Chargers fare well at Elgin Classic

The Elgin City Classic proved once again to be a great place for area cross country runners to get their feet wet as the 2007 season got under-way Tuesday night at Lords Park.

Of course, battling the elements was a factor but rather than getting feet wet, conditions were dry hot and humid.

However, that did not stop St. Charles East junior Lizzy Hynes from posting a first-place finish with a time of 19:23 over the 3 miles, 22 seconds faster than second place Samantha Salinas of Bartlett (19:45).

"I thought I would be exhausted but I felt pretty good," said Hynes, who recorded a sixth-place finish at last year's state Class AA cross country championships.

Admittedly, she came in a bit concerned knowing a friend broke her ankle at Lords Park during last season's meet. Clearly, she battled through.

"I wanted to hang with the leaders," said Hynes. "When things got a bit slower, I wanted to take the lead and keep it.

"This was a great race to help prepare for our home invite coming up."

Filling five of the top 11 slots, Dundee-Crown got the team victory with 37 points.

Kelsey Sieler led the Chargers with a 20:34 which was good enough for third place, while teammate Morgan Weichman (20:35) followed close behind, one second to be exact, for fourth place. Niki Cosola (21:27), Sam Clark (21:32) and Claira Himmel (21:35) came in 9th through 11th respectively.

With Salinas owning the No. 2 slot, Bartlett finished second as a team with 41 points.

"I felt awesome at the start," said Salinas. "I gave it my all the first mile because I wanted to lead the race early.

"The course was great, but got really difficult by the stream."

Salinas' teammates, Sam Bass and Alyssa Schneider, finished sixth and seventh respectively at 20:51 and 20:54, helping the Hawks take home second-place honors.

"I love these bigger events because they push me to try my hardest," Salinas said. "Our entire team did an amazing job."

St. Charles East was third with 81 points, followed by East Aurora (145), St. Edward (147), Streamwood (151), the Elgin/Larkin coop (153) and South Elgin (181).

Mercedes Mancha led Streamwood, coming in at 20:44 for fifth place.

St. Edward was led by two-time Class A state qualifier Ashley Lucas, who finished 15th overall with a time of 21:56.66. Katie Royer was the lone contender for Elgin Academy, collecting a strong finish for the Hilltoppers.

Cross country

Boys Elgin City Classic: With awards in one hand and a megaphone in the other, Elgin City Classic cross country invite host and Elgin coach John Devine awaited the meet's final tally.

For the second consecutive season, the boys varsity meet concluded in a first-place tie.

This time, it was Dundee-Crown and East Aurora each with 49 points.

With East Aurora's No. 6 runner Igracio Cervantes collecting a 24th place finish with a time of 18:19, the Tomcats edged out Dundee-Crown, whose No. 6 runner, Vincent Caliendo (18:30), finished 25th just 11 seconds behind Cervantes.

It was D-C's Conner Kustief (16:46) and Anthony Manfrin (16:50) who led the Chargers, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

East Aurora's Yonathan Parra led the Tomcats winning the race with a time of 16:08, just 7 seconds ahead of Streamwood's Neal Klein.

"I did OK," said Klein. "I didn't do as well as I had expected.

"The hill and the creek took everything out of me, but I felt really good start to finish."

Still, Klein's finish was enough to lead the Sabres to a fifth-place finish with 127 team points.

"I stayed with the pack, but as the pack fell back, I started to push it." Klein said. "I wanted to be a little faster."

St. Charles East finished third as a team with 52 points led by third-place runner John Deutsch (16:38), and Elgin took fourth place behind team leaders Eric DeNeui (17:25) and Edgar Rodriguez (17:40.84), who finished 11th and 15th respectively.

Bartlett (132) was sixth, followed by Larkin (193), St. Edward (198) and South Elgin (274).

Jim Ziesk (17:44) led the Green Wave filling the No. 16 slot, and the Hawks were led by Joe Zambetti (17:49.56), who finished 19th overall.

-- Jen LaPorte

Heat cancels McHenry County meets: Tuesday's varsity races at the McHenry County cross country meet were cancelled after numerous runners succumbed to the heat during the frosh-soph competitions at Emericson Park in Woodstock.

According to Woodstock High School boys and girls cross country coach Marty Sobczak, six runners were confirmed as being treated at the course by medical personnel.

"There were six young people treated, but I'm not sure if they went to the hospital," said Sobczak. "They had six treated when the race was stooped and a few more apparently after the races were stopped, but I don't have confirmation on that."

Sobczak said he heard that ambulances from such municipalities as Harvard and Huntley were called to the scene. Prairie Ridge girls coach Kelly MacDonald said she heard that a total of six ambulances were dispatched to the park.

The frosh-soph girls race (3 miles) ran to completion, but the boys frosh-soph race was stopped at the 2.5-mile mark. The boys and girls varsity races never got to the starting line after meet officials made the decision to halt the meet.

"It made good medical sense to stop it," said Sobczak. "It was 92 degrees when I drove out to the course. You can't get rid of perspiration off your skin. And when that happens, your core temperature stops to build."

According to the National Weather Service reporting station at the Greater Rockford Airport, the temperature was 91 degrees with a 99-degree heat index at 5 p.m. Tuesday. According to the weather Web site Weather Underground, the temperature in Woodstock was still 80 degrees with a heat index of 83 at 8:40 p.m. Tuesday.

Prairie Ridge's MacDonald lauded meet officials for their decision.

"That's the right call to make," said MacDonald. "It's not worth sacrificing the health of the runners. Woodstock did a good job of calling a coaches meeting and canceling the race and letting us know what was going on."

Sobczak said the county meet will not be made up.

Prairie Ridge sophomore Alex Ovington won the county girls frosh-soph race.

-- Mike Miazga

Girls volleyball

Westminster Christian d. North Shore Country Day: Westminster Christian (1-0) defeated North Shore Country Day 25-6, 25-9. Westminster Christian was led by Abby Stevenson, who had 5 aces and 2 kills. Maureen Tyrrel had 7 aces while Katie Webster that 6. Sarah Rodgers added 4 kills and Sarah Russell contributed to the win with 4 assists.

Burlington Central d. Kaneland: With scores of 25-15 and 25-9, Burlington Central (1-0) opened the 2007 season with this nonconference win over Kaneland. Theresa Krog (6 spike kills, 5 block kills), Molly Turk (20 assists, 2 kills), Rachael Latham (4 kills) and Kim Ingraham (4 spike kills, 4 block kills) led the Rocket attack.

CL South d. Johnsburg: Behind key play from Erin Johnson (6 kills), Alli Meyers (4 aces) and Kate Trazer (5 kills), Crystal Lake South (1-0) picked up this nonconference win over Johnsburg.

The Gators took the match in two games by scores of 25-23, 25-22.

Prairie Ridge d. Lake Zurich: Prairie Ridge (1-0) met up with former conference opponent Lake Zurich walking away with a 25-23, 25-22 nonconference win.

Leading the Wolves attack were Taylor Braunies (26 assists, 4 aces), Sandra Parys (4 aces, 5 kills) and Ashley Doherty (7 kills).

General

"Ches" to speak this morning: The Elgin Golden K Kiwanis will meet at 9 a.m. today at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 357 Division St., Elgin. Bill Chesbrough, former Elgin High School basketball coach, will speak on the topic "Reminiscing -- EHS Teams of the 1960s." Call (847) 741-7176 for more information.