Lane Tech vs. Taft Renews Old School Cross Country Feelings

Sep 04, 2020

It was a flock of myrtle and gold splashed against the blue and black harriers in action

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The "Windy City" has its one of its nicknames for a reason. Throughout Thursday and before the start of today's cross county action at Lane Tech High School, strong winds made their presence known- speeds reaching into an excess of 20 miles per hour. Sometimes these items can have an adverse effect on physical and mental performances. Be as it may, there was enough positive for the athletes who competed.

While Mother Nature's whirlwind spirit might have been a nuisance to spectators, it wasn't a problem for the athletes. This second week's action was the first between the northside athletics rival. Most of them were just happy to be able to compete with all the protocols and restrictions in place. They know that one wrong move could put a huge dent in their season.

There were only three teams entered in throwback dual meet style as the inordinate but controlled competition with Lane, Taft, and select runners from Jones College Prep took their positions.

The first race was the girl's varsity three-mile. The early lead was Nora Leff of Lane Tech who hit the first mile in approximately 6:37. Leff had about a five-meter lead on a pack of Lady Indians and Eagles.

As the race entered the second mile, the Leff increased the margin to 15-seconds and it appeared as though she was going to run away from teammates Allison Glenn and Silvia Gomez. Upon entering the final stretch re-entering Lane Stadium, things had completely changed as Glenn and Gomez moved in front. With 250m to go, Glenn bolted away for the win in 20:29. Gomez took second in 20:31 and just ahead of Taft's Eliza Lust who ran 20:38. Leff faded a bit during the final stretch but still came home in fourth in 20:40. Lane put all top seven in the top 10 to win 18-45. Jones Prep did not have a full team to factor into the scoring.

The girl's first open two-mile produced the next eye-catching performance of the day. Charlotte Muller was originally supposed to be in the varsity three-mile race but opted for the two-mile due to injury concerns. But you wouldn't be able to tell she had injury concerns with the way she raced. Muller took the lead the entire way, winning by 28 seconds in 13:18. It's possible she would've been in the mix with the varsity girls, or even winning.

The second open race featured Taft senior Annalise Hankins who in this as a precaution to a previous injury. Hankins did not disappoint as she took the lead from the gun and it was smooth sailing after the first mile in 6:26. She would win in 12:56.

PLACE	TEAM	POINTS	SCORERS		TIMES
1	Lane Tech High School	18	1+2+4+5+6 (7+8)	0:22 1-5 Split \| 20:39 Avg
2	Taft High School	45	3+9+10+11+12 (13+14)	2:29 1-5 Split \| 22:06 Avg

After the girls left the stadium, the boys slowly started to file in. The boy's varsity three-mile was the race to watch. 3A #22 Lane Tech had two front runners, Hunter Whitney and Zach Genin, along with Lucas Guidone from Taft. These three boys were stride for stride through the first two miles in 5:16 and 10:46. At this point, it was anyone's race as they fought to hold on to the top three spots.

Going into the last half mile Guidone and Whitney started to pull away from Genin. As they came into the last 400 meters of the race, Guidone made one last decisive move that overpowered Whitney to the finish winning by 13 seconds in a personal best 15:37. Whitney also ran a PB holding on to second over Genin 15:50-16:12. Taft's Michael Polizzi and Lane's Declan Toomey closed out the top five with 16:22 and 16:32 times respectively.

PLACE	TEAM	POINTS	SCORERS		TIMES
1	Lane Tech High School	24	2+3+5+6+8 (9+10)	0:58 1-5 Split \| 16:25 Avg
2	Taft High School	35	1+4+7+11+12 (13+14)	2:41 1-5 Split \| 16:57 Avg

Following this race was the boys open two-mile. Kyle Smorynski and Nolan Moss, both from Lane Tech, were the two leaders. They both led at different points of the race. Moss went out strong with his teammate Smorynski trailing behind. But Smorynski closed the race for them both, taking first with a strong 19-second gap in 10:58. These sophomores expressed that they have big goals for the future. Hopefully, we'll see them taking on the varsity races and competing with the same drive, they have now.

Although the meet was small, we still got to see some exciting and competitive action. If all goes well, we will see these athletes and their teammates again in the coming weeks. In between that time, teams will continue to navigate the restrictions of CoVid-19 by getting innovative with their practices. Maybe this innovation will lead to some interesting times as the season continues.