Loyola runs to victory at Palatine; Pirates place third

Loyola's history in boys cross country pales in contrast to perennial state contender York - after all, the Dukes and their long green line have won 26 state titles and were the early favorites to win again this season.

But Loyola derailed York on an overcast Saturday in winning the Palatine Invitational 47-56 at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve.

The Invite offered an early test with a field that included three of the top five teams in the Illinois Cross Country Coaches Poll, and it didn't disappoint.

No. 3 Loyola and top-ranked York were followed by No. 5 Palatine (85 points), No. 11 Lyons (179 points), and No. 14 Maine South (222 points) in the 29-team field.

Loyola senior Nico Composto took the lead for good with 200 meters remaining to secure the individual title in 14:12.

Composto trailed York's Andrew Smith (14:13) and Jack Driggs (14:16) with 400 meters remaining, and the Ramblers senior caught the Duke pair with 350 meters remaining before surging to the victory.

Composto finished second last week to Schaumburg's Pat Lesiewicz at the Peoria Notre Dame Invite, but the senior refused to settle for second best on Saturday.

"I thought, 'What the heck, I lost last week, let's see what we can do,' " said Composto of his winning surge. "We've been waiting for this all season. Obviously this isn't the final goal, but we were really looking forward to this."

Composto had help as senior Jack Seeberg (14:21) and senior Mark Donohue (14:32) taking fourth and fifth place for the Ramblers. Senior Patrick Smith (14:45) and junior Mac Ford (14:59) completed the scoring, securing 14th and 23rd place.

"We are excited about beating York, but we're going to keep working," said Seeberg, whose team was coming off an impressive victory at the Peoria Notre Invite last weekend, which has put the Ramblers in the conversation for the state title. "That's our goal but we still have a lot of work to do."

Smith and Driggs led the York crew, and the Dukes also received help from junior Ron Hedman (14:41) who took seventh.

Khushpal Sangha (14:47) finished 16th and Matt Schacht (15:04) added 28th place for the Dukes.

"We were fighting for it the whole time," said Smith, who along with Driggs pressured Composto the whole race. "We know what we have to do, we just have to go out and do it."

Palatine also looked very impressive placing five runners in the top 29 in a solid third-place finish.

"Obviously you don't want to take third, but if we run our best you have to be happy with that," added Palatine coach Chris Quick of his team's performance. "Loyola and York are obviously very good, but we're a good team as well.

"There is a lot of the season left we hope to keep working and doing better."

Senior Alec Bollman (14:42) and senior Chano Bernardo (14:42) paced Palatine by taking eighth and ninth.

"Our plan this year is for me and Chano to hook up and whoever is feeling better to go out and take it," said Bollman of the Pirates' 1-2 punch.

Junior A.J. Laskowske (14:45) stepped up big with a 13th-place finish, with senior Jeff Larson (15:01) and sophomore Anthony Gregorio (15:05) took 26th and 29th place for the Pirates.

"If we can pull the gaps closer we'll fine," added Laskowske of the Pirates' pack. "We had a good race, but we can do better."

Junior Sam Telfer (14:38) took sixth place with senior Robbie Kucera (14:57) taking 22nd place in leading Lyons to fourth place.

Alek Stojanovic (14:53) and Mike Moore (15:00) went 19th and 25th in helping Maine South secure fifth place.

Senior Kyle Zankowski (14:43) used a strong first mile in securing 10th place finish easing St. Charles North to sixth place with 230 points.

"I just wanted to stick with the lead pack," said Zankowski of the fast start. "It was a hard race but I just have to stay confident."

Senior Spiros Angelakos (15:05) took 30th place, pacing Fremd to seventh. Aaron Ferst (15:09) and Andrew Mack (15:16) added 37th and 41st place for the Vikings.

"Reality hit today, and now we know what to do," said Angelakos of the brutal field. "We just need to do a better job of keeping our pack together."

Senior Francisco Soto (14:44) and senior Paul Geimer (15:02) finished 12th and 27th in leading Lake Zurich to ninth place.

The Bears' Andrew Morrison (15:15), battling a sinus infection, settled for 40th place.

"We went out fast with the pace we wanted to today," said Geimer. "Soto ran a great second mile hopefully I can stay with him in future race. We're still a confident team."

Junior Kyle Dockery (15:06) and senior Chris Cogswell (15:07) finished 32nd and 34th leading Barrington to 10th place.

Phillip Fairlegh (14:49) paced Cary-Grove by finishing in 17th place.

Dundee-Crown's Anthony Manfrin has battling right calf injury this season. The Charger junior was sitting second after 2 miles, but after experiencing a sharp pain he started hobbling the final mile before pulling out with 400 meters left.

Last year Manfrin finished third at Palatine and was the top returning runner.

"It was the first time I felt that pain in awhile," said Manfrin who missed two weeks of training earlier this season. "It's frustrating when it happened. I'll get an MRI on Monday, and if it is fine to run on I'll go."

Oak Park-River Forest Invite: Prospect was looking for a test at its first major invite for its varsity runners, and the Knights got it.

Prospect used a punishing final 300 meters to come from behind to defeat the host and win the Oak Park-River Forest Invitational.

The Knights placed five runners in the top 11 to hold off OP-RF 34-35.

"They gave (OP-RF) us the business," said Prospect coach Mike Stoke of the Knights challenge. "But we just took it the final 300 yards."

Senior Chris Spudic (15:20) and junior Kellan Strobel (15:32) went 2-4 to pace the Knights.

Senior Albert Ciolek (15:49), junior Matt Ashton (15:52), and senior Kenny Halloran (15:56) went 8-9-and 11 to complete Prospect's scoring.

The Knights' top 5 runners had a 35 second split in nailing down the victory.