Scouting DuPage County boys cross country
Top teams: Hinsdale Central, Naperville North, Neuqua Valley, York, Glenbard West, Downers Grove North, Naperville Central, Waubonsie Valley, Glenbard South, Downers Grove South
Top athletes: Addison Trail: Demitrio Ceventras, soph., Julio Ceventras, soph., Luis Eugenio, sr., Raymond Loi, sr., Jeff Maginity, sr.; Benet: Kelly Crombie, jr., Sean Harnik, sr., Brady McLaughlin, sr., Max Tuttle, sr.; Downers Grove North: Joe Carter, sr., Zac Christian, sr., Ryan Clevenger, sr., Alec Danner, soph., Jack Diamond, sr.; Downers Grove South: Joey Eterno, jr., Jack LaLonde, jr., Max O'Meara, jr., Alan Zhou, jr.; Fenton: Alex Nava, sr., Jose Perez-Vasquez, soph., Joseph Rivers, sr., Leonel Rodriguez, sr., Felipe Ruiz, jr.; Glenbard East: Jared Crimmins, soph., Davarus Jones, sr., Tilo Lamken, sr., Patrick Mikel, jr., Josh Schaefer, jr., Casey Wengelewski, soph.; Glenbard South: Ibrahim Jawad, sr., Michael King, jr., Colin Meade, sr., Jon O'Rourke, jr., Colin Meade, sr.; Glenbard West: Chris Buechner, sr., Paul Christian, sr., Ben Hecht, sr., Jake Jaskowiak, sr., Eric Neumann, jr.; Hinsdale Central: Chris Brenk, jr., Alex Domiano, sr., Blake Evertsen, soph., Josh Feldman, sr., Austin Klever, sr., Matt McBrien, sr.; Hinsdale South: Alex Beronio, jr., Roman Drabchuk, jr., Joe Eilbert, sr., Charlie Nodus, jr., Vincente Perez, sr.; IC Catholic Prep: Brandan Doherty, sr., Christopher Marroquin, sr., Phillip Roberto, sr., Eliot Sexton, jr.; Lake Park: Jakub Bolarz, sr., David Fitzgerald, sr., Jason Joda, soph., Matt Miarka, sr., Zachary Schwarz, jr.; Lisle: Zach De Craene, soph., Nick Janitch, soph., Ben Salzberg, soph.; Metea Valley: Ben Casselman, sr., Barath Kootala, jr., Lucas Lusk, sr., Brendan McGrath, sr., Raimon Roglans, jr; Montini: Cameron Casey, sr., Matt Fisch, sr., Eddie Laviste, sr., Dominick Moran, soph., Tyler Paccana, sr.; Naperville Central: Tommy Chavez, soph., Scott Hicks, sr., David Kennedy, sr., John Manos, jr., Geoffrey McCullogh, jr., Kevin Wandke, sr.,; Naperville North: Jacob Eifler, sr., Kerry Gschwendter, sr., Jon Klaiber, sr., Andrew LaDeur, sr., Patrick Miga, sr., Christian Moore, sr.; Neuqua Valley: Connor Horn, jr., Matt Horsley, sr., Shiva Singh, jr., Daniel Weiss, sr., Michael Widmann, sr., Patrick Wolak, jr.; St. Francis: Nick Brouch, soph., Danny Cady, sr., Alex Hernandez, fr., David Keifer, soph., Breandan McClure, sr.; Timothy Christian: Michael Larkin, jr., Andy Margason, jr., Neal Paulakos, jr., Phillip Troxel, sr.; Waubonsie Valley: Riley Blackmore, jr., Trevor Bon, jr., Justin Caton, sr., Amrish Selvam, jr., Jon Vollrath, sr.; West Chicago: Bob Draughton, jr., Aaron Kalpatch, sr., Dan McComb, soph., Robert Szulczewski, soph.; Wheaton Academy: Jonah Jones, soph., Brandon Lach, sr., Jimmy Ridge, soph., Jacob Robleski, jr., Mitchell Smith, jr.; Wheaton North: Kilty Askin, sr., Danny Bailey, jr., Matthew Beckerman, jr., Alex Frank, jr., Jordan Hennings, jr., Danny Steeno, sr.; Wheaton Warrenville South: Drew Anderson, sr., Kyle Cepeda, sr., John Hanson, sr., Gabe Lightbody, sr., Michael Malverda, sr.; Willowbrook: Anthony Acitelli, sr., Jimmy Fuentas, sr., Tommy King, sr., Sean Kohrt, jr., Chris Turek, jr.; York: Devin Davies, jr., Max Denning, jr., Jon May, jr., Matt Plowman, sr., Miles Schacht, sr.
Outlook: Unlike previous years in which there were clear-cut favorites for the traditional boys cross country powers, this fall offers myriad possibilities in Class 3A. "There are a lot of great teams in Illinois this year," said Neuqua Valley coach Paul Vandersteen, whose fifth-ranked Wildcats have been a force statewide the last decade with a pair of state titles. "There are eight or nine teams that could get a trophy." But for the perennial local contenders, there is as much uncertainty as new faces as graduation losses were particularly pronounced. Downers North, which was second to West Suburban Conference rival Hinsdale Central last November in Peoria, boasts the only returning all-stater from the county in Class 3A in Clevenger. The Silver, though, will continue to hold its historic position of having a major say in the developments of the season. Hinsdale Central, which won its first state title in program last year, enters the fall campaign as the top-ranked team, according to the authoritative website, dyestatil.com. York, Glenbard West, Lyons Twp. and Downers North are all ranked in the top 21.
