Palatine Immanuel Lutheran cross country teams defend state titles
The boys and girls cross country teams from Immanuel Lutheran School, Palatine, defended their state championship titles on Saturday, Oct. 15, in Bloomington. Eighth-grader Matt Ulrich placed first in the boys race with a run of 11:18.57 in the two-mile course as the boys team tied their own state record of 16 points set in 2010.
The boys have won the Lutheran Sports Association Cross Country state titles three years in a row, while the girls have won two in a row after finishing third in 2009. Both Bobcats teams have only been competing in cross country for the past three years.
“It’s truly remarkable what these athletes have accomplished in just a few years,” said Ken Heinrich, head coach of both the Immanuel Lutheran boys and girls teams. “Our cross country motto is ‘To God Be the Glory.’ These kids never forget that without God, there is no success.”
A total of 101 boys, representing 23 Lutheran grade schools from throughout the state, participated in the meet. The Immanuel boys placed its top five runners in the first nine finishers: Matt Ulrich (first place, 11:18.57), Nate Izewski (third place, 11:48.71), Nate Rathe fourth place, 11:59.09), Britt Sease (sixth place, 12:09.95) and Dylan Tapia (ninth place, 12:40.22).
The 2010 top-five final boys team results were: Immanuel Lutheran-Palatine (16 points); Trinity Lutheran-Bloomington (68); Altamont Lutheran Interparish (86); St. Peter Lutheran-Arlington Heights (118); and Zion Lutheran-Marengo (125).
In cross country, team scores are calculated by adding the finishing place of a team’s top-five runners. The lowest score wins. Teams without five finishing runners are removed from the team scoring and remaining runners advance for team score calculation. As a result, Immanuel Lutheran boys finished first, second, third, fourth and sixth for a team total of 16 points. A perfect cross country team total is 15 points.
The Immanuel Lady Bobcats repeated as state champions with a score of 35 points. Ninety-seven girls, representing 20 Lutheran grade schools, participated in the meet. The Lady Bobcats placed its top five runners in the first 17 finishers: Nadya Lloyd (second place, 12:31.11) and twin-sister Danya Lloyd (third place, 12:53.06); Anna LaValle (fourth place, 13:01.04); Lauren Glaser (ninth place, 13:34.34) and Claire Fathers (17th place, 13:59.76).
The 2010 top-five girls’ team results were: Immanuel Lutheran-Palatine (35 points); Cross Lutheran-Yorkville (45); Our Savior’s Lutheran-Springfield (105); Bethel Lutheran-Morton (123); and Trinity Lutheran-Bloomington (140).
In addition to Heinrich, the Immanuel Bobcats also are coached by assistants Marcia Mathes and Kim Schneider-Mores.
Both the boys and girls Immanuel Lutheran teams will compete in the Lutheran Sports Association National Cross Country Championship Meet at Concordia University-Wisconsin, in Mequon, Wis., on Saturday, Oct. 22. Official Lutheran Sports Association Cross Country State Meet results can be found on the association’s website, www.luthsports.org.
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