Lake Zurich tames regional field

There was no stopping the Lake Zurich boys cross country team Saturday afternoon at the Class 3A Libertyville regional.

After winning the North Suburban Conference meet a week ago, the seventh-ranked Bears were even more dominant on the hilly 3-mile Adler Memorial Park course as they placed all seven of their runners in the top 19 to roll to the championship of the eight-team meet with 20 points.

Lake Zurich advances to the Schaumburg sectional next Saturday at Busse Woods at 11:30 a.m. with a trip to the state meet in Peoria the following weekend at stake.

The Bears will be joined at sectionals by runner-up squad McHenry (86 points), Mundelein (111) in third, Grant (114) in fourth, and the host Wildcats (119) in fifth.

Warren made a good push for sectionals even with No. 2 runner Kevin Vollrath out of the lineup due to a band competition, but the Blue Devils had to settle for sixth place with 127 points.

As was the case last week at the conference meet, Lake Zurich was led by junior Pat Juras (15:21) in first place followed closely by senior teammate Victor Delatorre (15:24) in second place.

“He (Juras) surprised us at conference because he was technically our No. 4 runner all year, but we know he likes to turn on the game late in the year,” said Delatorre. “We're excited, and Palatine is probably our toughest competition at sectionals so we'll see how we compare to them and we've never had this good of a team.”

This 2010 Lake Zurich team has been impressive since day one and Saturday the Bears' depth shined with Alex Brend in fourth, Ryan Moncrieff in fifth, Jon Smith in eighth, Shawn Picha in 14th, and Jared Ripoli in 19th.

“They ran well and I thought the Grant kid (Ryan Mamerow) was awfully tough running with the front pack,” said Lake Zurich coach J.B. Hanson. “They stuck to the gameplan, they knew their limits, and they came through in the end. The start was really fast and we know next week will be fast, but we're going to have to get out even faster next week.”

The first mile was hit at five minutes flat by the top runners with a reported 10:49 clocking at the 2-mile mark. Juras' time was only 19 seconds short of the course record.

Mundelein's trio of Robbie Munnings in ninth, Gian Carlo Vassallo in 16th, and Martin Mena in 18th carried the Mustangs' troops into the sectional in third place.

Mamerow placed third in 15:32 to lead Grant to the team sectional meet for the first time since the mid-1990's according to coach Jeff Durlak.

Trent Peters-Clark added an 11th-place run for the Bulldogs followed by teammates Dalyn Romig in 25th, and Justin Sanchez in 29th.

“Mamerow had a great race and he was right there with the Lake Zurich kids for the first two miles,” Durlak said. “For this course, that is close to his p.r. and if he can put up a time like this next week he has a shot at state.”

Libertyville was led by sophomore Nick Korhumel in 10th place while the trio of teammates Dan Ryan (20th), Mike Schmitz (26th), and Kevin Heller (28th) carried the Wildcats into the sectional.

“I'm thrilled that we got out and I thought 10th was a fantastic result for Nick Korhumel,” said Libertyville coach Mark Buesing. “I was happy with our times and Korhumel just ran a very smart race for a sophomore.”

Warren's team did not advance, but the Blue Devils did have Martin Martinez (17th), Mike Harland (21st), and Nick Kreis (23rd) all reach sectionals as at-large qualifiers.

“We just didn't run as well as we should have and Grant ran really well,” said Warren coach Bill Dawson. “Grant ran really well and they deserve to advance, and I feel sorry for Kevin (Vollrath) because he won't be able to run at sectionals.”

Round Lake senior Juan Carrera was the top at-large sectional qualifier in sixth place as he will try to make back-to-back trips to Detweiller Park if he performs well next Saturday.

“He (Carrera) ran well the first couple of miles, but he has to learn to run strong when he is not the lead guy in every race,” said Round Lake coach Kevin Brady. “I still have hopes he has a very good shot at state, he's just got to be careful about his mental state.”

Carmel junior K.J. Matuszak will also run at sectionals after placing seventh as the second at-large qualifier.