Elgin's Mancha 17th at UEC
Not having won a meet since the season opener, Neuqua Valley senior Danny Pawola couldn't have picked a better time to rise to the occasion as he pulled away from the pack early to conclude the Upstate Eight Conference cross country meet 21 seconds ahead of anybody at 15:04 for the conference title. Hosted by Bartlett, the meet was held at Sunrise Park (3.0 miles) which features ponds, parks, hills and valleys, none of which could slow Pawola down.
The victory helped Neuqua Valley to its fifth Upstate Eight Conference title, third consecutive. With 29 points, the Wildcats were several steps ahead of the pack despite running without their regular No. 2 guy in Aaron Beattie.
St. Charles North finished second with 45 points followed by Lake Park (78 points) and Waubonsie Valley (89).
Elgin's Ricardo Mancha (17th) crossed the finish line at 16:04 to pace the Maroons (194 points), who finished seventh as a team.
"I didn't feel my best with hip and quad problems, but I'm happy with where I finished," said Mancha. "I took off hard in the first mile and was cruising in the third, but I was struggling.
Bartlett finished sixth with 171 points behind Alex Infusino (16:33), Thomas Niewiara (16:36) and Josafat Gonzalez (16:43).
"Today was a step forward," said Bartlett coach Jeff Bral. "Neuqua Valley is a defending state championship team. They are among the nation's best.
Streamwood (225 points), South Elgin (312) and Larkin (360) brought up the back end. With a 16:52, Roger Klein led the Sabres, while Kevin Gianaris (18:13) paced South Elgin. Larkin's leader was Cameron Dowell (19:26).
FVC Meet: Phillip Fairleigh wasn't even sure he was going to be able to compete this season. Battling Asthma, Fairleigh missed the first 5 weeks of the season before returning.
His ailment cured, Fairleigh was in top form Saturday. The Cary-Grove junior cruised to the Fox Valley Conference championship with a 3-mile clocking of 15:42. He easily outdistanced Dundee-Crown sophomore standout Anthony Manfrin, who was 28 seconds behind with a time of 16:10.
"I was having trouble breathing and knew I had asthma and had to take care of it," said Farleigh. "I feel great now. I didn't want to overanalyze the race. I just wanted to go out and run. I was sick last year and didn't run well. I wanted to redeem myself."
Cary-Grove coach Layne Holter was pleased with Fairleigh's effort.
"Phillip has bounced back well from his Asthma," said Holter. "He really ran well today and was totally focused."
Led by Fairleigh's individual title, the Trojans ran to a third straight FVC title with a score of 33 points. Dundee-Crown placed second with a score of 55 points.
D-C placed 22 points behind Cary-Grove. Paul Smith placed sixth, followed by Nathan Prom (9th).
Crystal Lake South's seventh-place finish with a score of 154 points was led by Josh Uvodich with a 16th place finish
Jacobs was eighth with a score of 216. Kyle Kopinsky paced the Golden Eagles with a 33rd place finish.
Huntley was 11th with a score of 272. The Red Raiders' top runner was Alex Beruscha with an 18th place finish.
Big Northern Meet: Burlington Central's Clint Kleim finished ninth in 16:19.5 in the BNC meet at Hampshire. BC was fifth as a team with 130 points. Hampshire was sixth with 159 and the Whip-Purs' top runner was Tanner Holman in 14th place. Richmond-Burton won the meet with 39 points and Winnebago's Sean Smith was the individual champion.