Tony's Weekend Regional Exposition



Regional championship weekend has often been looked at as a throw-a-way three day period.  It is the time of the year where many coaches scratch their heads and ask whether the regional format should be scrapped.  Rather than get into the political side, I want to take an opportunity to describe a positive vibe that I got while on the lamb covering two meets in a day.

I had a lot of nice choices to pick from as the weekend approached (and that made things even harder).  Finally, on Friday night I was able to narrow things down with the help of some great friends via my twitter.  So, I chose to attend the LaGrange (Lyons Township) Regional in the morning and of course my own team’s regional (Whitney Young) later in the afternoon at Washington Park in Chicago.

It started off in Lyons Township land-

I arrived at beautiful Lyons Township High School at 9:30am.  I tood a moment to walk some of the course before stopping to see Lyons girls head coach Stetson Steele and company begin their race preparation.  It was sunny and a light breeze accompanied the flat landscape.  A short time later, other teams joined in start their stretching and strides.  The thought of championship racing finally caught me.  It was just about time to get to running as the head meet official called the teams to the starting line at 9:55am.

The gun sounded at exactly 10am and the girls were off.  It didn’t take long for the favorites to emerge as Hinsdale freshman Alexa Haff and Lyons senior Lexy Rudofsky were out in front.  #5 Hinsdale Central and #8 Downers Grove South packed it up front along with #7 Lyons.

Haff and Rudofsky were stride for stride through the first mile in 5:37.  Downers Grove South senior Haley Albers was about three seconds in back of the pair.  The team battle was shaping up according to plan as Downers South, Hinsdale Central, and Lyons had all of their scorers in the top 20.  #14 Downers Grove North sprinkled the rest of the mass of girls to make it a West Suburban Silver and Gold Conference meeting.

Haff and Rudofsky continued to set the pace into the second trip to “the Jungle” which was on the far north end of the course.  Both runners emerged back into the main fray of the course and back south and then east and north again. Haff would open up a slight lead on Rudofsky at 2m.  She hit the second mile in 11:30 and Rudofsky was 11:32.  The rest of the field was dropped and had to fend for themselves. Downers South appeared to have a lead on the field in the team race department.  All the Mustangs need to do at this point is maintain their position and they are regional champs.

The final half-mile was all Haff as she put her foot on the accelerator and disappeared from Rudofsky.  The verdict would be an easy victory in 16:56 on the 2.97 mile layout.  Rudofsky checked in nicely with a school course record 17:15. Albers and fellow DGS teammate Amanda Thate (Jr.) finished third and fourth respectively running 17:34 and 17:50. Hinsdale Central sophomore Annie Zaher checked in at 17:53 to complete the all-regional team.

Downers Grove South head coach Doug Plunkett didn’t have official results but one of his team managers had a mock tally  and indicated that Hinsdale Central won by a point 43-44. “I knew it would be close,” he said as if there wasn't anything to be concerned with.  The official results were released about 15 minutes later and it was confirmed that the Red Devils indeed were the winners.  The difference was not in Haff winning but rather with the all important fourth and fifth runners.  The Mustangs trailed by a point to the Red Devils in that department.  The host Lions finished in third with 55 points and Downers North closed out the WSC attack in 4th with 70 points.

The boy's race was less drama filled compared to the girls.  #2 Hinsdale Central is everyone’s favorite and depending on how hard they push the pace, it should be academic for them to win the regional title.



The first mile was packed chock full of red and purple uniforms from Hinsdale Central and Downers Grove North.  For the Red Devils it was Kevin Huang (Sr.), Billy Magnesen (Sr.), Blake Evertsen (Fr.), and Emmett Scully (Sr.) mixing it up with Zack Smith (Sr.) and Ryan Clevenger (Jr.) at the initial checkpoint that was reached in 4:49-50.  Add senior Jacob Amiri of Downers Grove South to the mix and it’s another WSC domination.

The second mile began with Smith and Clevenger pushing the pace going into the Jungle.  The duo dropped the Hinsdale Central crew and essentially made it two races in one.  Just like identical twins who share equal athletic talent, Smith and Clevenger were irreplaceable as they cruised past the two-mile marker in 9:53.  Magnesen was 10:00, Huang 10:01- the Red Devils seventh man Alex Domiano (Sr.) was a crisp 10:16. The team race in effect was pretty much in the bag for the state’s second best team.

It was around the 12:00 minute mark when the crowd began forming near the finish line in anticipation of a fast finish. True enough, it would be Smith and Clevenger strolling home in a comfort stance- both recording 14:36.  Magnesen and Huang followed in succession rocking 14:50 and 14:53 times. Next was Mateo Hernandez (Sr., Cicero Morton) who crashed the Silver party by passing Evertsen in the final 200m to place fifth.

