Warren wins without Green

The road to the state meet began for area boys cross country runners Saturday with Warren headed into the Libertyville Class 3A regional a bit short-handed.

Senior Karsen Green did not run for the Blue Devils in the 3-mile race at Adler Park due to a foot injury, but Warren still had enough depth to win the championship 49-68 over the host Wildcats.

Libertyville was awarded third place over Carmel (68) based on its sixth runner, but Corsairs' senior Cameron Rieger has quietly become one of the top runners in the Lake County area with a winning time of 15:44.08 on the muddy course.

Fourth-place Mundelein (112 points) will join Warren, Libertyville, and Carmel next Saturday at the Schaumburg Class 3A sectional at Busse Woods.

"I wasn't really concerned with my time at all and I just wanted to get out front and get to the finish on my feet," said Rieger, who missed sectionals last year. "I really felt last year I could have gotten to state, but I collapsed from exhaustion (at regionals)."

Even without Green leading its pack Warren was impressive as senior Simon Spencer took second place in 16:02.

The pack running of Danny Kleine (ninth), Mike Ricciotti (10th), Paul Myles (12th), Xavier Suarez (16th), and Kevin Vollrath (18th) helped carry the Blue Devils to the title.

"It was a nice challenge for the rest of the team without Karsen and we've got a nice pack from three to seven or eight," said Warren coach Bill Dawson, who hopes Green returns for sectionals. "They ran better than last week and Spencer did what we asked him to do."

Libertyville was a model of depth and consistency behind Mitch Neubauer (sixth), Tony Filippo (11th), Ryan Burke (14th), Jim Murnik (17th), Steve Hiller (20th), Kevin Heller (23rd), and Will Satchell (24th).

"We've really been packing it up recently and that just tells you everyone is running well and running as a pack," said Libertyville coach Mark Buesing. "Mitch (Neubauer) ran well, and we'll rest our guys for sectionals after running some hard miles this week in practice."

Senior Matt Defiore was Carmel's second runner in seventh followed by freshman K.J. Matuszak in 13th, Karl Horcher in 21st, and Pat Gray in 26th.

"(Rieger) ran his ususal solid race especially under the muddy conditions and he just ran to win," said Carmel coach Jim Halford. "Our No. 2 guy (Defiore) ran really well, and I think Cameron is a top-five guy (at sectionals)."

Mundelein's push for fourth place was led by sophomore Martin Mena in fourth, junior David DuVal in 15th, and freshman Nitesh Kumar in 27th.

"I'm very pleased we got through and our 3-4-5 wound up beating a lot of key people today," said Mundelein coach John Osmanski. "We sent Martin (Mena) out a little bit slower and he worked on passing people throughout the race."

Waukegan beat Grant 137-153 for fifth place, but sophomore Ryan Mamerow advanced to sectionals for the Bulldogs as an at-large runner in third place.

Round Lake sophomore Juan Carrera was the second of five at-large individual qualifiers to reach the sectional meet as Carrera placed fifth for the Panthers.

- John Bumbales

Hoffman Estates regional: It was battle between North Suburban Conference champion Gerardo Perez and Mid-Suburban League champion Pat Lesiewicz in Saturday's Hoffman Estates regional.

Lesiewicz had control of the race for more than 2-miles, but Perez used a strong surge with 1,200 meters remaining to gain control. He then pulled away, securing his title in 15:20.

Chano Bernardo (15:41) and Alec Bollman (15:53) took third and fifth, respectively, to lead Palatine to its eighth regional title with 57 points at a muddy Busse Woods.

Perez shadowed Lesiewicz for the first 2 miles before making a strong move in the downhill back loop. He then used a strong finish to break the tape.

"We went out really hard," said Perez who was wearing a coat of mud. "After 800 meters I kind of eased in and felt more comfortable and I stayed right on him. I made the decision not to wait until the end to make my move and I pushed myself the last mile."

Lesiewicz pushed the pace the opening 2-miles but couldn't match Perez's winning surge.

Lake Zurich (72 points) edged Conant (73) for second. Schaumburg (106) was fourth, and Barrington (122) secured the final team spot, clipping Fremd (124) for fifth place.

Lake Zurich's Andrew Morrison (16:02) and Francisco Soto (16:10) finished eighth and ninth, respectively, to aid Perez.

"We're getting there," Perez said. "We still need our fourth and fifth, but they'll come around."

- Michael Eaken