Barrington Boys, Vernon Hills Girls Sweep Lake Co Invite

The Barrington boys put on a display as a program at the Art Campbell Lake Co Invite in Waukegan

There were 735 runners from across 15 high schools in Lake County that gathered at the Waukegan Sports Park to run their first race of the season. The weather was a chilly 63 degrees for early September, which made for excellent racing conditions for the athletes.

To start things off the varsity girls race had 129 skilled runners-- including 2018 2A champion junior Brooke Stromsland of Lakes and 2018 3A all-stater sophomore Aly Negovetich of Grant. Last year, Negovetich won the race in 18:06, so expect sub-18:00 for the winning time this year. At the first mile, run in 5:46, a lead pack of Negovetich, Stromsland, Kelsey Hamilton (Zion-Benton), Bree Ponchak (Libertyville), and Rose Sheridan (Vernon Hills) has emerged. At the finish line, Negovetich sprints past with no one near her and wins in an impressive time of 17:24, a 42 second improvement over last year! Stromsland comes in second in 17:42, closely followed by freshman Sheridan in 17:52. 2A #17 Vernon Hills dominates as a team, with their top five runners all placing in the top 25 spots, totaling 50 points. 2A #21 Lakes took home second place with 93 points and 3A #24 Libertyville was behind them in 97 points.

1Vernon Hills High School503+6+7+10+24 (32+41)2:00 1-5 Split | 18:52 Avg
2Lakes High School932+15+20+27+29 (64+82)2:22 1-5 Split | 19:29 Avg
3Libertyville High School975+18+19+25+30 (39+48)1:41 1-5 Split | 19:36 Avg
4Grant High School1101+13+14+26+56 (57+91)4:00 1-5 Split | 19:33 Avg
5Warren High School1379+12+34+37+45 (46)1:56 1-5 Split | 20:06 Avg
6Stevenson High School17123+33+35+36+44 (47+68)1:14 1-5 Split | 20:23 Avg
7Grayslake Central High School17716+17+21+60+63 (75+78)2:08 1-5 Split | 20:26 Avg
8Lake Forest High School21411+40+50+55+58 (69+79)2:11 1-5 Split | 20:49 Avg
9Zion Benton High School2198+31+38+70+72 (89+90)2:56 1-5 Split | 20:49 Avg
10Grayslake North High School2564+59+62+65+66 (74+85)3:20 1-5 Split | 20:59 Avg
11Mundelein High School27722+49+53+73+80 (81+87)2:49 1-5 Split | 21:24 Avg
12Wauconda High School29028+42+51+83+86 (88+93)3:05 1-5 Split | 21:41 Avg
13Deerfield High School30552+54+61+67+71 (76+77)0:47 1-5 Split | 21:35 Avg
14Lake Forest Academy40843+84+92+94+95 (96)5:06 1-5 Split | 24:11 Avg

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The boy's varsity race had an equally, if not more, competitive field. Among the top boy athletes are Dillon Blake of Mundelein, who was a 3A all-stater in 14:38, Nate Schmitt of Lake Forest who was second in last year's 2A state meet and won county last year, and Ben Rosa of Lake Forest whose PR is 15:13, but his 4:12 1600m in May has made him standout. A sizeable lead pack of Schmitt, Rosa, Blake, Carter Schorr, Josh Puyear, and Will Gordon of Libertyville blaze through the first mile in 4:56-- a sign of a mid-to-low 15:00 finish. At the finish line, Rosa and Blake are battling it out for first place, but Rosa wins the struggle and comes in first place with a time of 15:25 followed by Blake in 15:26. Teammate Schorr came in .2 seconds behind Blake to also earn 15:26. As a team, 3A #9 Barrington won in 75 points, their top five runners also finishing in the top 25 spots. Warren narrowly earned second place in 91 points followed by Deerfield in 93 points. 

1Barrington High School756+9+14+21+25 (27+33)0:50 1-5 Split | 16:09 Avg
2Warren High School9110+13+15+22+31 (44+49)0:42 1-5 Split | 16:17 Avg
3Deerfield High School938+17+18+24+26 (28+34)0:44 1-5 Split | 16:17 Avg
4Mundelein High School1022+3+20+38+39 (42+62)1:23 1-5 Split | 16:09 Avg
5Stevenson High School1284+11+30+40+43 (50+53)1:33 1-5 Split | 16:28 Avg
6Lake Forest High School1591+5+32+58+63 (69+75)2:27 1-5 Split | 16:40 Avg
7Libertyville High School1847+19+51+52+55 (56+60)1:44 1-5 Split | 16:52 Avg
8Grayslake Central High School24529+35+57+59+65 (74+79)1:16 1-5 Split | 17:22 Avg
9Grant High School25316+23+66+72+762:02 1-5 Split | 17:24 Avg
10Lakes High School30137+45+68+70+81 (91+94)1:36 1-5 Split | 17:41 Avg
11Round Lake High School30212+36+73+88+93 (101)2:58 1-5 Split | 17:47 Avg
12Zion Benton High School32646+48+64+83+85 (90+96)1:18 1-5 Split | 17:51 Avg
13Vernon Hills High School33441+61+71+77+84 (87+89)1:26 1-5 Split | 17:54 Avg
14Grayslake North High School35947+54+80+86+92 (98+100)1:50 1-5 Split | 18:09 Avg
15Wauconda High School41967+78+82+95+97 (99+102)1:32 1-5 Split | 18:41 Avg

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Especially considering this course was over the standard distance, not the typical 3-mile Illinois cross country layout, the times were significantly improved over last year's which shows how hard the athletes worked to improve over the summer. The county invite is usually just friendly competition, but earning an all-county finish or placing as a team is no small feat. Lake County has shown tremendous potential and it will be exciting to see the teams compete as true competition season grows nearer.

RESULTS I RACE VIDEOS