Coaches looking for new stars to emerge
New faces, new favorites, new courses, new conferences - here's a team-by-team look at the upcoming boys cross country season.
Aurora Central: The Chargers have a chip on their shoulder entering 2010 after seeing their 23-year streak of qualifying for sectionals come to an end last year.
While several factors hurt ACC - their No. 3 runner was ill, a loaded regional field that saw 4 of the 5 sectional qualifiers reach state - coach Troy Kerber's Chargers are determined to start a new sectional streak that had dated back to 1987.
Senior Jimmy Spencer, a returning sectional qualifier and state qualifier in track, leads the returnees. Sophomore Matt Meyers and junior Alex Duncan also qualified for state in track.
Seniors Nolan McCue, Ray Elizondo and Adam Miller also are back along with junior Arnulfo Olivia and sophomore Oscar Gomez.
Three sophomores - Adrian Alviar, Justin Jerwers and Benito Vega - and freshmen Ricardo Bustas and Javier Montelongo highlight the newcomers. The Chargers won the SCC sophomore race last year.
Kerber said Alviar can run in the top six while there is a lot of competition for the seventh spot.
Batavia: The Bulldogs return junior all-conference runner Mike Redmond from last year's team that finished fourth in the Western Sun. Batavia followed by placing fourth at regionals to qualify sectionals, where its season ended by placing 11th out of 20 teams.
Besides Redmond, Batavia has senior Matt Lash, junior Zach Leonhard and sophomore Trevor Hollis back.
Overall, Batavia has its largest numbers in the last five years. Some newcomers who may contribute immediately are senior Jesse Ostermann, juniors Chris Spadafora (who played soccer last year), Ben Helfrecht (who played football last year), Kevin Millen and freshman Chris Orlow.
"We have a young team this year so literally, anything can happen," assistant coach Dan Renz said. "Our goal is to improve on last year's marks and perform well as one of the new teams in the Upstate Eight Conference. I expect us to qualify for sectionals once again, and then anything can happen from there. I believe we have the talent to compete with the teams in our area for a trip downstate and if we stay healthy, this is an achievable goal."
Geneva: Others called Geneva overachievers last year when the Vikings won a third straight conference championship and qualified for state.
Overachievers to some, maybe. But just what the Vikings themselves expected to do.
Look for more of the same for Bob Thomson's proud program, which took third in state in 2008 and will be led by one of the top runners around, senior Kevin McDowell.
Geneva will have to wait three or four invites to get McDowell - an elite triathlon athlete - back from his world competitions. But when they do they will have a runner who placed 14th in state in 2008 and 56th last year.
Other key runners for Geneva include senior Connor Bartel (165th at state last year, all-conference), senior Ryan Ahern (134th at state), junior Peter Archibald (state alternate, No. 1 runner on the sophomore team) and junior Ryan Fromm. Senior Bill Koskiewicz leads the newcomers while there also are huge numbers of freshmen and sophomores out this fall.
"The boys in the opinion of everyone but theirs, were overachievers last season after graduating so many talented runners in 08," Thomson said. "They worked very hard last season and are doing the same so far this season. No one should sell them short. They are a very young squad."
Kaneland: After a dream '09 season, coach Chad Clarey will find out if the Knights are rebuilding or reloading.
Kaneland placed second to Geneva in the final Western Sun Conference meet, the school's best in the conference's four years. The Knights went on to take second in regionals, fourth at sectionals and fifth at the Class 2A state meet, the highest finish since taking second in Class A in 1999.
The Knights' senior dominated lineup turned in a 38-second split at state. This year's team, though, only has three seniors - all all-staters in various sports.
Trevor Holm, the team's top runner, took 23rd at last year's state finals. In track, he anchored Kaneland's seventh-place 3,200 relay.
Grant Alef, who took 64th at state last year as Kaneland's fifth man, is a national caliber swimmer who recently took second and fourth in events at Junior Nationals this summer. He also was an IHSA all-state swimmer in 2 events last year.
Senior Tommy Whittaker ran the leadoff leg of Kaneland's state champion 1,600 relay at Charleston this spring. Clarey said that while Whittaker is a sprinter in track he's had a terrific summer of training and can contribute in cross country.
"All three seniors have a hunger to repeat their feats from their junior years," Clarey said. "We need our younger runners to follow their lead, and be equally hungry."
The juniors stepping into the top seven include Jake Ginther, Clayton Brundige and Nate Rehkopf. Clarey said they will be pushed hard by sophomores Conor Johnson, Billy Hart and John Meisenger, among others.
"It's a little early to tell if this is a reloading or rebuilding season," Clarey said. "We are trying to find ourselves following the loss of such a talented senior class."
Holm will be the clear front-runner. There's a solid 30-second pack from the two through six runners that will try to close the gap with Holm. Clarey said the gap needs to be within about a minute of Holm to have a shot to get back to Peoria.
