St. Charles North rolls to regional crown
By the time the boys race started, the rain had pretty much dissipated, but the soggy course didn’t slow down the St. Charles North Stars, who placed five runners in the top 10 to win the regional with 27 points.
Prairie Ridge, which placed three runners in the top 10, was second with 53 points. Jacobs (71), Crystal Lake South (103), and South Elgin (168) will also advance to the St. Charles East sectional next weekend.
North Stars senior Ryan Senci won the race in a time of 15:26.6.
“We tried to pack up in the front and stay there,” Senci said. “We just wanted to control the race, so I think we did a pretty good job of that. We love running on our home course. Our biggest goal is to be top five in the state.”
Teammate Billy Clink wasn’t far behind, finishing third in 15:30.6. Juniors Zach Heuer (6th) and Declan Duggan (7th), and sophomore Spencer Gray (10th) rounded out the top five for the North Stars.
Prairie Ridge junior Mitch Wilkins finished second in a time of 15:27.6. Wilkins was aware that two opponents consider Leroy Oaks Forest Preserve as their home course, but indicated that he thinks of the course as the next best thing to running at home.
“I’m pretty proud of the result today,” Wilkins said. “I was only three seconds slower than my time here from earlier in the year. Next week will be our fourth time running here (Leroy Oakes) this year, so we kind of think of this as our home away from home. It’s a nice course and I like running here.”
Marc Diverde (fourth), sophomore Joe Cowlin (eighth), junior David Thompson (12th), and junior Adam Procknow (27th) rounded out the top five runners for the Wolves.
Prairie Ridge coach Judd Shutt thought his team ran very well, but it was the efforts of the Wolves’ fourth runner who received most of his praise.
“We’ve had to have an underdog mentality this year,” Shutt said. “Our four and five runners we really needed to step up today, and we really got an outstanding effort from David Thompson today.”
Individuals advancing onto next weekend’s St. Charles East sectional include Steven Decker (St. Charles East), junior Jhoan Lino (Streamwood), junior Dan Runzel (Larkin), and sophomores Chris Porras and Tanner Bednar of Elgin.