Barrington boys puts it all together to win MSL cross country title
Barrington's boys cross country team hit a home run on Saturday at the northwest suburban Busse Woods.
Led by junior Joe Bregenzer (15:08.87), the Broncos powered their way to a third Mid-Suburban League championship in the wet, rainy and windy conditions.
"We've been trying to focus on running as a team and for our teammate in every big race of the season," said Barrington tenth-year coach Tom Root. "We haven't been doing it well."
Until Saturday.
"Today we knocked it out of the park," Root said.
Barrington splashed home with a score of 30 to defeat Hersey (64), Fremd (85), Palatine (110), Prospect (116), Conant (141), Wheeling (224), Buffalo Grove (231), Elk Grove (248), Schaumburg (255), host Hoffman Estates (340) and Rolling Meadows (345).
Also helping to pave the way for Barrington were junior Justin Hurtado (15:38.19 for fifth place), junior Ethan Scott (15:40.68 for sixth), junior Mark Mcginn (15:49.56 for eight), senior Manasyu Chaudhari (15:54.21 for tenth), junior Haru Nagaoka (16:01.49 for 16th) and senior Max Lewis (16:16.12 for 26th).
"Today was kind of the first time we came together and had what I would say was an A-plus effort," said Bregenzer, who produced the program's record time three weeks ago at an invite Detweiller Park in Peoria.
"The course we train on (Ron Beese Park in South Barrington) is also a tough one, kind of like this one today so I think we were used to it. This was a big goal the entire season. I wanted to win as an individual but even more I wanted to win as a team."
Bregenzer went nearly wire to wire to win the race by nearly three seconds over Fremd junior Rory Gaan (15:11.24). Palatine sophomore Alexander Krieg took third (15:17.86) while Hersey senior Zach Frayder (15:37) was fourth.
Bregenzer, who placed third in the race last fall, was running with Gaan at the front when he made a move around the two-and-half mile mark and broke away.
"I'm sure his time (Bregenzer) was darn good today considering the conditions," Root said. "Our home course is an extremely rough course so we'll say we were well prepared for some rough conditions. It's (Beese) always long grass and some rough terrain."
Root has been a part of all three Barrington MSL championships, twice as a coach and once as a runner. He was the individual champ in the 2000 race and coached the last title team in 2020.
In addition to Frayder, Hersey also got a boost from senior Rob Geissenberger (15:58.65 for 12th place), senior Cameron Donner (15:59.45 for 13th), senior AJ Svienty (16:00.83 for 15th) sophomore Mateus Salomao (16:08.02 for 20th) and junior Jon Choi (16:14.99 for 25th).
"Barrington wanted it for sure," said Hersey coach Kevin Young, whose team was third a year ago. "You can never be upset with second place in the MSL but I know our goals were a lot higher than that."
Other all conference runners on Saturday were Fremd freshman Jack Jennings (15:47.56 for seventh place), Palatine junior Carter Hayes (15:50.34 for ninth), Conant senior Jayden Patel (15:58.49 for 11th), Buffalo Grove sophomore Riley Wold (15:59.71 for 14th), Prospect sophomore Luke Robinson (16:03.79 for 17th), Fremd junior Arjun Shah (16:06.26 for 18th), Prospect senior Owen Smith (16:07.08 for 19th), Palatine sophomore James O'Sullivan (16:09.38 for 21st), Prospect senior John Peterson ( (16:09.47 for 22nd), Conant senior Gaven Corpin (16:11.10 for 23rd) and Conant senior Connor Ariunbat (16:13.99 for 24th).