Mid-size schools target state

DuPage County is loaded again this year with some of the best Class AAA boys cross country teams, but it also has three teams ranked in the top 25 in Class AA in Wheaton Academy, Glenbard South and Fenton.

As a junior last season, Wheaton Academy's Mark Phillips placed 28th downstate, raising the bar of expectation heading into this season.

So far, he's clearing that bar with room to spare.

"He has made a big jump and it's a credit to him," said Wheaton Academy coach Bill Bickhart. "His focus and running has been great, he was smart this summer and finishing in the top five at Peoria Notre Dame was a very big deal for him.

"All the credit goes to him."

Phillips placed fifth in a field of 385 runners on Sept. 20 at the 55-team Peoria meet, posting a time of 15:06. He followed that with a second-place finish at Aurora Central Catholic's 21-team Charger Classic Invitational.

Phillips posted a time of 14:56.4 to finish second behind Marmion's Andrew Larsen, who placed 10th downstate last year, and won the individual title with a time of 14:34.

Marmion won the team title at Aurora Central with 36 points, Yorkville was second with 93, and the Warriors finished third with 99 team points.

Junior Mike DeRenzo finished ninth overall, and junior Kent Smith placed 15th to help lead the Warriors to third place.

"Those two guys are just as committed and working just as hard," Bickhart said. "Mike and Kent are solid, they had great summers, and it's paying off for them."

We've got a solid 1-4 front, and we just want the team to do well. We all want Mark to do well, but we also want the other guys to help get us to the state tournament."

The Warriors are ranked 11th in Class AA in Illinois at Dyestat.com and will have their work cut out for them as one of 10 teams feeding this year's Belvidere sectional, which includes top-ranked Belvidere North and a pair of top-10 ranked teams in Sycamore and Kaneland.

No. 20 Glenbard South and No. 21 Fenton also feed into the Belvidere sectional. The Raiders have been led this year by Ben Miller and Joe Soderberg and have a core of quality sophomores who are poised to move up to varsity when coach Andy Preuss thinks it's time.

"They were at sectionals last year as freshmen, so they've got some experience. We'll leave them down until Oct. 11 meet," Preuss said. Kyle Berenschot, Grant Gibson, Mike Howard, Dave McGrath and Collin White led the Raiders' sophomore team to a tournament title at this year's Lakefront Invite. Miller made it downstate last year in Class AA, and "even though he's a little behind from studying abroad over the summer, he'll be better by the end of the year," Preuss said.

The Raiders are also getting a solid contribution from senior Luke Zanoni, a first-year cross country runner, and Preuss sees all three seniors in the hunt for a place among the team's top seven.

At Fenton, coach John Kurtz's team starts with twin senior brothers Nathan and Justin Smith.

"We're very strong at one and two, probably the strongest we've been since 2001," Kurtz said. "They're a very solid one and two, and they've improved since last year when they were one and two as well."

Nathan Smith has finished in front of his brother in every meet this season thus far, but Justin Smith has finished anywhere between one and 30 seconds behind him. The only meet they haven't both finished in the top 20 was the 29-team Palatine Invitational, where Nathan Smith still managed to finish 29th in a field of 186 runners, with a time of 15:13.5.

Justin placed 65th at Palatine, running the course in 15:41.6.

Nathan and Justin finished seventh and eighth at Fenton's Earlybird meet to start the year, first and third at the Gordon Tech Invite, and third and tenth at the Warren Invite.

"They're as hard-working and dedicated as any athletes I've ever had. Their commitment is phenomenal," Kurtz said.

The Bison have a pair of sophomores in Rob Howe and M.J. Harkins, a junior in Eric Hermansen, and a senior in Stephen Uhl all in the mix for Kurtz.

"We are improving. We've got two sophomores in our top five, and that's great but it's a bit of a challenge," he said. "Our pack split has been high, in the two-minute range, but we're having some rotation among them. So we're in transition right now."