Cross country: Jacobs boys, Batavia girls take Flyin' Hawk titles
There's something about the Sunrise Park course at Bartlett's annual Flyin' Hawk invite that brings out the best in Jacobs junior Zach Albrecht.
As a freshman, Albrecht won the frosh-soph race. Last year Albrecht moved up to varsity and also won that race.
Albrecht kept his streak going in record heat Saturday, taking the title with a time of 15 minutes, 52 seconds.
The time wasn't as important to Albrecht as the finish.
"That was his goal to come here and win," Jacobs coach Kevin Christian said. "He didn't go out crazy the first half and just made sure he had enough for the second half to pull out a win. Ran a conservative race in the heat. If it was nice weather we would have had him go out and pound it for time."
Albrecht stayed in front most of the race and created distance between himself and Lincoln-Way Central's Jared Kreis halfway through. Albrecht won by 11 seconds.
Jacobs races at Peoria next week, and Christian said it will be another key test for Albrecht.
"When it comes to some championship style races against the studs, that's where he struggles so far is mentally running with those guys," Christian said. "When he realizes he can run with them, he's going to have a terrific finish to the season. He's going to be up there, top 20 in state."
It also was a good day for the entire Jacobs squad, who won the team championship with 72 points ahead of runner-up DeKalb at 102. Lincoln-Way Central was third in the 15-team field, South Elgin fourth and Conant fifth.
Jacobs junior Mark Lemke was eighth, senior Jacob Melgosa 11th and junior Brett Bognar 20th. The Golden Eagles received a big lift from freshman Kyle Horn in 32nd for their fifth score.
"Our 2-3 ran great, and our fourth guy finally had the race we were looking for from him," Christian said. "And we had a new fifth guy. That's going to be the difference in our season. We have been waiting for our fifth to step up."
Conant's Chris Floyd finished third in 16:05, which was his best finish of the season besting his eighth last week at Minooka.
It wasn't Floyd's best time - that came at Fenton with a 15:45 - but given the conditions that was understandable.
"I think the overall intensity just went down a little," Floyd said. "I wasn't trying to lead the race or anything. I was just focusing on competing and not actual time.
"This is the hottest day I've ever raced, probably the hottest day I've ever run in general."
Other top area finishers included South Elgin's Jace Warrick in fourth, Bartlett's Angelo Peters in seventh, Glenbard North's Marat Schatz ninth and East Aurora's Jesus Nava 10th.
Girls race: Batavia didn't run four of its top seven, yet the Bulldogs showed their depth Saturday by still winning Bartlett's Flyin' Hawk invite.
Batavia scored 66 points, 19 ahead of Glenbard East.
Crystal Lake South, New Trier and Schaumburg rounded out the top five of the 18-team field.
The one-two punch of sophomore Mia Gianfrancesco and Marygrace Golden led the way for Batavia in third and fourth, respectively. Schaumburg senior Maddie Marasco won in 17:54, DeKalb's Katherine Olsen was second in 18:12, Gianfrancesco ran an 18:31 and Golden 18:59.
"That's about what we thought," Batavia coach Chad Hillman said. "We wanted to see how close we could be to them (Marasco and Olsen)."
Jenna Schifferer impressed Hillman by moving up from about 35th in the first half mile to finish eighth.
"She came from way back and ran it smart," Hillman said. "She did a great job."
Anissa Garcia was 18th for Batavia and fifth runner Sarah Hager 33rd. The Bulldogs didn't run Audrey Pellico, Erin O'Brien, Alexa Andrews and Erika Mansfield.
Hillman expects to have his full group back next week at St. Charles North. Batavia took third last week at Minooka behind only Yorkville at Belvidere North.
"They are doing very well," Hillman said. "They are working really hard. They have a great look to them. They are doing a great job of making no excuses even on a day like this. They take care of themselves and are getting the job done every week.
"It's great group to coach. The seniors have been leading very well in all aspects. It's a fun year."
Marasco won her first race this fall, breaking free from Olsen at about a mile and a half.
"I knew she was right there so I had to pick it up," Marasco said. "It was great to run with her, she's an amazing runner.
"I tried to go out a little faster and have a little in reserve. I think I might need to go out a little slower but it's OK to try new things. It's tough to run in the heat but all the girls were facing it."
Natalie Galvan took fifth in 19:22 for St. Charles North.
"She did well," North Stars coach Shari Hayes said. "It's hot. The girls that were in front of her are going to be there at the end of the year too. She's going to have to learn to compete with them."
Teammate Ally Suyak was seventh, but some of the other North Stars were off their normal pace.
"It's homecoming, it's just not a good combination for the day," Hayes said. "Today would not be a good example (of how we've been running). We've been doing really well. Training right, doing everything we are supposed to do. We just haven't put it all together yet."
South Elgin's Hannah Anderson (sixth, 19:33), Wheaton Academy's Julia Robleski (ninth, 19:50) and Schaumburg's Rachael Vaccaro (10th, 19:53) also finished in the top 10.