Boys cross country: Wheaton Warrenville South sticks together

Time and place were virtually immaterial to the top-five athletes for the Wheaton Warrenville South boys cross country team Wednesday afternoon in Warrenville.

Michael Atkins, David Zeller, Jared Peaslee, Ethan Seng and Billy Hauenstein essentially fell across the line of the 2.9-mile layout at St. James Farm Forest Preserve like a collective sack of potatoes.

In the process the members of the defending Class 3A champion Tigers thoroughly dominated their quadrangular with Naperville Central, Naperville North and host Wheaton North.

There was uncertainty among the coaches as to the scoring format, but the Tigers' 20 points by monopolizing the second through sixth finishes foreclosed any ambiguity regarding the top program.

"The plan was to stay together, no matter what," WW South coach Chris Kuntz said.

Naperville Central junior Arthur Graham claimed the individual championship by taming St. James in 15 minutes, 15 seconds.

The five WW South runners were less than two seconds apart when Atkins, a sophomore, officially placed runner-up in 15:22.

Hauenstein is the most accomplished runner for WW South as the senior. He placed eighth last year to pace the Tigers' championship season in Peoria. He committed to Bradley University after competing at the state site in Peoria, Detweiller Park, over the weekend.

"I love senior night for how much we're together," Hauenstein said. "You want to help guys out, especially once you get into the postseason. I wanted to go out there and enjoy myself."

Fellow seniors Zeller, Peaslee and Seng are also state returnees for WW South.

"One thing we needed to work on was that team aspect," Zeller said. "That was the whole goal. I think we did it pretty well."

Atkins has made a major transformation from a year ago as the Tigers seek more depth against DuKane Conference rival St. Charles East, the consensus top-ranked team.

"I barely made the frosh-soph (starting) team last year," Atkins said. "I made a huge step up over the summer. The main goal was to hang on and not worry about time."

Graham and Jake Allen, the Naperville North senior standout who was seventh, also ran at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational over the weekend.

"There was still a lot of competition (tonight) but not as much as Detweiller," Graham said. "Our plan today was to go out really hard for the 2-mile (mark). I think my last mile was really good today."

Allen defeated all the WW South starters in Peoria Saturday with his fifth-place finish.

"This was more like a workout for us," Allen said. "I definitely got the feel for the race (tonight)."

Mauricio Xochitecatl was the top runner for Wheaton North.