Fremd's back in the running

The race for the Class 3A Schaumburg boys cross country sectional final was over, but a crowd still lingered at the finish line at Busse Woods on a chilly Saturday morning.

The anxious onlookers included the Fremd team and coach Mike Bruce.

Fremd had not qualified for the IHSA state meet since 1995, and now it had to wait a bit longer to find out if it was one of the five teams that would have its season extended.

"We didn't know, it was kind of crazy," said Bruce of the uncertain moments that followed the race. "There were a lot of rumors, but you didn't know what was true."

But when official word filtered through crowd that Fremd had taken fourth with 173 points, 14 years of frustration was lifted off the Vikings shoulders.

Seniors Aaron Ferst, Spiros Angelakos, Yutaro Okuda, and Daniel Ricketts led the way for Fremd, with junior Matt Spaga adding a key fifth-place finish in helping Vikings cement their spot at the state meet.

"To be truthful I was crying," added Angelakos, who finished 33rd and was the Vikings second runner. "But they were happy tears. I knew our team could do it with all the hard work we had put in since the summer."

Ferst had finished 34th in Class 3A in 2008, when he qualified as individual, but was hoping to have his teammates to share the state glory with him this year.

"You're hearing all these different things, you just want to hear the final thing," added Ferst, who led the Vikings by finishing ninth. "I knew I would make it as an individual, but it's so much better being with the team."

Now the Vikings are headed to Peoria's Detweiller Park for the Class 3A state race at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The dream of qualifying for state started immediately following the 2008 state meet, when a group of Vikings including Ferst talked about what they needed to do in order to accomplish their goal.

The team, which also includes Andy Mack, Phillip Cano, Daniel Szmurlo, and Jackson Winter, instantly put together a plan of action which started with an intense summer of workouts.

By the time the 2009 season started Fremd was ready to begin its quest and it showed as the Vikings took first in early September at the Crystal Lake South Invite and Warren Invitational.

But after finishing seventh in a loaded field at the Palatine Invitational in late September, the Vikings were dealt a serious blow.

Mack, who had been one of Fremd's top three runners, was lost for the season due to a stress fracture.

It was gut-check time for a group of seniors that had invested so much in what they had hoped to be a special season.

"Right away after being shocked, there was a fire starting inside of me," said Ferst of the loss of Mack. "Everyone had to step up; it wasn't just about one spot needing to be filled. The whole team had to make the effort to improve - we knew we were still a great team."

"At that time it could have become less of a team focus and we could have gone south," added Bruce, who credited the senior leadership for keeping the team together. "But they didn't let that happen, the seniors kept the team together."

It started when Fremd took fourth at the Mid-Suburban League meet, 3 points behind Barrington, and continued with the Vikings taking fifth at the Palatine regional.

That set the stage for the battle at sectionals.

"All summer we wanted to get to the state meet," added Ricketts, who solidified the Vikings fourth spot. "We knew we were right in the midst of it with Barrington and Schaumburg, we just knew we had to put the extra effort in. We had to race like it was going to be our last race."

And the Vikings did that; especially No. 5 runner Smaga, who stepped up after Cano lost his shoe, in securing 59th place.

"I went out in the second mile and gave it my all," added Smaga, "Every time I was hurting I just thought about my teammates."

And each point counted in a four-way battle for the last two spots. Schaumburg and Lake Zurich tied for fifth place, 1 point behind Fremd. Barrington finished in sixth, only 2 points behind the Vikings.

"We knew it was going to be close but no one could have predicted it would be that close," added Ferst of Vikings narrow margin. "Everyone of these guys did it for the team."

It's been a long wait for a Fremd cross country program that has had its share of success with five state trophies and a title in 1969.

Bruce was in his first season when he led the Vikings to the state meet in 1995, a year after they had claimed the third-place trophy in 1994 under Rich Bokor.

"That team's expectations were a bit different," added Bruce of the '95 squad. "I was a bit spoiled coming in."

But expectations are being raised for Fremd. On a late Tuesday afternoon with the sun quickly setting the Vikings were once again preparing for a trip to the state meet.

The sun looks as if it's just starting to rise for Vikings and the wait is finally over.