Naperville North enjoys big day at DVC meet
DuPage Valley Conference cross country fans figured Naperville North would have a good day Friday at soggy DuPage River Park.
The Huskies didn't disappoint, winning both the boys and girls varsity races by strong margins.
"It's fun when we all do well," Huskies boys coach Dave Racey said with a laugh.
Racey had a lot to smile about. The Huskies boys scored 20 points to defeat second-place WW South, which had 60 points, and Glenbard East, which scored 88.
The Naperville North girls scored 29 points to WW South's 65 and third-place Naperville Central's 80.
Senior Kyle Gibson won the DVC title for a second time, finishing in 14:39.7, more than 20 seconds ahead of teammates David McWilliams and Tyler Jerman, who placed second and third in the rain just before the park lightning sensor went off.
"He's at a higher level," Racey said of Gibson. "He's one of the top kids in the state. To run around 14:40 on this really slow course, it looks good for the rest of the season. And the second and third guys had a really good time also."
WW South junior Aaron Peck broke up the Huskies pack with a fourth-place finish, but Bob Guthrie of Naperville North placed fifth.
"We have a really strong team this year. We're really strong one through five," Gibson said.
Sean Bomher led the Wheaton North runners with a sixth-place finish, Steve Loran was seventh for West Aurora and Nate Young placed eighth for Glenbard East.
Perhaps the smallest runner in the girls race broke up the Huskies' party. Freshman Lauren Mordini came out of the woods and quickly broke to the lead, winning in 18:07.8.
"I started picking it up the last mile," Mordini said.
Her coach admits he doesn't know how good Mordini can be.
"I can tell you right now, I won't put anything past her what that kid can do," Tigers coach Rob Harvey said. "She keeps getting better and better and better. She does a great job of listening to all the juniors and seniors on the team. I think she would tell you the upperclassmen have really taken her in and said, follow us in workouts."
Mordini held off the Huskies' Jamie Schertz, by 1.5 seconds, and Joanna Brodnicki, who placed third.
"I felt really good throughout the whole thing so I just picked it up at the end and I tried to beat the first-place girl, but she was kicking it in," Schertz said.
"Jamie in particular ran a really smart race," Huskies coach Dan Iverson said. "She ran very well from behind and almost pulled it out actually."
Naperville Central freshman Amanda Fox placed fourth, followed by Meggie Exner of Wheaton North, then the Huskies' Christina Rei and Michelle Stratton.
"I think we did a real solid job as a team. We ran a good, solid team race throughout," Iverson said. "So I'm very pleased."
Freshman Kelsey Sayner was the top West Chicago finisher, coming in 12th in 18:46.5, and freshman Maggie Angst led the Glenbard East contingent with a 16th-place finish in 18:56.9. Elisha Meyle led the West Aurora girls with a 17th-place finish in 18:59.6.