So close! St. Peter closes the gap, places third by three points
The hills in Randall Oaks Park are tough. Ask any cross country runner from the Tri-County Catholic Conference and they'll cringe at the thought of having to compete on the steep ridge lines that can bring a run to a near halt. These very hills in West Dundee have been on their minds all season knowing that the conference championship would be decided by their humbling grade.
Ten points separated the St. Peter fifth- and sixth-grade team from the second-place trophy most of the season and they decided that Randall Oaks was where those points would fall. It would be a long shot against the talented team from St. Patrick but the Rockets were up for the challenge. In a courageous race of wills and new boundaries, the St. Peter fifth- and sixth-grade team nearly pulled off what seemed impossible only a few weeks ago, placing third with 62 points to St. Patrick's 59. Even the perennial winner St. Charles Borromeo of Hampshire had their invincible season dented on the hills scoring 39 points, their highest all season. The Rockets were led by top 10 finishers Lucas Chung, Ryan Fors, Colleen Thumm, Grace Caskey and Stella Feldhaus. Also contributing was Nathan Beck, 11th for the boys.
Meanwhile the seventh- and eighth-grade team held their own for third place behind winner St. Patrick with 34 points and St. Charles Borromeo with 55 points. The St. Peter team scored 69 points, led by William Huber and Ben Robertson in seventh and eighth place, respectively. St. Peter's Nora Brady was back in good form with a second-place finish followed by her teammates Kaitlin Zucco in fifth, Mary Tork in ninth and Caitlin Gallagher in 10th. Ryan Thumm also contributed to the Rockets score with a 14th-place finish.
All told the St. Peter Rockets brought home many medals, two team trophies and some great memories of a challenging and fun conference season. The team now moves onto even greater challenges beginning with the 27-team Fred Martin Invitational at Melas Park in Arlington Heights on Saturday. This will give the boys and girls teams one last chance to compete together and hone their skills before IESA Sectionals on Oct. 8 at Harvest Christian Academy in Elgin.