Boys-
Charlie Kern won the closest race in Palatine Invite history 14:36.0-14:36.2
Lake Zurich is finally an upperclassmen team. The Bears came on the scene several years ago as young cubs scratching and clawing the competition. Now three seniors Brian Griffith, Kyle Griffith, Matt Pereira, and one junior Pat Burns are growling. This is the year this team is poised to win one of the three state championship trophies on November 5 in Peoria. But for the meantime winning invitational titles will build the confidence.
Lake Zurich and Kentucky's #1 team St. Xavier of Louisville locked horns throughout each mile. It first appeared as though the Bears had the advantage with three runners at the top of the pack. Pereira and the twins were dictating things from a team perspective. Burns held the fourth spot in the middle strong. St. Xavier on the other hand used a total team approach. All five St. Xavier runners stayed in the vicinity of lead man Schaefer. They were fighting hard and ready to celebrate if they can run three complete miles.
St. Xavier was leading the race with a mile to go when the scorers were about 15 secs apart. But somehow Lake Zurich junior and fifth man Eric Metzger dropped a big personal best. He broke 16:00 for the first time to run 15:44. He now has a month to further improve and give the Bears a must have showstopper.
Hinsdale Central placed third after coming off of a bye week invitational wise. They did compete against York and Proviso West in a WSC Silver league meet. It was more than a tempo run according to coach Noah Lawrence. "We ran pretty hard in that meet," said Lawrence. The Red Devils came out on top in that affair. They duplicated matters with a 1:05 split off of senior Blake Evertsen's fourth place finish. The Red Devils finished third with 205 points.
Hersey edged past York 243-261 for fourth despite not having three of their top five runners.
| top 5 TEAM SCORES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES | ||
| 1 | Lake Zurich High School | 124 | 2+15+16+27+64 (124+132) | 1:08 1-5 Split | 15:09 Avg | ||
| 2 | St. Xavier (Lou) | 143 | 17+29+30+33+34 (46+77) | 0:21 1-5 Split | 15:19 Avg | ||
| 3 | Hinsdale Central High School | 205 | 4+35+40+59+67 (89+96) | 1:05 1-5 Split | 15:26 Avg | ||
| 4 | Hersey High School | 243 | 11+41+44+71+76 | 0:50 1-5 Split | 15:33 Avg | ||
| 5 | York High School | 261 | 1+13+37+85+125 (129+133) | 1:39 1-5 Split | 15:27 Avg | ||
The opening pace was honest as the leaders positioned themselves with some familiar names. Irwin Loud (Sr., Oak Park-River Forest) ran comfortable with Evertsen, the Lake Zurich trio, Jack Aho (Sr., Grayslake Central) and several more. Charlie Kern (Jr., York) was there just a few strides back of the lead pack.
The first mile was breached in 4:50 and many more under 5:00. The race would soon meandered back around near the start and past throngs of fans and onlookers. The second mile did not have as many fans cheering on the runners because it was situated in far eastern part of the course. Jack Aho, Loud, Evertsen, Brian Griffith, Jeremy Adams (Sr., Chicago Jones), Carter Cheeseman (So., Brentwood Academy, TN) were there in 9:53. Brian Leonard (Sr., Palatine) and Kern was about a tick or two in back.
As with the girls, the boys finally separated late in the final mile. Kern and Brian Griffith would duel to the end. This is the kind of race that Kern loves. If he is not broken with a hectic pace he was going to mastermind a tremendous finish in the end. This is bad news for almost all opponents against a kid with 50 second quarter speed. Leg speed is only useful at the end of races in contention. Kern and Griffith sprinted down the final valley amid the cheers and anguish of the fans. Both runners legitimately the finishing mats together. The winner? It was not revealed for quite awhile. Finally Kern was the champion in 14:36. He has now awaken and placed his name among the state title contenders.
Charlie Kern's post race reaction: