.jpg)
All eyes will be on Micah Wilson and the Saints of St. Charles East on Saturday
----
Date: September 11, 2021
Location: Lake Park HS- East campus; Roselle, IL
Time schedule:
8:30am- Jr/Sr Boys
9am - Varsity Girls
9:30am - Varsity Boys
10am - JV Girls
10:30am - FS Boys
11:00am - Girls Open
Twitter social media: #harveybraus21
Key teams:
Girls- #1 York, #4 Prospect, #7 St. Charles East, #15 Downers Grove North, #16 Glenbard West; 2A#19 Chicago St. Ignatius
Boys- #11 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #15 St. Charles East, #19 Chicago Jones, #20 Wheaton North
-it's been two seasons since the Harvey Braus Invite was held. It will once again take place at Lake Park High School's east campus. Despite that, there were several competitions on the fast school course. One such runner was St. Charles East's Micah Wilson who blistered the course more than a handful of times. The final salvo was the Lake Park Regional where he ran 14:42. His personal best on the layout is 14:38. So it's easy to say that he is the odds on favorite in his final HB appearance.
St. Charles is technically the defending meet champions from 2019 and although they have graduated a substantial amount of talent that netted two state championships, the Saints have enough to get the job done again. Aside from Wilson, there is Mitch Garcia and Joseph Xotla as a good supporting cast. But like all good teams, the fifth runner has to be a closer. The Saints so far in two meets, have struggled closing out races. Even at the Leavy Invite without Wilson in the lineup, the scoring spread was 1:15.
Wheaton-Warrenville South just might be the team to bring it all together. At the Hornet-Devil Invite last weekend, the Tigers enjoyed a low stick performance from Michael Atkins who placed fifth in a strong field. His teammates had his back by using a 56-second split to nab a fifth-place position.
Wheaton North comes on a mountain high after winning the Pleasant Valley Spartan Invite in Iowa. Ryan Zydek led the charge with a runner-up finish on the tough 5000m course in 16:28. The Falcons by putting all of its scorers inside of the top 40. Chicago Jones Prep has historically done well in this meet. The Eagles will be making their season debut and hope to be among the team trophy winners.
It could be a great affair with several top-rated girls teams on the menu. #1 York is expected to send their top unit into battle for the first time this year. Look for the season debut of standouts Brooke Berger and Bria Bennis to complement an already deadly varsity seven. The Lady Dukes beat Leavy Invite hosts St. Charles East easily without all cylinders clicking last weekend.
If Prospect sends its top seven into the mix, things can be interesting. The Knights may want to get an early-season mettle test since they missed out late last year at the Shazam Championships. This team is known for its tight pack racing led by Hailey Erickson and with the addition of sophomore Lily Ginsberg to the varsity lineup, there are more options to consider.
Individually, it could be someone from York or Prospect walking away with a win. But Naomi Ruff of South Elgin and Audrey Allman of Glenbard West are strong performers. One of the state's best performers thus far is Grace Schager of Glenbard North. She ran on the course several weeks ago at the Lake Park quad.