Boys cross country: Mundelein manages runner-up effort in Wauconda Invite
With rain and some pretty terrible course conditions, getting to the finish line was not going to be easy for boys cross country runners Saturday morning at the Wauconda Invitational.
The 3-mile race at Lakewood Forest Preserve was moved up from the fourth race of the morning to the second race, and it was still a challenge navigating the course.
In the end, it was powerful Wheaton Warrenville South that outdistanced runner-up Mundelein 77-117 to capture first place in the 24-team meet.
Cary-Grove had a strong third-place showing with 153 points followed by Geneva (156 points) in fourth, Wheaton North (182) in fifth and Crystal Lake South (198) in sixth. Crystal Lake South's Jack Becker won the race in 15:29.
Mundelein's consistent effort was led by sophomore Robert St. Clair in 11th, senior Ben Krauss in 16th, sophomore Alan Salgado in 22nd and sophomore Dario Carrillo in 27th.
"We knew Wheaton Warrenville South was a really good team, so this was pretty much where we thought we could finish today," said Mundelein coach Kurt Rutz, whose team also got a 43rd-place finish from freshman Dillon Blake. "In our top five, three are sophomores and one is a freshman. They're inexperienced at this level, but they did so much work this summer that we're ready."
Returning state qualifier Alex Ratkovich (15:33.9) led Cary-Grove, while senior teammate Kyle Adams added a 20th-place run for the Trojans.
"I thought we had a good day," Cary-Grove coach Layne Holter said. "This group has been together now for four years, and the pieces are coming together this year. "I thought Alex had a great race. He's running with a lot of confidence, and he's believing in his training and himself."
Becker is making a believer out of a lot of people. He held off Ratkovich down the stretch.
"The first part of the race, a lot of guys went out really hard, but I didn't want to push it because it wasn't really good conditions," said Becker, who was followed by senior teammate Jon Prus in seventh place. "So far this season I've been feeling good about my races, and I'm looking forward to my season as a whole."
Libertyville's eighth-place finish was led by junior Alex Tam's sixth-place run, while 10th-place Barrington was paced by junior Nicholas Laning in 10th.
Libertyville also got an 18th-place finish from senior Joe Gasick. Senior Liam O'Connell was Grayslake North's top runner in 23rd place.
Besides Becker and Prus, the Gators also got a 39th-place finish from junior Ryan Foster on the soggy running conditions with temperatures in the mid-60s.
"Our top two guys (Becker and Prus) are both hoping to qualify for state and they did fine today," Crystal Lake South coach Rich Eschman said. "We just have to improve on our 4-5 runners. It was really muddy in the woods, but everybody had to run in it."
Geneva's pack featured a 1-2 punch with Tyler Dau in fourth and Josh Rodgers in fifth. Junior Justin Ostrem was Wheaton North's No. 1 runner in 13th place.
Wheaton-Warrenville South also showed a strong duo with Aleksei Sorokin in eighth and Kyle Thompson in ninth. The Tigers' titl-winning effort also included runs by sophomore teammates Sean Maison (15th) and Scott Maison (17th).
Barrington junior Hamzah Firozi added a 30th-place finish for the Broncos. Warren's Julian Ruiz took 32nd. Senior Andrew Miller posted a 35th-place finish for the Blue Devils. Cary-Grove teammates Derek Warren and Jack Adams placed 38th and 40th, respectively.
The final two open races of the day had to be canceled by race officials due to the increasingly dangerous running conditions, which led to some injuries in the underclassmen's races.