Warren wins division crown at Niles West
There was not a lot of extra running room for area boys cross country runners Saturday morning as they set out for the 37th Annual Patrick Savage Invitational.
With a total of 38 teams running in one of the largest meets in the United States, Warren rose to the top of the White Division standings in the 3-mile race at Niles West High School.
The Blue Devils took home the championship with 107 points as junior Karsen Green led Warren with a first-place time of 15:20.
Lake Park was a dominant force in the Red Division standings as the Lancers captured that title by a 21-68 margin over runner-up Leyden.
Grayslake Central (105 points) had a solid fourth-place showing in the Red Division while Prospect (117 points) used a substitute lineup to place second in the White Division.
Green had to battle down to the wire on the flat course Saturday, but he was able to hold off Willowbrook's Jeff Stapleton by five seconds for the individual crown.
"I wasn't as nervous as I usually am because I've been doing pretty well and with 800 meters left I just went and I didn't look back," said Green, who is aiming for the state meet this fall. "This whole week we've been focusing on running as a pack and our pack was running 5:20 at the mile mark."
Green had plenty of support on this sunny day as teammates Spenser Simon (15th), Steve Walz (23rd), and Danny Kleine (27th) helped carry the Blue Devils to the title.
"We're kind of surprised, and after the race finished we thought we would be in the top five, but I had no idea we would finish this high," said Warren coach Bill Dawson. "Karsen did what he's been doing all year and I think everybody is starting to close the gap on him a little bit."
Behind the duo of Alex Rummelhart and Luke Nally placing 1-2 in the Red Division, Lake Park was very impressive Saturday along with Steve Krauss in fifth, Casey Fergus in sixth, and Ryan Jorgensen in seventh.
"(Rummelhart and Nally) have both been kind of pushing each other all year long and today was one of the more successful runs we've had as a team," said Lake Park coach Kevin Johnson. "Our 3-4-5-6 was a good pack and we had three sophomores in our top five today."
Youth was served well for Prospect as well as the Knights showed a lot of depth behind Tommy Lawler (13th), Hammad Zulgadar (16th), and Brian Armgardt (19th).
"The guys packed it up really well," said Prospect assistant coach Pete Wintermute. "It was kind of nice to have a lot of seniors here and put in a good performance on their homecoming weekend."
The consistent trio of Jared Zygmunt (eighth), Mark Giertych (18th), and Kevin Dixon (21st) led Grayslake Central's surge in the Red Division while senior Dan Kozicki (21st) was St. Viator's top runner in the White Division.
"I think the boys ran extremely well today and they improved about 45 seconds from last year at this meet," said Grayslake Central coach Joel Peebles. "Zygmunt ran his best time of the year and Giertych ran a good time for him."
Leyden's pack running was very impressive behind Mizael Carrera (13th), Fernando Ramirez (14th), Herald Alvarez (15th), Rafael Crisosto (16th), and Ray Rivera (22nd).
"It was their best performance of the year and I couldn't be happier because they all ran p.r.'s," said Leyden coach Brad Henning. "We packed them together and the key today was our top four guys all hitting their goal times. Our 5-6-7 ran awesome."