Cross country: Downers Grove South girls, Hersey boys win at Fenton
The best season in program history a year ago has only fueled the expectations for the Downers Grove South girls cross country team in 2019.
On Saturday at the 39th annual John Kurtz Early Bird Invitational hosted by Fenton, the Mustangs wasted no time in giving a glimpse of what might be in store later this fall.
Placing three runners in the top six, Downers Grove South cruised to the team title with a score of 42 points. Leading the charge was senior Brenna Cohoon, who came through the chute fourth in 18:01 and was followed by Sophia McNerney and Erin Reidy in fifth and sixth.
"We are pretty happy with how today went," said Cohoon, who placed eighth at the Class 3A meet last year as part of her team's third place overall finish. "It's a good step in the right direction, but at the same time, we aren't satisfied with how we did. We want to build off this and there are specific things we all want to improve on in our individual races.
"Everyone is so motivated after last year. We feel like we have some unfinished business from the end and we want to keep building off that from last year. We'd like to take an extra few steps forward and hopefully do amazing things that we've never done before as a program."
Alex Spang was 11th and Kennedy Warden rounded out the Mustangs' top five in 16th.
"They did a nice job," Downers Grove South coach Doug Plunkett said. "It's the first big meet of the year for everybody. It is a good starting point for us. We did some things really well; we got out well at the beginning. And there are some things we can get better at like closing our pack a little bit. We will learn from this and be even stronger next time we race."
Led by runner-up Rose Sheridan, a freshman who completed the course in 17:52, Vernon Hills came in second with a score of 104. Reina Hill also finished 10th. Fremd was third, with senior Emme Beaupre notching that same showing with a time of 18:00.
The individual champion for the second consecutive year was Grant's Aly Negovetich. After posting the eighth-best time in meet history as a freshman in 2018, she posted a blistering time of 17:32 this time around (third best all-time) to win going away. Fourth place at state last year, she credited her off-season work.
"I had one of the best summers of training I've ever had," Negovetich said. "So coming into it, it's like I've worked so hard, I want that payoff. But honestly I panicked a little bit at the beginning. Everyone here is so talented and they all train so hard. The first mile, I probably went out a little faster then I wanted and I felt it in the third mile. But I'm happy with it. Every race is a learning experience and the more races you look to have fun with, the better you will do."
As if her performance wasn't enough, the sophomore also took time assisting other runners as they crossed the finish line after her.
"Who wouldn't pick each other up," Negovetich said. "Everyone goes through the same things out here no matter what team you are on. Being able to talk to girls on other teams makes the whole event seem more like a community thing."
Downers Grove North junior Melissa Jachim was seventh in 18:25, Prospect's Audry Ginsberg followed in eighth and Carly Manchester of IC Catholic Prep came in 12th.
Boys race:
Defending Class 3A individual champion Josh Methner said Saturday's "Early Bird" Invitational at Fenton was a way to set the tone for the upcoming season.
If that is the case, the senior and his Hersey teammates are well on their way to more incredible accomplishments.
Coming off a runner-up finish to Wheaton Warrenville South at the state meet last fall, the Huskies showed their dominance with a winning score of 32 points.
Methner captured the individual title with a time of 15:25, 12 seconds ahead of teammate Max Svienty. Colin Safford and Quinn Rudy were seventh and eighth and John Palafox came in 14th.
"Today was perfect conditions," Methner said. "I got rolling there the last mile and so did my teammates. We had a good day. We wanted to show the young guys how to do it, that you have to work together as a team."
Glenbard West, which captured the team title at this event last year, settled for the runner-up spot with 85 points. William Hohe and Pierce Cousins led the way in fourth and fifth place, respectively, separated by just over a second.
"I always try to stay with him," Cousins said. "I just try to stay with him for as long as I can. Today in that last sprint, I tried to catch up to him and I almost got there."
The Hilltoppers were sixth at state in 2018 but lost a talented group of seniors.
"We are trying to continue that legacy," Cousins said. "We don't have a lot of the same guys but we hope we can show that our team doesn't rely on just a few members, it relies on the whole. We tried to stay together as a pact and I thought it was a pretty good race for everyone."
Prospect's Erik Snella was third in 15:43. Nathan Jorgensen of Lake Park was sixth, Dan Weizeorick of St. Francis placed ninth and Tom Walter of Prospect rounded out the top 10. Prospect finished third in the team standings with Glenbard East fourth and St. Francis fifth.