Boys cross country: CL South's Becker, Lakes lead the way in Taylor test
With race-time temperatures that approached 80 degrees with 90-percent humidity, it was a good thing for boys cross country runners that the 19th annual James "J.T." Taylor Invite was moved up to 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
But those tough running conditions didn't bother Crystal Lake South senior Jack Becker, as he remained undefeated on the season by posting a time of 15:16.43 on the new 3-mile course at the Bulldog Athletic Complex hosted by Grant in Ingleside.
Becker beat runner-up Collin Luell of Zion-Benton by over 20 seconds. Upstart Lakes toppled Crystal Lake South 114-145 for the championship of the 19-team meet.
Despite a rare 154-154 tie in points, Wisconsin's Wilmot Union took third place over Lake Forest based on its fifth runner. Woodstock (159 points) was close behind in fifth, and Vernon Hills (165) was sixth.
The host Bulldogs placed seventh with 194 points, while Grayslake North outdistanced Wauconda 219-238 for ninth place.
Lakes had only five of its seven runners finish the race. The Eagles were led by junior Ethan Schommer in 15th, junior Owen Wenberg in 19th and sophomore R.J. Migas in 21st.
"We're working our No. 1 runner (Kael Moran) back in from a tendinitis injury, and our No. 2 (Talon Knauf) had a calf cramp today so he was smart and stopped at the 2-mile mark," Lakes coach Travis Shepherd said. "We moved up 30-40 places collectively throughout the race, and we ran a very tight pack."
It was the second straight weekend that Becker endured brutal running conditions, as he rolled to first place in the heat last weekend at Warren.
"I was happy coming out here in the heat, and after last week I've been preparing for another hot meet," said Becker, who placed 20th in Class 3A as a junior. "I've just been trying to run smart, and when the second mile rolls around I'm really hitting the peak of my race."
Senior Ryan Foster was the Gators' second runner in 26th place, followed by freshman teammate Matt Brown in 33rd.
"(Becker) is just racing smart," Crystal Lake South coach Rich Eschman said. "He saw Collin (Luell) last week and Jack was able to pull away after 2 miles. "The rest of our pack ran better than last week. We just want to get better and better."
In only his first season of high school cross country, Vernon Hills junior Jimmy McDonald was placed third in 15:45.
"We had a hard workout a couple of days ago, but everybody ran hard on our team," McDonald said. "Our coach (Mark Whitney) is amazing. He works harder than all of us, and we have made a lot of improvement from last year."
The Cougars miss four-time state qualifier Shane Williamson in their lineup, but they got a 13th from Evan Webber and an 18th from Teddy Chen.
"(McDonald) has been running really well," Whitney said. "He's been our No. 1 runner all year, and this is his first full season of cross country since middle school. Evan and Teddy are both seniors, and they've both been running well together. We're hoping to get our fourth and fifth runners close to them."
Grant was led by sophomore Justin Splitt in eighth, senior Nathan Ehrenhofer in 10th and freshman Colton Romig in 23rd.
"Justin and Nathan ran well, and Justin came back nicely from Peoria last week," Grant coach Jeff Durlak said. "We were missing one of our top five today, and Colton is getting better every time out."
Grayslake North was paced by junior Connor Riss in sixth and sophomore Brandt Batteau in 14th. Wauconda was led by Adam Fox in 11th and Nick Brunn in 38th.
"It's (Riss') first season of doing cross country. He had a great track season, and it has rolled into this season," first-year Grayslake North coach Anthony DeStephano said. "Brandt didn't have a great start, but he moved up the whole race, and he had a great final 50-meter kick."
Lakes' pack was rounded out by Charlie Halberg in 27th and Jack Erwin in 32nd. Round Lake was led by Marco Hernandez (30th) and Alex Urbina (36th), while Carmel Catholic was led by Alex Slack in 37th.