Broncos fill gaps nicely
Barrington finished 11th at the Class 3A boys cross country state meet last season but had a few holes to fill.
Especially after the Broncos lost their top two runners, Matt Barns and Dan Quarfoot, to graduation.
Enter senior Jeff Robinson.
Robinson pulled away from Buffalo Grove's Mark Giannis with a half-mile remaining to take first in 17:04.1 and lead Barrington to a 21-36 opening Mid-Suburban League crossover dual meet victory over host BG at Willow Stream Park.
Robinson was the fifth runner for Barrington last year, but the senior had no problem taking over as the top runner under a constant downpour Thursday.
"He made it a personal goal to allow this team to have a front runner," said Barrington coach Ty Gorman, whose team had 5 runners in the top seven. "He realizes to be successful you have to have a front runner."
Robinson battled Giannis and the elements in claiming the victory.
"It was more of a mental stress before the race thinking what it was going to be like," said Robinson of the wet conditions. "But once you got in there and zoned out it wasn't too bad."
The Broncos became stronger with each mile, showing a solid pack with Will Chan (17:42.2) and Scott Kimes (17:42.5) taking third and fourth place, while Mike Koenig (17:52.5) and Kurt Stanke (7:52.8) secured sixth and seventh.B"I thought they moved up strong throughout the race," added Gorman.
Giannis battled Robinson for the first 2 miles before falling off the pace in the final stretch and finishing in 17:13.9.
"I was soaked from the get-go," said Giannis, "but I felt pretty good, sometimes it's fun to run in bad conditions."
Ryan Pater (17:46.5) finished fifth for the Bisons, as Nick Mau (18:06.5), Mitch Kazuk (18:16.9), and Alex Harrison (18:20.1) took eighth, 10th and 11th for BG.
The Bison entered the meet with only two runners with varsity experience but head coach Jamie Klotz is hoping to get stronger as the season progresses.
"We're kind of feeling it out," added Klotz. "But I'm pleased, we're looking at trying to get dangerous as the season goes along."