A great opening weekend pit some of the best teams in the state against one another, leading to some outstanding results. See which top teams inthe state performed like trophy teams and which individuals shined among the rest.
Weekend Wrap-Up (9/7)
Boys
1. Neuqua Valley - Led by senior Danny Pawola's first place finish in 15:08.7 and junior Aaron Beattie's runner-up finish in 15:25.4, Neuqua Valley easily won the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational. While the 1-2 finish up top was impressive, the most inspiring part of this team's race was their next seven performers, all of who finished between 8-18. With Pawola being a state individual champion favorite, Neuqua's 1-5 split showed their great depth by being only 53 seconds. The team beat IL#5 Palatine 32-82.
2. Naperville North - While Naperville North did not compete in a weekend invitational, they did face IL#7 Waubonsie Valley on Wednesday. On Tuesday North was set to take on Waubonsie, IL#1 Neuqua Valley and a few other teams, but due to the excessive heat, the meet was postponed, thus leaving only a trio of teams to compete the next day. North beat Waubonsie Valley 15-47, showing that their top five are going to be very hard to beat. Running a 57 second split behind front man Kyle Gibson, who won the race in 15:13, this squad is going to be hard to beat.
3. York - Did not compete.
4. Geneva - With three runners in the top seven at the St. Charles East Leavey Invitational Saturday, Geneva easily beat the field to win the team title. The squad bested runner-up Lake Forest 38-103, as Andrew Nelson placed second to lead the team in 15:14. Teammates Kevin Sparks and Greg Adelman placed sixth and seventh respectively.
5. Palatine - While Palatine couldn't match IL#1 Neuqua Valley's depth at the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational, losing 32-82, the team still showed some positive results. The squad's top two runners, Chano Bernardo and Alec Bollman, finished fifth and seventh respectively, while their back end runners ran well also. Where the team struggled was their 3-4 runners, finishing behind Neuqua's pack. Palatine ran without top five runner Juan Perez, who sat out as a preventative measure.
6. Lyons Township - At their own invitational, the Lions Pride Invitational, Lyons Township beat a solid field, beating a strong Sandburg squad 31-78 with a strong pack up top. In what seemed to be their strategy Saturday, Lyons packed up their runners, and it worked as Mike Janusek and Jack Hostettler finished third and fourth respectively in 15:17 and 15:18, while their 3-4 runners placed sixth and seventh.
7. Waubonsie Valley - Waubonsie faced IL#2 Naperville North at home earlier in the week in a tri-meet. Waubonsie ran without one of their top runners, who's out with an illness, and their lack of firepower up front showed, as the team lost to North 15-47. Ryan Shea led the team by placing sixth in 16:20. The team split 56 seconds.
On Saturday Waubonsie placed seventh at the St. Charles East Leavey Invitational, scoring 152 points. Emmett Lorenz led the squad with a tenth place finish in 15:36.35, but top runner from earlier in the week, Ryan Shea, finished third for the team in 34th place, 40 seconds behind Lorenz. This time the 1-5 split was 61 seconds.
8. Dundee-Crown - Early season success came quickly for this talented squad. Dundee-Crown won the Elgin Invitational early in the week, easily beating the field by placing 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, giving them 17 points. St. Charles East finished second 52 points back. Top runner Anthony Manfrin won in 15:51.12, while the squad ran a 59 second 1-5 split.
On Saturday the team competed again, this time winning the Crystal Lake South Invitational. Manfrin again led the way by scoring a first place up top, showing once again that their talent up top will be hard to beat throughout the season.
9. Conant - Running without top runner Jeff Thode finishing the race, Conant placed fifth in the Lions Pride Invitational, showing they have a little depth to work with this year. The team was led by fourteenth place Tyler Fuchs, who ran 15:51.92, and will look to rebound next weekend down in Peoria.
10. Sandburg - With three top ten finishers at the Lions Pride Invitational Saturday, Sandburg took home the second place trophy, only losing to IL#6 Lyons Township 31-78. The squad followed the lead of Zach Dahleen, who placed second in 15:14. Elliot Hevel and Kyle Meyer were the two other top ten finishers, placing eighth and tenth respectively.
11. St. Charles North - At the St. Charles East Leavey Invitational Saturday, St. Charles North started their season with hopes of challenging IL#4 Geneva and the rest of the varsity field. Despite a nice eighth place finish up front by Todd Vankerhoff, SCN ran without another senior leader, Max Clink. Clink had been sick leading up to the race and had to drop out early Saturday. With a healthy Clink this team finishes up much higher than their third place finish and 119 point total.
12. Schaumburg - Early in the week Schaumburg ran a dual meet against Rolling Meadows, just edging the squad out by one point, as the coaches sat out a few top runners. This week they face IL#5 Palatine, which should show where this team lies a little bit better.
13. Prospect - Prospect sent a squad to an invitational this weekend, but it wasn't their varsity squad. Earlier in the week Prospect ran a dual meet against IL#5 Palatine and lost by a large margin. However, the team ran without a couple of their better runners.
14. New Trier - A 32 second split couldn't propel New Trier any higher than sixth place Saturday at the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invitational. New Trier lacked a front runner, with their top runner finishing 20th, while finishing sixth behind fifth place Hinsdale Central 150-163. New Trier did show some strong talent in the other boys races however, that could step into a varsity role soon.
