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November 11, 2008 - Boys Place 10th at IHSA State Meet

Every time a cross country season ends, it is a sad day.  I look forward the entire year to these two months, and this season was full of so much achievement and fun.  I was fortunate to coach our guys this season, but a little disappointed that they were not able to take their hard work as far as they wanted to.  The state of Illinois is a tough one each year, and it is not always going to be in the cards for us to win a state trophy.  Full results of the race are available at IHSA.org.

Still, we placed 10th at the IHSA State meet and added another All-State runner to our school total.  Chano Bernardo achieved that honor by running to a 21st place finish.  I am proud of him and the hard work he has put in to reach that level.   Since he is only a junior, I hope we can come back for more next year.

Everyone involved with the varsity knows that 10th place does not meet our lofty expectations, and I am just as disappointed as all of you.  We certainly did not run our best race, and that is the real disappointment.  I think we can all handle doing our best and accepting the place that comes with that.  The regret comes when we do not perform at our best.  Most programs would love to finish 10th, but that was not the goal we set out to achieve neither was it the goal we were capable of.  We finished 3rd among MSL schools and did not run our team race in the big meet.  For our seniors, there is no next year.  For the rest, we will have to figure out how to come back next year and do a bit better.

In the end, this group of seniors has a lot to be proud of.  We extended our MSL West division title streak to seven consecutive years, kept the MSL dual streak going at 43 straight, won the MSL varsity title for the sixth consecutive year, and won the IHSA Regional and Sectional meets.  We had five men achieve All-Conference honors, and both Alec and Chano were All-Regional and All-Sectional.  In addition, the combined record of the program this year was 388-20 for an all-level winning percentage of 95%.  Check it out:

History Updates - I know we did not have our greatest race, but there are always a ton of updates after a state meet.  Check out the updated list of PHS State meet times and places, Top 50 times at Detweiller Park, State Team Finishes, and All-State athletes.  Chano was our 10th All-Stater in the last six years - honors earned now by seven different athletes over that span.  Our program has the third most All-State athletes in the big class behind only York and Schaumburg.  Also, check out the Deer Grove East top marks for 2008.  I filled in everyone's times for the year and updated the Palatine career list.  See where you stack up amongst all athletes who have run on the course since 2001.

Picture Updates - Kendall Cox was good enough to take my camera and get some shots of the race and the awards.  I collected these in the final photo gallery of the year.  Enjoy.

IHSA State - Chano Bernardo Seizes First All-State Finish

Heading into this state meet, our most realistic goal was to finish in the top five.  We knew that one of the nationally-ranked big four would have to implode a bit for us to beat them.  We harbored dreams of a trophy, but reality was that Naperville North, York, Geneva, and Neuqua Valley were much better than everyone else.  We had beaten #5 Lyons Township at the Peoria Notre Dame meet so we knew they were in reach.  I regarded Prospect and Edwardsville as the next two best teams, and we had beaten Prospect during the year.

In the end we were undone by a lack of experience and an inability to execute our race under the state meet pressure.  Our front four ran well, but not spectacularly, and our back three were simply not up to the task.  You will not finish well scoring runners in 162nd, 164th, and 183rd places with none of those guys breaking 16:00.  Eating a big fifth man score ensured us of a spot near the back end of the top 10, and our place was the one we deserved.  Our normal 40-45 second split ballooned to 68 seconds in the state meet.  Teams simply do not recover from a split of that variety since the state meet is so thick with runners.  For example, Tommy and Juan were separated by only seven seconds, but there were 21 runners in between them.  Big gaps = Big points for the team.

We broke from Box 28 which ensured us a nice smooth ride around the outside of the first turn.  Chano and Alec hooked up early and looked solid coming through the 800 in 2:19.  They were a bit far back and needed to move.  Tommy and Juan were close as usual, coming through in 2:22-2:23.  Larson and Blyth flashed through in 2:25-2:26 while Kierys was way out of position and behind.  As we came to the mile, we were still not in great position.  Chano and Alec went out in 4:51 and 4:52 while Tom and Juan hit the mark in 4:54.  The other three went out over 5:00 pace, which virtually relegates a runner to a back end finish at Detweiller.  I saw Blyth getting pummeled in the crowded traffic in here, and I knew that we had a tough task ahead of us.  Few runners ever come from behind in the state meet because the field is so thick.

After seeing Alec drop off Chano so badly just past the mile and seeing Kierys completely out of it, I knew we were in big trouble.  We had recovered from similar trouble the year before, but our #5 was way off of a position to move.  Chano moved hard in the back loop to get in 16th place, but everyone else was in trouble.  Alec was going backward while Tom and Juan were hooked up but too far back.  My heart sank even further as I endured "the wait."  "The Wait" is the feeling you get as you look for a fifth runner in a cross country race and know that your chances of doing well are going down the drain.  Nowhere is the "wait" more pronounced than in the state meet - so many runners go by so quickly that you can see the points adding up.

