runners.

Palatine junior Brian Leonard is still out with a leg injury, but is hoping to contribute by the end of the season, while Barrington senior Alex Maher is also hoping to return from an injury.

Trejo picked up the slack for the Pirates on Thursday with a quick opening mile.

"I'm just grinding it out every day," said Trejo who has been a key to an improving Pirates attack. "We're getting better every day; we're hitting our workouts. Now we just need to carry it over to the meets."

Senior Koby Theobold (16:17) and senior Zach Michael (16:18) paired up in going 4-5 for the Pirates, and junior Nate Izewski (16:28) completed the scoring by finishing seventh.

"We just have to keep getting better," said Quick. "We're looking at getting some momentum going into the last half of the season."

With Maher out for Barrington, the Broncos have relied on the running of sophomore Nick Laning.

Laning (16:07) came up big for the Broncos on Thursday in third place. Next for the Broncos was senior Scott Williams (16:21) in sixth.

"He made huge strides during the track season," said Barrington coach Tom Root of Laning, "and that has carried through cross country season."

Junior Robert Tilly (16:32) and senior Ryan Ziolkowski (16:35) went 8-9 to aid the Broncos' effort.

"They are definitely improving as the season progresses," said Root. "We're trying to learn from the smaller battles and just keep building."