Lake Park runs to title at Fenton

Last year, the goal for the Lake Park boys cross country team was to qualify for the Class 3A state meet.

The Lancers met that goal, finishing 20th at state.

This year, Lake Park returns all seven of its top runners and the goals are a bit higher.

On Saturday at the 39th Fenton Invitational Lake Park was missing senior Steve Krauss, its top runner.

But there was no letdown, as senior Luke Nally (15:49) and senior Ryan Jorgensen (15:50) finished 2-3, leading the Lancers to the title with 40 points in Bensenville.

Senior Martin Grady cruised to the individual title on the 3-mile course with a solid time of 15:18, leading Fenwick to second place with 64 points.

Oak Park-River Forest (75 points) took third, with Hersey (131 points) and Prospect (159 points) taking fourth and fifth place.

Oak Park-River Forest sophomore Peter Hogenson (15:54) took fourth place and Prospect's junior Kellam Strobel (15:56) claimed fifth.

Lake Park placed five runners in the top 14 to take command. Nally and Jorgensen set the pace. Junior William Morrison (16:09), senior Trevor Murphy (16:12), and junior John Oldenburg (16:16) then nailed down the victory by taking 10th, 11th and 14th place.

Sophomore Kevin Jorgensen added 21st place (16:27) for a deep Lancer attack.

"Our goal last year was to get down to state, which we did," said Lake Park coach Lance Murphy of his teams drive. "This year we have a little bit higher expectations."

Nally and Jorgensen met those expectations on Saturday, starting slowly but finishing strong.

"We decided to take the first mile at a slower pace," said Jorgensen, "Then we started to go to work."

"We're really excited for the season," added Nally, "we had a pretty good truck here, now we're excited for things to come."

Junior Ryan O'Donnell took sixth place (15:57) in propelling Hersey to fourth place.

"It was pretty fun,"added O'Donnell who pushed the second mile then finished with a flourish. "It's exactly what I thought it would be. I think our team will be as good as it possibly can."

Junior Steve Tubergen took 20th place (16:25) to aid the Huskies attack, which was missing its top runner Matt Cwiok.

"O'Donnell was just outstanding," said Hersey coach Tim Phillips of his front-runner. "We had a nice pack and I think we'll be a team that improves as the season progresses."

Prospect is also a team with high expectations. Coach Mike Stokes' squad ran without five of its top seven runners, but the Knights showed their depth with a fifth-place finish.

Strobel led the charge by taking fifth individually in 15:56. The junior came into last season with a stress fracture but finished as the Knights' No. 5 runner.

"It's nice to be healthy this season," said Strobel. "We finished fifth at state last year, but we're going to come back even stronger this year."

Senior Vincent Tagare aided Prospect by taking 25th place (16:34) with junior Gregory Netols (16:35) taking 27th place.

"We held out five of the guys today," added Stokes of his team that has high state expectations. "But Strobel and Tagare ran really well. We are just biding our time and getting ready."

Sophomore Jereme Atchison picked up where he left off last season, taking seventh place (15:58) tol Buffalo Grove to 7th place.

"It was a good race," said Atchison who pushed the pace in the second mile. "I wanted to stay up with the top group, I'm definitely feeling more confident this year."

Freshman Ryan Prais finished eighth (16:00), leading Lakes to sixth place, and senior Kyle Gonzales took 16th place (16:17) leading Hoffman Estates to eighth place.

Junior Collin White (16:29) and junior Grant Gibson (16:33) took 23rd and 24th place, leading Glenbard South to ninth place.