Cross country: Surtz in command at Aurora City Meet
Lianna Surtz continues her winning ways.
The Rosary sophomore, whose freshman campaign included a metric mile state championship at the Class 2A girls track state finals after placing runner-up in Peoria last fall in cross country, had few rivals Saturday morning at Marmion.
Surtz had equally minor issues in defending her Aurora City Meet championship with a time of 17 minutes, 22.31 seconds to kick off the girls cross country season.
To the surprise of many, Rosary was redesignated to Class 1A for the postseason this fall.
"Lianna would love to be in (Class) 3A," Rosary coach Vic Mead said. "She would love to race against (Glenbard West three-time defending state champion) Katelynne Hart every day."
"It's a little disappointing," Surtz said of the Royals' reclassification, "but at the same time it's a good opportunity for our team to do well."
Surtz navigated the 3-mile campus grounds at Marmion for a 21-plus-second victory over Waubonsie Valley senior Ashley Heidenrich, a returning Class 3A state qualifier.
"I wasn't really focused on time," Surtz said. "I just wanted to run as fast as I could at the start of the season."
But Metea Valley had too much depth for Rosary for city bragging rights.
The Mustangs placed five runners, headlined by third-place finisher Sophia Sandy, to defeat the Royals 39-63.
Waubonsie Valley (97) was a distant third, followed by West Aurora (102), Aurora Central Catholic (108), East Aurora (140) and IMSA (155).
"I wasn't too worried about (Surtz and Heidenrich)," said Sandy, who was timed in 18:43. "They're way ahead of me right now. I was just focusing on my own time, hoping to run a good first race."
Sarah Maggio (sixth), Megan Fichte (seventh), Emily Kohlberg (11th) and Jenna Boyle (12th) were the other contributing members of the Mustangs' city champion.
Heidenrich had able company from Katelyn Mullinax, fourth overall, for third-place Waubonsie Valley.
"I sort of had a plan as to how I wanted to play off (Surtz)," Heidenrich said. "She is an incredible runner and really strong. I wanted to start off close to her and keep the gap as close as possible."
Devon Tomas' fifth-place result in 19:12.28 paced West Aurora; the Blackhawks' Alyssa Mayhew snared the final top-10 berth to augment her sophomore teammate.
"I am pretty pleased for this course," Tomas said. "I wanted to stay close to (Heidenrich). I wanted to stay close to that front (pack) and pace off of them."
Lesley Viveros anchored ACC with her ninth-place finish.
Boys race: Waubonsie Valley lived up to its preseason rankings with a dominant performance from its five counting runners.
West Aurora crowned the champion in Jack Morrill in 15.41.61, but runner-up Wes Beitler paced five Waubonsie Valley athletes in the top nine.
The Warriors easily defended their team title with a 25-62 verdict over Marmion.
East Aurora (100), West Aurora (109), Metea Valley (117), ACC (123) and IMSA (185) were third through seventh.
"We have been having a really good training summer," said Beitler, who was complemented by Zach Benzinger (third), Jackson Bukala (fourth), Robert Szivak (seventh) and Nathan Sheppard (ninth).
"We have done a good job of bringing the top four-ish all together. I think we're probably higher than (No.) 17 (the Warriors' ranking in one Class 3A poll). At least that's my take on it."
Morrill was in an unaccustomed position for West Aurora.
"This is my first (invitational) cross country win ever," said Morrill, who turned back Beitler by 2.53 seconds. "I am still in training, so I can't say I was completely confident I was going to win. I knew I had a chance to win about two and a half miles in."
The Blackhawks' Seth Kunio was fifth in 16:03.76.
Alex Carlson and Anthony Zangler were sixth and eighth, respectively, for the runner-up Cadets.
"It was a good workout race for me," Carlson said.
Ritchie Rohn led ACC with his 10-place result.