Cross country: Barrington girls, Lake Zurich boys shine at Wheeling Invite
Some warm running conditions and a sloppy 3-mile course were not a major obstacle when the Barrington girls cross country team competed at the powerful 15-team Wheeling Invitational Saturday morning at Heritage Park.
Libertyville put up a fantastic challenge down to the wire, but it was the Fillies that captured the championship by a narrow 43-48 margin over the Wildcats. Wheaton North easily outdistanced the host Wildcats 101-178 for third place while Benet Academy (182) edged Fremd (192) for fifth place.
Barrington freshman Scout Storms posted a winning time of 18:29.9 followed by Libertyville's Bree Ponchak (18:50) in second, and Wheeling's Brenda Torres in third.
"I think it was great cross country, I like running on a wet course, and our team ran well," said Storms. "We're looking to go to state as a team, run well as a team, and I want to cut down my time to around 17:40."
Barrington got a seventh-place finish from Kari Drage followed by teammates Claire Thome (ninth), Allie Edwards (12th), and Sydney Sukel (14th).
"She (Storms) is running well. She's worked hard, and we're trying to get a pack a little closer to her," said Barrington coach Deb Revolta. "It's a tough course, there's two hills, and I think this is real cross country so it was a good day."
Libertyville's pack also featured Sheila Tucker in fourth, Margaret McGormley in sixth, and Liz George in 13th.
"They've been running superstrong all year. They've had a really solid summer of training, and we've been pretty injury-free this year," said Libertyville coach Megan Sharp. "Last year we didn't run in any invites so this year they are just excited to get out and run."
Janna Postma led Wheaton North in eighth place followed by Lake Park's Brynn Ellenbecker (10th), Benet's Amelia Parisi (11th), Maine West's Julia Wolke (15th), and Hoffman Estates' Valerie Daniel (16th).
In the boys' race, perennial power Lake Zurich toppled Barrington 36-44 for the team title while Benet (119) placed fourth over Fremd (119) based on its fifth-man tiebreaker.
Barrington's Joey Furlong took runner-up honors in 15:40.7 followed by Lake Zurich's pack of Dylan Myers in third, Danny Burns in fourth, and Braden Eckman in fifth.
Jack Agnew of Carroll (OH) won the race in a time of 15:31.2.
"Barrington put a good move on us in the last mile," said Lake Zurich coach J.B. Hanson. "It was a breakthrough race for Braden (Eckman). He ran really well, and the course was very sloppy."
Bartlett's squad was led by Carter Eid in sixth place followed by Barrington's Max Lewis (eighth), and Lake Zurich's Will Perez (ninth). Barrington teammates Ryan Fryer and Zach Daniel placed 10th and 11th respectively.
"He (Furlong) just looked really well composed and his favorite word is to run chill and he did that," said Barrington coach Tom Root. "Our 2-3-4-5 were all very close together from the first quarter mile to the finish and that was our focus for today."
Barrington got a 13th from Avery Erickson while Fremd's Theodore Cunningham nipped Lake Zurich's Cole Boudreault for 14th place. Maine East's Lukasz Iwanowski placed 17th followed by Fremd's Mike Labno in 18th. Benet teammates Aiden Hulett and Charlie Phelan placed 19th and 20th respectively.
"It was pretty muddy, but I'm happy with the race because we had a two-week break," said Furlong. "I'm happy the team did well and we had a big effort from all 10 guys."
Next weekend the 2021 cross country season really kicks into high gear with conference meets being run ahead of IHSA regional, sectional, and state meet competitions for runners from all across the state.