"The Silver is awesome to be in (for cross country)," Downers North coach John Sipple said. "We're going to have a mini-conference meet at the state finals." Hinsdale Central returns three of its key performers from its surprise victory last fall in Brenk, McBrien and Evertsen. But even defending state champions have periodic issues. "It's really difficult to get a sense of who will be (our Nos.) 4 or 5," Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. York, which had a terribly disappointing fifth-place finish at state last fall after dominating the regular season, has Plowman, Denning and May back from its state contingent. This will be the 55th season for legendary coach Joe Newton directing the Dukes, who have an unprecedented 28 state championships in program history.
But Glenbard West could be a major spoiler. The Hilltoppers were ravaged by injuries last fall, and Christian is their lone returning athlete with state experience from a year ago. The Hilltoppers' fortunes changed last spring, however, and Glenbard West has been anointed No. 15 in the preseason rankings as a result. "They had a great track season," Sipple said. Coach Kyle Nugent has a strong upperclassmen presence in Buechner, Neumann, Hecht and Jaskowiak.
The other traditional power conference in the area - the DuPage Valley - will have a decidedly different look this school year with the departure of Glenbard East and West Aurora. Naperville North rates the clear advantage over Naperville Central and the two Wheaton high schools. Gschwendtner narrowly missed all-state status in leading the Huskies to a top-10 finish last fall. He and Klaiber are primed for breakout senior years. "Our goal this year is to get a trophy," Gschwendtner said. Naperville North, ranked fourth by dyestatil.com in Class 3A, also returns state veterans LaDeur and Moore. Wheaton Warrenville South has to replace four of its top five runners, including Division I recruits Nolan McKenna (Iowa State) and Luke Schroer (Illinois). But the Tigers, eighth in the state finals last season, do have a leading all-state candidate in Cepeda. Lightbody is the only other returning member of the Tigers' downstate crew.
Naperville Central is itching to reverse its state results from a year after placing 24th in the 25-team field. Four of the Redhawks' state veterans return this fall in Hicks, McCullogh, Wanke and Kennedy. Wheaton North lost its Waubonsie Valley sectional champion, Joseph Emmanuel, to graduation. Falcons coach Nate Roe will counter with state returnees Steeno, Askin and Frank. "We don't have a front-runner like we did last year (in Emmanuel)," Roe said. "I think it will be a work in progress. The first part (of the season) we'll find out where we're at." Lake Park has Miarka and Bolarz to anchor its fortunes this season.
Neuqua Valley, along with its sister schools Waubonsie Valley and Metea Valley, enters its final season in the Upstate Eight Conference with eight straight league championships. "Rankings are fun, but they don't really mean anything," Vandersteen said. The Wildcats' veteran coach, though, is particularly excited after several of his returning athletes excelled in track last spring. Weiss and Widmann are the Wildcats' top returning runners from the state meet last year. Horn had a breakout year in track last spring, and Wolak is a promising transfer from Waubonsie Valley. "We're looking really good in practice," Vandersteen said. "They're a great group to coach." Waubonsie Valley coach Kevin Rafferty is looking for Vollrath and Caton to be serious contenders for the state finals.
Downers Grove South is expected to be the team to beat in the West Suburban Gold. "We're hoping to make a little bit of noise this year and be really good next year," Mustangs coach Brian Caldwell said.
Among the local Class 2A schools, Glenbard South, Wheaton Academy and Fenton are the programs most likely to make a statement this fall. But Glenbard South, fifth last year, has a gaping hole with the graduation of two-time state champion John Wold. Jawad, O'Rourke and King are the Raiders' returnees with state experience. Wheaton Academy is in position to be in trophy contention; the Warriors return six state veterans, headlined by Lach and Robleski, and are ranked No. 5 in Class 2A. Fenton has three returning members from its second-tier finish at the state meet last year, and Hinsdale South could be in position to make a state run as one of the largest Class 2A teams.
Benet, with 14 consecutive East Suburban Catholic Conference titles in succession, was moved to Class 3A this fall after qualifying as a team in Class 2A last year.
Key dates: Key dates: Sept. 6, Hinsdale South-Hinsdale Central Hornet-Red Devil Invitational; Sept. 6, St. Charles East Invitational; Sept. 6, Fenton Early Bird Invitational; Sept. 13, Peoria Woodruff Invitational; Sept. 13, Lake Park Invitational; Sept. 20, Peoria Woodruff Invitational; Sept. 20, Minooka Invitational; Sept. 26, Naperville Invitational; Sept. 27, Palatine Invitational; Oct. 4, Wheaton North Falcon Classic; Oct. 10, West Aurora Blackhawk Stampede; Oct. 11, Sterling Invitational; Oct. 17-18, Conference championships.
- Kevin McGavin