Palatine Invitational (IL)
Every year York High School (IL) opens up their varsity invitational season by racing at the Palatine Invitational. This showcase features many of the top teams in state and the course simulates the state meet course very well.
With a few Illinois teams doing so well thus far this season, many were in attendance to see just how good York is in 2008. Well, the squad proved that they are as good as ever, placing three runners in the top ten, while finishing first with 59 points, nearly scoring half the points runner-up Lyons Township (IL) scored.
Led by the 1-2 finish of seniors Steve Sulkin and Jordan Herbert, York started off very strong. Sulkin and Herbert simply ran away from the rest of the field, slowly increasing their gap from the rest of the field. At the two mile mark they had a seven second lead, while at the finish they had nearly 15 seconds up on third place.
Lyons Twp. finished a strong second with three runners in the top 13, scoring 117 points, while the host Palatine (IL) finished third with 135 points.
On the girls side Palatine dominated. The squad ran an impressive top four, scoring 63 points and finishing 32 points ahead of second place Hinsdale Central (IL). Sarah McIntosh again led Palatine with a winning effort, cruising across the line right around 17:00 for three miles. McIntosh's front running prowess helped her break away from the field, finishing well ahead of second place.
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