Strong start for several runners
After experiencing some minor setbacks early in her final cross country season, St. Charles East senior Lizzy Hynes was looking to get her confidence back for the final three weeks leading up to the state meet.
Hynes left little doubt she has her confidence back and is ready to put an exclamation point on her final running season after winning the St. Charles North regional title by 13 seconds over her nearest rival Saturday.
"I kind of got off to a rough start this season and lost my first race," Hynes said. "I've been in a slump since the end of track season, so I really just wanted to come out here today and release all of my inhibitions and run hard and not be afraid to take control."
Hynes sloshed through the muddy course at Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve in a time of 18:06, taking command of the race early on and increasing her lead incrementally throughout the race.
"I think I've lacked some confidence in the past few races, so today it was important for me to not hold anything back," Hynes said. "Today I just wanted to come out and see how big of a victory I could get."
Saints freshman Mallory Abel finished third in a time of 18:58, despite feeling a bit under the weather.
"I've been sick all week so I was a little nervous, but I think I did OK," Abel said. "It was fun. We're hoping to make it down to state, so I'm really excited."
The efforts of Hynes and Abel helped the Saints win the regional title with 25 points to advance onto the St. Charles East sectional next weekend.
Saints coach Denise Hefferin said each race is just a step toward the final plan.
"I've been telling the girls all season that nothing proves that there's a plan in place like watching it come together," Hefferin said. "The last few weeks it's been starting to come together and the next few weeks it's going to continue coming together."
Dayna White (sixth, 19:18), Holly Robertson (seventh, 19:23), Grace Gordon (eighth, 19:28), Arielle Parker (11th, 20:00) and Megan Piemonte (12th, 20:03) rounded out the Saints' top seven.
Bartlett, St. Charles North, Streamwood and Glenbard North also advanced to the St. Charles East sectional next week at LeRoy Oakes.
Boys race: Many sports teams enjoy home field advantages, but perhaps no other cross country team embraces their home course than St. Charles North and St. Charles East.
The North Stars and Saints will get a chance to run on their home course again next weekend after finishing first and second respectively in the St. Charles North regional.
The North Stars finished with 23 points and placed all seven runners in the top nine. St. Charles East, Elgin, Bartlett and Glenbard North all advanced to the sectional as teams.
North Star senior Max Clink finished second in a time of 16:25.
"We're really trying to fine tune for the sectional next week and focus on our pack today," Clink said. "We really tried to take it hard for the first two miles today and it worked out really well for us."
The North Stars have been one of the area's top cross country programs over the last four years and Clink said not being a part of their success last year has motivated him to get back to the state meet this year.
"My freshman year we were third in the state, and then my sophomore year we were second in the state," Clink said. "I sat out injured my junior year, so my main motivation in getting back there (to the state meet) after sitting out last year."
Junior Kyle Zankowski finished third for the North Stars only a second behind Clink, and the North Stars seventh runner (Peter Johnson) was just over 30 seconds behind Zankowski for a solid pack, which the junior said will be important to maintain next weekend.
"With sectionals coming up next week, we ran a little faster this week to simulate the sectional," Zankowski said. "We pushed in hard for two miles and ran together in a pack the rest of the way, which will be important for us to do next week as well." North Stars coach Steve Imig said running in the mud and the rain on their home course might actually be an advantage.
"It was a great run by the collective team and we accomplished our goal of moving on," Imig said. "We feel like we want to run well on our home course. It was pure cross country today with the hills and the mud, and we feel like that aids us when that's the case."
Imig said building on the tradition of North Star cross country is an important part of the team's success, but he also focuses on the individual talent of each new runner.
"I think it's a combination of both (traditional and new runners)," Imig said. "I think you always want to build upon tradition and to realize the people who have gone before you and what they've done and what accomplishments the program has achieved. But at the same time, we have to realize that's the past and we can use what previous teams have used and apply that to our team, but we can't rest on our laurels and be content with what happened. These guys have realized that and are hungry to leave their own mark on the program."
