Invitational setting suits surging Hawks
MSL dual meets. Who needs them?
Apparently not Hoffman Estates. The Hawks shook off their second straight duel loss to capture first place in the Libertyville Bill Dortch Invitational at Adler Park.
"The last couple duel meets, we kind of lost momentum," said Hoffman Estates senior Emilio Saraga (seventh, 15:46). "But we're really focused on the bigger meets. We wanted to come in here and show everyone that we're not what we'd been doing at the duel meets."
It was the second invitational win of the season for the Hawks, who had junior Matt Perez (15:38), senior Ross Goers (15:41) and Saraga finishing consecutively, and senior Chris Sutphen (15:59) placing 10th.
But perhaps most important were the fifth and sixth runners, Chris Hoffman (16:38) and Dan Hernandez (16:40).
"With our (Schaumburg) sectional being as tough as it is, we need that fifth man to produce a good race on that day," Hawks coach Matt Dowd said. "We're lucky that we have two guys there that have a lot of experience and have a history of getting better as the season progresses. … But we need to narrow that gap between the four and the five. If we do that, then we're going to go places."
Although perennial champ Prospect lost to Hoffman Estates by a 55-75 margin, Knights coach Mike Stokes wasn't discouraged.
"This is like a coming out weekend," he said. "This is where we're starting. So I'm real pleased with where we are at the start."
Junior Chris Hayek (15:36) represented Prospect with a third-place finish, and sophomore Chris Spudic (16:01), freshman Kellan Strobel (16:08) and Michael Styzek (16:20) all finished in the top 16.
"Hoffman has a great pack this year. They're looking great," Hayek said. "We're working into this year. We're getting there but we still have some work to do."
Buffalo Grove finished fifth behind a gritty ninth-place effort by sophomore Tim Marr (15:59). Marr experienced some pain in his lower back and was almost taken out mid-race by coach Jamie Klotz.
"It hurt the last 2 miles," Marr said. "As a runner you get used to taking pain."
Saturday was the first varsity invite for Marr and fellow sophomores Mike Galla (17th) and Mark Giannis (25th).
"Some things went pretty well," Klotz said. "Our guys didn't quite run to their potential, so we need to still work on some things. But overall, it was a good first jump in a tough race situation."
Fremd senior Nick Hurley had been sick all week and woke up Saturday feeling terrible. But with his team missing four other runners, Hurley willed himself to a 13th-place finish.
"It's been a rough week," he said, "but I just fought through it as much as possible."
Vikings coach Mike Bruce was excited about the 20th-place performance of junior Austin Bruns (16:26).
"That's a big personal best for him," Bruce said.
"He's had a really great year. He's going to be a difference maker for us as the season goes on."
Rolling Meadows struggled at the varsity level but sophomores Angelos Karkalis (first, 16:10), Mike Bobowski (third, 16:14) and Photis Karkalis (sixth, 16:38) made coach Jim Voyles proud during the underclass race.
St. Viator was led by senior Dan Kozicki (46th) and freshman Nick Fiore (49th).
The top competitor for seventh-place Libertyville was senior John Cavicchia in 22nd place (16:30). Max Candochia paced Vernon Hills by finishing 13th in 16:09.
Peoria ND Invite: After finishing ahead of 56 schools and only 4 points out of first place Saturday, Palatine knows one thing.
"We're way better than last year," Pirates coach Chris Quick said. "I don't think there's any doubt about that. We would have liked to win but our guys ran great."
In a race that saw 398 kids cross the finish line, senior Mat Smoody finished fifth in a sizzling 14:37.
Senior Kevin O'Brien (15:02), sophomore Chano Bernando (15:04), senior Eddie Lopez (15:15), and sophomore Alec Bollman (15:25) rounded out the scoring.
Hersey took third, led by a third-place performance from senior Kevin Havel (14:27). Senior Billy Wisser (14:39) placed eighth while junior Erik Stanton, senior Mike Tisza and sophomore Matt Cwiok all broke 16 minutes. Cwiok was appearing in his first varsity invitational.
Schaumburg placed fifth behind sub-15:00 performances from senior Nathan Rutz and sophomore Pat Lesiweicz.
"I thought we ran very well. Our times were excellent," Saxons coach Jim Macnider said. "It's good for them to get used to running in crowds and moving up. That's why we go down there."