Lane, Knights run to crown
Grayslake North senior Nick Lane was on a mission Saturday morning at the ninth annual J.T. Taylor boys cross country invitational hosted by Grant.
After coming up a little short to finish first the past two weekends in invitationals, Lane rolled to the individual title on the 3-mile Camp Henry Horner course with a winning time of 15:40.
That performance by Lane, along with a great team effort helped carry the Knights to the championship of the 13-team meet. Grayslake North edged North Suburban Conference counterpart Lakes 70-76 for the crown on a warm day for running.
Grayslake Central had a solid performance to place third with 96 points, while Richmond-Burton (112), and Johnsburg (124) rounded out the top five. Wauconda (175) placed seventh to edge the host Bulldogs (185).
"I was pretty happy with my time and I tried to keep all of my miles consistent," said Lane, who led the whole way. "We have a really awesome team right now. We're all really connected, and we're showing it on the course."
Senior Jared Zygmunt of Grayslake Central was the next highest individual finisher in fourth place, while senior Ethan Hahn of Lakes held off Wauconda's Marc Anders for fifth place.
Grayslake North's drive to the championship was supported by Nicholas Nowak in 14th, Brendan Cerk in 16th, Jimmy Johnson in 18th and Scott Moller in 21st.
"That group of boys that came in as a pack did absolutely fantastic and it paid off to run together like that," said Grayslake North coach Brandon Boyd. "Nick (Lane) was back on his game today, and if he keeps this up, he'll be in a good position to go downstate again."
After Hahn, Lakes had a strong finish as well behind B.J. Fuller in ninth, and freshman Blake Franson in 11th.
"We had certain goals, and our No. 3 runner (Fuller) really stepped up for a freshman," said Lakes coach Andrew Schroeder. "A lot of them had their PRs today, and I was pleased overall with how we ran here."
Grayslake Central's surge was led by Zygmunt, Mark Giertych (12th) and Kevin Dixon (15th).
"We have been trying to improve by 20 to 30 seconds a week, and we definitely did that today so I'm happy," said Grayslake Central coach Joel Peebles. "Jared qualified for state in the half-mile and he's continued to improve. Those three boys (Zygmunt, Giertych, and Dixon) are leading the way."
Senior Ben Weideman led Johnsburg in 13th place while freshman teammate Nick Krebs had an impressive 17th-place finish. Wauconda's Mike Anselmo placed 19th followed by Johnsburg freshman Jake Szramek in 23rd and Lakes sophomore Joe Doran in 24th.
Ryan Seiffert placed 26th for Grayslake Central to outdistance Lakes' Billy McGrath (27th), Johnsburg's Bennett Bergquist (28th) and Grant's Derek Hall (30th).
"The guys had a tough field today," Grant coach Jeff Durlak said. "Lakes is really good, and Grayslake Central ran really well. Our guys are still working hard. They're still improving, week to week. We have to keep getting better and we'll see what happens."