15. Loyola - Did not compete in weekend competition.
Girls
1. Geneva - The long awaited kick off to Geneva's cross country season took place Saturday at the St. Charles East Leavey Invitational, which saw the defending state champions best the host St. Charles East squad 41-89, as the team placed their top five in the top 12 finishing positions. Led by race champion Kelly Whitley, who beat SCE Lizzy Hynes 17:48-17:55, Geneva showed they are a force once again. Perhaps the most promising result came from Geneva's transfer sisters from Minnesota, Sarah and Meghan Heuer. This experienced duo placed 8th and 12th respectively, while teammates tess Ehrhardt and Sarah Coble placed 9th and 11th.
2. Hinsdale Central - Despite losing one of their top runners during the race, Hinsdale Central nipped IL#4 Palatine at the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invitational 42-51. Elaine Kuckertz led a solid 79 second split 1-5 with her second place finish, while teammate Heather Stevens placed fourth as well. In the open level Hinsdale Central dominated, placing 1-4 and having six of the top ten.
3. Naperville North - While most of the top teams in the state opened their season in the suburbs of Chicago this weekend, Naperville North traveled out to the Pleasant Valley Challenge in Iowa to take on some talented Iowa squads. North's main challenger was Iowa City High, which North beat 38-43 with strong pack running and placing four in the top ten. Michelle Stratton led the way with her individual win in 15:04 (4k), while the squad split 54 seconds 1-5.
4. Palatine - Some fans in Illinois thought Hinsdale Central would run away with the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil team title Saturday, but Palatine had other thoughts. With two sophomore runners in the top five, Palatine used a nice 86 second split 1-5 to keep in touch with Hinsdale Central, narrowly losing 42-51. Sarah McIntosh led the way by winning the individual title, while Courtney Brown placed fifth overall.
5. Neuqua Valley - Despite placing fourth at the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invitational, Neuqua Valley has a lot to be happy about this week. The squad finished with 120 points, only finishing behind IL#2 Hinsdale Central, IL#4 Palatine and IL#12 Wheaton Warrenville South. Megan Taylor led the team in sixth place, finishing with a time of 18:58.5, while the squad split a 1-5 time of 84 seconds.
6. Lyons Township - The closest battle of the weekend came at the Lions Pride Invitational, which saw Lyons Township tie Indiana-ranked #3 Valparaiso 59-59, losing on the sixth person tie-breaker. Lyons placed three athletes in the top eight, including second and fifth place finishes by Katherin Rehn and Kathleen Flaherty. The team's performance should be a very encouraging sign this early in the season.
7. Lake Park - What a way to start the season. LP senior Lindsay Flanagan won the Fenton Earlybird Invitational in record time, while leading her team to the team title as well. Placing four runners in the top fourteen helped propel this squad to the top of the awards stand. However, their one downside was their fifth runner, who finished back in 40th. If their backend can improve and get a bit closer to their top four, this team will be very dangerous.
8. Woodstock - Running at the Crystal Lake South Invitational Saturday without top runner Kayla Beattie, Woodstock took a hit and placed fourth in the team standings. Beattie has yet to race this fall and it is very apparent that Woodstock needs her healthy and running in order to be a state qualifying contender. However, Woodstock's top four looked great, including third place finisher Nikki Greenhill and fourth place finisher Elise Beattie.
9. Wheaton North - Did not compete.
10. Hersey - Running without a few of their top runners, including their top runner Megan Gojney, Hersey placed ninth at the Fenton Earlybird Invitational Saturday. The squad followed the lead of fifth place finisher Salena Clohisy, finishing the three mile race in 18:51. Once this team returns to full health, they should improve in the team standings dramatically.
11. Stagg - While some of the state's top teams were thriving at the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invitational, Stagg found themselves struggling a bit, placing sixth in the competitive field, 13 points behind fifth place Naperville Central. Stagg's top three ran very well, their fourth ran strong, but the lack of a solid fifth runner hurt the squad quite a bit. A 2+ minute 1-5 split isn't something few squads can ever overcome.
12. Wheaton Warrenville South - One of the best team performances of the weekend came from Wheaton Warrenville South, placing third at the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invitational, only finishing behind IL#2 Hinsdale Central and IL#4 Palatine. WWS ran strong despite having a couple of their top runners not finish. The team used a strong pack, with a 1-5 split of 73 seconds, while having some girls on lower levels compete well also. Fr/So winner Lauren Mordini won her race by 11 seconds and would have placed 15th in the varsity race...she'll be a good addition in the coming weeks to the varsity squad.
13. Downers Grove South - At the Fenton Earlybird Invitational, Downers Grove South placed third behind IL#7 Lake Park and strong Mid-Suburban League team Prospect. DGS tallied 86 points, finishing only five points back from Prospect. With five runners in the top 28, the squad showed a strong 1-5 split, with sixth place finisher Grace Magliola leading the way in 18:53.
14. York - Despite a strong finish from front runner Megan Frigo, York finished fourth overall at the St. Charles East Leavey Invitational Saturday. Frigo placed fifth overall in 18:16.76, while teammate Shreya Singh placed 13th in 18:56.39. After that the lack of depth showed with this squad, losing to third place Barlett 98-102.
15. Whitney Young - Did not compete in weekend competition. Won the St. Patrick's Invitational earlier in the week, easily beating the field.
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