Scouting DuPage County boys cross country
Top area teams: Neuqua Valley, Naperville North, York, Lake Park, Glenbard South (2A), Wheaton Warrenville South, Wheaton North, Glenbard East, Lake Park, Hinsdale South.
Top athletes: Benet: Jerry Olp, sr., Paul Clifford, sr., Marlon Torres, jr., Nick Lehn, jr., Matt Rurka, soph.; Downers Grove North: Ben Silver, jr.; Glenbard East: Nate Young, sr., Nathan Peterson, jr., Brad Magnetta, sr., Jim Peters, sr.; Glenbard South: Grant Gibson, jr., Kyle Berenschot, jr.; Hinsdale Central: Billy Fayette, jr., Arash Darbanbi, sr.; Hinsdale South: Donald DeSalvo, jr., Matthew DeSalvo, jr., Andrew Lonergan, sr.; Lake Park: Luke Nally, sr., Ryan Jorgensen, sr., Steve Krauss, sr., John Oldenberg, jr., Trevor Murphy, sr.; Naperville Central: Mitch Gilbert, sr., Kyle Burkwald, sr.; Naperville North: Tyler Jermann, sr., Bob Guthrie, sr., Chris Woodward, sr., Ben Becker, sr., Charlie McKeown, jr.; Neuqua Valley: Aaron Beattie, sr., Luke Verbus, sr., Carlton Folster, sr., Jordan Lagomarcino, sr., David Wing, sr.; Waubonsie Valley: David Groeber, jr., Shenil Dodhia, sr.; Wheaton Academy: Kent Smith, sr., Mike DeRenzo, sr.; Wheaton North: Logan Blair, sr., Tom Jaderholm, sr., James Waterman, sr., Jake Waterman, sr.; Wheaton Warrenville South: Aaron Peck, sr., Nick Casa, sr., Keenan Havey, jr., Ryan Frederickson, sr., Quinn Farley, soph.; York: Jack Driggs, jr., Andrew Smith, sr., Adam Cecil, sr., Matt Schacht, sr., Kush Sangha, sr.
Scouting report: With 50 years coaching experience and an amazing 26 state titles, York coach Joe Newton is pretty good at evaluating talent. So when he thought last year's Dukes could win it all again and they came up short, he was a tad surprised. But Naperville North needed to put together a great race to knock off the Dukes last year and that's exactly what the Huskies did.
With the since departed Kyle Gibson (fourth in 3A) and David McWiliams (eighth overall) leading the way, coach Dave Racey guided Naperville North to its first boys cross country championship. But it didn't come easy. When Naperville North's Mike Hebert came across 31st overall - 25th in the team totals - he did so by edging York's No. 4 finisher, Andrew Smith, by two seconds and one position in the team totals.
"It was a great team," Racey said of the squad that held off York 84-85. "It's obviously my goal and the team's goal to win state, so it was special to accomplish that last year."
The Huskies will miss three graduated stars from the championship squad, but Tyler Jermann returns to lead another deep, talented group of runners. Jermann ran a 14:49 at Peoria to place 16th overall in 3A. Fellow seniors Bob Guthrie, Chris Woodward and Ben Becker will anchor a team that also includes junior Charlie McKeown and sophomores Karsten Jukiewicz and Eric Spieglan.
But while Racey expects to put another strong pack out this fall, he knows the state contenders are numerous in 2009 and that surviving just the DuPage Valley Conference will be no small task.
"The DVC is going to be very competitive," he said. "Glenbard East has their entire team back, Wheaton North will be great with the (Waterman) twins joining their team, and Wheaton Warrenville South has a great deal of talent."
Racey is hopeful a massive, hard-working group of runners will allow the Huskies to make some more noise at state this season. "We've got huge numbers; last year we had 90 and this year 115," he said. "All the runners seem more dedicated than ever this summer. Hopefully that will show well for us."
Newton, who's been at York 53 years, begins his 49th season as head coach at the school. Along the way he's won 26 state titles in cross country and another one in track. "When you're doing something you love, why stop?" he asks.
The Dukes will be picked by most to win title No. 27 later this year in Peoria, but Newton knows you can't take anything for granted because there are so many strong cross country programs, even in the West Suburban Conference itself. "There's a lot of great young coaches around," he said. "In our league alone you've got York, Oak Park and Lyons, three teams that are really strong this year - mong the best in the state - all in one conference. Everyone's always trying to beat York so we have to keep working hard."
