Hoffman breaks out to give Hawks big boost
Hoffman Estates boys cross country coach Matt Dowd knew that for the Hawks to have a successful season, they needed good fifth runner.
That problem may have been solved Saturday with the breakout performance of senior Chris Hoffman in the Peoria Invitational at Detweiller Park.
Hoffman finished 15 seconds faster than his previous best on the course and helped form an impressive Hawks' pack that saw all five runners finish in the top 41.
But perhaps more importantly, the Hawks' top five all finished within 29 seconds of each other.
"(Hoffman) is starting to come around," Hawks coach Matt Dowd said after his team placed second with 148 to York's 64. "That's good news for where we're heading. Now that we have the big hole filled, now our goal is together to move the pack up."
Hoffman Estates had strong efforts by Ross Goers (15:16) in ninth and Matthew Perez (15:25) in 19th
Junior Chris Hayek placed sixth individually to propel Prospect to a fifth place finish. Coach Mike Stokes said he was very happy with the performances of sophomore Chris Spudic and freshman Kellen Strobel after both turned in quality races while dealing with injuries.
Barrington finished seventh behind seniors Matt Barns and Dan Quarfoot, who placed fourth and 11th, respectively.
Junior Kevin Clark was 24th as Rolling Meadows finished 10th. Senior Ken Diedrich finished 49th as Wheeling placed 12th.
At St. Charles North:ŒHersey senior Kevin Havel won the meet with a time of 14:49, as the next runner, St. Charles North's Scott Speare, came in 18 seconds later at Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles.
"(Havel) really wanted to go out hard in that first mile, and I thought he looked really easy coming in," Hersey coach Tim Phillips said. "He looked great."
The host North Stars placed all 7 runners in the top 18 with no one clocking in any later than 16:09, which led them to a first-place finish with a score of 30.
Havel's place led Hersey to a second-place finish, followed by Batavia (68), Belvidere North (91) and Streamwood (170) rounding out the top 5. Elk Grove placed sixth (178).
Hersey's next runner after Havel was fifth-place Eric Stanton, followed by Mike Tisza (ninth), Ben Zielke (20th) and Eric Johnson (25th). The Huskies were missing two of their runners.
"I was excited because some of the other guys really stepped up," Phillips said.
Elk Grove's best runner was 27th-place finisher Jeremy DeMoss, along with Tim Mucha and Pat Connaghan.
-- Christine Bolin
At Niles West: There was not a lot of extra running room for area boys cross country runners Saturday morning as they set out for the 37th Annual Patrick Savage Invitational.
With a total of 38 teams running in one of the largest meets in the United States, Warren rose to the top of the White Division standings in the 3-mile race at Niles West High School.
The Blue Devils took home the championship with 107 points as junior Karsen Green led Warren with a first-place time of 15:20.
Lake Park was a dominant force in the Red Division standings as the Lancers captured that title by a 21-68 margin over runner-up Leyden.
Grayslake Central (105 points) had a solid fourth-place showing in the Red Division while Prospect (117 points) used a substitute lineup to place second in the White Division.
Youth was served well for Prospect as the Knights showed a lot of depth behind Tommy Lawler (13th), Hammad Zulgadar (16th), and Brian Armgardt (19th).
"The guys packed it up really well," said Prospect assistant coach Pete Wintermute. "It was kind of nice to have a lot of seniors here and put in a good performance on their homecoming weekend."
Senior Dan Kozicki (21st) was St. Viator's top runner in the White Division.
Leyden's pack running was very impressive behind Mizael Carrera (13th), Fernando Ramirez (14th), Herald Alvarez (15th), Rafael Crisosto (16th), and Ray Rivera (22nd).
"It was their best performance of the year and I couldn't be happier because they all ran PRs," said Leyden coach Brad Henning. "We packed them together and the key today was our top four guys all hitting their goal times. Our 5-6-7 ran awesome."
-- John Bumbales