Geneva makes clean sweep of Western Sun

The Geneva boys cross country team accomplished something they never have done before -- win a conference championship.

The Vikings won their first-ever Western Sun Conference title Saturday at Elburn Woods after placing 4 runners in the top 6 and all 7 in the top 20.

"We're ecstatic," Geneva coach Bob Thomson said. "Everyone had us picked as the pre-conference favorite. Some of the boys might be disappointed -- they might have thought we'd win by a greater margin -- but if a few of them had a bad day and we still won conference, then that's (OK). One of our goals coming in was to win conference."

Glenbard South won the title the previous six seasons before the Vikings came in and won it this year with 30 points.

Sycamore was not too far behind the Vikings with 36 after placing 3 in the top 7, including the first-place finisher, senior Derek Campbell, who clocked in at 15:45.

DeKalb and Yorkville tied for third with 92. Batavia was next with 105, Glenbard South was sixth with a 205, Rochelle was next at 207 and Kaneland scored a 208.

Kevin Sparks led the Vikings with his second-place finish and time of 15:51, six seconds after Campbell.

"Kevin Sparks really came on," Thomson said of his sophomore, who hasn't raced in two weeks. "It was great he finished up there. He broke up Sycamore's top 2. We won by 6, and it would have been more like 2 (points) if he hadn't broken those guys up."

Other Geneva finishers included Greg Adelman (fourth place), Kevin McDowell (fifth), Drew Isbel (sixth) and Andrew Nelson (13th).

Batavia, which was plagued with a combination of injuries, bad luck and illness, placed fifth.

"The good news is it happened this week. We still get a chance to move on (in regionals)," Batavia coach Mike DiDomenico said. "The bad news is obviously, the kids wanted to do well. We've had six great weeks of running great. We were bound to have a bad meet. Unfortunately, it was at conference…We just weren't on today, that's all."

The Bulldogs' Robbie Blotter led the way with his 12th-place finish and time of 16:27.

Drew Schmitt (17th), Brad Wloszczynski (23rd), Al Lowe (26th) and Stephen Jurgens (27th) also guided the Bulldogs.

"(Lowe) showed promise last week and he really gelled this week," DiDomenico said. "This is the second week he's run on varsity. He really had a good race. He's earned a spot on the varsity team."

Kaneland had Kevin Huml lead the way, as the senior clocked in 16:53, which was good for 25th place. The next runner for the Knights was Ben Brown (43rd), followed by Lucas Ross (44th and had his best race of his career), Jason Allen (46th) and David Towell (50th).

"There's a lot of things (Huml and Towell) they've done right, and we wouldn't be where we are without them," Kaneland coach Chad Clarey said. "Kevin Huml was at a disadvantage because he didn't have teammates in his immediate proximity he could key off of and help him race…it's a tough when there's no one else around you in the same jersey you are. That hinders him a little bit, but next week going into the regional, he's going to get something back that's really going to help him a lot."

Sixth through eighth place was determined by less than a handful of points, which placed Kaneland last.

"They gave it their all," Clarey said. "They didn't hold anything back. They have a lot to be proud of as far as the season they had individually. (How) we placed in the conference meet doesn't say as much to us as what they did for us throughout the summer and the season."

Girls race:ŒWith the way the Geneva girls cross country team has been running all season, it was no shock to any opposing team the Vikings easily won the Western Sun Conference title.

The Vikings scored a total of 16 points and placed all 7 runners in the top 8 spots Saturday at Elburn Woods.

"They've got a great team," Batavia coach Chad Hillman said on Geneva. "It's a weird thing -- it was us last year. It's not usually as lopsided from one year to the next. It was kind of a neat thing to see other teams get up there and mix it up."

"We knew going in Geneva was going to be…they just have some horses this year that no one else can really touch," added Glenbard South coach Bill Grosser. "It was their meet to lose, and obviously, they didn't do that. They are very talented."

This is the fourth time in five years the Vikings won the conference title. They finished second last year and won it the previous three years.

Batavia, which placed second overall with a score of 71, won the conference title last year.

"It was our best race of the year," Hillman said. "We are moving in the right direction. We are as healthy as we've been. You want to run your best at the end and that's what we are doing."

Sycamore placed third with an 85, followed by DeKalb (109), Kaneland (143), Yorkville (145), Glenbard South (155) and Rochelle (224).

Geneva freshman standout Kelly Whitley coasted through the race and finished first with a time of 18:21.

"Kelly has really come on," Geneva coach Bob Thomson said of Whitley, who came in 21 seconds before the next runner. "She's getting stronger and stronger. In the spring, she's a triathlete, and I think that has helped her be a really strong athlete."

The next three Geneva runners -- Liza Tauscher, Kat Yelle and Rachel Hammond -- are all freshmen who placed second, third and fourth, respectively.

One Batavia sophomore, Alexis Sampson, broke up Geneva's pack by placing fifth with a time of 19:29.

Geneva, however, owned the next three spots, thanks to Tess Ehrhardt, Megan Brady and Myra Yelle.

After Sampson, Batavia was led by Amanda Good (14th place), Teresa Orlow (15th), Anna Suthpen (16th) and Sydney Spain (21st).

"All of them ran a lot better," Hillman said. "I can't point one out over the other. They just ran much more aggressive."

Kaneland's top runner was freshman Andi Strang, who came in 11th with a time of 20:08. Following her was Lisa Roberson (17th), Ali Olson (26th) and Kelli Patterson (42nd) in the Knights' fifth-place finish.

"I thought they ran well, especially (Strang and Roberson)," Kaneland coach Doug Ecker said. "It was very competitive for them. It was good competition. They finished where I thought they would. I'm happy with what they did."

-- Christine Bolin