Wheaton South Answers Critics With Business Class Win at PND

Sep 16, 2018

It was all business for the Tigers dominated like a bomber squadron at Detweiller Park

Peoria, Illinois --

There was some speculation leading up to the Richard Spring Invitational.

Some of it was serious and some of it was gesture worthy. But as they say, the truth resides in the middle.

But for the key athletes and certainly Illinois No. 1 and MileSplit 50 No. 8 Wheaton-Warrenville South, Peoria was a business trip.

Richard Spring--also known as the Peoria Notre Dame Invite--is a very large and old meet. It is a one-class winner takes all sweepstakes. Unlike the First To The Finish Invite that took place at the same Detweiller course a week prior, everyone leaves the park knowing who really is the best team.

Teams such as the No. 4 Hersey, No. 6 Neuqua Valley, and No. 12 St. Charles East wanted to issue a strong challenge to the Tigers.

But the Southside stridin' Tigers body language showed they were ready for the masses during the final run outs.

The Tigers didn't disappoint, and it was essentially over by the first half-mile. Just like the Wauconda Invite last week, the crew packed up immediately and ran together throughout the race. All five scorers were under 4:50 for the first mile.

They maintained the solid pace for the next two miles to dominate a strong field. Senior Scott Maison, fresh off of taking the ACT last weekend, paced four teammates under 15:00 running 14:48. Teammates junior William Hauenstein, senior Sean Maison, and junior Jacob Kluckhohn all checked in at seventh, ninth, and 10th places, respectively.

Another junior, David Zeller, grabbed 12th in 15:01 to close out the scoring. For good measure, if the Tigers were generous and handicapped themselves in the scoring department with seven runners, they would have placed second with 119 points to St. Charles East whose regular score tallied 116.

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TEAM SCORES
PLACE	TEAM	POINTS	SCORERS		TIMES
1	Wheaton Warrenville South High School	42	4+7+9+10+12 (23+54)	0:13 1-5 Split \| 14:56 Avg
2	St. Charles East High School	116	5+6+18+34+53 (69+120)	0:51 1-5 Split \| 15:12 Avg
3	Neuqua Valley High School	145	14+15+31+42+43 (64+85)	0:31 1-5 Split \| 15:20 Avg
4	Hersey High School	165	1+20+26+51+67 (122+168)	1:13 1-5 Split \| 15:20 Avg
5	Sandburg High School	177	22+24+30+33+68 (89+145)	0:36 1-5 Split \| 15:27 Avg
6	York High School	259	2+13+74+76+94 (135+177)	1:25 1-5 Split \| 15:32 Avg
7	Naperville Central High School	310	27+35+36+105+107 (127+136)	0:51 1-5 Split \| 15:45 Avg
8	O'Fallon High School	325	40+46+61+86+92 (189+260)	0:31 1-5 Split \| 15:48 Avg
9	Barrington High School	375	38+45+73+102+117 (121+211)	0:44 1-5 Split \| 15:54 Avg
10	Plainfield South High School	386	8+75+78+100+125 (132+183)	1:24 1-5 Split \| 15:51 Avg

Individual Race Breakdown

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The individual race took a different turn that the team outcome.

A fleet of premium level runners was supposed to put on a show that rivaled the blazing times of First to The Finish. Unfortunately, the heat index was the only thing that was blazing. One favorite was supposed to be senior Thomas Shilgalis of Naperville Central.

He was up with the leaders through the first mile in 4:46. However, Shilgalis would disappear from sight as the pack came out of the "Bermuda Triangle" back loop. Junior Josh Methner of Hersey was positioned perfectly throughout the tour. He appeared content on running with his peers for two miles. The pack had dwindled down to a handful who passed the marker in 9:47.

Methner began his final move along highway 29 to pull away from junior Ethan Kern of York to win in 14:37. It was a great win for Methner who lost a close one his last time out at the Fenton Invite. Kern raced for the first time this season clocked a personal best 14:41 to take second.

Senior Mathias Powell of Mahomet-Seymour was considered a marked man coming in. But he had to stride to the starting line as the meet official had the runners in the starting position. It is not known if that startled him from a possible win. Powell would grab third in 14:44. Maison and the emerging junior Bob Liking of St. Charles East closed out the top five.