WW South leads the pack
It may not have been a huge meet, but make no mistake, what the Wheaton Warrenville South boys cross country team accomplished Saturday morning was pretty impressive.
At the four-team Wheaton North Invitational at North Side Park in Wheaton, the Tigers had seven runners finish in the top 10 of the varsity race, led by Aaron Peck's runner-up time of 16:01.5 on the 3.05-mile course. Peck led a tight pack of five Tigers in the top eight as Wheaton Warrenville South scored 26 points to hold off second-place Wheaton North. Glenbard West was third at 89 and Benet Academy fourth at 97.
"We did the best we've done all year," said Peck, second only to Wheaton North's Jake Waterman. "At the first turn we had 1 through 7 and it was real good. This is the best we felt all year with the pack. It was important we came here today and grouped up."
The runner-up Falcons were without two of their top runners, including James Waterman, who was rested due to a nagging calf problem. Benet Academy's No. 1 runner, Jerry Olp, also was held out to help prepare for next week's big Peoria Invitational. Even so, the Tigers' effort was impressive, as Matt Mazzoni and Ryan Frederickson finished fourth and fifth, respectively, and Matt McAndrews, Keenan Havey, Colin Zimerman and Nick Casa came through the chute 7-8-9-10.
"That's what we've been working on and talking about," Tigers coach Greta Havey said about her team's tight pack. "If we're going to move forward we have to do it as a group."
The short-handed Falcons still put up quite a fight as Daniel Woldesilassie took third and Tom Jaderholm sixth - to go along with Jake Waterman's title. Logan Blair and Ryan Group also ran well for the hosts.
"Our goal was to be a little more packed up with Jake and I was happy with how our guys closed at the end," Falcons coach Nate Roe said. "Jake's goal was to hang back with the team, and they kept together for about a mile. Then he went off. He's real strong doing that."
"It was fun running with the team for the first mile," Jake Waterman said. "Coach wanted me to encourage them to compete with the South pack. It's a more a team-building thing. It wasn't the biggest meet ever."
Benet Academy's Matt Rurka ran a 16:28.6 to place 11th, while Marlon Torres, Nick Lehn, Tim Vogel and Nick Batchos rounded out the Redwings scoring. Nate Evans was the top finisher for Glenbard West at 14th place, and teammates Alex Stockwell, Brad Wyatt and Andrew Erwin also finished in the top 20.