Tri-Cities runners one step from state
Cross country enthusiasts who might not quite be able to make the two-hour drive to Peoria next Saturday for the state meet, fear not.
Just head to LeRoy Oakes Saturday morning, where you'll get to see many of the same teams who'll be bringing home state trophies next week vying for the Class 3A St. Charles East sectional crown.
Batavia girls coach Chad Hillman certainly knows to expect. Last year three of the top four teams in state ran at this sectional, and the Bulldogs coach expects more of the same.
"It's very tough," said Hillman, rattling off schools like Naperville North, Wheaton Warrenville South, Geneva, Naperville Central and St. Charles East as teams to watch in the girls race. "It's rated as the second-best sectional in the state. We're just looking to do better than last year (15th place)."
While some schools like Batavia set goals like Hillman's team - end their season by running their best race, and maybe get an individual or two through to state - several other in the area have high hopes they'll get their entire team to state. To do that, they need to place in the top five. The girls go first at 10 a.m. followed by the boys at 11.
Of upmost interest, besides seeing which teams and individuals qualify for state, will be watching how the Geneva girls run in their final race before they hope to competing for a third straight state title next week in Peoria.
The Vikings are coming off a perfect 1-2-3-4-5 showing at the West Aurora regional last week, but they will see much faster competition Saturday than they did at Waubonsee Community College.
Geneva's times still weren't as fast as coach Bob Thomson wants to see, though like the rest of cross country teams this year the Vikings haven't run in conditions conducive for fast times.
"It's been tough on everybody to see where we're really at because the courses haven't been favorable to see what our real times are," Thomson said of comparing Geneva with the other elite teams in the state.
Thomson hopes to have Lizza Tauscher back in the lineup. Tauscher sat out last week at regionals to rest her shins.
"I didn't see any reason to force her mentally or physically," Thomson said. "That was our goal to hold her out so hopefully next week (at sectional) and the week after (at state) we'll get more out of her. We felt we could make it through (regional) and we made it through with flying colors."
Geneva's top seven last week were Kelly Whitley, Tess Ehrhardt, Kelly Shogren, Rachel Hammond, Megan Brady, Cory McLauchlen and Taylor Wickware.
St. Charles East and St. Charles North will have one advantage - they both ran on this same course last week at the St. Charles North regional.
The Saints won the regional with 36 points while the North Stars were second with 56.
Sophomore Mallory Abel, junior Colleen Earl, freshman Jessica Evans, senior Grace Gordon and freshman Sarah Hill all placed in the top 15 for the Saints, who won even though many of their runners were still feeling the affects of the flu. If Abel is healthy, she'll be one of the runners to beat.
St. Charles North coach Shari Hayes said her team is sitting in the fifth through seventh range, so the North Stars will have to be in top form to get through to state. Hayes' team also hasn't been at full strength lately missing Kali Vence at the Upstate Eight meet (illness) and Jessica Scheets last week (injury).
Both plan to run Saturday joining Meghan Heuer, Erica Bauerbach, Audrey White, Lauren Muth and Alexa Clink.
"This week sectional will be very tough," Hayes said. "We ran well last week, but we still were not at full strength. Meghan, Erica and Jessica are all three solid front runners."
Hayes has been pleased with how the freshman White has stepped up, finishing ninth last week at regionals.
Boys race: Also running on their home course will be Steve Imig's North Stars boys team, fresh off regional and conference championships the past two weeks.
"We are looking forward to the opportunity of competing on our home course," Imig said. "We feel like our best races are still in front of us."
Look for a balanced field in the boys race. St. Charles North, Naperville North, Wheaton Warrenville South, Wheaton North, Geneva and Dundee-Crown are among the teams to watch.
Imig is looking for Kyle Zankowski to be as far up as possible and then get their pack in. The North Stars had one of their smallest 1-5 splits of the year at 28 seconds last week, and Imig wants to see that continue in the sub-30 second range.
