Cross country: Elgin’s Sanchez Munoz wins by large margin, but Buffalo Grove takes team title
Elgin junior Giovani Sanchez Munoz was the class of the field Saturday morning at the Elk Grove Invitational. But there was very little separating Buffalo Grove and Lake Park in the team competition of this boys cross country meet.
Sanchez Munoz rolled to first place in 16:04.52. In the end the Bison held off Lake Park 46-48 for the team title. The host Grenadiers (93 points) placed third.
Conant edged Elgin 112-114 for fourth place while Hoffman Estates (122 points) placed sixth.
“I pulled away in the forest and I took the lead in the second mile,” said Sanchez Munoz. “One of my main goals is to at least break the school record (14:57), and I just have to commit to the sport.”
Elgin coach Christopher Vargas is very happy with the progress Sanchez Munoz has made.
“He had a good track season and a good summer, and now it's showing up,” Vargas said. “We just want him to improve and develop and whatever happens, happens.”
Conant's Johnny Basile took second place followed by Buffalo Grove's Spencer Flershem in third, Lake Park's Michael Mazza in fourth and Buffalo Grove's Arcangel Trujillo in fifth.
“We're coming back from losing five of our top seven, and our guys competed to the very end,” said Buffalo Grove coach Miguel Parra Garcia. “It's a great start for us with this younger crew, and it's great having a senior leader like Spencer back on the squad.”
Elk Grove was led by Ethan George in sixth place followed by Lake Park's Tommy Jalowiec in seventh, Elk Grove's Charlie Brondsema in eighth, Lake Park's Joshua Wittig in ninth and Buffalo Grove's Patrick Romanski in 10th.
“I thought our boys were maybe a little too conservative in the first 800 meters, and they had to claw their way back the whole race,” said Lake Park coach Joey Pacione. “(Mazza) is a sophomore, and he's really starting to step up as our leader.”
The Bison got an 11th-place finish from Luke Hilgeman as he nipped Elgin's Gio Gonzalez in 12th, Lake Park's Tim Dellaria in 13th, Elk Grove's Kevin Fernandez in 14th, Lake Park's Lukas Svabas in 15th and Maine East's Lyric Henry in 16th.
At the Rich Eschman Invite in Crystal Lake, Mundelein took third place in the 16-team field as Lakes' Cooper Summy took second place at Veterans Acres Park.
Wauconda outdistanced Crystal Lake South 187-196 for sixth place while Izic Miller led Mundelein in 11th place.
At the third annual Vicky Piela Invite hosted by Grayslake Central, Cary-Grove took first place with 54 points. Grant was led by Tyler Wahls in third place, while Cary-Grove teammates Aaron Milewski and Michael Starr placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
Girls cross country
There was no stopping Lake Park senior Ruth Dellaria. Dellaria was on a mission to take first place at the Elk Grove Invitational.
A pack of girls cross country runners kept close to Dellaria for two-thirds of the race, but Dellaria rolled to first place in 19:09.16.
The team competition was exciting as Buffalo Grove held off Conant 47-52 for the championship under some pretty warm running conditions. Lake Park edged the host Grenadiers 72-73 for third place.
“I was kind of controlled the first mile, pressed the second mile and kind of gave everything I had left in the third mile,” said Dellaria, who finished 35 seconds ahead of Hoffman Estates runner-up Gabriella MacNider. “It was not my best meet timewise, but definitely execution-wise. I would love to be all-state (top 25), but it's going to take some work.”
Elk Grove's Elena Bis placed third, while Conant teammates Lily Schaefers and Taylor Kinnare placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Buffalo Grove's road to the crown was led by the trio of Taylor Sipiera, Madelyn Reece and Dagmar Alonso taking places six through eight.
“We have some freshmen on our squad (Reece and 10th-place finisher Megan Fritzsche) so I really wasn't sure what to expect,” said Buffalo Grove coach Danielle Freeman. “We needed to run close through 2 miles so we did a lot to focus as a group instead of individuals.”
Elk Grove's Emma Sanders placed ninth while Conant's Megan Schaefers placed 11th.
“That was our first meet of the season and they really worked well together,” said Conant coach Kalli Dalton. “Our top two ran great, and it was good that we have an upperclassman (Schaefers) really being able to bring that freshman along with her to help our program excel.”
The Lancers got a 12th from Penelope Panagiotopoulos and a 13th from Julianne Solano. Elgin's Teagan Culver and Conant's Olivia Hwang rounded out the top 15 runners.
“I was really proud of the move (Dellaria) made in the second mile and broke up the race,” said Lake Park coach Joey Pacione. “I think each athlete ran really well for themselves.”
At the Rich Eschman Invite in Crystal Lake, Lake Zurich won the team title with 46 points as Celia Blaylock, Chloe Wettstein and Abigail Kocher swept the top three places for the Bears.
Fremd (88 points) took third place followed by Lisle in fourth and the host Gators in fifth. Antioch's Molly Glowacki placed sixth followed by Lake Zurich's Patricia Johnson in seventh, and Fremd's Adeline Dietrich in eighth.
Libertyville placed second at the third annual Vicky Piela Invite hosted by Grayslake Central, while Cary-Grove placed fifth at Central Park.
Cary-Grove junior Alexandra Santoyo (18:52.60) won the 3-mile race by 36 seconds, while Corinne Kalvass (fifth), Julia Garrison (eighth) and Elsie Colin (ninth) led Libertyville.