Grace Schager takes care of business in her first invitational of the season
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Roselle IL-
Saturday, September 10 will be a day to remember for several reasons. #1 Cross country appears to be back in full force with the smell of Autumn amid late summer. #2 are the joyous cheers and screams from just about everywhere on the course by the hardiest fans. And lastly, it was emerging superstar senior Grace Schager of Glenbard North putting on an unexpected show that will resonate for a long time.
The girls varsity race stole the show in every way. #1 York vs #2 Prospect were heads and shoulders above everyone coming in and soon after the gun went off they did not disappoint.
The Lady Dukes got out fast and furious and established themselves upfront within the first half mile. Senior Bria Bennis set the tone for her team- essentially running on an island for most of the race. Behind her was a sea of green and powder blue. That means York green vs Prospect blue would decide the team winner for the three-mile distance. Bennis hit the 1st mile around 5:32 and continued her momentum and finished second overall in 17:12. The Dukes put two others inside the top 10 and two more within the top 15 to score 38 points. Prospect was no slouch despite finishing with 62 points. The Knights were led by senior Hailey Erickson for the second weekend in a row. She moved from the team pack early on to eventually place third in 17:17. Prospect also had three runners inside of the top 10 but their fourth and fifth runners were in the 20s.
The biggest star of the day of course was Schager who came in with the state's fastest time of 16:35 achieved on this very course several weeks ago. At best most of us thought she could dropped something inside the 16:20s. But what we happened next was UNREAL. Before anyone could react Schager gone in the wind. She hit the first mile in 5:20 and 10:55 for the second mile. As she entered the stadium for the final 300 meters, there was an opportunity at the immortal: sub 16:00. Schager hit the tape in... 16:00.2!!! It would be the meet record, replacing the uncomparable Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West and establishing herself as the fastest ever performer for the month of September.
The boys race was interesting in that several questions needed to be answered, and they were. #14 Wheaton-Warrenville South were one of a number of quality ranked teams in the field. The Tigers were bolstered by the emergence of sophomore Josiah Narayanan who won the undercard race at the Hinsdale Hornet-Devil Invite last weekend. The Tigers ran well as a pack behind Narayanan with seniors Nathan Virginelli and Lucas Yonker holding their own. The final verdict was a dominating overall performance with 42 points. Five Tigers ran under 16:00.
Huntley sophomore Tommy Nitz sat back with the leading chase pack for the first mile while Lane Tech's Will Kozlowski (Jr) led the charge with a swift first mile under 4:50. So thereafter is when Nitz put on a surge and took over from there. He would not trail again and the final tally was a 13-second win in 15:10.