Palatine, Cary-Grove's Farleigh lead the way
Palatine and Cary-Grove senior Phillip Fairleigh eased their way to victories at the Schaumburg Class 3A sectional at a blustery and muddy Busse Woods on Saturday.
Fairleigh took control midway through the race and cruised unchallenged to a first-place finish in 15:47.
Palatine came on strong in the final mile with five runners in the top 27 to secure its sixth sectional title with 64 points
Prospect took second with 97 points followed by Cary-Grove (124 points).
That is when things got interesting. Fremd (173 points) took fourth place, 1 point ahead of Schaumburg and Lake Zurich who both advanced by tying for fifth place with 174 points. Barrington was left out in sixth place with 175 points.
Individual qualifiers included Rolling Meadows' Photis Karkalis (15:53), who took second; Buffalo Grove's Jereme Atchison (sixth in 16:07); Barrington's Eric Peterson (11th in 16:12); and Rolling Meadows' Angelos Karkalis (13th in 16:15).
Fairleigh started the season slow because of mono, but the senior has come on strong the past two weeks. Fairleigh made separation midway through the second mile and let off the pedal the final 600 meters en route to first place.
"I kind of thought the race was going a little slow," said Fairleigh about the first half. "No one was moving, so I made my move and kept the pace up. It is starting to come together now and today was a big confidence boost."
Palatine received a big boost from senior Alec Bollman (15:55) and senior Chano Bernardo (16:06) in third and fifth place.
"The race plan was to go out conservatively," said Bernardo of Pirates' attack. "Then get after it at the two-mile mark."
The two Pirates had plenty of help from sophomore Anthony Gregorio (16:16) and junior A.J. Laskowske (16:27) in 16th and 22nd.
Senior Ryan Wojdyla (16:36) added a 27th to help the Pirates secure their fourth straight sectional victory.
"He was always a guy that was kind of a nobody in our program," said Palatine coach Chris Quick about Wojdyla. "But he has worked hard and now he is a somebody. Combine that with the two seniors who are running great up front and now we have some great momentum."
For Prospect, Chris Spudic (16:08), Albert Ciolek (16:17) and Kellan Stroebel (16:23) finished eighth, 17th and 19th.
"We've been practicing to stay tight one through seven," Stroebel said. "I think throughout the season we've been doing better and better, and at state we can show off what we've been practicing."
Eddie Gibbons (16:30) and Matt Klein (16:34) took 24th and 25th to complement Fairleigh's title for third-place Cary-Grove.
Senior Aaron Ferst (16:09) finished ninth to help Fremd narrowly secure fourth place.
"The key is these kids wanted it," said Fremd coach Mike Bruce. "The team came together today and believed in themselves."
Schaumburg senior Pat Lesiewicz (15:59) led the Saxons with a fourth-place finish.
Junior Travis Morrison, who was running only his second race since early September, made the difference for the Saxons by finishing 40th.
"Getting Travis back was huge," said Saxons coach Jim Macnider. "We don't go without him. That is about as tight as it can get."
Rolling Meadows senior Photis Karkalis had battled a knee injury early in the season, but he showed his potential with an explosive final mile to finish runner-up.
"Early in the season I was little low in confidence," said Karkalis, who finished 10th in the MSL. "That last mile I just said 'I had to go' and it worked out."
Atchison came up big for Buffalo Grove with his sixth-place finish after taking 14th in the MSL.
"I got in the lead at the beginning this week and hung with them," Atchison said. "That's where I needed to be."
At Niles West: Des Plaines native Mark Donohue finished sixth to help Loyola beat perennial power York 33-77 for the 3A sectional team title. Donohue, a senior who went to grade school at St. Emily's in Mount Prospect, ran 15:13.02 and was the Ramblers' No. 3 runner behind individual champion Nico Composto (14:57) and Jack Seeberg (15:10).