Chicago Lane Collects Historic Sweep At CPL Championship

Ainsley Carter and Sammy Assefa went coast to coast in the CPL Championships (Jorge Espinosa photo)

RESULTS I VIDEOS I PHOTOS

Chicago IL-

Washington Park on the southside once again was the scene of the massive Chicago Public League Championships. Among the fray was a historic performance by the Lane Tech girls and boys programs; the Champions scored an unprecedented 16 for 16 tally. That means they won each of the team and individual titles (freshman, frosh-soph, varsity, and open).

The main event varsity races were moved up in the program due to the threat of a thunderstorm. So, the girls went first, and immediately #16 Lane Tech asserted itself upfront. Junior Ainsley Carter of Lane led the charge, pushing the early pace with a surprising sophomore Macy Ferschinger of Payton attached to her through the first mile in 5:55.

Entering the second mile, the Champions had their scoring five plus a few more among the top 10. The team title appeared to be sewed up at that point. However, the individual race was pending with Carter and Ferschinger battling step for step. They hit the second mile in 12:15. Lane's senior Sydney Van Aken and sophomore Amy Herzog were the fourth and fifth runners, 25 seconds back in 12:40. If they could hold their positions, it would be one of the most dominant team performances in meet history.

"I could hear the Payton coaches tell [Ferschinger] to get back up on my shoulder, and it really motivated me to keep pushing and not let her pass me," said Carter. With the final half-mile mark on the course, it was the final signal for Carter to finally put away Ferschinger and stroll home for her first individual city title with a time of 18:24. Ferschinger held on for second in 18:31. Freshman Guadalupe Lopez, Antonina Leary, and sophomore Samantha Borg-Breen closed out the top five, running respectable times of 18:41, 18:53, and 19:02. The Champions would scored 19 points, proving yet another dominating performance at the city level.

#4 Lane boys were vying for a similar fate as the girls in the varsity race. Lane junior Samuel Assefa, in his breakout season, set a fast pace on a slow and challenging course. Whitney Young junior Amilo Rajandram has been running well this season, challenging some of the state's top runners, so it was no surprise to see him go after Assefa. The first mile was clocked in approximately 4:45, with Assefa and Rajandram ahead of the field. 

Just before the halfway point, Assefa put down a strong surge against his counterpart, which appeared to break him. Simultaneously, the team race began to unfold in Lane's favor as all five scorers were among the top 10 as they approached the second mile marker. 

Assefa was nearly 20 seconds ahead of the field in 9:44 with one mile remaining. There was an opportunity for him to break Clayton Mendez's meet record of 14:42. The former Whitney Young great set the standard in 2015. Rajandram was struggling to hold on to second place as the Champion's herd was coming. The team race was all but over; Whitney Young and Mather were in a tight battle for the runner-up spot.

Assefa chugged home for the win in 14:47, just a few ticks off of Clayton's mark, but he copped the all-important lowstick finish. Rajandram held off Lane junior Quinn Anderson 15:15-15:20. Last year's champion, senior Tra Monti Williams of Payton, took fourth in 15:24 and Mather senior Abdulahi Hussein slid in to take the fifth spot.

Lane recaptured another title after relinquishing it a year ago to Payton. The Champions scored 28 points in one of the most dominating performances at the city level against ranked foes, Whitney Young and Mather.