Spudic leads the way for Prospect
PEORIA - Chris Spudic stuck to the plan in the Class 3A state meet, and the senior took fifth place individually to lead Prospect to a fourth-place team finish.
Sandburg sophomore sensation Lukas Verzbicas cruised to the individual title in 14:07 on pleasant fall afternoon at Detweiller Park.
Neuqua Valley placed five runners in the top 35 in capturing their second state title in three years with 99 points.
Des Plaines resident Mark Donuhue (14:50) took 11th place individually, leading Loyola (111 points) to its first state cross country trophy with a second-place finish.
Senior Andrew Smith (14:28) and junior Jack Driggs (14:28) went 2-3, leading York (118 points) to third place. Neuqua Valley's Aaron Beattie (14:31) took fourth place.
Spudic was in the mix the whole race for Prospect and the senior delivered in the final mile to earn his first all-state honor.
Spudic had won the Mid-Suburban League title and took second at regionals before slipping a bit at sectionals. But the senior never wavered and came back with one of his top races of the season at the right time.
"I did what I wanted to do," said Spudic, who finished 49th in Class 3A last season. "I had faith in our plan to go out and run at a controlled pace and not kill myself the first mile. After the first mile I kept moving."
The Prospect team kept moving, too, with junior Kellen Strobel (15:13) and senior Albert Ciolek (15:17) taking 42nd and 48th place.
"The guys raced tough, they came from behind and put it all out there," said Prospect coach Mike Stokes of the Knights' run. "They laid it all out there and finished with the best race of their careers."
Schaumburg senior Pat Lesiewicz (14:49) picked up his second consecutive all-state honors in taking a solid ninth place. The senior took it out hard, setting him up for the big finish.
"I thought I went out a little too fast," added Lesiewicz of his start. "But coming through the mile I was right where I wanted to be. Two-hundre meters before the finish line I just put my head down and went for it."
Chano Bernardo (15:20) and A.J. Laskowske (15:21) finished 51st and 53rd to lead Palatine (264 points) to sixth place.
Andrew Morrison (15:27) took 63rd place to lead Lake Zurich (394 points) to 16th place, with Schaumburg (397 points) taking 17th place.
Yutaro Okuda (15:35) took 75th place in leading Fremd (480 points) to 23rd place.
Class 2A: Belvidere North took first with 77 points followed by Normal (119 points) and Springfield (132 points).
Belvidere North's Paul Zeman won the individual race finishing in 15:09.
Lakes freshman Ryan Prais (15:31) ran a solid race in taking 16th place and earning all-state honors.