Falk finishes fourth to cap his Illinois cross country season
New Trier's Nick Falk put a stamp on the end of his junior cross country season.
Falk placed fourth individually in the large-school Division 3 of the 2020 Cross Country Championships held Nov. 8 by ShaZam Racing in downstate Chillicothe.
The ShaZam meet served as an unofficial state championship; the Illinois High School Association championship series ended at the sectional level this COVID-shortened season.
Falk's time of 15 minutes, 46.96 seconds over the 5,000 meters at Three Sisters Park was the eighth-fastest time run by the total 494 runners competing in all three divisions.
Followed by teammates, senior Charlie Siebert in an "all-ShaZam" 15th place finish, junior George Cahill in 32nd and seniors George Esteve in 57th and Noah Rush in 82nd, Falk led New Trier to fourth-place in the Division 3 team race. St. Charles East, the 2019 Class 3A IHSA champion, won the ShaZam meet ahead of Naperville North and York.
Among a field of national athletes on Nov. 15, Falk placed 38th at the XC Town USA Meet of Champions on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana, a host to NCAA title meets and the Nike Cross National Midwest Regional.
Falk finished no less than fourth in any Illinois race this season. Over the championship series he broke 15 minutes to win the Central Suburban League South meet, placed second at the Class 3A Loyola regional and finished third at the Hoffman Estates sectional. In each case Falk led New Trier to team titles.
"He is a team-first athlete," Trevians coach Matt Sloan said.