Photis Karkalis of Rolling Meadows finished first with a time of 16:43.8 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Fremd was looking for an identity.
Front-runner will work just fine for the Vikings.
Fremd pushed through a strong boys field to take the team title over heavily favored Belvidere North and Cary-Grove, while Rolling Meadows emerged on the girls side as the champion.
And while neither side had the 1 emergent runner in the top of the individual field, both got solid efforts from all five runners to win.
Aaron Ferst (fifth, 17:18) and Andrew Mack (sixth, 17:20) led the Vikings (73) over both Belvidere North (93) and the Trojans (103), while Woodstock (113) and Dundee-Crown (155) rounded out the top five teams in the 20-team field.
"We're a group who came off of a strong summer," said Fremd coach Mike Bruce. "We're working on our identity as a team, working on the idea of team."
Rolling Meadows also found its team mentality, placing six runners in the top 35 on Saturday. Senior Colleen Moran (18th, 21:38.7) provided a spark for the Mustangs (96) who narrowly beat the host Gators (102). Huntley (118), West Chicago (146) and Dundee-Crown (147) rounded out the top 5 in the 18-team race.
"We can't make state with one front-runner," Mustangs coach Kevin Young said. "We have an outstanding group of juniors."
South's girls finished second behind a fourth-place finish from Marianne Collard (19:50.1). Collard led four Gators runners with top-35 finishes.
"I controlled my start and I felt a lot stronger in the end," Collard said.
Rolling Meadows' Photis Karkalis took the boys individual crown, running a 16:43.8 after finishing last year's race with 17:33. Karkalis credited Belvidere North's Paul Zeman (second, 16:55) for pushing him through the hilly course.
"We were on each other the whole time," Karkalis said. "In a race like this you have to get out to the front early to do anything."
Cary-Grove's Phil Fairleigh was able to place third (17:05), but was more concentrated on his team's third-place finish than his own.
"We keep our top five together for the first mile, then our top four for the second," he said. "We want to get everyone together and get rolling as a team."
Huntley girls were rolling as a team, taking the Nos. 10-12 spots in the race. Haley Loprieno (21:06.4), Sara Scarbro (21:10.9) and Delanie Dineen (21:15.0) all helped the Red Raiders to a third-place finish.
"They just run together," Huntley coach Dana Burner said. "It's the same as last year, this is right where I expected them to be."
Somie Tsogtbaatar of Wheeling finished 66th with a time of 24:50.1 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Diana Cardenas of Streamwood finished 36th with a time of 22:49.2 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Kelsey Sayner of West Chicago finished 9th with a time of 20:59.2 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Aaron Bengtson of Huntley finished 69th with a time of 19:35.5 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Jon Magnant of Dundee-Crown finished 31st with a time of 18:11.8 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
West Chicago's Mike Russo finished 27th with a time of 18:04.2 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
The start of the girls varsity race during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Jon Keable of Dundee-Crown finished 12th with a time of 17:31.4 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Haley Loprieno, of Huntley finished 10th with a time of 21:06.4 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Phillip Cano of Fremd and Andrew Knapik of Dundee-Crown via for position during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
The start of the girls varsity race during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Maggie Moran, of Rolling Meadows, finished 70th with a time of 25:20.7 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Gina Savatski, of Streamwood finished 41st with a time of 22:53.8 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Joel Pinto of Streamwood finished 58th with a time of 19:01.3 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Elgin's Ricardo Mancha, finished 63rd with a time of 19:15.0 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Phillip Fairleigh of Cary-Grove finished 2nd with a time of 17:05.9 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Ryan Mamerow, of Grant finished 14th with a time of 17:36.3 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Aaron Ferst of Fremd finished 5th with a time of 17:18.4 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
The start of the boys varsity race during Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
The start of the girls varsity race during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Ryan Gustafson of Cary-Grove finished 19th with a time of 17:49.3 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Amanda Patterson of Streamwood who finished 19th with a time of 21:40.4 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Christian Gastfield of Rolling Meadows who finished 7th with a time of 20:20.3 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Phillip Fairleigh of Cary-Grove finished 2nd with a time of 17:05.9 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Monique Robinson, finished 26th with a time of 22:19.3 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Maggie Tikka, finished 47th with a time of 23:25.1 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Haley Loprieno, of Huntley finished 10th with a time of 21:06.4 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Marianne Collard, of Crystal Lake South finished 4th with a time of 19:50.1 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
The start of the boys varsity race during Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Alicia Waldschmidt, of West Chicago finished 68th with a time of 25:09.0 during Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Justyna Ksiazek, left, and Jenny Bajorek, both of Cary-Grove finshed 54th and 57th during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Allison Beck of Dundde-Crown finished 38th with a time of 22:51.4 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Photis Karkalis, of Rolling Meadows finished first with a time of 16:43.8 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Andrew Mack of Fremd finished 6th with a time of 17:20.3 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Kayla Beattie, of Woodstock who finished first with a time of 19:03.7 during Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer
Woodstock's Kayla Beattie, finished first with a time of 19:03.7 during the Crystal Lake South cross country invite Saturday: September 5, 2009 at Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake.
Brian Hill | Staff Photographer