Mia Sirois, Dylan Maloney Set PAL MOC Meet Records

It felt like true Midwest cross country weather in the Chicagoland area on Saturday (Griffin Forberg photo)

RESULTS I VIDEOS I PHOTOS

It was a great day for cross country on the first weekend of Fall at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve. This fabled meet posted by Palatine HS has been home to one of the top meets in the Midwest for many years. For Mia Sirois (So., Barrington) and Dylan Maloney (Sr., Plainfield South), they will remember this day for a long time.

Girls-

Overcast skies and a light drizzle turned into light rain before the start of the varsity race. As expected, the race got out fast but at an honest pace. Scout Storms (Sr., Barrington) joined her teammate Sirois in the lead. The tandem pushed the 200+ field through the first mile around 5:35.

It was Sirois and Storms still together through the second kilometer, followed by Karlin Janowski (So., York), Ellery Lincoln (So., Portland Lincoln, OR), and Madeline Bialko (Sr., Hersey).

Sirois surged and dumped Storms between the second and third kilometer. As she passed the second mile in 11:09, she had a 20-second lead. The march to the win was easy for Sirois, who destroyed former Fillies star Molly Fitzpatrick's meet record with a time of 16:33. She broke Storms school record in the process. 

Janowski's invite win streak was snapped at two as she finished second in 17:00. Lincoln's first trip to Illinois was successful as she caught Storms to take third in 17:08. Storms was clear of Bialko by nearly 13 seconds in fourth place with a time of 17:30.

The team battle did not disappoint, as all of the key teams finished according to the pre-meet estimation. As predicted, #2 York and #3 Barrington fought hard throughout the contest and forged a tie. York was given the victory on paper based on the better overall composite.

Top 10 teams composite 

Boys-

The featured race of the day got underway without any incident. It took about a kilometer to see the formation of the leaders and who the key players would be.

The first mile was not as fast as last year, but it was still a respectable 4:45 and nearly 10 runners stacked together. Among them were Dylan Maloney (Sr., Plainfield South), Joe Bregenzer (Sr., Barrington), Jackson Miller (So., St. Louis University), Quinn Davis (Sr., Plainfield North), and Thomas Czerwinski (Jr., Plainfield North).

Maloney took the lead just before the second kilometer and never looked back.

Maloney passed the second mile in 9:44. Bregenzer was about a second in front of him, but he was in control. Alexander Krieg (Jr., Palatine) and Jameson Tenopir (Jr., Cary-Grove) were 10 seconds back.

Maloney opened a four-second gap on his foe at the fourth kilometer that seemed to seal his fate.

Maloney strutted home in a new meet record 14:28. Bregenzer finished second in 14:36. 

Meanwhile, the team battle was just as clear-cut as Maloney's performance. Plainfield North had their best performance since last year at the state meet. The Tigers used strong performances by Czerwinski and Quinn, who chopped away from earlier deficits to place third and fifth respectably in 14:44 and 14:46.

Top 10 team composite