Cross country: WW South boys, DGN girls win titles at Lake Park

Huntley's Tommy Nitz had one objective in mind competing in Saturday's 48th annual Harvey Braus Invitational at Lake Park High School's East Campus.

The junior did not concentrate on repeating as the winner of the invite's boys varsity race but to complete the 3-mile course in under 15 minutes. The junior accomplished both, taking top honors with a time of 14:52.1.

Led by Josiah Narayanan's third-place finish, also in less than 15 minutes, Wheaton Warrenville South also repeated as the team winner with a score of 59. Narayanan crossed the finish line with a time of 14.58.5. The Tigers placed four runners in the top 15 and their fifth runner finished 21st.

"My goal today was to break 15 minutes. I went out fast and never let up because in my two previous races I let the person in front of me dictate my race," Nitz said about his new personal record. "After the second mile, I made my move and tried to take the lead, I just had to go for it."

"We had two guys up front, Josiah and Aiden (Noel), who did a great job," Wheaton Warrenville South coach Chris Kuntz said of the Tigers' repeat. "And we had a good pack."

Noel finished sixth, crossing the finish line with a time of 15:00.9.

Second-place finisher Will Kozlowski (14:55.0) from Lane Tech and Glenbrook North's John Ihrke (14:59.8), who took fourth place, also hit the sub-15 mark.

St. Charles East's Jed Wilson just missed breaking the 15-minute barrier with a PR time of 15:00.4, but his fifth-place finish was instrumental in securing the Saints' second-place finish (72 points).

"We stress really running as a team. I knew that Oscar (Frontjes) was right behind me, so we were running together, and we were just pushing each other," Wilson said.

Frontjes finished eighth (15:02.7) just behind Elgin's Cole Tupper (15:02.3)

Lane Tech (85) took third place in the 25-team race. Paced by Nitz, Huntley came in fourth (151). St. Charles North finished fifth (169). Wilhelm Lackner was the North Stars' top runner; the senior finished 13th (15:48.3).

Girls race

Downers Grove North girls coach Tim McDonald thought the Harvey Braus Invitational would be a good test for his squad. The Trojans would be competing with the two top Class 3A teams, defending state champion Prospect and second-place finisher, York. Six of the two teams' runners placed in the top 15 in last year's state race.

Led by Lily Eddington's third-place finish (17:22.8), Downers Grove North edged out York by one point, 47-48 to win the girls varsity race. The Trojans took five of the first 15 places.

"We knew that obviously (Prospect and York) are the two biggest measuring sticks for the last couple of years. They've taken first and second for the last two years in different order," said McDonald. "We felt like we had a really strong track season where a lot of our girls really stepped forward. After today's race started, I was at the half mile getting some splits and I could see we were right in it. I thought our girls did a great job of moving with the race, passing kids when they could."

Katherine Klimek was Duke's top runner. The senior came in fourth (17:23.1)

"I just tried to focus on staying with my teammates for as long as we could stay together," Klimek said. "I also tried to stay focused on staying in front of the race."

Klimek took ninth in the 2022 state race.

The battle between Eddington and Klimek was critical to the Trojans' win.

"There were things that helped," McDonald said. "Like Lilly holding off Klimek, York's top finisher and that's the difference. We beat them by one so if Klimek got around, they would of won by one."

Prospect's Veronica Znajda won the race with a time of 17:14.2. Teammate Meg Peterson came in second (17:19.8), Despite taking the top two spots, the Knights finished third (57 points).

"I tried to go out at good pace and focus on the last mile and really drive it home because that's what I struggle with, the last mile gets pretty hard," said Znajda.

Znajda finished sixth in last year's state race.

St. Ignatius (147) came in fourth and Glenbard West took fifth place (190).