Aubert's sophomore debut a smashing success

Being early in the season, Kristina Aubert is still trying to gain endurance and get in shape.

It is amazing how good Aubert should be when she is clicking on all cylinders.

The Crystal Lake South sophomore's effort was good to enough to win her second consecutive Crystal Lake South Invitational Saturday at Veterans Acres.

Aubert's 3 mile time was 19:49.7. Woodstock freshman Kayla Beattie placed second in a clocking of 20:08.4.

It was Aubert's first race of the season as Tuesday's McHenry County meet was cancelled because of the extreme heat.

"I was really ready to go and disappointed we didn't run Tuesday," said Aubert. "

"I was really excited and a little nervous today. Going under 20 minutes for a first race is a positive. I have some soreness and need to put some more miles in. Practicing at Veterans Acres really helps and is an advantage. It is a tough course to run on. I was happy with my performance."

Woodstock ran away with the team title with a score of 59 points. Dundee-Crown was a distant second with a score of 123.

Freshman Claira Himmel was the top Charger performer with an 11th place finish. Kelsey Sieler finished 12th followed by Nichole Kasala (29th), Samantha Clark (31st) and Morgan Wiechmann (40th).

"We have a new look this season with a lot of newcomers," said Dundee-Crown coach Tom Smith. "We lost a lot of quality kids so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by how they ran. They did a great job. Our top six runners are interchangeable. Any of them could finish one through six."

South placed seventh as a team with a score of 148. Next in line for the Gators after Aubert was Stephanie Belokon in 23rd. Colleen Sullivan placed 37th, followed by Lexi Stevenson (42nd) and Chelsey Tyllia (45th).

Grant placed ninth with a score of 233. Alexis Capps led the Bulldogs with a 13th place finish. Kendra Kennedy placed 24th, Heather Ruetsche finished 39th, Paige Jacobs placed 77th and Kat Tzoumis was 89th.

Huntley placed 13th with a score of 329.

Haley Loprieno led the Red Raiders with a 15th place finish. Shannon Butler was 65th, followed by Mercedez Kennedy (78th), Tori Beaty (80th) and Denita Brown (109th).

Cary-Grove, which didn't run its varsity squad, was 14th with a score of 369.

The Trojans were led by Andi Garcia with a 54th place finish. Andie Ozarowski placed 66th, Rachel Nenni was 83th, Jenna Miner finished 86th and Alexa Engels was 97th.

Streamwood placed 15th with a score of 374. Mercedes Mancha was the top Sabre performer with a 22nd place finish. The second Streamwood runner was Jessica Prinner, who was 85th. Kendra Whipple placed 88th with Shea Kaelin 104th and Puja Patel 107th.

Wauconda, which was 17th with a score of 453, had a 61st place finish from Samantha Michelau. Courtney Kimes finished 79th, Samantha Shumate placed 103rd and Sarah Bedell was 141st.

Boys race: You didn't need to convince Huntley senior runner Todd Farbiak how tough the Veterans Acres course is.

"This is by far the toughest course we will run on," said Farbiak. "You can't simulate this in practice. Not running Tuesday, this was a tough first race of the season."

Farbiak overcame the toughness of the course and placed sixth with a 3-mile time of 17:33.2.

"I was 10th with about 100 yards to go and passed four guys," said Farbiak. "I am pleased with my finish. I know I have to keep improving as the season goes on."

McHenry, led by individual champion Curtis Weisenberger, won the team title with a score of 75. Weisenberger won the race with a 3-mile time of 17:14.6.

Dundee-Crown finished a solid second with a score of 92. The Chargers were led by senior Connor Kustief, who is a 4-year varsity performer. Kustief placed fourth and was followed in the Top 10 by Anthony Manfrin, who finished ninth. Paul Smith was 22nd with Mike Wiechmann 25th and Tyler Neumann 32nd.

"Connor is our leader and after that we weren't sure what we were going to get," said Smith. "We weren't sure how we stacked up. We have a lot of flexibility with our lineup. We don't have any standouts. We just have a good pack. For a first meet, we ran very well."

Cary-Grove, led by a fifth place finish from sophomore Phillip Fairleigh, was third with a score of 111. The next finisher for the Trojans was Donald Lang who was 13th. Jeff Boivin placed 29th, Adam Ressegie finished 30th and Kai Rikardsen was 34th.

Crystal Lake South, with a second place finish by Josh Uvodich, placed seventh with a score of 164. Phillip Hernandez finished just out of the Top 10, finishing 11th, followed by Joe Bruzzini who was 27th. Wade Kilian placed 49th and Jake O' Hara was 86th.

Farbiak's sixth place finish propelled Huntley to a eighth place finish with a score of 190 points. Alex Beruscha finished 24 with Matt Soling 26th, Tyler Leibnitz was 44th and Andrew Hafner 104th for the Red Raiders.

Streamwood finished 11th with a score of 329. Neal Klein finished third with a time of 17:18.6. The next Sabre was Jeremy Park who was 75th. Neal Shaw placed 89th with Roger Klein 96th and Paul McGlone was 115th.

Elgin, which was 15th with a score of 408, was led by Eric Deneui in 37th followed by Edgar Rodriguez who was 73rd. Daniel Schmerber was 87th while Freddie Guerrero was 127th and Jesse Segura 183rd for the Maroons.

Wauconda placed 17th with a score of 425. The top runner was Marc Anders with a 48th place finish. Mike Anselmo was 67th followed by Tim Kimes (108th), Dan Raupp (124th) and Brian Lindberg (167th).

In the 20-team field, Grant was 19th with a score of 464.

Lance Littleton led Grant with a 94th place finish. Jose Flores was 98th, Brad Williams finished 105th, Derek Hall 117th and Kameron Wehde 135th.