Pre-Season #1 St. Charles East Boys Are Shazam Champs

Three consecutive days of ShaZam Cross Country Championships at Three Sisters Park culminated with the big class Division 3 championship. With nearly every top club in the state, the fans were certainly going to receive an early holiday gift. Athletes who were from places like York, Naperville North, and St. Charles. More schools from all around the state came to demonstrate what they've been working on all season and close it out with a bang.

The day wasn't just fun for the athletes, it was fun for the spectators and coaches as well. The important race markers like the start, mile, second mile, and finish were spread out so you would've had to do some running yourself to get from place to place. Virtually everywhere you looked there was a healthy-looking swarm of crowd goers going in and out the woods and everywhere in between among the 500 acres. When you weren't watching athletes run you could ogle over 'Ruby the cavapoo dog' from Sandburg and be amazed by the huge signs with competitors' faces on them

The second half of the day was closed out by the boys. Jackson Geiger from Kroy XC Club roared home to win the opening flight in 16:22.95 to put his teammates from York High School in a good position. Not too far behind was senior Carter Hart from Barrington Run Club who ran 16:27.80. Both boys were pretty close going through mile one, running 5:14.58 and 5:16.13 respectively. These early performances from Kroy and Barrington were just a preview for how well both teams would do later in the day.

Flight two was won by formerly embattled senior Evan Cummins from Downers Grove North XC Club. Unlike the previous races, most of the top ten racers were all within seconds of each other coming through the finish. Some observers thought Cummins would be slated in a later wave but a previously sore ankle was the culprit. He took the lead shortly after the first mile and continued to bankroll his momentum until the end with a time of 16:12.00. Gabe Ryan from North Naperville was close behind in 16:15.46.

The penultimate flight three was taken by an athlete from Saints XC Club. The defending IHSA state champions had something to prove as they dominated at various points all day- they managed to snag the team victory later on. The winner of this strategically placed star runner was junior Micah Wilson. A selfless act to run here and garner a low score was crucial in the Saint's overall chances. There was no doubt the race was Wilson was the only one under five minutes for mile one. His second and third mile was pretty even just over five minutes. He ran 15.35.05 which landed him a second-place overall finish.

Just like flight three, flight four would have a major impact on the final placements of the championship. The difference between fifth and sixth place was only .02 seconds. However, the first place was far from close. To no surprise, the winner of heat four was also from Saints XC Club. Senior Luke Schildmeyer has been a force throughout the second half of the season- at times the top runner in the 3A division. So he was the one to watch. Schildmeyer ran a 23-second PR in his 5k. While he was not under five for mile one, he was pretty much even for all of his splits. He ran 5:00.02, 5:05.88 and 5:01.72. His victory at 15:33.02 solidified the Saints team win.

Top 10 overall placers-

The team scores for the girls were 172 for the Huskies, 159 for Yorkville XC, 71 for North Naperville, and 58 for the meet winner, Kroy. The scores for the boys were 175 for Sheridan Athletic Club, 172 for Kroy XC Club, 156 for North Naperville, and 121 for the Saints XC Club. Despite not having an official IHSA State Championship, all the athletes showed up and showed out.