The opening start of the massive boys varsity Pat Savage Invitational
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Niles West HS; Skokie IL-
One of the largest cross country races in the country took place in front of the legendary namesake Mr. Pat Savage and the first combined race of the day was the varsity boys. There were a few questions regarding the course length as the times of the undercard race appeared a bit slower than normal. But it's time to see how things would play out.
The first mile went out in approximately 5:05 for the first mile with a pack of about six runners converged together. Deerfield and St. Ignatius of Chicago appeared to be the teams to beat. Michael Schumacher (Sr., St. Viator), Aidan Simon (Sr., Loyola Academy), and Jake Phillips (Jr., Chicago Marist) were together for the first two miles- the second negotiated in 10:22.
Schumacher began to assert himself over the next half mile and distance himself as a trio and eventually came for the win in 15:20. Though the time was not fast (it rained and distance possibly misreported), Schumacher was content in winning over a nice field. Simon was second in 15:24 and Phillps took third in 15:33. Both Deerfield and St. Ignatius ran well within their divisions known as red and white, but Deerfield prevailed 68-70 in the combined team scoring.
| TEAM SCORES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES | |||
| 1 | Deerfield High School | 68 | 4+5+12+22+25 (42+109) | 0:41 1-5 Split | 16:06 Avg | |||
| 2 | St. Ignatius College Prep High School | 70 | 7+8+11+14+30 (31+38) | 0:43 1-5 Split | 16:11 Avg | |||
| 3 | Loyola Academy | 159 | 2+6+29+52+70 (119+122) | 1:58 1-5 Split | 16:28 Avg | |||
| 4 | New Trier High School | 163 | 17+26+28+39+53 (54+77) | 0:51 1-5 Split | 16:39 Avg | |||
| 5 | Evanston Township High School | 177 | 9+13+35+46+74 (102+126) | 1:17 1-5 Split | 16:40 Avg | |||
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The girls race came in with a ton of fanfare as premier runners Elia Ton-That (Sr., Chicago Northside) and Mary Grace Hegberg (Sr., St. Viator) were set to battle. Immediately, Hegberg moved to the front as she the previous weekend at Palatine. No traffic, no drama, and certainly no build-up as she assumed a huge lead and later a 10-second margin through the first mile in 5:25.
Hegberg kept the pressure on and widen the lead to nearly 20 seconds at the two-mile check-in 11:23. Ton-That could not muster any momentum and so she was relegated to holding her second-place position. Hagberg strolled home in 17:25, Ton-That 17:56, Isabella Marsico (So., Lake Forest) 18:27, Anna Todd (Jr., Vernon Hills) 18:34, and Josephine Dziedzic (Jr., Payton) rounded out the top five.
Vernon Hills had the numbers up which enabled them to hold off Lake Forest and Chicago Payton for the team title.
| TEAM SCORES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES | |||
| 1 | Vernon Hills High School | 121 | 4+10+12+41+54 (66+82) | 2:26 1-5 Split | 19:52 Avg | |||
| 2 | Lake Forest High School | 141 | 3+13+14+32+79 (102+116) | 3:00 1-5 Split | 19:57 Avg | |||
| 3 | Payton High School | 157 | 5+21+24+26+81 (135+163) | 2:39 1-5 Split | 20:11 Avg | |||
| 4 | DePaul College Prep | 214 | 30+39+43+50+52 (86+122) | 0:36 1-5 Split | 20:45 Avg | |||
| 5 | Northside Prep High School | 227 | 2+23+44+58+100 (175+209) | 3:58 1-5 Split | 20:23 Avg | |||