Brad Wheeler (fifth, 16:35), Steven Miller (sixth, 16:41), Will Novorlsky (seventh, 16:41), Kyle Kuczynski (eighth, 16:45) and Johnson (ninth, 17:00) led the North Stars.
Elgin junior Ricardo Mancha won the race in a time of 16:12 to lead the Maroons to a third place finish with 91 points.
West Aurora regional
Defending state champion Geneva placed six runners in the top 10 as they breezed to the West Aurora girls Class 3A regional title Saturday at Waubonsee Community College.
The Vikings' 22 points beat out Batavia's 73 and West Aurora's 87. Kelly Whitley finished first overall at 17:40.7. Fellow Viking Sara Heuer took second at 17:41.9 and Liza Tauscher placed fourth. Megan Brady, Kelly Shogren, and Kat Yelle finished seventh through ninth.
"They ran well today," Geneva coach Bob Thomson said. "The course was muddy and sloppy, they said in 4-5 different places. I'm glad I didn't have to run through it. They did an excellent job."
Whitley has placed first in 5 of 6 meets this year. This is the first time she was crowned regional champion. This was also Heuer's finest showing of the season.
"It was a nice win for Kelly (Whitley)," Thomson said. "Sara Heuer also had the best day of anyone on varsity. She is getting stronger and stronger."
Batavia was led by Alexis Sampson, whose time of 18:47 placed her sixth. The Bulldogs had four additional runners make the top 20, including Sydney Spain and Dana Landem.
The Blackhawks received strong performances from Elisia Meyle (10th) and Brittany Loza (11th) as well as Greta Meyle.
DeKalb and Waubonsie Valley also qualified as teams. Angel Farrell led Waubonsie with a fifth-place finish.
For advancing individuals, Oswego East qualified four runners for next week's sectional and was led by freshman Ariel Michalek, who came in third at 18:11. East Aurora added one qualifier. This regional has winners going to the St. Charles East sectional next Saturday.
Boys race: It was the battle of Andrews for first place, but Marmion's Andrew Larsen finished first over Geneva's Andrew Nelson.
Although Larsen proved to be the fastest runner by over 20 seconds at 14:39, Geneva's depth propelled them to the West Aurora Class 3A regional title.
Nelson, along with Chris Higgins, and Kevin McDowell finished two through five for the Vikings, whose 21 points beat out Marmion's 58 and Waubonsie Valley's 92.
"Larsen took the race to task from the get-go where our Andrew was more with the team," Geneva coach Bob Thomson said. "But Nelson had a good day as well."
After Larsen, T.J. Heffernan finished 10th for the Cadets. They placed four additional runners in the top 20, including Oscar Aguinaga. Emmet Lorenz paced the Warriors with an eighth-place finish.
Batavia qualified for sectionals, as Al Lowe placed sixth and Drew Schmitt 12th.
West Aurora claimed the last sectional spot with Stephen Loran and Philip Lindgren both making the top 15.
Although the team did not qualify, DeKalb's Nick Schrader (9th overall) and Jon Mascote advanced as did Andy Parra and Anthony Kunkel from East Aurora and Reinhardt Van Wyk of Oswego East. This regional has all winners going to St. Charles East's sectional next Saturday.
Aurora Central regional
Boys race: Kaneland boys cross country coach Chad Clarey hopes his Knights are saving their best race for later in the season. But for Saturday, he easily accepted a solid showing at the Class 2A Aurora Central Catholic regional at Oakhurst Forest Preserve.
Although his Knights placed second with a 57 next to Sycamore's 40, Clarey and Kaneland accomplished exactly what it set out to do on the 3-mile course - advance to the Belvidere sectional next week.
"We made it into next week, and that was the most important thing," Clarey said. "We raced pretty good today, but I think we can do better. That's pretty exciting to say if our pack split was what I think it was today."
Crystal Lake Central came in third with a 60, followed by Wheaton Academy's 91 and ACC's 151. The top 5 teams advanced to the sectional.
