Driggs leads York to title; host Palatine takes second
An angry York is a dangerous team, and the Dukes showed it on Saturday at the Palatine Invitational at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve.
Last week York finished third at the Peoria Notre Dame Invite. The Dukes took out their frustrations by easily dominating the 30-team field by taking first with 60 points; New Trier finished a distant second with 116 points followed by Palatine (148 points), Lake Zurich (160 points), and Barrington (177 points).
Senior Jack Driggs led from start to finish, taking first in 14:33 to lead York. New Trier senior Tommy King (14:46) took second, followed by St. Louis University senior Tim Rackers (14:55), Barrington junior Erik Peterson (14:56) and Maine South senior Dave Eckhart (14:56).
Driggs made an opening move just before the first mile, then added a second surge midway through the race to take the title with a 13-second cushion.
"After last week's debacle, I told the team 'we're better than this,' " said Driggs of the Dukes' performance in Peoria. "It's in the past; today we won all over again. We looked good, we're very versatile and we can run with anyone in the state if we put our heads to it."
Senior Ron Hedman (15:07), sophomore Alex Mimlitz (15:13), senior Nick Gornick (15:17) and sophomore Scott Milling (15:20) finished 9th, 13th, 17th, and 20th, showcasing York's depth.
York definitely has a team capable of winning its 27th state title and first since 2006. The question is can Driggs challenge defending Class 3A state champion Lukas Verzbicas for the individual title.
"We're going to need the No. 1 point to win, so I'm going to try and go after him," said Driggs, who finished third in Class 3A last season. "But to be honest he's a man amongst boys, he is really at a different level, but I'm chasing him.
"He has been motivating me all year."
And as the results showed at Palatine, York and Driggs are dangerous when they are motivated.
Junior Leland Later (15:16) and senior Scott Nystuen (15:18) finished 16th and 18th to aid King in leading New Trier.
Host Palatine was also motivated after finishing a disappointing eighth at Peoria last weekend. The Pirates made a better showing on Saturday. Junior Anthony Gregorio (15:04) took eighth in helping the Pirates rebound.
"We wanted to come back this weekend and show who Palatine is," said Gregorio. "We went back to our old race style and went out hard, then held on. It seemed to work for us today."
Senior A.J. Laskowske (15:21) and senior Reuben Fry (15:24) took 21st and 28th to aid the Pirates.
"Last weekend was tough," said Laskowske. "We came back strong, I just think we need to run as a pack more. We were still a bit spread out today, but we're getting there."
"The emphasis was just to play up in the front of the race," said Palatine coach Chris Quick of the Pirates strategy. "We probably are still a little zealous and that cost us again, but we wanted to be up there running for the big spots."
Lake Zurich continues to impress. Last week the Bears took fifth in Peoria and they had no letdown this week with four runners in the top 25.
Senior Victor Delatorre (15:13) led the charge by taking 14th place for the Bears.
"It's pretty exciting," added Delatorre of LZ early success. "We came into the season as underdogs, but we've done some serious training."
Senior Alex Brend (15:22), senior Ryan Moncrieff (15:23), and junior Pat Juras (15:23) packed it in for the Bears, finishing 22nd, 23rd, and 25th.
"The team definitely has more confidence now," added Brend, "People have been stepping up and everything is carrying over well."
Barrington is also making strides, last week the Broncos finished 12th in Peoria but took a step forward with a fifth-place finish on Saturday.
Peterson has been the Broncos' big gun, and the junior didn't disappoint on Saturday, using a surge halfway through the race to finish in an impressive fourth place.
"I had a pretty good kick left even though I felt dead," said Peterson of his finish. "I could still see the leaders, and it definitely gives me a boost in confidence."
Senior Andrew Foley (15:23) took 24th place for Barrington, and senior Kyle Dockery (15:44), who is coming back from a severe ankle sprain, added 43rd place in lifting the Broncos confidence.
"It's a step forward," added Barrington coach Ty Gorman. "But it's definitely not where we want to be at the end of the year. We know that Dockery will keep getting better, and that is like finding another runner."
Senior Sam Telfer (15:01) took sixth place to lead Lyons (220 points) to seventh place.
Senior Ryan Senci (15:08) secured 10th place to power St. Charles North to eighth place, junior William Hague (15:10) finished in 11th place to push Loyola to ninth place.
Maine South senior Dave Eckhart (14:56) took fifth, allowing the Hawks to take 10th.
Individually, Waubonsie Valley senior Dave Groeber (15:03) took 7th place, and Stevenson senior Kevin Wood (15:12) secured 12th place for the Patriots.
Hersey senior Ryan O'Donnell (15:18) took 19th place for the Huskies.
"I'm feeling good about myself this year," said O'Donnell who stuck with his team for the first half of the race before finishing strong. "We're going to keep working on getting the team's confidence up and try to make a strong run at the end of the season."