Defending state champion #2 Hinsdale Central was all business on Saturday. The Red Devils used a strong final mile and particularly last quarter-mile to turn around their fortunes from losing sectionals to #1 Orland Park (Sandburg) with a rosounding 104-138 win. Hinsdale Central was led by sophomore Blake Evertsen in 12th place. The Red Devils put their first three scorers ahead of the Eagles and used a 24-second scoring split to off set the 11-second spread by Sandburg. #4 LaGrange Lyons Township rebounded nicely after a few rough weeks to grab the bronze trophy over #3 Naperville Neuqua Valley 180-181.
Jesse Reiser (Sr., McHenry) played the cards that were dealt to him and won. First, it was the swirling winds moving northwest that provided a tactical race in his favor. Secondly, it was the unwilliness of some of the key runners to set their own pace to push Reiser. He pulled away from challenger Zach Dale (Sr., Hoffman Estates Conant) very late in the last 200m to easy win in 14:10. Dale chugged home second in a personal best 14:20. Matt Pereira (So., Lake Zurich) stayed ahead of RyanClevenger (Sr., Downers Grove North) 14:21-14:23 for third. Kevin Salvano (Jr., Buffalo Grove) ran a life time best 14:26 to complete the top five. In all, it took 14:49 to medal (top 25). It was a particularly fast field despite the blustery conditions as 38 runners broke 15:00 for three miles.
