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 setup of what could be seen as a serene day quickly emerged as one to take notes in. The first race of the day was the Junior/Senior boys and the outcome quickly reminded us of history. St. Charles East junior Jed Wilson took charge of the race inside of the final mile and won in 15:57. He of course is the younger brother of the legendary Micah Wilson who the frosh race back in 2018. Micah would go on to battle the Lake Park course and win some big meets including last year's Harvey Braus crown.
It would be all eyes on Schager amid the team battle between top-ranked York and number two Prospect. Schager set an honest but fast pace, putting a gap on the field by the first half mile. She was up by nearly 15 seconds over Bria Bennis (Sr., York) in 5:20. In between Schager's runaway train was the York vs Prospect battle. The Lady Dukes got out fast and furious behind their leader Bennis, who set the tone- essentially running on an island for most of the race. The powder blue uniforms that the Knights donned were positioned in the distance but running well.
Schager hit the second mile in approximately 10:55 which meant if she were to maintain this flow for the final mile, she had an opportunity to run in the low 16:20s. At the same time, York appeared to have the team race in hand despite the Knight's ace Hailey Erickson (Sr) moving into the top three and maintaining the order.
As Schager 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 incomparable Katelynne Hartof Glenbard West and establishing herself as the fastest-ever performer for the month of September.
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.
1
Elmhurst (York)
38
1+3+9+11+14 (15+18)
0:53 1-5 Split | 17:40 Avg
2
Mt. Prospect (Prospect)
62
2+5+8+22+25 (31+50)
1:31 1-5 Split | 17:59 Avg
3
Downers Grove (North)
123
12+21+27+30+33 (36+43)
0:56 1-5 Split | 18:42 Avg
4
Huntley
140
7+10+28+38+57 (63+67)
2:32 1-5 Split | 18:43 Avg
5
Park Ridge (Maine South)
154
4+16+40+45+49 (66+75)
2:24 1-5 Split | 18:51 Avg
The boy's race was interesting in that several questions needed to be answered, and they were. #14 Wheaton-Warrenville South was one of the 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 VirginelliandLucas Yonkerholding their own. The final verdict was a dominating overall performance with 42 points. Five Tigers ran under 16:00.
Huntley sophomoreTommy Nitzsat 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.
