Boys cross country: Team title to Hersey; Palatine's Leonard steps up

Palatine's Brian Leonard watched patiently on the side-lines at last year's Mid-Suburban League boys cross country meet.

Leonard had finished eighth in the MSL as a sophomore, but a leg injury interrupted his junior campaign, and he finished 24th in the JV meet for the Pirates last year.

But there was no stopping Leonard's pursuit on a gray and damp Saturday at Busse Woods.

The Pirates senior made a power move early in the second mile and rushed to victory in 14:52.92, becoming the first Palatine runner to win an MSL title since Glen Morris won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004.

"It feels absolutely incredible," said Leonard, who finished with a 13-second cushion in front of Barrington junior Nick Laning (15:05.62) and Hersey senior Jacob Krupa (15:05.69). "I expected a challenge and it was a grind, but I'm very happy."

The Hersey runners are also feeling pretty good. The Huskies attacked the course from the start and finished strong, placing six runners in the top 18 in rolling to their third MSL team title in four years with 50 points.

"Nice little ring to it," said Hersey coach Jay Renaud of the Huskies' recent MSL dominance. "I'm not surprised with how we ran. We wanted to control the race from the get-go … I think we did that."

Prospect gave Hersey a bit of a challenge, finishing in second place with 65 points. Next came Palatine (81 points), Fremd (134), Barrington (135) and Hoffman Estates (137).

Leonard hung back with a pack to start the race, with Hoffman Estates senior Jack Worman setting the early pace in the front pack.

But the Pirates senior saw an opening in the second mile, using a burst to pull away from the chase pack.

"Once he felt it open up, he just poured it on," said Palatine coach Chris Quick of his senior standout.

Laning and Krupa formed the chase pack and battled it out down to wire before the Broncos junior used one final move to narrowly secure second place.

"It was a battle for every inch," said Laning who has made quite a jump after finishing 14th in the MSL last season. "I just put it all out at the end and it definitely gives me a lot of confidence."

Worman (15:12.51), after setting the tone early, hung on in the final stages to edge Hersey freshman Josh Methner (15:12.58) for fourth place.

"Leonard just kind of slowly went past us and put some distance on us," added Worman, who showed no panic after Leonard's key move. "We kind of held, I was confident in my speed and it showed."

Krupa and Methner definitely set the tone for the Huskies' title drive, with their third and fifth place finishes. But with the Huskies missing a few key pieces in sophomore Ryan Buch and junior Ryan Theisen, it was going to take a bit more.

And senior Sam Svienty (15:32.04), junior Jack Fredian (15:33.54), junior Quinn Cunningham (15:40.23) and junior Nate Mayo (15:40.91) delivered by stringing together 12-13-17-18 positions, putting a wedge between Prospect's front and back packs to nail down the victory.

"Definitely a little worried on how we would perform," said Krupa of the Huskies' short-handed reality. "But every runner ran to their full potential … you can't ask anything more."

Methner may have given Hersey a bit more than they expected with his top-five finish, showing no fear in mixing it up in the chase pack.

"I was closer to Krupa than I thought I'd be, I just wanted to keep up the pace," said Methner.

And the Huskies needed every piece in holding off a stiff challenge by MSL East champion Prospect. Senior James Riordan (15:19.95), Jack Terry (15:20.61), and senior Jack O'Donnell (15:21.53) gave the Knights nice lift by placing 6-7-9.

Senior Nick Serio (15:47.85) and sophomore Andrew Reimann (15:49.54) added 21st and 22nd place for the Knights.

"It may have been too good of a start," said Prospect coach Mike Stokes. "We got out a little bit too fast and paid for it later. We ran OK today, and Hersey ran very well today."

"We're obviously disappointed, but Hersey ran really good," said O'Donnell, leading the program to a second straight runner-up finish. "We're proud of how we ran and we will come back stronger."

Palatine, the MSL West champions, also ran well placing five runners in the top 25.

Freshman Richard Jacobo (16th place), senior Ben Kontney (19th place), senior Nate Izewski (20th place) and junior Art Oshinson (25th place) packed it up nicely in helping Palatine to its best MSL finish since 2013.

"Those guys ran great as a unit," said Quick. "Our focus today was on beating Hersey and Prospect, and I think we are set up well for the rest of postseason."

Senior Danny Peterson (15:26.06) ran near the top early before losing connection and finishing in 11th place, pacing Fremd to a fourth-place finish. He was joined by junior Ed Worthem (23rd place) and sophomore Charlie O'Brien (24th place).

"We just need to tighten up our 2-through-5 and get Danny where he needs to be," said Fremd coach Darius Sanchez.

Laning set the tone for Barrington with his second-place finish, with sophomore Greg Van Hollen (28th place) supporting the Broncos' drive to fifth place.

Hoffman Estates' big three didn't disappoint on Saturday. Following Worman's fourth-place effort were senior Alex Makrounis (10th place) and senior Ryan Greenwalt (14th).

Wheeling senior Matt Hoffman (15:21.40) broke through to secure eighth place for the Wildcats, with Buffalo Grove junior Mitchell Guittar (15:35.94) ran to a 15th-place finish for the Bison.