One of the most amazing things last year here at the "Harvey" was Grace Schager individually, and the team race
Date: September 10, 2022
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: #harveybraus23 @milesplitil
Key girls teams: #1 Prospect, #2 York, #4 Downers Grove North, #10 Glenbard West, #18 Maine South, #25 Huntley; 2A- #6 Chicago St. Ignatius
Key boys teams: #10 St. Charles East, #14 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #25 Chicago Lane, Wheaton North, Huntley
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The best invitational outside of Detweiller Park and the First To The Finish sweepstakes will be in the Chicago land area. The namesake Harvey Braus will be on the scene and that is always great to be in the presence of a legend.
In last year's affair here, the Prospect and York girls kicked off a series of friendly but intense battles that trekked all the way into December at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.
The Lady Dukes of York are the defending champs here 38-62 albeit without Prospect using two of their top runners, Veronica Znajda and Meg Peterson finished 1-2 in the junior varsity race. There is a feeling that things will be much closer on Saturday. Prospect will return its mentoring leader senior Lily Ginsberg and her impact will have an immediate effect.
The Knights are aware the season is still very young and they were not overly cheerful despite winning last weekend's Hinsdale Central Red Devil Invite with ease.
York has built itself into a dynasty over the past five years with two state titles and one trophy. They have tasted success beyond the borders with quality top-10 performances at the Nike Cross Nationals.
York won their invitational opener last weekend at the St. Charles Leavy Invitational and now it is time to unleash once again. The Dukes return four starters from a year ago including seniors Michaela Quinn and Katherine Klimek. Add in a rejuvenated "Maggie" Margaret Owens who is now a senior. It will come down to the fifth runner for the title and it's a toss-up at this point.
Don't forget about Downers Grove North. The Trojans placed third here a year ago as well as six starters back. They are led by sophomore Lily Eddington who finished in ninth place. The Trojans will have an opportunity to see how strong they really are against Prospect and York.
Individually, Annika Swan (So., Chicago St. Ignatius) is on the rise and ready to assert herself at the top of the food chain. Last year she placed 14th here, but after an outstanding track season, Swan's stock has soared like Wall Street.
Of course, we have to include the aforementioned runners from York and Prospect into the mix as well as Eddington for individual title contenders.
Runners battle up an incline at the 2022 Harvey Braus Invite
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Wheaton South is back to defend its title. The Tigers won a strategic race in which their scoring pack finished inside the top 15, it enabled them to score 42 points and win easily over rival Wheaton North. The Tigers appear to be the favorites again after a solid 7th-place finish in last weekend's Hinsdale Central Red Devil Invite. Junior Josiah Narayanan is the squad's top runner.
St. Charles East has another good team and aims to retake the title that they won several years ago. The Saints won their invite opener at home last weekend with 44 points. The key ingredient in their victory was a 1-5 split under one minute. If they can duplicate that again, the Saints could be hoisting another trophy. Juniors Oscar Frontjes and Greyson Ellensohn will be among the headhunters on Saturday.
Hopefully, Chicago Lane Tech can get their invitational season rolling. Led by senior Will Kozlowski, the Champions placed fourth a year ago while Kozlowski took sixth in the individual race. The Champions will need to run strong on their top four runners and find a fifth runner if they hope to be among the top three.
The individual race will have the defending champion junior Tommy Nitz of Huntley. He has run well thus far in two meets and will have the confidence to fight to the very end. Kozlowski, Narayanan, and several of the above runners will be in contention for the victory.