Jack Driggs, 40th in the state with a time of 15:13 as a sophomore, is York's top guy, with senior Andrew Smith (32nd at state) right on his tail. Seniors Adam Cecil, Matt Schacht and Kush Sangha will round out the Dukes' top five, with junior twin brothers Ron and Tom Hedman and junior Nick Gornick rounding out the top eight spots. "This is going to be a typical, old-time York team," said Newton, who has 190 runners in the program this year. "There are no stars, but we should have five guys running right together and coming in the chute close to one another."
So is he planning to bring home the top spot again?
"I'm making no predictions. I thought we'd win last year and we lost by a point. I'm gonna keep my mouth shut. You've got to be careful. There are a lot of good teams out there," Newton said. "Last year was a heartbreaker. It came down to one spot, and if you switch them we win. But Naperville North deserved it. They ran real well."
Newton expects Neuqua Valley, Naperville North and Palatine to be their usual strong selves, but adds that Loyola - paced by all-stater Nico Composto - will also contend for a trophy this year.
Speaking of Neuqua, fourth in the state a year ago, seniors Aaron Beattie and Luke Verbus return for coach Paul Vandersteen's team. Beattie was 30th in 3A a year ago, and many of his teammates who did crack the top seven at some point last year are anxious to contribute even more in 2009.
"Because we had such a deep team we have a lot of guys who did run in the top seven at some point last year," Vandersteen said. "I've got 11 or 12 back from last year."
Seniors Jordan Lagormarcino, Carlton Foster and David Wing will compete for top spots for Neuqua, but Vandersteen also boasts plenty of talented underclassmen, including sophomore Mark Derrick, the younger brother of former state champion Chris Derrick, who's starring at Stanford.
The Wildcats lost a couple runners to Waubonsie Valley and former Vandersteen assistant Chris Rohde is coaching at newly opened Metea Valley High School, but opponents won't feel sorry for Neuqua, which has close to 140 runners out this fall.
The Upstate Eight Conference also features a Lake Park squad that took 20th in the state and returns its full lineup, a St. Charles North program that was eighth in 3A a year ago and some strong runners at Waubonsie Valley.
"Last year our goal was to qualify but realistically we should have taken better than 20th," Lake Park coach Lance Murphy said. "But we had a great track season and we've got some momentum going. But it's crazy. Our conference is crazy (good) and this area is crazy."
Seniors Luke Nally (52nd) and Ryan Jorgensen (71st) return after pacing the Lancers last fall. Steve Krauss, John Oldenberg, Trevor Murphy, Abraham Pedraza and Tim Layer also return, while Murphy welcomes newcomer William Morrison, a former soccer player.
Waubonsie coach Kevin Rafferty will rely heavily on David Groeber and Shenil Dodhia, but also is expects big efforts out of Joe Brant, Bornell Nicholson and Josh Roberts.
Hinsdale South returns five of its top seven led by Donald DeSalvo and Matthew DeSalvo, who went 2-3 as the Hornets won the West Suburban Gold meet. Hinsdale Central, meanwhile, snapped a state-berth drought when the Red Devils returned to Peoria and placed 25th. Back to lead another charge downstate are junior Billy Fayette and senior Arash Darbanbi.
Wheaton Warrenville South, Wheaton North and Glenbard East all should contend in the DVC and make a run at a state berth. The Tigers' have senior Aaron Peck (41st at state) back along with a deep group that includes Nick Casa, Keenan Havey, Ryan Frederickson, Matt Mazzoni, Matt McAndrews and Colin Zimmermann. Nate Young, 20th with a time of 14:57, leads a Rams team that also features Nathan Peterson, Bill Booth, Brad Magnetta, Jim Peters and Jason Sippel.
Wheaton North, sixth at the Niles West sectional a year ago, returns seniors Logan Blair, Tom Jaderholm, Ryan Gorup, Nick Willems, Kevin Bohmer and Daniel Woldesellasie, and also welcomes brothers James Waterman and Jake Waterman, who are coming off solid track campaigns. St. Francis expects good things from Sean Montague, Joe Giamberdino, Andrew Nelson, Ben Graunke, Matt Denny and Joe Germanos.