Boys cross country: WW South outruns York for second place at state

PEORIA - On a history-making afternoon in the last race of the cross country season, the Wheaton Warrenville South boys fell ever-so short of being a central storyline.

Hersey senior Josh Methner lived up to his end of the bargain by repeating his Class 3A individual championship, eclipsing the all-time record of state immortal Craig Virgin.

But the Tigers' bid proved to be a near-replica of their DuKane Conference race with St. Charles East.

The schools combined for seven all-state athletes, but the WW South effort to secure a second straight team title fell 4 points shy. The Saints prevailed 64-68. York was a distant third with 153 points.

"We had a good race together," said WW South senior leader Billy Hauenstein, who earned his second straight all-state performance with a team-leading eighth-place time of 14 minutes, 23.34 seconds. "We had a really low (team) split. I thought I could have done a little bit better. No regrets, no excuses."

David Zeller and Ethan Seng were also all-state for the Tigers with their respective finishes at Nos. 14 and 22.

"This was one insane race," Seng said. "I think it was a lot faster than last year. I am just glad to be a part of it. I just gave it my all."

"We knew we would be in the hunt," WW South coach Chris Kuntz added. "The kids had a great day. We just came up a little short."

York edged WW South for the Lake Park sectional title last week, but the rematch at Detweiller Park was one-sided in favor of the Tigers. Daniel Klysh was 10th overall in leading the Dukes to more state hardware.

"I am glad that my (senior) class got Mr. (Charlie) Kern his first trophy as head coach," the Iowa-bound Klysh said.

Methner broke Virgin's 47-year-old record with a blistering time of 13:49.86. Naperville North senior Jake Allen tried valiantly to stay with Methner.

"(Methner) just took it out and no one came after him," Allen said.

The Huskies' season-long leader closed out the year with a third-place finish in 14:21.72.

"I was definitely excited," Allen said. "That was the goal - to be in the top three. I pushed the last mile. If you have stuff left in the tank in the last mile, you can pass a lot of people. That was definitely a nice way to finish my Naperville North career."

Glenbard West junior Pierce Cousins' season concluded with all-state recognition after his 12th-place showing.

"It was the best race I have ever run in my life," Cousins said. "Every mile kept getting better and better."

Nicolas Dovalovsky and Zach Benzinger were neck-and-neck in snaring the final two all-state bids for Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley.

Dovalovsky and Benzinger were 23rd and 24th.

St; Francis' Dan Weizeorick was sixth in Class 2A.