Grayslake Central tailors a dominant victory
To say it was a dominant performance by the Grayslake Central boys cross country team would be an understatement.
The Rams placed five runners in the top 11 to capture Grant's 17th annual James "J.T." Taylor Invite in Fox Lake on Saturday morning. Grayslake Central rolled to the championship by a 29-98 margin over runner-up Crystal Lake South in the 19-team field. Carmel Catholic was the next highest finishing area team with a sixth-place total of 176 points. Grayslake North (225), Elk Grove (260) and Round Lake (261) rounded out the top 10.
Standouts Jack Aho of Grayslake Central and Jack Becker of Crystal Lake South missed the meet.
For the second weekend in a row, Grayslake Central junior Matt Aho stepped into the role as No. 1 runner for the Rams. He took second place in 15:50 on the 3-mile Camp Henry Horner course.
Grayslake Central's surge for the title was also bolstered by junior John Girmscheid in fifth, sophomore Eli Minsky in sixth, senior Danny Vincent in ninth and senior Jack Battaglia in 11th.
"The Woodstock guy (first-place finisher Luke Beattie) is really good," Matt Aho said. "It's really exciting for the team. Everybody is working hard. I think we have a chance to do something really special (at state)."
The Rams should be at full strength with Jack Aho expected to return to the lineup for the Antioch invite next weekend. Matt Aho played soccer last fall before switching to cross country this year.
"Matt ran really strong. I'm really happy. It's nice for him to be our No. 1 runner to gain experience," said Grayslake Central coach Jimmy Centella, whose team placed sixth in Class 2A last fall. "Our pack ran really well. They were pretty tight together for most of the race, and that will set us up for success at the end of the year."
Becker, who's Crystal Lake South's top runner, got injured last weekend at the Warren invite. The Gators got a solid team effort, as junior Jon Prus (eighth), sophomore Ryan Foster (20th), senior Doug Cain (23rd) and senior Tommy Melone (25th) led the way.
"Jon should have probably been fourth, but he faded in the middle," said CLS coach Rich Eschman. "(The pack) should have probably been 10 places higher in this meet. But we just didn't have a good day because of all of the training we've been doing."
Carmel's troops were led by Mike Cusack in 29th, Stephen Lacke in 34th, Tino Alivia in 35th and Cameron Dean in 36th.
"Mike had a strong race for him, but we're more of a pack team this year," said Carmel coach Jim Halford. "Our two, three, and four were right together about 10 seconds behind Cusack so that is really good. The boys ran to their potential so that is all I can ask."
Grayslake North junior Liam O'Connell continued to flash his potential, as he paced the Knights with a 14th-place finish. Grayslake North's Cameron Detweiler placed 33rd.
"Liam has been our top finisher nearly all season. He continues to show improvement, and he clearly likes the competition," said Grayslake North coach Brandon Boyd, who did not have No. 2 runner Dylan Ponomar for the meet. "Cam has been a regular with us the last three years. He continues to work hard, and he continues to improve his time and increase his mileage."
Sophomore Cody Zajac led Grant in 12th place, while senior Sean Frintner was Elk Grove's top runner in 22nd. Grayslake Central's Alden Aaberg placed 24th, while senior Carlos Rosas led Round Lake in 27th place. CLS's Alex Foydl placed 30th.
Zajac was one of the Grant's top runners last fall.
"Cody ran well," Grant coach Jeff Durlak said. "(Zajac) ran his best time here by a minute better than he did last week."
Round Lake's young team is still in the learning process. The Panthers had only five runners.
"I thought the pack looked pretty good," said Round Lake coach Kevin Brady. "We're trying to rebuild a little bit, and we're trying to get ready for the end of the season."