Cross country: Downers Grove North, Barrington take Leavey titles
Any runner hoping to find out where they stack up for the upcoming cross country season found out quickly Saturday morning at St. Charles East's annual Jeff Leavey Invitational at Leroy Oakes.
With Downers Grove North, ranked first in Illinois and among the top five teams nationally, in the boys field, it forced every other runner to step up their race or risk being left behind.
The Trojans dominated as expected, scoring 27 points to win the team title going away over Huntley (87), St. Charles East (92), Batavia (110) and Marmion (137).
But for runners like Geneva's Josh Rodgers and Marmion's Michael Ronzone, both ran with the Trojans' best and held their own.
Rodgers finished second in 15:18.7, barely behind only Downers North's Jacob Ridderhoff in 15:18.1.
"Going up against the No. 1 team in the state, honestly, it's really cool," Rodgers said. "It's exciting. Especially when our box is right next to them and I'm like, 'Wow, this is the best team in Illinois right next to us.'
"They are great pushers out there. You can choose which one to stay with. If you can't stick with him (Ridderhoff), there's always someone around you. That's how I run best when I have guys around me. It worked out well."
Rodgers said one of his biggest takeaways from his first race was the need to get out faster. He'll get his next chance next weekend at Wauconda before the Vikings head to Peoria in two weeks.
"Maybe I would start a little earlier next time because I didn't get my leg speed going," Rodgers said. "I didn't feel my legs were moving as fast as they should be. We're doing long speed workouts now and toward the end of the season the shorter ones come in and that's when speed kicks in.
"Overall with the race I was happy. First race of the season, I didn't expect a great time. I am happy with my time. The team ran wonderfully. You couldn't ask for more."
Ronzone, a Batavia resident and senior at Marmion, finished third in 15:20.3.
"I didn't feel amazing in the race but it's definitely fun to get back out and compete a little bit," Ronzone said. "When we get to race DGN, that's always a nice thing. It was a good race."
Ronzone made his move in the middle mile, going from 10th place to third.
He tried to push in the stretch but Rodgers held him off. Ronzone finished two seconds ahead of fourth-place finisher Zack Albrecht of Jacobs.
"I wasn't happy with my last half mile," Ronzone said. "I wold have liked to have finished better.
"I wanted to stay relaxed first mile. My race plan was to move up. With 300 to go, entering the downhill, I pushed, but the kid in front (Rodgers) responded. I tried to hang with him but I didn't have the legs today."
After Ridderhoff, the Trojans placed the fifth through eighth runners: Matthew Moravec, Ryan Birkmeier, Nicholas Chudzik and Jack Roberts, respectively.
Jadon Conroy led a strong early pack for Huntley in ninth, Ian Geisler was 10th and Jeremy Roe 11th.
For the host Saints, Cole Adesso ran a 15:55 for 12th, Rohan Patel was 15th and Aidan King 16th.
Sophomores Adam Kennedy and Damian Rodriguez paced Batavia in 13th and 14th.
Girls race: Barrington senior Jocelyn Long completed a Leavey three-peat.
Long, who finished seventh in the Class 3A state meet last year and fifth as a sophomore, easily won her third straight title Saturday morning at St. Charles East's Jeff Leavey Invitational.
"I was trying to push myself as much as I could go," Long said. "I just want to get better each race. I think there's a lot of room for improvement which I'm excited about. My goal is to get faster each race."
Long, who finished ninth in this race as a freshman, took the lead early and ran away from the field with a time of 17:50.
"It's hard to hit your best time when there's no one else with you," Long said. "It was fun. What I really like about this meet is the energy."
As soon as Long finished the race, she went through the chute and got a cup of water and slice of watermelon, then turned around and saw her teammate.
Barington freshman Molly Fitzpatrick finished second in 18:20.
"I'm so proud of all of them," Long said. "Molly, I'm really proud of her. It's nice having her being pretty fast and being able to hep her out. I'm so happy for her and all of them. Amazing race today."
Long and Fitzgerald's 1-2 finish keyed Barrington's team title with 48 points. Sophomore Alyssa Norris took ninth.
Batavia (78) was second followed by Benet (82), York (91) and St. Charles North (145).
York junior Sarah May learned a lesson after placing fourth in this race last year.
"I looked at the map and it said 'reality check' and I kind of laughed," May said of the nickname given to the toughest part of the Leroy Oakes course. "I thought that's funny. But the hill was kind of a big deal.
"This year I learned that and focused on that part. Going into the race I went in just focusing on that one point."
It worked for May, who moved up from fourth last year to take third in 18:39.
Other top 10 runners included St. Charles North's Natalie Galvan in fourth, Benet's Kelly Andrews in fifth and Ashley Heidenrich from Waubonsie Valley sixth. Batavia had two, Marygrace Golden in seventh and Alexa Andrews 10th, while Elisabeth Camic from Benet was eighth.