Conant cross country place top four in Mid-Suburban meet

Conant's stockpile of top boys cross country runners was on full display Thursday as the Cougars placed the top four finishers in a 19-36 Mid-Suburban League dual meet win at Prospect.

Led by junior Jeff Thode (15:46), Conant surged as a team late in the race to take control.

"We did well as a pack," Thode said. "We really started to separate at the 2½-mile mark."

Junior Andrew Mueller (15:53), senior Tyler Hinckley (15:54) and junior Tyler Fuchs (15:57) followed Thode across the finish line.

Juniors Ben Anderson (16:38) and David Trinco (16:55) finished ninth and 10th respectively.

Conant (1-0) coach John Powers was very pleased with the strong team effort but wasn't getting carried away.

"(There is) a lot of racing to go, a lot of season to go," he said. "It's not where you start, it's where you finish. But it's a good start."

Prospect sophomore Chris Spudic (16:20) came in fifth, followed in succession by junior Chris Hayek (16:21), sophomore Albert Ciolek (16:37) and senior Nick Troutman (16:38).

Knights (0-1) coach Mike Stokes was pleasantly surprised by Troutman's eighth-place finish but said the rest of his young team needs more work to improve its pack.

"Conant came here with a purpose," Stokes said. "Hats off to them, they looked magnificent one through four."

• Nathan Rutz (16:31) helped pace Schaumburg to a 19-43 MSL crossover win over Buffalo Grove at Hoover School. The Bison were led by Tim Marr (16:39).

• Mat Smoody led Palatine's top-four finish in a 16-45 MSL crossover win over Wheeling.

• Only two seconds separated Hoffman Estates' top three finishers in its 17-40 MSL crossover win over Rolling Meadows. Matt Perez paced the Hawks with a 16:27.