Mid-Suburban sweeps for Palatine, Prospect
The top-ranked Palatine girls cross country team not only had to battle the elements on Thursday, but they also had to deal with No. 3 Schaumburg at the Barrington triangular meet.
The Pirates were up to the challenge, defeating Schaumburg 25-30 and also besting host Barrington 20-36 to wrap up the Mid-Suburban West divisional title at a sloppy Beese Park.
The MSL West is home to the top three teams in the Illinois Cross Country Coaches Poll, with Hoffman Estates holding the No. 2 ranking.
Palatine defeated Hoffman Eastates 27-28 in early September en route to perfect 6-0 division record.
"We're really excited," said Palatine coach Joe Parks of the Pirates' title. "We know there are three or four teams in the mix and on any given day they can win it, so we know our works is not done."
Palatine's Sarah McIntosh set a course record in winning the race in 17:25. The junior used a strong second mile to separate from the pack.
"I just wanted to take it out hard, to set a good pace for my teammates," added McIntosh.
Courtney Brown (17:51) followed running a key race for Palatine in separating from a strong Schaumburg pack and finishing in third place.
Ruth Allen (18:30), Tests Masonic (18:44), and Baca Send (18:45) finished seventh, ninth, and 10th to complete the Pirates scoring.
Schaumburg's Britten Petrey (17:49) challenged for the lead in the first mile and finished with a strong kick in securing second place.
Karen Lesiewicz (18:02) and Colette Falsey (18:03) went 4-5 to support a strong Saxons effort.
"That's the reason why Palatine is ranked No. 1, they looked tough," said Schaumburg coach Jon Macnider, whose team defeated Barrington 21-35. "But I also thought we had some good racing."
Freshman Rebecca Batliner (18:19) and Elizabeth Tracy (18:36) finished sixth and eighth to pace Barrington.
• The Palatine boys cross country team kept rolling, too.
The Pirates won their eighth consecutive MSL West division title by sweeping the No. 2 through 6 spots to beat Schaumburg 20-41 and Barrington 15-47.
Chano Bernardo (15:51), Alec Bollman (15:01), A.J. Laskowske (15:54), Jeff Larson (16:01), and Anthony Gregorio (16:01) pushed the Palatine pack.
"A race like this, you just want a strong team dynamic," said Palatine coach Chris Quick of the Pirates' strong winning pack. "We asked our guys to run together with each other. It's real easy to quit on yourself, but it's hard to quit on your teammate."
Schaumburg's Pat Lesiewicz took first individually comfortably cruising through the chute in 15:12.
"At the beginning I don't know if I was just feeling the adrenaline of the weather but I just took off," said Lesiewicz. "After the first half mile I felt really good, threw in a big surge and kept going."
Pat O'Connell (16:13) added a 10th-place finish for the Saxons.
Barrington's Erik Peterson (16:07) and Chris Cogswell (16:11) finished seventh and ninth, leading the Broncos to a 26-30 victory over Schaumburg.
"I was very pleased with Peterson, who was running his first varsity race," said Barrington coach Ty Gorman. "We ran well as a team, but we still have a lot of work to do."
East Division
It was a record-setting day for the Prospect girls cross country team.
nnette White (17:54) and Brooke Wolfe both set course records, finishing 1-2 and leading host Prospect to the MSL East divisional title with victories over Hersey 18-48 and Wheeling 15-50.
Fifth ranked Prospect took five out of the top six spots in dominating the triangular.
"The girls were really running fast today," said Prospect coach Dave Wurster. "We had five kids that either moved up or moved onto the school's record board."
Savannah Snead, Lauren Poplawski, and Kasey Krum went 4-5-6 for the Knights' title drive.
Salena Clohisy and Sarah Reynolds finished 3rd and 7th for Hersey.
• Prospect boys made it a perfect day for the Knights.
Chris Spudic (15:52) and Albert Ciolek (15:58) went 1-2 in leading the Knights to the divisional title with an 18-37 victory over Hersey and a 15-48 victory over Wheeling.
"We ran a controlled race," added Prospect coach Mike Stokes. "But we kicked it at the end."
Sam Pederson (16:04), Josh Campos (16:09), and Kellen Stroebel (16:09) went 4-5-6 to complete the Knights' scoring.