Kaneland will be a key figure in the new Northern Big 12, not only after its strong Western Sun showing last year but as the host school for the conference meet at Elburn Woods in October. All 12 teams will participate; there are no divisions for cross country.
In addition to strong teams at Yorkville and DeKalb, Dixon won a 2008 state championship, and Clarey mentioned Geneseo and Sterling as programs on the rise.
"The Northern Big 12 conference should be a very solid conference for individuals and teams in Class 2A," Clarey said. "All those programs have had some great successes with their distance programs over the years. It's going to be a tough meet to crack the top three, just like it was a formidable challenge to make it in the top half of the Western Sun."
Kaneland will still see Batavia and Geneva when it hosts the Larry Eddington Invitational on Sept. 18. The Knights also see Geneva at Sterling.
Marmion: The Cadets promise to be one of the most experienced teams in the area with six of their top seven and 12 of their top 14 back.
Those returnees were part of a team that improved as the season went on, helped by the return of Ben Kanute who had been competing at the highest level of international triathlons. Marmion edged Kaneland for the Aurora Central regional crown with its sixth man, then nipped Crystal Lake for the final state qualifying spot at sectionals. The highlight at state came from Zack Young's all-state 10th-place finish.
"We are confident that this year will be an even stronger team with invaluable experience from the previous season," Marmion coach Dan Billish said.
Kanute is hoping to follow Young as a top 10 state runner. Junior Nolan Dickson has also qualified for the world triathlon championships and both him and Kanute will join the Cadets during the season.
Senior Bennett Marsh was all state in the 3,200. Strong summers from junior Rich Parilla and senior Chris Hebert will help Marmion "give the top tier teams in 2A a run for their money," said Billish. Josh Kanute, Pat Duhig, Will Graft and Liam O'Dea will also be key contributors.
In addition to those returnees Marmion welcomes four freshmen: Eric Lifka, Tim Riordan, Carter Dickson and John Graft; plus three state track qualifiers: senior Eddie Grahovec from football, and juniors Brady Hunt and Matt Choice from soccer.
"This team is the deepest I have had to date in my 5 years here at Marmion," Billish said.
Marmion is aiming for a fifth straight conference championship, another regional title, to battle Belvidere at sectional and run for a state trophy at Detweiller in Peoria.
St. Charles East: Despite only having one returner from last year's top seven, there's a couple reasons for Saints coach Chris Bosworth to be optimistic.
One is that returner, Mike Rykoskey who has the potential for a big season.
The other is a 14-deep freshman class, up from three a year ago. That has helped surge the overall numbers into the 50s.
"If our spread is under 60 seconds, we will finish much higher at sectionals," Bosworth said. "The guys had a really good summer; top guys (were) running about 50-60 miles. I think we will be much better then last year."
Other runners to watch include seniors Derek Weber, Steven Decker, Kevin Earl and Luke Rykoskey, and juniors Ben Manibog and Ryan Shannon. Decker has state meet experience from track running in last year's 3,200 relay.
St. Charles North: There's a new coach at St. Charles North, where Kevin Harrington takes over for Steve Imig.
Imig's teams have been on a stellar run, the latest a 20th-place finish at last year's Class 3A state meet. The North Stars were eighth at state the year before.
Ryan Senci is back from that state team. He was second for the North Stars and 64th overall at state.
Senci got his season started the right way Tuesday by winning the Elgin Open in 16:20.
Other North Stars who should make an impact this year include juniors Billy Clink, Declan Duggan, Grant Markowicz, Zachary Heuer, Clayton Schmitt and Matthew Davis.
West Aurora: The Blackhawks enter 2010 with momentum following one of the most successful seasons in school history.
West Aurora finished eighth at sectionals, its best in almost 30 years. That followed a fifth in the DVC - tying the best since West Aurora joined in 1997 - and second at regional.
"The expectation is always that they compete at the best of their ability, which from my perspective is at the highest level West Aurora has seen in a great while," West Aurora coach Matt Sinnott said.
Seniors Matt Muth and Steve Loran are both returning all-conference runners; Muth 13th a year ago and Loran seventh in 2008. Senior Ryan Bartell, junior Josh Robinson, sophomore Graham Isaacson, junior Nate Pealstrom and senior Jaime Lopez also return.
The Blackhawks also welcome in four newcomers who could push for a spot in the top seven: junior Calvin Robinson and sophomores Omar Gomez, Robert Herrera and Zack Truckenbrod.
While excited about this team's potential, Sinnott wants to make sure the Blackhawks don't look too far ahead.
"We are keeping our team goals close to our vest this season, however we believe that we are capable of competing very strongly at the state level," Sinnott said. "This has been the best summer of training the boys have put in in regards to the quantity and quality of miles and strength work."