Tradition favors Palatine; Peterson edges Atchison
It’s all about tradition when it comes to Palatine boys cross country, and the Pirates added another piece on Saturday at the Mid-Suburban League meet.
Palatine cruised to its ninth straight MSL title with 50 points on a sunny and breezy morning at Busse Woods in Elk Grove.
While Palatine was adding to its history, Barrington senior Erik Peterson and Buffalo Grove senior Jereme Atchison were locked in a classic battle for the individual title.
Peterson and Atchison matched each other move for move for 2½ before the Broncos senior made separation with 600 meters remaining to secure his second consecutive league victory in 14:55.
Atchison chased Peterson down the home stretch before taking second in 14:56 in an entertaining battle.
Atchison helped Buffalo Grove to its best team finish as the Bison secured second place with 74 points.
Schaumburg (88 points) nipped Barrington (89 points) for third place, with Prospect (102 points) taking fifth.
Peterson and Atchison set the pace early with the Bison senior holding a small margin at the 2-mile mark. The two battled it out for the next 1,000 meter before Peterson made his deciding move to secure his second straight title.
“It was back and forth, and he did the majority of the pushing,” said Peterson of the intense battle. “I made my move and made sure he didn’t get inside. Last year I made my move and I was by myself, this year he was pushing the entire way.”
Last year Atchison finished nine seconds behind Peterson in taking third place, but the Bison senior gave Peterson everything he could handle on Saturday.
“I made like ten different moves, but he would always come back,” said Atchison. “He got the best of me today; he just had a little extra gear at the end.”
Palatine has dedicated this season to legendary Pirate coach Joe Johnson, who passed away last December. Tom Johnson, who ran for Joe Johnson and made all-state for Pirates in 1976 and1977, gave the team a pep talk on Friday.
The Pirates responded on Saturday by placing five runners in the top 16 to secure its victory.
“It was all about tradition today,” said Palatine coach Chris Quick of the Pirates assault. “Being part of something that extends 30 to 40 years, today we ran like Palatine guys.”
Senior Anthony Gregorio (15:20) and Peter Tomkiewicz (15:25) helped set the tone by taking third and sixth place.
“We just wanted to go and kind of make a statement,” said Gregorio. “We definitely got some momentum right now. It’s exciting — we get out there and run our races and compete.”
Senior Marcus Garcia (15:34) added 10th place, with senior Tim Johnson (15:47) and senior Tim Meincke (15:51) securing 15th and 16th place to close the door on the title.
“We’re just focusing on being consistent,” said Garcia. “Conference meet is a big deal, but we have a few more goals.”
Atchison set the tone for Buffalo Grove, but the Bison senior had plenty of help. Senior Taras Didenko (15:24) kept picking up points the entire race and finished fifth, followed by sophomore Steven Salvano (15:38) and senior Dan Roe (15:40) taking 11th and 12th place.
“Our goal this year was to be top three — we’re second, I’m ecstatic,” said BG coach Jamie Klotz. “I think we can run with most people and we’ll get a little bit better each time.”
Didenko finished 18th in the MSL last year, but has been key part of the Bison emergence this year.
“We’re getting better each race,” said Didenko. “We came up a little short today, but it makes us hungrier.”
Senior Tyler Anderson (15:27) and junior Evan Prizy (15:30) took seventh and ninth place to pace Schaumburg to third place. Senior Pat Swiech (15:54) and junior Juan Barajas (15:54) added to the Saxons’ charge by taking 19th and 20th place.
“We knew the pace was going to go out fast, we just wanted to hang up there,” said Anderson. “We’ll continue to work and keep improving.”
Peterson set the tone for Barrington, followed by junior Ryan Burgoon (15:22) who took an impressive fourth place. Senior Nolan Wojtowicz (15:51) and Mike Rappleye (15:52) also aided the Broncos attack by taking 17th and 18th place.
Peterson has garnered the headlines for Barrington this season, but Burgoon has quietly put together a breakthrough season and has given the Broncos a powerful 1-2 punch.
“The last mile I was able to keep my same pace and shake a few runners,” said Burgoon of his strong finish. “We have a solid 1 through 4, but we need that fifth guy.”
Junior Michael Leet (15:29) shot off to a strong start in pushing to an 8th place finish for Prospect. The Knight junior is coming back from a left Achilles injury, but showed on Saturday he will be a force in the coming weeks.
“It hurt, but it was good to get out in this kind of environment,” said Leet. “I was definitely hurting the second half of the race. I got out hard and then just hung on.”
Senior Mike Thill (15:45), senior Josh Campos (15:56), and junior Quetin Shaffer (15:58) aided the Knights’ attack by taking 14th, 24th, and 25th place.
Senior Alexander Miller (15:56) powered Conant to sixth place with a 21st-place finish for the Cougars.
Sophomore Billy Thomas (15:45) hung tight in the first mile powering Hoffman Estates by taking 13th place.
“I wanted to stay up with the pack,” said Thomas of his start. “I was feeling good throughout the race.”
Sophomore Harry Winter (15:56) gave Fremd a lift by finishing 23rd for the Vikings.