Boys cross country: Palatine's Leonard third in Spring

Richard Spring Invitational: Palatine senior Brian Leonard is starting to make his presence felt.

After missing his junior cross country season due to injury, he seems to be making up for lost time. Leonard continued to impress at the Richard Spring Invitational at Detweiller Park in Peoria on Saturday, taking third in 14:55.4 in a deep field. He was one of only six runners to dip below 15 minutes on the state course.

Hersey also is starting to make some noise. The Huskies took fourth place as a team with 233 points. Senior Jacob Krupa (15:18.2) led the Huskies with a 25th place finish.

Hersey was also aided by a pair of underclassmen, as sophomore Ryan Buch (15:27.3) and freshman Josh Methner (15:31.7) made their presence felt by securing 36th and 38th place.

Neuqua Valley made quite a statement by placing five runners in the top 27 in taking first place with 65 points. Senior Josh Mollway (6th place), senior Jackson Jett (7th), and senior Jake McEneaney (9th place) led the Wildcats.

Mahomet-Seymour (118 points) took second, followed by Lake Zurich (206). Wheaton Warrenville South (255) and Rock Bridge (286) rounded out the top five.

Lake Zurich senior Brian Griffith took first individually crossing the line n 14:34.5, followed by Sandburg junior Dylan Jacobs (14:36.3).

Palatine finished ninth and was aided by a strong run from senior Ben Kontney (51st place).

Barrington junior Nick Laning (15:25.4) finished in 32nd place, leading Barrington to a 15th-place team finish. Junior Hamzah Firozi (48th place) also had a nice run for the Broncos.

Libertyville Invitational: Prospect dominated the Libertyville Invitational, placing five runners in the top 11 in cruising to the team title with 31 points at Adler Park.

Senior Jack O'Donnell (16:11.80), John Thomas (16:15.93), and senior James Riordan (16:21.19) strung together a 3-4-5 finish in powering the Knights' attack.

Senior Nick Serio (16:33.96) added an eighth-place finish, with sophomore Andy Reimann (16:38.51) completing the scoring with an 11th-place finish.

Senior Sam Brey (16:25.28) powered St. Viator to an eighth-place team finish in securing sixth place individually.

Highland Park finished second with 31 points, followed by host Libertyville (100 points).

Niles North's Conor Perreault took first individually, crossing the tape in 15:56.06.