Schaumburg dominates Bartlett Invitational
As sophomores, Britten Petrey and her Schaumburg teammates had some struggles, such as finishing fifth at the Bartlett Invitational cross country meet.
As juniors, Petrey and Co. have evolved, showcasing that success with a first-place finish at Saturday's Bartlett Invite at Sunrise Park. The Saxon girls were joined by their boy counterparts, who also placed first in the 12-team boys field.
Petrey (17:36.2) and Pat Lesiewicz (15:26.6) each won their respective race, giving the Saxons a clean sweep of top honors.
"Last year was a learning experience," Petrey said. "This year we came out to show what we have accomplished."
Juniors Karen Lesiewicz (3rd, 17:45.7), Colette Falsey (7th, 18:08.1) and Jordan Wagner (14th, 18:59.3) all contributed to the girls total. Connor Prizy (2nd, 15:49.4), Pat O'Connell (7th, 15:59.8), Mike Perry (9th, 16:16.9) and Pat Swiech (13th, 16:24.8) all counted times for the boys.
"We had a pretty big win against Fremd (on Thursday) and beat them by 3 points," Pat Lesiewicz said. "It was a nice confidence boost. It carried over from Thursday and we all ran really well."
St. Charles North (88) used 5 consistent scores to take second over host Bartlett (117) on the girls side, while Crystal Lake South (136) and Huntley (141) rounded out the top 5 teams. Led by Gunnar Sterne (4th, 15:54.7), West Chicago (81) barley scraped by Woodstock (83) for second in the boys race, with the Gators (106) and Jacobs (124) rounding out the top 5 boys teams.
North's highest finisher was senior Meghan Heuer (8th, 18:17.4), but the next four North Stars finished in the top 27. Erica Bauerbach placed 10th (18:25.1), but coach Shari Hayes was excited about Jessica Sheets' 18th-place finish (19:17.3) because she was a little under the weather.
"We were really far back," Hayes said. "Bartlett was ahead of us going into the last loop. Our girls ran them down. They were competitive."
Bartlett got a second-place showing from Alyssa Schneider (17:43.7), who won the event last season. Schneider spent most of the day toe-to-toe with Petrey, but could not close the gap.
"I love having someone push me," Schneider said. "I stayed with her until the end."
CL South's Brian Roesslein (8th, 16:08.5) used Woodstock's JD Fuller (3rd, 15:50.4) and Phillip Meyer (6th, 15:58.1) to push him on Saturday.
"The past couple of weeks, my legs have been getting stronger," Roesslein said. "I'm happy to finish with the Woodstock runners."