Cross country: Naperville North, St. Charles East take team titles
Naperville North could afford to give Sarah Schmitt and Alex Morris the day off Saturday at the Class 3A West Chicago girls cross country regional.
The defending state champion Huskies recently were promoted to the top-ranked team in the country in one national poll.
The Huskies hardly missed a beat at Kress Creek Farms in West Chicago as fellow returning all-stater Hannah Ricci captured the individual title in 18 minutes, 0.5 seconds.
Claire Hill was runner-up for Naperville North; Audrey Mendrys, Megan Driscoll and Maggie Gamboa were fourth, sixth and ninth.
The Huskies' seventh consecutive regional title was the result in a 21-61 triumph over Naperville Central.
Geneva (91 points), St. Charles East (114), St. Charles North (133) and Bartlett (181) also advanced to the Waubonsie Valley sectional next Saturday.
"It was just more of a chance to give some of the other girls a chance to run in a state series event," said Hill, who was timed on the 3-mile layout in 18:23. "Every girl on this team has been working so hard in practice."
Naperville North coach Dan Iverson said it was a matter of finalizing his top-seven runners for the last two weekends of the season.
"We have some really good younger kids," Iverson said of resting Schmitt and Morris, who swept the DuPage Valley Conference meet Monday. "We want to give them as much time to develop as possible."
"It was different but a lot of fun," Mendrys said of her fourth-place finish for Naperville North.
Toria Mineo and Emily Scott were seventh and ninth, respectively, for Naperville Central.
"It's crazy," Mineo said of facing her sister school for four straight major meets. "They're No. 2 in the nation. We all love coach Iverson."
In the boys race, a potential epic encounter was unfolding between Josh Rodgers, Cole Adesso and Adam Balutowski. But Rodgers, a Geneva junior, turned on the afterburners to win comfortably in 15:35.2.
Seniors Adesso of St. Charles East and Naperville Central veteran Balutowski were second and third.
Rodgers, however, had prepped for another Naperville Central standout.
"I kind of framed my strategy behind Thomas Shilgalis," Rodgers said. "It ended up going the way I wanted to. I know this course. If you go out too hard, you're going to pay the price."
"That was the point where the race point broke apart," Adesso said of approaching the midpoint. "It was just who had the legs in the last mile."
"(Having Shilgalis) helps, but going through the regional would have been much (better for the team) without him," Balutowski said.
The Redhawks' Parker Rankin and Jack McCowin finished fourth and ninth, but it was not enough to prevent St. Charles East from winning its fourth regional in a five-year period.
The Saints' Aidan King, Bob Liking and Campbell Kock complemented Adesso with final slots at Nos. 5, 7 and 8 to give St. Charles East a 36-43 victory over Naperville Central.
St. Charles North (89 points), Naperville North (93), Geneva (112) and Bartlett (168) also advanced.
Geneva junior Sophia McDonnell and Elgin junior Kasey Moreno prevented a near monopoly by Naperville North with their third- and fifth-place finishes.
"(My teammates) knew it wasn't going to be a super easy race," McDonnell said. "They were ready for the challenge."
"I have been trying hard and trying my best in each race," Moreno said. "I am just trying to give it my all."
Alice Abbott paced the Saints' girls.
"This was my worse race all season," the St. Charles East freshman said. "You have to get it out of the way at some point."