Boys cross country: Harland invite worth the wait for Antioch's Smith

The Pat Harland Invitational was one race that Antioch senior Charlie Smith had been eyeing heading into the big meet Saturday morning in Lake Villa.

And with the meet having to move from his flooded home course at Fox River Park in far southern Wisconsin to the potentially treacherous grounds of Lakes Community High School, Smith knew he was going to be in for a battle with some of the top Class 2A runners in the state on the 2.91-mile course.

But when Smith crossed the finish line in 14:50.6, he was indeed the individual champion by a mere .30 seconds over runner-up Nathan Schmitt of Lake Forest. Schmitt placed second in the state last fall.

The battle for the team title wasn't nearly as dramatic or exciting as the individual race, as Kaneland toppled second-place Warren 56-103 to take home the first-place trophy.

Crystal Lake South had a solid sixth-place showing with 161 points in the 16-team field, while Grayslake Central outdistanced Elgin 200-213 for eighth place. The host Sequoits placed 10th with 225 points, while Grayslake North (306) was 12th.

Smith seemed to be laboring as he headed down the stretch run for the chute. He still managed to hold off Schmitt and Kaneland's Austin Adams, who placed third in Class 2A in 2018. Lake Forest has moved back up to Class 3A this season, but Smith will certainly be among the individual state title contenders when the state meet rolls around on Nov. 9.

"I was in my top gear. I usually have a stronger kick, but this was the first race I've had at that pace," said Smith, who placed fourth in the state as a junior. "I definitely think I'm only going to get better from here. I've always had this race on my calendar because this was a test against some of the best Class 2A runners in the state."

Antioch coach Chris Bailey had to suffer through a few nervous moments heading into the stretch run. But he was excited about the performance Smith put together despite sloppy course conditions against his rivals from Lake Forest and Kaneland.

"(Smith) held off some of the top runners in the state, and mentally this has to be huge for him because he hasn't lost this year," Bailey said. "He's finding ways to win which I think is great so I think that is important."

Warren's performance was led by sophomore Luke Wiley in 10th place. He got strong support from teammates Griffin Pasha in 14th and John Wiser in 18th.

"We were a little undermanned today so finishing second against this competition was pretty good," said Warren coach Bill Dawson, whose team will run in the North Suburban Conference meet at Lake Forest in two weeks. "We're missing three of our top seven runners today, and he (Wiley) fell during the race or he might have picked up another place."

Crystal Lake South's troops were led by Alex Picchi in 17th place, while less-than-full-strength teammate Matt Brown continued his comeback with a 29th-place finish for the Gators. CLS also got a 30th-place run from Chris Davis.

"In the last half-mile we just have to finish, and we probably lost 20 points in the last 800 meters with guys getting passed," Crystal Lake South coach Rich Eschman said. "(Picchi) was about ninth with a little over a half mile to go, but in the last half-mile we really struggled."

Grayslake Central's pack was led by senior Craig Hundley in ninth place, while Elgin's Noah Munoz took home 22nd place. Senior Brandt Batteau was Grayslake North's No. 1 runner in 28th place, while Emmanuel Lopez placed 32nd for Elgin. Maxwell Zeisler was Warren's fourth runner in 35th place.