Glenbard South’s Wold first at state
PEORIA — John Wold had his fair share of able-bodied company Saturday morning at Detweiller Park.
Still, the Glenbard South runner swept the Class 2A boys cross country state tournament series uninterrupted with a brilliant closing stretch.
Wold toured the second half of the 3-mile course in an unofficial seven minutes flat, pulling away from three tightly bunched competitors to become the second Glenbard South boy to win an individual state cross country championship with his blistering pace of 14 minutes, 16 seconds.
The junior, fourth a year ago, turned back Crystal Lake Central senior Alex Baker by five seconds to win the title.
“I thought I could (win a state championship) after I ran the (Wheaton Academy) sectional time,” Wold said after completing his regional, sectional and state sweep. “Everything came together during the race. I had to counter all the moves. I sprinted by (Baker) when we hit 400 (meters to go). With a quarter-mile to go I just let it all hang out.”
The Wold triumph is all the more remarkable considering he did not begin competing in earnest until a week before the Metro Suburban Conference championship while recovering from a broken foot.
Joe Singleton also earned his second consecutive all-state medal for Glenbard South with his sixth-place showing.
But the Raiders’ bid for a state trophy came to naught.
Chicago Jones (85 points) captured its first state championship in any team sport with three runners in the top 15, unseating two-time defending champion Belvidere North (126) in the process.
Yorkville was third with 129 points. Glenbard South was fifth with 190 points.
Fabiel Urua paced Fenton, with Andrew Hallet doing likewise for St. Francis, the other local team in the field.
On the 50th anniversary of York winning the first of its state-record number of boys team titles, senior Scott Milling was third among team members to power yet another York championship in Class 3A.
York easily powered past O’Fallon and West Suburban Silver rival Lyons Twp. to capture its 28th state championship with 82 points.
“I would like to get to 30 (state championships),” said Newton, 83, in his seventh decade of coaching. “We didn’t get a trophy last year. We are starting a new legacy. This is one of the great moments of my life.”
It was an otherwise disappointing showing for the remaining seven local teams.
Other than the Dukes’ Milling, Kyle Mattes and Alex Mimlitz, Naperville North senior Jimmy Qiao was the lone local athlete to garner all-state recognition.
Neuqua Valley was seventh, followed by Naperville North (10th), Hinsdale Central (12th), Glenbard West (13th), Wheaton Warrenville South (17th), Naperville Central (18th) and Wheaton North (21st).