Warren wins at the wire at Wauconda
The race for the finish was close between the Warren and Crystal Lake South boys cross country teams Saturday morning in the Wauconda Invitational.
It looked like the Blue Devils were going to have to settle for second place to the Gators as the 3-mile race at Lakewood Forest Preserve headed for the chute. But it was Warren that pulled out an exciting 68-76 victory in the powerful 18-team meet.
Barrington put together a strong effort with a third-place score of 97 points, while Wheaton-Warrenville South held off Grayslake Central by a 118-127 margin for fourth place.
The Blue Devils' winning effort was led by junior Dustin Macuiba (15:21.8), who won the race by 11 seconds over Barrington runner-up Kyle Monahan.
"After two and a half miles I just tried to put a little surge in, and there were just a few puddles you had to look out for," Macuiba said following the race, which was run in only 49 degrees. "The team is doing really well. We keep on getting better, and I think this year we can get to the state meet."
Warren also got a seventh from Jakob Martinez, 12th from Will Kellerhals and 19th from Jaime Delgado. Nathan Campbell rounded out the Blue Devils' top five in 30th place.
"I was surprised because I thought South had beaten us, but both teams ran well," said Warren coach Bill Dawson, whose team will have a rematch with the Gators next Saturday in their own invite. "We ran much better than we did last week. I thought we were very competitive, and our gap closed between Dustin and everybody else today."
CLS freshman Jack Becker ran to fourth place followed by a trio of teammates - Justin Miller (13th), Jon Prus (16th), and Doug Cain (17th) - finishing in a close pack. The Gators also got a 26th-place run from junior Tommy Melone.
"Warren is a really good team, and for us to be able to run with them is fantastic," said CLS coach Rich Eschman. "We had it won with three-quarters of a mile to go, but two of our guys just went backward, and they're not known to do that."
With ACT examinations taking place Saturday, many teams were without their complete seven-man varsity lineup intact. Barrington was missing two of its top seven, but the Broncos had some great front-running from Monahan and ninth-place finisher Konrad Eiring. Senior Ben Laning placed 21st for Barrington.
"(Monahan and Eiring) ran the race plan, and I wanted all of them to run with their teammates," said Barrington coach Tom Root. "I loved seeing Tate (Fisher, 33rd), and Kurtis (Monahan, 32nd) finish together at the end, and it was great to see Kyle (Monahan) hang tough and get that second-place finish that will be a confidence-builder for him."
Grayslake Central continued to show signs of growing, and once again it was sophomore Jack Aho leading the Rams' pack with an impressive fifth-place finish. This is Aho's first season in cross country after competing in soccer last fall as a freshman.
The Rams nipped Crystal Lake Central by one point for fifth place with the help of a 14th-place finish by Max Brunk and a 32nd-place run by John Girmscheid.
"Everybody ran a season-best time, but I would still like to see our pack tighten up a little bit," said Grayslake Central coach Jimmy Centella, whose team is gearing up for another trip downstate this fall. "(Aho) had a strong race, but it's only his fourth cross country race ever. We were really proud of the team today."
Cary-Grove outdistanced Grant 176-254, although the Bulldogs had a stronger duo than the Trojans in seniors Frank Cardy (10th) and Jeffrey Brundidge (15th).
Cary-Grove was led by John Cody in 22nd and Tyler Stordahl in 27th.
"Our top two were in the top 15 so they ran well," said Grant coach Jeff Durlak. "Both of them ran faster today than they did last week at county (Lake County meet) so they are right where they need to be."
Mundelein was led by Ulysses Hagedorn in 25th place, while junior Dylan Ponomar led Grayslake North's squad in 29th. Junior Sang Seo was Cary-Grove's third runner in 35th place. Junior Carlos Rosas led Round Lake in 37th.