Junior Ryan Senci is emerging as the No. 2 runner, then Peter Johnson, Will Novorolsky, Brad Wheeler and Billy Clink have made up the pack that has been running so well.
"We feel confident that we have the individual pieces that we need to have a strong collective team finish," Imig said.
Geneva also is working hard to be in the top five, currently ranked fifth by Dyestat according to Thomson.
Front-runners Kevin McDowell and Kevin Sparks are coming off a 1-2 finish at regional decided by a mere .1 seconds. Justin Rodriguez, Connor Bartel and Ryan Ahern finished in the top 18 at regional and will need a strong collective race to help the team qualify for state.
"Our boys have been really working hard, steadily improving over the course of the season," Thomson said. "Early in the season they were ranked anywhere 8-12. They have caught the eyes of a lot of people. But it really doesn't matter ultimately what they think, it's a mater of how we perform."
Sparks is confident in his teammates not just to qualify for state but to compete with the best teams Saturday.
"We've got a great 1-7," Sparks said. "We've got good depth. I have a lot of confidence we can do even better than that (top five). It will be competitive, exciting. It's one of those meets where if a team has an off day it can drop them two or three places just like that."
West Aurora, St. Charles East and Batavia also all qualified for this sectional.
Class 2A: You couldn't ask for a closer finish than last week at Oakhurst, where Marmion edged Kaneland for the Aurora Central regional title with its sixth runner's score.
Both teams go at it again Saturday at Belvidere North.
"At the beginning of the season, our goal involved winning a conference, regional and sectional crown and trophying at state," Marmion coach Dan Billish said. "We are halfway there and believe this weekend will be a true test of our character."
That's because many see host Belvidere North as the top team in state. Others to watch include Sycamore, Dixon, St. Francis and Woodstock.
"Our main goal is to get experience running against the top caliber teams in 2A to affirm our position near the top come November," Billish said. "This year's team is the most confident team I have ever coached."
Zack Young, coming off a second-place finish at regional, is a potential top-five state runner, according to Billish, who thinks Ben Kanute can be top 15 at state.
Kanute's younger brother Josh, a freshman, earned all-conference two weeks ago and was Marmion's fifth runner at regional.
"Most freshman would cause me to shake a bit and question the consistency, but not with Josh," Billish said. "He is humble and offered up his spot in the varsity squad earlier this season to let seniors get a chance to race. It is truly remarkable to see that type of behavior from a 15-year-old."
Kaneland coach Chad Clarey is just as proud of the year his team has had.
It's been a true team effort for the Knights, whose strength lies in a senior pack Dominic Furco, Logan Markuson and Edgar Valle that finished 17th, 18th and 19th last week. Add in another senior Joe Levita plus front-runners Trevor Holm and Matt Reusche, and that veteran group is the "heart and soul" of the team, according to Clarey.
It's a group that has improved by leaps and bounds in their years at Kaneland. Clarey remembers finishing dead last at the Peoria Woodruff Invitational in 2006 with over 1,400 points. Through hard work - a combined 12,000 miles from the team over the past two summers - the Knights are on the verge of consecutive state trips.
"We're not a real big team, so they've all had their part in making this a nice success story," Clarey said. "It didn't come cheap or easy.
"They are trying to keep their season outcomes alive, and making it back to the state finals. Their leadership is second to none in the 15 years that I have been coaching. They have shown our younger runners how to go about training, racing and living like a Kaneland cross country runner."
That pack runs behind Kaneland's top two of junior Holm and senior Reusche, who finished fourth and eighth respectively at regionals. Holm, who was Kaneland's No. 6 runner at state last year, has come on strong this year to give Kaneland an "extra punch upfront" according to Clarey.
Kaneland placed eighth in the 2008 Class 2A state meet and Clarey hopes his team can stay healthy, have a strong sectional and get back to Peoria.
"The sectional race is a complete tossup," Clarey said. "Any number of teams can qualify, and there will be state-caliber teams that go home. We just want to keep our pack split down to around 40 seconds, put one in the top 10 and see where that lands us."