Lake Zurich Boys, Barrington Girls Take Wheeling Invite Titles With Ease

Brian Griffith and Matt Pereira ran step for step the entire way at the Wheeling Invitational (Itai Epstein photo)

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Even before the 3A #4 Lake Zurich boys varsity team arrived on a beautiful Saturday morning at Heritage Park in Wheeling, they were hell bent on putting producing a first class performance. As the Bears completed their last pre-race run out, they let a few cheers and laughs, maybe to expel some nerves or maybe it was to let themselves know it was time to race.

The opening pace went out modestly except for a fall inside the first 200m by 15:09 man senior Jeremy Wallace of Lakes. The race was not called back. As things began to develop it was pretty evident that Lake Zurich was a team on a mission. The Bears created a blue wall that extended well past the first mile. Junior Pat Burns, the #4 runner, was included in the mix. Lake Zurich looked like world beaters when it was all said and done. The top finishers courtesy of Pereira, Brian and Kyle Griffith was academic and clear of the field. The scoring split was not great by any means and some work will be needed if the Bears hope to contend for a state championship next month.

#16 Highland Park ran well within themselves by packing up. As it was mentioned in the preview they don't have a front runner like the graduated Brett Davidson. The Giants may have a star in the future with sophomore Jose Reyes. He led the way in 11th place with a strong closing. His teammates backed him with a smooth 25 second split.

#25 Palatine (Fremd) held form with a third place finish. Senior Danny Peterson once again led the way placing 8th. Next up for Vikings is the MSL Championship.

Pereira had started showing signs of his old self at the Palatine Invitational several weeks ago. He ran with the leaders for almost two miles before slipping to 16th place. This team things would be different. He co led through the first mile in 4:53, and second mile in 10:03. The next half mile he and Brian Griffith separated from Kyle Griffith. The corresponding hill did not break Pereira. He was able to maintain his composure and dash to the finish line with Brian. It was not known for quite awhile who won the race. The timing crew had to go to video review to break the tie. It was revealed well over an hour later that Pereira won his first race of the season in 15:09.6. Brian was second in 15:09.7. During his interview Pereira indicated that his training had been coming along well and he looks forward to the state series.