Dukane Conference Meet Produced Some Great Marks

Oct 21, 2019

Katrina Schlenker, Alice Abbott, and Samantha Poglitsch dueled in an epic battle

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Lake Park HS; Roselle, IL--

Those rare Illinois fall days with simply perfect weather are really just prime mornings for a conference cross country meet. The teams competing in the 2nd Annual Dukane Conference Meet: Batavia, Geneva, Glenbard North, Lake Park, St. Charles East, St. Charles North, Wheaton North, and Wheaton-Warrenville South, all took advantage of the conditions to show the results of their hard work this season.

The Frosh/Soph races started the meet off strong with a new boys' meet record of 15:55 for first place finisher Ryan Schreiner of Wheaton North. However, St. Charles East edged Wheaton North out for the first-place team score with big moves from Joseph Xotla and Mitch Garcia.

On the girl's Frosh/Soph side, Batavia and Wheaton-Warrenville South were battling it out, which would be a similar scene for all of the girls' races. While Brooke Silbernagel and Meara Sauter from Batavia snagged first and second place respectively, South was still able to beat Batavia's team score by 8 points for the win.

#1 St. Charles East's boys' varsity team had nothing to prove this weekend after putting some wood to the competition nearly every time out. But when you are also ranked fifth in the country, you cannot afford to fall asleep. Last year's state champion, Wheaton Warrenville South, is not an old newspaper. The Tigers have some formable firepower remaining in their arsenal.

The top-ranked Saints Led by senior Bob Liking and sophomore Micah Wilson went 1-2 with sparkling times of 14:38 and 14:47- Liking chugged a new meet record. The Saints look to make some serious damage in the postseason.

1	St. Charles East High School	32	1+2+7+10+12 (16+21)	0:43 1-5 Split \| 14:59 Avg
2	Wheaton Warrenville South High School	34	3+4+5+9+13 (17+22)	0:29 1-5 Split \| 15:03 Avg
3	Batavia High School	87	8+15+18+20+26 (42)	0:57 1-5 Split \| 15:34 Avg
4	Wheaton North High School	100	11+14+23+25+27 (29+30)	0:50 1-5 Split \| 15:42 Avg
5	St. Charles North High School	126	6+19+31+34+36 (39+48)	1:30 1-5 Split \| 16:02 Avg

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The girls' varsity race held excitement as well with the trio of junior Samantha Poglitsch from Wheaton South, sophomore Katrina Schlenker of Batavia, and junior Alice Abbott of St. Charles East racing together far ahead of the rest of the pack. However, the Tigers headed by Poglitch's impressive first-place finish in a time of 16:51 was not enough to hold back the powerhouse team of Batavia paced by the rapidly improving Schlenker who took second overall well ahead of Abbott.

1	Batavia High School	38	2+6+7+10+13 (15+24)	1:30 1-5 Split \| 17:52 Avg
2	Wheaton Warrenville South High School	72	1+5+18+22+26 (27+28)	2:20 1-5 Split \| 18:18 Avg
3	St. Charles East High School	72	3+11+16+19+23 (31+34)	1:34 1-5 Split \| 18:24 Avg
4	Geneva High School	93	9+12+17+25+30 (35+37)	1:14 1-5 Split \| 18:44 Avg

The Tiger boys were able to show off the full extent of their team in the open race with their first 6 runners all placing in the top ten to clinch first place. St. Charles East made a nice team showing in second place with second-place finisher Payton Fischer falling right behind the first-place finisher Sam Walhout of Wheaton North running 16:01. The Batavia girls once again beat out South, this time in the open race, as the pack of Erin O'Brien, Anissa Garcia, and Annie Sellenberg dominated the field.

With still much to happen with these top teams during these next couple weeks, be sure to keep an eye out for the Dukane conference and the new surprises it's sure to bring.