Hinsdale Central completed another solid day at the office scoring 35 points on 3,4,6,9, and 13 places.  For good measure, Chris Brenk (So.) and Domiano added 14th and 16th marks to prove to their future foes how formable it will be to defeat them.

Downers Grove North finished second with 47 points without running one of their top runners in senior Jeremy Craven.  “He is the only guy who didn’t run… he will be running next week at sectionals at Katherine [Legge Woods].,” said Smith.  As for his own prowess at sectionals he added, “We have been looking forward to it all season. It is one that we have circled early,” he said. Clevenger was more direct in his thought process. “We are going to go 1-2 at sectionals.  That’s our goal," he said without blinking or stuttering.
 

Race Video/Interviews by Tony Jones

 

 

 



 

Back to Chi-town for the Whitney Young Regional-

It was back to the city after chatting with a few friendly faces.  I had to stop by Wendy’s for a quick bite to eat.  Sorry folks I broke down and enjoyed an original Wendy’s Single burger…

Washington Park, the host site of the CPL title, was once again the place to be for many of last week’s racers- though there was less competitors and fans.  But the prospect of friendly foes #17 Chicago (St. Ignatius) and Park Ridge (Maine South) should bring some excitement to both races.

After the Chicago Lake View Regional was completed, the 3A girls were ready to go.   

As soon as the race official John Caldow finished barking out instructions to the runners he shot the gun and they were off.  Immediately Maine South senior Emily Leonard shot to the front of the pack.  She was on a mission and unless someone jumped out of the bush to ambush her, the win and possibly a record was in order.  Leonard, on her first trip competing on Chicago soil, looked like a veteran as she passed the first mile in 5:37.  Meanwhile, the trailing pack was 15 seconds back.

The team battle appeared to be St. Ignatius looking very healthy as junior Alexis Jakubowski moved from the lead pack entering the second mile on to an island.  She pulled several teammates with her.  

Leonard hit the second mile in 11:31 and twenty seconds in front of Jakubowski.  Lane Tech freshman Maggie Scholle was third and leading the chase pack.  St. Ignatius was still in command with Jill Porretta (Jr.) and Olivia Meyer (Jr.), but Lane had Joanna Podosek (Sr.) and Roisin Mulkerrins (Fr.) hold on in the top 10- hitting 11:58-59.

Unfortunately, for Lane there would not be any relief at the fourth and fifth spots who seemed to be an eternity away.  St. Ignatius took full advantage of that fact and ran the final mile in impressive fashion.  The Wolfpack yielded the individual title to Leonard who would end up running a course record 17:40.  Leonard broke 2009 state champion Lavinia Jurkiewicz 's (Whitney Young) mark of 17:44.  Afterwards, Leonard remarked on the course: “we came here pretty early this morning and walked the course. It was kind of confusing at first but we figured it out… luckily.” St. Ignatius did not need luck as they won going away with 36 points.  Jakubowski, Porretta, and Meyer finished second, third, and fourth.  

The boy’s race had some pre-meet hype coming into the fray.  It has been over a year since #4 Lane Tech, #16 St. Ignatius, and #22 Maine South met in a clash at the Niles West Sectional.  Lane has surprised many pundits this season with outstanding meet performances, but the coaching staff was quick to remind the squad that they could not take anything for granted.

The opening of the race was in stark contrast to the girls in that no one went out like a rocket ship. Instead the main players from aforementioned schools stood pat in an honest but steady opening pace.  The first mile was breached in 4:55-57 by a flock of about 15 runners.  Among the fleet were pre-meet favorite Jack Carpenter (Sr., Maine South) and Daniel Santino (So., St. Ignatius).  Both of these fleet-footed athletes were no doubt waiting for their moment to break open the race.

Carpenter and his teammate Henry Mierzwa (Jr.) moved ahead and indeed broke things open leading at the two-mile in 9:59.  Mather’s Deivi Tahiraj (Sr.) was in second and moving well.  Santino and his teammates were 3,5,7, and 9.  Lane Tech was in big trouble with one mile to go. Pavlo Hutsalyuk (Jr.) looked strong for his Indian team but collectively the usually tight scoring pack was spread out too far.  Among that group would be top runner Jon Vara (Sr.).

Carpenter steamed home for the win in 15:04 followed by the hard charging Vara and Hutsalyuk in 15:09 and 15:11.  Mierzwa had fallen off of the pace badly and finished sixth.   Lane ran extremely well in the final 600-800m of the race overtaking the competitors who were out front just several minutes prior.  Fortunately, for a team known for its fleet-footedness (4x800m prowess on the track) they were afforded the opportunity to be in position to win the race with 48 points.

Maine South fought valiantly as did St. Ignatius placed second and third very respectively with 51 and 56 points.  

Meet Coverage

 

Race Video/Interviews by Tony Jones