Lane Tech senior Olivia Ide en route to winning her first cross country meet
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Athletics in the Chicago Public League has often endured a stigma of apathy even when there are quality programs abound. Part of the issue is the notion of the lack of facilities that many schools have. However, in Lane Tech High School's case, they have a sprawling 33-acre campus and its forward-thinking coaching staff with the support of the administration developed a viable course suitable for quality cross country meets.
Lane hosted its season opener along Western and Addison streets to the delight of hundreds of fans and onlookers. Formally invited were Payton and Taft who happened to be among the league's top programs.
The girls started exactly at 5p and Olivia Ide promptly bolted to the front of the thundering rumble and pushed the pace to the max. After a 2:45 opening first half mile on the tricky and snake-like course, it seemed like Ide may just pull off a coup. The rest of the runners that trailed seemed to be content with running in a pack. Ide would stroll home for a personal best of two miles and the win in 12:24. Lane captured the team score with 17 points.
The boys would start at approximately 5:30p and Lane junior Brendan Bradish would duplicate Ide's fast start with his own. At the first mile, Bradish had a five-second lead over the perusers in 5:12. Lane had early numbers up top but Payton was together with their pack ready to strike. At 1.5 miles, Kyle Smorynski of Lane caught Bradish and used the momentum to separate himself. This would be an opportunity for the senior to continue his return to regular training and racing at a high level. Smorynski held off Bradish for the big victory 10:40-10:43. The team score was a narrow win for Lane 27-28. Both squads held out their top varsity runners.