Returning talent makes Lake Zurich a team to watch

The 2008 boys cross country season will definitely pose some major challenges for teams and individuals in the Lake County area.

As usual, losses to graduation will play a big factor in the new look of many teams as Vernon Hills Class 2A state runner-up Moe Bahrini and Grayslake North's Nick Lane (fifth in state) will be very difficult to replace this fall.

After placing second to Lake Forest in the North Suburban Conference last season, Lake Zurich returns to the course with great depth as the Bears have all-conference runners Andrew Morrison, Gerardo Perez, Paul Geimer, and Francisco Soto hoping to make a push for the top of the standings.

Besides Lake Zurich and Lake Forest, there is expected to be a logjam of quality teams near the top of the NSC standings with Stevenson (third), Mundelein (fourth), and Warren (fifth) hoping to maintain or improve their positions from 2007.

"We have six of our top seven runners back and a couple of newcomers who could make some waves," said Lake Zurich coach J.B. Hanson. "I think Lake Forest is bringing a lot of guys back and Stevenson is going to be improved so the conference is certainly going to be more competitive."

The loss of state qualifier Alex Mena and teammate Matt Hoffmeyer to graduation will really hurt Mundelein. The Mustangs have a very promising sophomore in Martin Mena coming back to lead their squad along with junior David Duval.

"We will be a very young team looking to remain competitive in the conference and continue to qualify for the sectional meet," said Mundelein coach John Osmanski. "Lake Forest still looks to be the top team in the conference with Lake Zurich making a push to the top."

With senior Karsen Green leading the way, Warren's veteran team appears to be ready to make a great run this season along with senior teammates Spencer Simon, Mike Ricciotti, John Marlowe, and Chris Sizemore.

Stevenson will counter Warren with standout senior Oliver Rose, sophomore Renat Zalov, senior Tejus Shankur, and senior Tyler Bartlow. Seniors Matt Knutson and Alex Pettis give the Patriots added depth along with junior teammates Adam Pauley and Nathan Kolman.

"We have a young team this year who have put in the work and miles over the summer and they should have the benefits start to pay off," said first-year Stevenson coach Scott Sommers. "We are looking to place in the top three in conference and our core group will be very strong together."

Despite the loss of Bahrani, Vernon Hills does have all-conference senior Max Candocia back to lead its pack with solid support from teammates Nick Garpow and Spencer Alexander.

"We're obviously not going to have Moe (Bahrani) again," said second-year Vernon Hills coach Michael Roberts. "But with the depth we have we expect to do as well this year as we did last."

Lakes all-conference runner Ethan Hahn also graduated, but theEagles are optimistic about their upcoming season despite three of their top seven runners not returning this fall.

Tri-captains Mike Miller, Brian Ziolko, and Joe Doran will give Lakes a solid nucleus to build around with plenty of support expected to come from Kyle White, Blake Franson, and Danny McGrath.

"We aim to win the Prairie Division, place in the top five at conference, and place higher than we did last year at regionals and sectionals," said Lakes coach Andrew Schroeder. "Lake Forest, Stevenson, and Lake Zurich will be the teams to beat with Mundelein in our conference there too."

Coming off a seventh-place finish in the NSC, Libertyville should be much improved this season behind junior Mitch Neubauer as a front-runner. Seniors Shane Michelsen, Jim Murnik, and Eric Ortega should give the Wildcats some good depth to fall back on.

Antioch, Wauconda, Grant, and Round Lake will all be trying to move up from the lower half os the NSC standings from last year in the 13-team conference.

In the Fox Valley Conference race, Grayslake North will try to compensate for the loss of Lane and Nick Novak to graduation by turning to the senior duo of Joe Sheppard and Jimmy Johnson for guidance. Freshman Matt Kendzior could make a huge impact for the Knights in his first varsity season.

"We're hoping to place at least in the top half in conference and I'm hoping we do well enough to get into sectionals," said Grayslake North coach Brandon Boyd. "If we can avoid injury we'll be good and this year everybody seems to be in pretty good health."

Grayslake Central and coach Joel Peebles lost sectional qualifier Jared Zygmunt to graduation, but the Rams do have senior sectional qualifier Kevin Dickson back to help lead their pack.

After placing 18-3 in dual meets last year, Carmel returns to the rugged East Suburban Catholic Conference with some pretty high hopes as the Corsairs head into the new campaign.

Cameron Rieger is one of the top 3,200-meter runners in the state and Carmel coach Jim Halford believes Rieger can realistically finish in the top 20 in the state this fall in Peoria.

Matt Defiore is a solid No. 2-runner for the Corsairs with teammates Karl Horcher, Sam Crowley, and David Bowles expected to round out Carmel's top five runners.

"Our goal is to finish in the top three in the ESCC and qualify for sectionals as a team," said Halford, whose team placed second in the ESCC last year. "Benet will again be favored in the ESCC for both boys and girls."