Raiders' conference streak ends at six

The Geneva boys cross country team accomplished something they never have done before -- win a conference championship.

The Vikings won their first Western Sun Conference title Saturday at Elburn Woods after placing four runners in the top six and all seven in the top 20.

"We're ecstatic," Geneva coach Bob Thomson said. "Everyone had us picked as the pre-conference favorite. Some of the boys might be disappointed -- they might have thought we'd win by a greater margin -- but if a few of them had a bad day and we still won conference, then that's (OK). One of our goals coming in was to win conference."

Glenbard South won its league title the previous six seasons before the Vikings came in and won it this year by 30 points.

Sycamore was not too far behind the Vikings with a 36 after placing three in the top seven, including the first-place finisher, senior Derek Campbell, who clocked in at 15:45.

DeKalb and Yorkville tied for third with a score of 92. Batavia was next with 105, Glenbard South was sixth with a 205, Rochelle was next at 207 and Kaneland scored a 208.

Glenbard South's Ben Miller led the way with his 33rd-place finish and time of 17:32, followed by Nate Kozurek, Joe Soderberg, Carrick Rice and David Tykvart.

"I was hoping maybe for top four, but we are over-manned, and the guys know that," Glenbard South coach Andy Preuss said. "Winning it six years in a row, it had to end some time … and Sycamore and Geneva, those are outstanding teams."

-- Christine Bolin

West Suburban Gold:ŒBrian Denk and Lee Vlcek finished first and second, respectively, to lead Hinsdale South to the team championship with 26 points. Downers Grove South was second with 37.

Jeff Stapleton placed third in 15:41.71 for Willowbrook, which was fifth.

Addison Trail placed sixth.

East Suburban Catholic Conference:ŒBenet's 31 points earned it the league championship, with Carmel placing second at 82 points.

Robby Olp placed third in 15:28, Alex Krouse was fourth in 15:30, Kevin Cleary was seventh in 15:38, and Tyler Hicks was eighth in 15:47.

Girls cross country

Western Sun Conference:ŒWith the way Geneva has been running all season, it was really no shock to any opposing team the Vikings easily won the Western Sun Conference title.

The Vikings scored a total of 16 points and placed all seven runners in the top eight spots at Elburn Woods.

"They've got a great team," Batavia coach Chad Hillman said on Geneva. "It's a weird thing -- it was us last year. It's not usually as lopsided from one year to the next. It was kind of a neat thing to see other teams get up there and mix it up."

"We knew going in Geneva was going to be … they just have some horses this year that no one else can really touch," added Glenbard South coach Bill Grosser. "It was their meet to lose, and obviously, they didn't do that. They are very talented."

This is the fourth time in five years the Vikings won the conference title. They finished second last year and won it the previous three years.

Batavia, which placed second overall with a score of 71, won the conference title last year.

Sycamore placed third with an 85, followed by DeKalb (109), Kaneland (143), Yorkville (145), Glenbard South (155) and Rochelle (224).

Geneva freshman standout Kelly Whitley coasted through the race and finished first with a time of 18:21.

Sophomore Sarah Kearney led Glenbard South in 27th place with a time of 21:10. The Raiders' next four runners were Inga Vucic (30th), Karen Lipa (31st), Ellen Egerton (33rd) and Kim Gaspar (34th).

"Today we had a 26-second split between our (No. 1-5 runners), which was excellent," Grosser said. "That's the best we've had this year. We had a new No. 1 runner today, Sarah Kearney. It was really nice to see another kid up front for us … we have to take our pack and move it up 30 seconds to a minute. If we do that, I think we are going to be fine."

-- Christine Bolin

West Suburban Gold:ŒCasey Harms and Grace Magliola finished 1-2, respectively, to lead Downers Grove South to the team title with 27 points, easily outdistancing second-place Willowbrook, which had 71.

The Warriors' top finisher was Krystie Eskridge in eighth place.

Mayra Sanchez finished sixth to lead Addison Trail, which placed sixth with 145 points.

West Suburban Silver:ŒHinsdale Central junior Elaine Kuckertz won the individual title in 16:29.4 and the Red Devils claimed the team crown with 37 points.

Senior Rachel Folan was Glenbard West's top finisher, taking 20th in 17:40.4.

East Suburban Catholic Conference:ŒBenet won the team championship with 44 points, topping second-place St. Viator, which had 53.

McKinzie Schulz finished second in 17:53 for the Redwings.