Cross country: St. Charles North edges Hersey on tiebreaker
The 51st annual Harvey Braus Invitational was as close a finish for the team title as you can get in boys cross country Saturday morning at Lake Park.
Led by undefeated individual champ Sam Hill, St. Charles North won the championship of the powerful 18-team meet as it took the North Stars' sixth runner to break a 34-34 tie with Hersey to decide the winner.
“We won it on a tiebreaker because our sixth runner (John Tanig) came in before their sixth runner so it truly was a team win,” said St. Charles North coach Kevin Harrington. “Sam (Hill) was trying to run a little more of a tactical race on a warm day. This was a meet to learn, and in the last half mile I saw all seven of our guys compete.”
Wheaton Warrenville South held off Glenbard West 148-160 for fourth place. Wheaton North (170 points) took sixth, followed by St. Charles East (211) in seventh and Huntley (213) in eighth.
Hersey was led by senior Gabe Gronski in third place, while teammates Johan Gonzalez and Evan Marshall placed fifth and sixth, respectively. St. Charles North’s No. 2 runner was Miles Dill in fourth place, while teammate Logan Hitchings placed seventh.
“I'm happy with our team effort. St. Charles North is really good, and for most of our guys it was their first varsity race with four sophomores and a freshman in our top seven,” said Hersey coach Mike Glosson. “Gabe (Gronski) will just get better and better every week, and the sky's the limit for him.”
Wheaton North was led by Judah Clark in eighth place, followed by Hersey's Lucas Pfoutz in ninth, St. Charles North's Christian Enger in 10th, Hersey's Luke Carlson in 11th, St. Charles North's Ansh Patel in 12th and WW South's Joey Mowrer in 13th.
Michigan State-bound Hill has big goals for himself and his team this season.
“Today I tried to race smart and I took the lead with 1.75 miles to go,” said Hill, who placed ninth in Class 3A last year. “I think we're going to have a really good year as a team, we're going to keep getting better, and we're shooting for a trophy and the win at state.”
Glenbard West was led by Sam Roser in 14th place. Giovani Sanchez Muno was Elgin's top runner in 16th place. The Hilltoppers also got a 19th from Judah Cabral as he edged Wheaton North's Reid Goerzen in 20th, and St. Charles East's Dominic Strada in 21st.
“I think we worked with our top three as a pack and because of that we were able to pull ourselves through the race,” said Roser, whose team got a 23rd from Nathan Ho. “I think there is a lot we haven't shown to many teams and we can perform very well at state.”
Led by Taylor Rihm in first and Filip Vojvodic in second, Libertyville won the 50th annual Al Willhoit Invite hosted by Wauconda with 20 points. Round Lake's Daniel Banuelos placed third at Matthews Middle School in Island Lake.
Girls cross country
Defending Class 3A girls cross country champion Karlin Janowski of York looked like she was ready to run for another state title Saturday morning at the 51st annual Harvey Braus Classic at Lake Park.
Janowski rolled to first place in 16:10.00 to outdistance runner-up Kara Glenn of St. Charles North by 26 seconds. Downers Grove North's Macy Ermitage placed third, and Lane Tech took home the team title with 57 points.
“I had to do a lot of mental preparation going into this meet, and I was really focused going into this race,” Janowski said. “We're the underdogs, but I am excited to see this continue, and I have a really good feeling about the state meet.”
York coach Lauren Deangelis was happy with the performance of Janowski and her squad.
“Karlin executed perfectly, she had a strong, confident start, and that was a solid time for her,” Deangelis said. “We lost a lot of seniors (to graduation), but some girls stepped up today and we're training for October and beyond.”
Glenbard West edged Prospect 81-82 for second place and St. Charles North (89 points) placed fourth. Downers Grove North (138 points) placed fifth.
Junior Adley Wilson led St. Charles East in fifth place, and sophomore Adelaide Galla was Prospect's top runner in sixth.
“This group is very connected. Our strength is in our numbers, and we like our depth,” said Prospect coach Pete Wintermute. “We had some young girls that were down in the JV race, and the top two (in JV meet) would have cracked our top four today (in varsity meet).”
Senior Julia Rodney was St. Charles North's No. 2 runner in eighth place, followed by St. Charles East's Nicole Mayer in ninth and St. Charles North's Gwen Hobson in 10th.
“(Glenn) was strong, she ran great, and the whole group really ran well with PRs throughout for the group,” said St. Charles North coach Shari Hayes. “For the team we want to be top 10 in the state, and I think our top three are really strong.”
Junior Shayne Dietzen led Glenbard West in 12th place, followed by Prospect's Caitlin Resac (13th), and Lake Park's Ruth Dellaria (14th). Huntley's Haley Rahman nipped Glenbard West's Maya Slowikowski by .30 seconds for 17th place.
Hersey, fourth in Class 3A a year ago, was short-handed in the meet due to injuries.
“Gracie (Mabry) is out for two weeks and she's usually our No. 1 runner,” said Hersey coach Mikayla Olsen, who got a first from freshman Maddie Serur in the JV race. “Alyssa (Izenstark, 22nd place) looked good, and she has more in her. Alexandra Kopacz is out for two to three more weeks, but we're young and we're at Peoria next week.”
Glenbard West's Maya Slowikowski (18th), Prospect's Brooklyn Stocking (19th), and Glenbard West's Alyssa Novak rounded out the top 20 runners.
Host Wauconda won the 50th annual Al Willhoit Invite with 38 points as senior Lillian Schubert led the Bulldogs in fifth place.