West Aurora stampedes competition
There really is no place like home and for the West Aurora boys cross country team that means the Stampede each October at Waubonsee Community College.
The Blackhawks welcomed 27 teams to their annual meet and then ran circles around them, winning with 67 points. Marmion came in second, 41 points behind.
“We consider this the beginning of the championship part of our season, West Aurora coach Matt Sinnott said. “It's definitely a big one on our calendar.
West Aurora senior Steve Loran had extra motivation for his final Stampede a disappointing 20th-place finish last year as a junior after he took 13th as a sophomore. He succeeded, taking the individual title to go with an earlier Aurora City meet first-place finish, a 10th-place run at Peoria Woodruff and a runner-up by 2 seconds at the Charger Classic.
“It's real nice to bring back closure and end it well, Loran said.
Loran made up for last year's race and then some, leading the entire way for a 15:33 time that was eight seconds faster than runner-up Billy Clink from St. Charles North.
“I'm a front-runner, Loran said. “I wanted to set the pace and hold it the rest of the way. When I hold back and try to gear on that slow pace I just lead myself into trouble.
Matt Muth and Omar Gomez also placed in the top 10 for West Aurora in third and 10th, respectively. Muth ran a 15:45.
Josh Robinson took 22nd and Robert Herrera 31st to round out the Blackhawks' top five, with sixth runner Graham Isaacson not far back in 40th.
“Our team looks great this year, Loran said. “A lot of guys are closing the gap on me and I think we can be a killer team down at state.
“The team ran outstanding, Sinnott said. “I saw them at the mile and the group was very strong together. They finished very well. As a team we did what we needed to do.
With Ben Kanute back from his triathlon season, Marmion has another front-runner at the top of its lineup. Kanute finished 15th to trail only teammate Bennett Marsh's 16:02.7 for 11th place. Chris Hebert gave the Cadets three runners in the top 20 by taking 19th in 16:22.
Brendan O'Connor and Matt Will led Neuqua Valley's third-place finish by taking sixth and seventh, respectively.
O'Connor, who won the frosh-soph race at the York invite last week, ran just his second varsity invitational. He's run well at both varsity meets with a fifth-place finish at Plainfield North.
“I was hoping it (the heat) wasn't going to be that bad but once you get out on that course going up the hills even under the trees it still beats down on you, O'Connor said. “I let it get to me too much from mile one to mile two and I practically gave up. And then down the stretch I saw Matt (Will), and thinking to myself if I really want to get top 12, I need to be up there. And I kicked it at end and had a really good race.
O'Connor credits several factors for his improvement from his freshman to sophomore season and the immediate impact he has made at the varsity level.
“The biggest thing for me isn't how much I'm running or how consistent on workouts, It's all the little things that changed from past seasons to this. Taking ice baths every day, eating right, sleeping right and just trusting.
Wheaton Warrenville South finished fourth. Keenan Havey, who won the St. Charles North Invitational last week, wasn't that happy with his eighth-place finish in 15:59 after a hard week of training.
St. Charles North, the team champion last week in the same meet that Havey won, fell to sixth while running short-handed without Ryan Senci (college visit) and resting Zach Heuer.
“With Ryan and Zach it is a different race but on the other hand we got some other kids a chance to get varsity time, North Stars coach Kevin Harrington said. “It's a good meet to get out there and mix it up a little.
The North Stars put two runners in the top four. Clink's 15:41 was good for second while Declan Duggan ran a 15:49 for fourth.
“He (Clink) was much more patient the first part of the race, Harrington said. “He's a real aggressive kid so he likes to lead packs early but he stayed real patient at the beginning which worked out well. He gave a good chase of him (Loran).
Batavia (eighth), Naperville Central (ninth) and Bartlett rounded out the top 10.
Mike Redmond (ninth place) ran a 16;02.1 to lead the Bulldogs while winning one of the tightest races into the chute by .4 seconds over Gomez and .6 over Marsh.
As much as Redmond enjoyed finishing in the top 10, he was just as excited about coming in just ahead of his friend from middle school Marsh.
“I think I did really good considering I beat my old friend, Redmond said. “I finally got back at him.
Redmond hopes to repeat his all-conference honors from last year when he and the Bulldogs go to the Upstate Eight meet next week at Lord's Park in Elgin. Chris Spadafora finished second for Batavia on Saturday and 16th overall in 16:14.
After taking last week off to rest, Bill Koskiewicz returned to lead 12th-place Geneva in 12th in 16:09.
“Billy ran very well today for the conditions, said Geneva coach Bob Thomson who also liked the race Ryan Ahern (41st) had. Peter Archibald was 27th. Thomson hopes to have Kevin McDowell back in the lineup at conference next week, though if McDowell isn't 100 percent the 2008 all-stater will wait one more week to return.
Glenbard East's Mike Fahey (13th) and Willowbrook's Pat Niyork (14th) also cracked the top 15.