The following individuals will be competing without their teams next week - Tanner Holman (15th place) and Justin Bieber (23rd) from Hampshire, Burlington Central's Clint Kleim (21st) and Joe Giamberdino (24th) and Matt Denny (27th) from St. Francis.
St. Francis just missed out on qualifying as a team with their sixth-place finish of 155 points. Hampshire scored a 188 in front of Burlington Central (210) and IMSA (217).
Kaneland's top runners began with Matt Reusche's seventh-place finish along with Paul Davis (11th), Dominic Furco (12th), Trevor Holm (13th) and Edgar Valle (14th).
"We have our thoughts and hopes set on doing the same type of thing next week, which is a close, tight-knit group," Clarey said. "This was easily the hardest regional in the state of Illinois."
Wheaton Academy was led by Mark Phillips' second-place showing with a time of 15:02. He was head-to-head with Sycamore's Tyson Kinsley until the very end, when Kinsley edged him out for first place by just one second. Mike DeRenzo was sixth, Kent Smith 10th, Shai Weinstein 31st and Jeremy Mitchell 42nd.
"Three in the top 10 is great for what we came to do today," Wheaton Academy coach Chris Felinski said. "Our goal today was to get out. It pretty much went how I expected it to go. We are very consistent with our times."
Max Gilbert (25th), James Spencer (26th), Dan Kottkamp (29th), John Cisneros (35th) and Manuel Sauceda (36th) were ACC's leaders.
"We knew coming in this was going to be a battle," ACC coach Troy Kerber said. "This certainly is not your average regional, but I was really proud of the way the boys ran. It was a total team effort."
- Christine Bolin
Girls race: With 5 of Crystal Lake Central girls placing in the top 8, it was clear even before the race was over the Tigers won the Class 2A Aurora Central regional at Oakhurst Forest Preserve in Aurora Saturday with a total of 30 points.
The Tigers may have placed fourth through eighth on the 3-mile course, but Burlington Central's Maggie Gannon won her first big meet of the season, clocking in at 17:54.
Gannon's time helped the Rockets place second overall with a 73, followed by Wheaton Academy (89), Sycamore (107) and Kaneland (112). The top 5 teams advanced to the Belvidere sectional next Saturday.
"(Gannon has) been up in the mix in a lot of races, but she's never won a race this whole year," Burlington Central coach Vince Neil said, noting she has won a few weekday meets. "I guess now is the time for her to start turning it on."
Although their teams did not advance, the following individuals did - Hampshire's Holly Plichta (second place, 17:57), Courtney Trunk (ninth) and Alyssa Robinson (23rd) from St. Francis, Kelly Kieffer (19th) from Rosary and IMSA's Melissa O'Brien (22nd).
St. Francis finished sixth with a 134 in front of ACC (193), Rosary 215), IMSA (236) and Hampshire (247).
"The girls gave it everything they had," ACC coach Troy Kerber said. "That's a good young girls team who got experience today."
In addition to Gannon, Burlington Central was led by Markelle Turk (12th), Katie Puccio (14th), Meghan Thommes (21st) and Lili Castillo (25th).
"The girls ran really well," Neil said. "Each week, they get better and better. With the way their training is, physically, they are there, mentally, they are on the right track. Everything is going our way right now. They are impressing everyone."
Wheaton Academy's top girls were Sarah Daly (third place, 18:00), Hannah Huff (15th), Alli Witt (16th), Becca Long (18th) and Kristen Wittmuss (37th).
"Our girls have been working hard all season long, so I feel this is a showing of what they've been doing all season long," Wheaton Academy coach Martha Van Zee said. "I'm super proud of them. They are doing great. We aren't surprised we did well. The girls came in focused."
Jennifer Howland (10th, 18:45), Andie Strang (17th), Kelly Evers (20th), Lisa Roberson (24th) and Shelby Koester (41st) led Kaneland.
"That was the goal," Kaneland coach Doug Ecker said of advancing. "I'm happy with it. I think they ran pretty well, pretty strong."
- Christine Bolin