On-Site Coverage
- Complete Results & Meet Coverage
- Photos by Ilona Kozel (201 Photos)
- Photos by Colin Boyle (540 Photos)
The weather cooperated long enough for the competition to exercise their demons on a new course on the grounds of Lake Park High School’s east campus. The Lancer staff and community finally got their opportunity to host a sectional championship after putting in bids for years. They responded with an awesome presentation and display. Kudos!
For the girls, it would be the #4 Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West) Hilltoppers coming out victorious in a very deep sectional field scoring a scant 30 points. #3 Winnetka New Trier ran fairly well with junior Mimi Smith as the pilot finished second with 76 points. #21 Oak Park-River Forest continued its come back season when they took third with 141 points. Unranked Park Ridge (Maine South) grabbed the fourth position with 188 points. #20 Wilmette (Loyola Academy) squeezed out the final spot to Peoria over intense catholic school rival and #19 Chicago (St. Ignatius) 205-206.
The boys arena had even more drama than the girls as previously unheralded #7 Winnetka (New Trier) upset US#4/IL#1 Elmhurst (York) 79-95. #18 Chicago (St. Ignatius) finally got past their catholic league rival and #17 Wilmette (Loyola Academy) 127-141. #6 Chicago (Lane Tech) pulled out the final state championship berth scoring 163 points.
Glenbard West resurges back to the top-
Coming into the season’s most important meet, the talk of the girls running community was all about Glenbard West vs. New Trier. During the regular season Glenbard West had to maintain its footing without superstar senior Madeline Perez who was nursing herself back into race shape. The Hilltoppers did a masterful job during that journey. Meanwhile, New Trier was doing some retooling of their own after some hefty graduation losses threatened to decimate their stature as one of the state’s elite programs. The final call before the big stage in Peoria needed to be answered in Roselle.
So how would the team and individual race shape up on a new course? Well, Perez did not waste a moment in baptizing the new digs. Immediately the wonder kid opened up a gap from the gun and left the field to compete amongst themselves. Perez navigated the turns and scenic narrow route before hitting the first mile in a swift 5:26 on a soft and spongy course. Smith and a few others trailed more than ten seconds back. There were fans everywhere on the course canvassing the digs and cheering on their respective athletes and teams. Glenbard West certainly had their fair share of support and they would respond well.
The second mile would reveal more of the same as Perez continue to expand her lead and look like the Madeline of last season. She passed the second mile in 11:10 and more than 20 seconds up on the nearest competitor. Smith would stroll in second followed Oak Park (Fenwick) junior Olivia Ryan about five seconds in back of her. Glenbard West sophomore Lindsay Graham was holding strong with a bandaged left knee in fourth despite freshman Mary Blankemeier of Oak Park-River Forest breathing down hard on her back. Glenbard West junior Lisa Luczak was the team’s third runner at this point.
The team race was in complete control by Glenbard West who had all five scorers in the top 11 or 12 place, and barring a complete crash there would be no way the Hilltoppers would lose this affair. New Trier appeared to have second place locked up with a solid showing from their 3-5 runners.
The third tour of the course would take the runners around the perimeter of the Lake Park complex and into the soccer stadium where each runner turned into track runners for the final 300m. Perez is very adept to running fast times on the track with personal bests of 10:21 and 4:52 for 3200m and 1600m. However, on this day Perez would not need to display her oval prowess as she coasted home in 16:44. “I was pretty happy with my race today but at the same time my team’s [performance] was my number one goal,” said Perez after the awards ceremony. “I wanted to take it out and be steady after the first mile.”
Smith ran well over the final half mile to finish in second place and dip under 17:00 at 16:54. The race was so competitive that it took 18:14 to qualify as an individual. Freshman Hannah Morrison of Lake Park was the seventh and final individual qualifier as she placed 21st overall in 18:14.
New Trier boys make strong statement in win vs. York-
The overall grade of the meet course was met with delight and satisfaction but legendary coach Joe Newton of York was not one of them. “Why in the [world] did they have that fencing up at the top of the hill on the first turn,” said a feisty Newton in reference to why his team did not get off to a great start. “It boxed in my guys and we couldn’t get any position.” He did note that his pupil Nathan Mroz (Sr.) was able to get in the clear early and run near several mavericks. In fact, Mroz produced a sizable gap on the field at the first mile in 4:50.
The stream of runners streaming under 5:00 for the first mile was pretty impressive on an eschewed course says a lot about the quality of this field which has to be second to none in the state of Illinois. It was really hard to tell who had the advantage in the first stanza. In effect, it was still anyone’s team race.
Things began to develop fairly late after the first mile and into the second stanza with Mroz still leading big. He passed the second checkpoint in 9:51. No one else was under 10:00 but senior David O’Gara of Glenbrook South made a strong move to get himself out of the scrum and into second. Last year he missed state by one spot and it was not going to happen again. He hunkered down and competed hard with a rabid group of runners behind him.
The team battle was incredibly intense as all five state berths were still up for grabs. In order words, things didn’t look good for York as the Dukes were only able to put two runners in the top 10. Mroz was the first runner to steam home first in 14:51. The other was Kyle Mattes (Sr.) in 10th. In between those two Yorksters were O’Gara-2nd, Chase Silverman (Sr., New Trier)-3rd, Daniel Santino (So., St. Ignatius)- 4th, Peter Cotsirilos (Sr., New Trier)-5th, Jack Carpenter (Sr., Maine South)- 6th, Jack Carroll (Jr., Loyola Academy)- 7th, Jon Vara (Sr., Lane Tech)- 8th, and Savatore Flight (Jr., Fenwick)- 9th.
New Trier showed an ample amount of resolve in completing the winning deal with 18th, 23rd, and 30th place finishes. The Trevians continued their masterful split running- 29 seconds says it all and it wins championships on any level. "As far as our own races go, if everyone could performed to their potential we feel that we could beat any team," said Silverman and backed by several of his teammates after the awards presentation.
