Barrington takes second at Wheeling Invite
Barrington senior Dan Quarfoot was well aware of the difficult task in front of him.
Faced with temperatures in the low 90s and not a breeze to be found, Quarfoot toed the starting line without his frontrunning partner Matt Barns.
Despite the distractions, Quarfoot (16:20) finished eighth and led the Broncos to a second-place finish at the Wheeling Invitational in Heritage Park.
"As a team we ran really well today," Quarfoot said. "I was really happy with that, knowing that Matt will be back for conference. If he was here today, I really think we could have won the meet today."
With Barns held out after he felt a tweak in his calf, senior Mike Pfeifer and junior Micah Koenig picked up the slack, finishing 11th and 13th.
Junior Jeff Robinson placed 31st and freshman Chris Cogswell was 34th.
"We really want our 3-4-5 guys to catch up and move up to close that gap on Quarfoot and Barns," said Broncos coach Ty Gorman. "Today, Mike Pfeifer and Micah Koenig really stepped up and really closed that gap on Dan."
Barrington's 97 points were 4 behind winner Brother Rice.
Buffalo Grove placed fourth behind a fifth-place performance from Clay Locke (16:14). Sophomores Mark Giannis and Tim Marr both finished in the top 25, but Bison coach Jamie Klotz was disappointed with the results.
"As a team, we came here to do something and we let the adverse conditions of heat affect us and mentally we broke apart," Klotz said before finding a silver lining. "But I suppose it's better to happen now than two weeks from now."
Locke said the weather was a factor but felt the Bison handled the conditions fairly well.
"It's pretty tough. It messes with you a lot," Locke said. "You're running and just baking in the sun. It really affects every aspect of the race and everyone's going through the same thing."
Locke was also involved in a first as Rolling Meadows junior Kevin Clark finally beat the BG senior.
"I came up to him right after the second mile, and with a half mile to go was when I made my move," Clark said after taking fourth. "It was just like a piano off my back getting past him. For three years he's killed me. He's owned me and that was just great to finally get there."
The Mustangs finished 10th behind Clark and sophomore Angelos Karkalis, who placed sixth after using a strong push to pass two runners in the final 50 feet.
"I just felt good at the end," Karkalis said. "I had a little kick at the end and I tried using it to move up."
Wheeling took seventh as junior Eric Rodriguez, and seniors Ken Diedrich and Toni Segura all placed in the top 18, while senior Norbert Gajos missed the race with an injury.
"The top three ran outstanding," said Wildcats coach Tom Polak. "They were aggressive. The kids that ran stepped up incredibly."
Maine West took eighth behind a 20th-place finish from sophomore Martin Chavez. Seniors Brain Katamay and Chris Potempa finished 38th and 39th.
Libertyville finished 11th, and Carmel junior Cameron Reiger placed third as the Corsairs took ninth.
Other meets
A 1-2 finish by Palatine's Mat Smoody (15:24) and Kevin O'Brien (15:31) gave the Pirates the edge they needed to win the St. Charles East Best Invitational with 32 points. Batavia (50) took second and Evanston (63) third in the eight-team meet.
Palatine's Alex Mourousias (16:01) and Paul Kwak (16:05 also had top 10 finishes.
• In the 30-team pack at the Sterling invitational, Conant (108 points) and Schaumburg (124) finished second and third behind dominant Neaqua Valley (39).
Jeff Thode (15:13) led the Cougars in fourth place, while Tyler Fuchs (15:50) came in 16th.
For the Saxons, Nathan Rutz (15:36) and Pat Lesiewicz (15:42) finished ninth and 11th.