Stewart brothers, Naperville N. shine at sectional
Metea Valley’s Matt Stewart said it’s easier for him to run well when he is familiar with the runner next to him.
Who better than your own brother?
Stewart covered the St. James Farm course in 15 minutes, 4.6 seconds Saturday at the Class 3A Wheaton North sectional to take second place.
The only runner to beat him? That would be his brother Joe Stewart who won in 14:50.1.
“Usually we are just trying to stay as close together as possible,” Matt Stewart said. “Help each other out. It’s easier when you are running if you see someone right next to you even your twin brother than some other opponent.”
The Stewarts stayed together throughout the race. Matt Stewart passed the only other runner close to them, Harlem’s Nick Miller, midway through the second mile.
Matt Stewart said he didn’t start running cross country until his brother got him into the sport during his sophomore year. The two seniors had not competed on this course before but practiced on it two weeks ago and came to Winfield after school Friday to walk the course.
“We wanted to go out nice and even at the mile and as soon as we crossed that line start to pick that up and hold it to the finish,” Joe Stewart said. “We’ve been looking forward to this all year and planing to go right at the top so it’s a great accomplishment.”
Naperville North also had a great accomplishment, following their girls team title earlier in the morning by winning a sectional championship. The Huskies scored 60 points to join St. Charles North (97), Wheaton Warrenville South (104), Wheaton North (161) and West Aurora (171) in qualifying for state.
“We had seven kids run good races,” Naperville North coach David Racey said. “The kids performed up to their ability.”
Griffin Haugen led the Huskies in fifth place in 15:13. Naperville North was strong all the way through its seventh runner Trevor Tschosik who finished ahead of every other team’s fifth runner except St. Charles North. The Huskies’ 2-6 runners were Jake Pecorin, Dan Emrie, Sam Ceruti, Jimmy Qiao and Nick Drendel.
“The kids got out the way they should have and were tough all the way through and finished where they are capable of,” Racey said. “They fed off each other. Our 1-3 were working together and definitely our 4-5 pulled each other through and even our 6-7.
“This group is really young. Mentally we just have to run fast (at Peoria). That was the theme today was just run and not necessarily have a plan and we got out fast because they just ran.”
Runner-up St. Charles North also liked how its runners worked together starting with Zach Heuer in 13th place and Spencer Gray in 16th. Nick Borger finished 23rd, Grant Markowicz 25th and Declan Duggan 30th.
“We ran well,” St. Charles North coach Kevin Harrington said. “We had a 12-13 second split at the 2-mile, we split apart a little bit at the third mile but guys were just putting their nose into it.”
A pair of Wheaton Warrenville South runners placed in the top 10 — Luke Schroer in fourth and Nolan McKenna in eighth. Adian Askin led Wheaton North taking 10th.
With its 171 points West Aurora held off Geneva (189) and Batavia (193) for the final team state qualifier. Blackhawk junior Omar Gomez ran a 15:15.4 to place fifth.
While Geneva and Batavia didn’t miss a state team berth by much, both qualified one individual. Batavia’s Chris Spadafora took 11th overall in 15:17 while teammates Trevor Hollis (21st) and Mike Redmond (33rd) weren’t too far back.
Geneva junior Michael Bianchina ran a 4:52 first mile — faster than he wanted — on his way to a personal-best time 15:15.5 for seventh.
Bianchina, who got cleated early and had a cut on his leg, ran most of the race with St. Charles North’s Heuer and Gray.
“I stuck with them for two miles and then used all I had left in the final mile,” Bianchina said. “I just tried to stick with somebody near me. As long as I’m sticking with someone I know is good, I stuck with Heuer because I know he’s strong.
“Most times I try to think a good time, this time I wasn’t thinking about time, I didn’t want to get too far back. This course is kind of narrow. I had to go out a little harder than I wanted to which is 4:52 (time for the first mile).”
Bianchina paid for his quick start in the final mile.
“My legs were burning,” Bianchina said. “I was just trying to think PR, I can do it. It hurt, just awful. But I got my PR. That was good for me.”
Teammate Peter Archibald placed 22nd.
Benet senior Matt Rurka grabbed the final individual state spot by running a 15:19.8 for 12th place.