Boys cross country: St. Charles East wins 1st 3A title
Bob Liking discovered a cross country layout befitting his surname on Saturday morning in Aurora.
The St. Charles East junior anchored his team to its first Class 3A sectional championship with his fifth-place finish in 15 minutes, 2.9 seconds at Waubonsie Valley.
The Saints' depth that has been the cornerstone of their No. 2 ranking in the coaches' poll was further illuminated with the contributions of Micah Wilson, Aidan King and Bennett Melone.
The St. Charles East triumvirate finished in respective slots Nos. 8, 11 and 12; when fifth man Zach Loomis crossed the finish line in 23rd, the Saints had secured a 59-82 victory over reigning state runner-up Neuqua Valley.
It was the Saints' first boys sectional championship since a Class AA title in 1987.
Oswego East (104), Naperville North (128) and Huntley (129) earned the other three qualifying positions to the state finals at Detweiller Park in Peoria on Saturday.
"The main thing was qualifying," Liking said. "Winning was just a cherry on top. We're going to have a lot of momentum going into next week."
Wilson was a revelation for the Saints as the freshman exceeded all expectations with his eighth-place finish.
"It was crazy," Wilson said. "Our team just did really well. I thought I was going to get outkicked by (Geneva senior) Ryan Kredell (ninth)."
"Micah Wilson just had a tremendous race," Liking said. "I can't say enough good things about him."
Almost a year to the day of failing to make the state grade at the same location, Huntley qualified for only the second time in its history.
In a tense battle for individual supremacy, Naperville Central's Michigan-bound senior Thomas Shilgalis turned back the Raiders' Ian Geisler by three hundredths of a second (14:49.1-14:49.4).
"Last year we were a little too cocky coming in," said Geisler, who was complemented by Jadon Conroy (13th) and Chris Simek (25th). "This year we kept our heads cool. If we wanted to make it, we had to run as if it were our last race. We definitely did today."