Boys cross country: Aho leads Grayslake C. to FVC crown

Jack Aho had only one thing on his mind - to win Saturday's Fox Valley Conference boys cross country championship.

Mission accomplished for the Grayslake Central junior.

Aho cruised to the title with a time of 15:39.9. Prairie Ridge's Filip Pajak was a distant second with a time of 15:59.0.

"My whole strategy in the race was to finish first," said Aho. "Second place wasn't an option. It is an awesome feeling to finish first considering there are so many good runners in the field."

Aho's effort propelled the Rams to the team title with a score of 65. Huntley finished second with a score of 98. Keagan Smith finished fifth for the Red Raiders.

Aho was followed by his brother Matt, who was sixth.

Jacobs, with Kyle Ross finishing 20th, was fourth with a score of 128.

Crystal Lake South, the defending conference champ, placed seventh with a score of 173. Jon Prus was the Gators' top finisher at 11th.

Cary-Grove, with an eighth place effort from Alex Ratkovich, was eighth with a score of 179.

Dundee-Crown placed ninth with a score of 208. Logan Hayes was the Chargers' top finisher at 27th.

Hampshire was 10th with 213 points. Jacob Oury's ninth place finish led the Whip-Purs.