Boys cross country: Satisfying finish for Lake Zurich

PEORIA - Lake Zurich seniors have had high expectations all year, and on a sunny and warm November afternoon, they met them.

Senior Brian Griffith (14:14) and senior Matt Pereira (14:24) went 5-6 in powering Lake Zurich to a third-place team trophy with 186 points at the Class 3A boys cross country state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

Neuqua Valley rolled to the Class 3A title with 83 points, followed by Downers Grove North (116 points). LZ held off Lyons Township (228 points) for third, with Whitney Young (248 points) taking fifth.

Minooka senior Soren Knudsen ran to the Class 3A individual title crossing the line in 14:02. He was followed by Lyons junior Danny Kilrea (14:08) and Sandburg junior Dylan Jacobs (14:10). York junior Charlie Kern (14:12) took fourth place.

"They have been good all year," said Lake Zurich coach JB Hansen of his senior-dominated team. "I have seen the work that they have put in and what they do everyday to get to this point - they embraced it."

Lake Zurich finished in the top five for fourth time in six years.

Griffith hung close to the lead for first 2 miles, but had no answer when Knudsen made his race-deciding move with 1 mile remaining.

"I tried to hang on as long as possible," said Griffith, "He (Knudsen) made hard move at the 2-mile and I had hard time covering it. I tried to hang on from that point on."

Junior Patrick Burns (15:03) took 51st, followed by senior Kyle Griffith (58th, 15:07) and junior Patrick Bieniek (121st, 15:36).

"We were hoping for a win, but we ran our hearts out today," added Brian Griffith, who earned his second consecutive state medal. "At the end of the day third place was best we could do, we're happy with that."

After a slow start to the season, Pereira really turned it on in the postseason by finishing with his third consecutive top-10 finish.

"First race of the season that I felt strong all the way through," said Pereira, who was returing from an injury to start the season. "I saw the split at the mile and I knew it was going to be good. We didn't have our best run as a team today, but it was a huge relief knowing we got a trophy."

Libertyville junior Alex Tam (14:58) finished 40th for the Wildcats.