Win, place, good show
Neuqua Valley's Danny Pawola was anxious to see his team put on a good postseason show, and Saturday's Upstate Eight Conference meet was as good a time as any.
In fact given the strength of the UEC this fall and the fact that the top-ranked Wildcats have not been assigned to the toughest regional and sectional meets, Saturday's race at Lake Park may prove to be more competitive for Neuqua Valley than any other race left shy of the state finals.
With senior Chris Derrick blazing through the course in 13:57 and Pawola and teammate Aaron Beattie coming through the chute in second and third, respectively, Neuqua easily defended its league crown with a score of 26. Waubonsie Valley (59) and St. Charles North (61) each had strong showings but could not slow the Wildcats much on this day.
"We were hyped to put on a strong show today," said Pawola, who took second in 14:36. "We knew our 4-5 guys had to come to run and they sure did. We looked great today."
Derrick was great throughout his race, but he kicked things up a notch when he entered the stadium track, caught a glimpse of the time clock and knew he had a shot at coming in under 14 minutes.
"I knew it was fast and I knew I could get a good time, but I just went out relaxed and strong," said Derrick, who recorded a personal-best time. "I saw the clock and I knew I had to drop the hammer the last 300 meters. I felt real good, and the last 50 meters I was real happy."
Neuqua Valley coach Paul Vandersteen had a lot to be happy about. Starting with the boys open race in which Michael Ruff won with a 15:16 and Neuqua Valley took the top four finishes, the Wildcats came out and attacked the course. Not only did the varsity team go 1-2-3 with Derrick's blazing trail at the top, but Bryan Winek was eighth in 14:59 and Kevin Grady was 12th in 15:16. Joshua Budnik finished in 15:18 to take 13th in the UEC and did not crack Neuqua Valley's top five scorers.
"We cut back a little bit yesterday," said Vandersteen, noting that his runners usually run 9-10 miles on Fridays but chopped that down to 5-6 miles this week. "I think it was that little bit of rest and the weather that provided all of these phenomenal times. I was ecstatic with Beattie and Winek. We got momentum starting with the open race and then everyone competed."
Heading south for regional and sectional action, the Wildcats will not face the usual stiff competition on the way to state.
"It's ironic. This is the best team we've ever had and we've got the easiest path to state we've ever had," Vandersteen said
Waubonsie Valley -- paced by Mark Schumacher, who was sixth in 14:55, and David Schumacher, ninth in 15:04 -- just did edge out St. Charles North for second place. For the Stars, Chris DeSilva (fourth in 14:41), Scott Speare (seventh in 14:58) and Michael Strasser (10th, 15:08) each finished in the top 10.
"I tell you, we knew coming in that it's a great conference," St. Charles North coach Steve Imig said. "We have our work to do in the weeks ahead, but five of our seven guys had lifetime PRs today. You look at Chris and Scott and you see two guys who expect to do well at state. This just shows the depth of our conference."
Streamwood's Neal Klein turned in a strong 14:51 effort to place fifth, while Lake Park was led by Alex Rummelhart, who took 17th in 15:32.