Boys cross country: St. Charles North's Eng has impressive start to season
The IHSA announced last week that there will no state final series for fall sports in 2020, including boys cross country. But that hasn't deterred athletes one bit this season.
St. Charles North senior Noah Eng knows better than most on how it feels to miss a state series. Eng was the eighth at-large qualifier in the St. Charles East sectional last fall. Unfortunately for Eng, the sectional only advanced seven individuals.
"Noah was the first individual to not qualify for state in our sectional last year," St. Charles North coach Kevin Harrington said. "This has certainly added fuel to his fire. One of Noah's greatest strengths is his long-term focus and his daily work ethic. He sets his sights on different competitors and time goals and measures his progress week in and week out."
Eng showed ready he was last Saturday when he ran a 15:43.78 to win the DuKane Covid Quad at Mooseheart.
"So far this season Noah has shown continued and impressive growth," Harrington said. "He is in the position to be the first SCN athlete to break 15 minutes since Chris DeSilva (who ran at the University of Illinois). It is just a matter of getting in the right race with the right weather."
Despite the solid performance by Eng, the North Stars finished fourth in the quad with a score of 91.
Wheaton Warrenville South, which was second in the state last year in Class 3A, won the meet with a score of 38. The Tigers were led by junior Michael Atkins, who was fifth with a 16:06. Carson Rewiski was sixth in 16:12, Matthew Dale seventh in 16:16 while Michael Macabobby was ninth in 16:39.
Wheaton North, which was 18th in the state in 3A, was second last Saturday with 44 points. Ryan Schreiner paced the Falcons with his third-place finish in 15:37. Will Roth was fourth in 16 minutes while Caleb Youngstedt was eighth.
Batavia was third with 71 points. The Bulldogs were led by Ryan Mansour, who was second in 15:54.97. Quintin Lowe was 10th.
Renaus gets 1st win at Prospect
A new head coach always remembers their first victory. For Prospect coach Jay Renaud, it will be stamped indelibly in his mind.
Renaud, who replaced legendary head coach Mike Stokes who retired after 25 years, watched as his Knights held off Northridge Prep 28-29 last Friday.
"It was close," Renaud said. "It was my first win and gave us momentum heading into the season."
Renaud credited Nic Squillacioti, who finished fifth, for holding off a pair of Northridge runners down the stretch as one of the keys to the win. He added that soccer players Alex Rider-Leiner and Gavin Kafkis were also major factors.
The Knights were led Jack Dechoudens (13:57.7), who finished second in the 2.5-mile race. TJ Garland, Jobin Chiramel and Sean Kura also ran well for Prospect.
Fast start for Romig, Grant
A great start can lead to a better finish and Colton Romig and Grant are doing just that.
Romig, who is a senior, won his first two races as he has helped the Bulldogs capture a dual meet with Antioch and a triangular with Carmel and Johnsburg.
Romig ran 17:34 in the win over Antioch. He then came back last Saturday and posted a flat 17-minutes to grab the honors in the triangular.
Grant coach Jeff Durlak said that Romig has not begun to peak yet.
"Colton is definitely our leader that everyone looks to this season," Durlak said. "He has still not raced 100 percent yet, so his two wins were very smooth and under control."
Josh Delgado has been the Bulldogs' next best runner, finishing second. Charlie Hamann, Dane Glover, Randal Holm, Emilio Figueroa, Memphis Roman, Aidan LaMantia, Jalen Rios and Harrison Scalf have also been big contributors to the Bulldogs' early success.
"We have run OK for the first couple of meets," Durlak said. "It is still really early in the season. With trying to get our kids opportunities to race we are competing earlier in the season that past years. I feel we still have lots of room for improvement and will get there as the season goes on."
Lake Zurich takes top 3 spots
Jack Gilboy, Jacob Myers and Danny Burns captured the top three spots for Lake Zurich as the Bears shot past Libertyville 20-37 last week. Gilboy posted a 16:20 while Myers was at 16:42 and Burns ran a 16:49 for Lake Zurich, which finished 14th in Class 3A last year.
Libertyville was led Liam Tucker (17:04) and Jack Hamilton (17:37).
Just a second
One second was the difference between winning and losing for Huntley.
Owen Cravens, who is a senior, held off not one but two Prairie Ridge runners to finish fourth in a meet held last Saturday. That enabled Huntley to slip past Prairie Ridge 27-28.
Cravens was the third Huntley runner to cross the finish line. He was behind teammates Thomas Patel, who finished second in 16:28, and Charlie Kucz, who was third in a time of 16:59.
Cravens was next with a 17:13, just one second ahead of Prairie Ridge's Luke Kim and Ian Mahon.
Ty Rasmussen was 10th for Huntley while Zachary Zuuzzio was 11th to clinch the victory for the Red Raiders.