At the 2 1/2 mark, Chano was trying to hang on to 19th place.  I hoped that he would not fade.  Alec was showing some life, but had clearly lost track of his appropriate running group.  He looked swamped.  Juan had dropped off of Tom, and I was hoping that he would hang on and not lose too many places.  I waited as long as I could for our 5th, but I knew we were done and I headed to the finish. 

As I sprinted up the hill to the line, I heard the York crowd go crazy.  Steve Sulkin had started his trademark kick, and he had his sights set on catching Conant's Jeffrey Thode.  Inexplicably, Thode had thrust himself into a sizeable lead at the 2 1/2 mile mark and was trying desperately to hold on.  As everyone knows by now, Jeffrey suffered a punctured lung the Sunday after our dual meet with Conant and had been pronounced out for the season.  But there he was, leading the state meet with 200 meters to go.  The crowd exploded in roars of support for both men, the volume pumping as both drove for the line.  In the end Thode closed an improbable run with a one second victory and an individual state title.  By holding off Sulkin, he also earned a tie between Conant and us for 9th place.  They defeated us on the tie-breaker to force us down into 10th.

I got to the coach's box soon enough after Thode won to see Chano hold off three hard-charging guys and finish All-State in 21st place.  His finish salvaged a rather ordinary and disappointing day.  Alec clearly underperformed, finishing 54th in 15:18 - only 7 seconds better than his time at PND from the year before.  He was beaten by a number of rivals he normally bests and will have to learn to be a more aggressive runner before he can be a champion.  Tommy gave it his all to finish in a PR of 15:27 in 72nd place.  Juan ran 15:34, but that was good only for 93rd place.  Our top four did what Palatine guys are supposed to do: if you don't race well at least you are strong enough to perform at a solid level.

Our back end simply imploded under the bright lights.  Larson ran near his time from PND but was never really a factor in the scoring until the last 200 meters when he passed Blyth.  He will need to learn from this season and this race and become more of a factor next year.  Blyth ran a career best on Detweiller, but it was just not enough.  Kierys will be the first to tell you that he simply blew up.  He has been our hero a number of times this year, but knows that his weak race cost us a number of team spots.  I am not sure what went wrong, but he will need to accept the race and move on to bigger and better accomplishments in the future.  Head up, Lukasz.

The final team results were exciting and a bit interesting.  I think the depth of the state was down overall this year, but the top four were simply incredible.  Naperville North held off York by one point to earn its first state title on the boys side.  Congrats to Coach Dave Racey and crew!  I know that Racey's boys have been a bit snake-bitten over the years so I was happy to see them get to the top of the podium.  York ran well to score 85 points (and lose - unbelievable).  Geneva ended up with four All-State runners and got third!  Wow.  Neuqua Valley ran well enough to trophy in almost every year ever, but had to settle for fourth.

Our 10th place finish was close, which made it even worse.  LT was a clear 5th while Prospect finished 6th only 27 points ahead of us.  Losing to Prospect and Conant is very disappointing as we had bested those teams on all occasions so far this season.  St. Charles North and Edwardsville also snuck in right in front of us.  Being close just makes it hurt even worse.  I had seen us as the 5th-6th best team on paper going into the year, we had performed at that level in every meet, yet we ended up taking 10th at the end.  I know that leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and I hope that next year's returnees take heed and redouble their effort to help us get back to the top of the heap. 

Our seniors performed admirably and valiantly this season.  I do not think a group of guys could run much harder or put any more effort into this.  In fact, we may have wanted it a little too bad.  Still, reflect back on where this class started: Juan Perez ran 20:15 at PND as a freshman, Morlock ran 20:06, Kierys ran 18:59, Bethke was 18:41.  Baran ran 22:25!  This year's freshmen class alone had four guys run 17:38 or better.  We may have achieved as much as we could with the ability we had.  I am proud of this group and was privileged to work with each one of you throughout your careers.  We have one final track season together, and I will relish the time we have left.  You guys have enriched me immeasurably, and I hope you take as much away from our program as you gave me. 

November 1, 2008 - Boys Win IHSA Sectional Title

After a lackluster win in last week's IHSA Regional, we went out and took care of business in the Schaumburg Sectional.  The boys ran well and delivered a strong victory with 88 points, topping fellow MSL power Prospect by 22 points (110).  The win was our fifth Sectional title in the last six years.  The other team qualifiers from our Sectional were Lake Zurich (123), Conant (128), and Lake Forest (152). 

Congrats to everyone on a hard fought race.  Coach Stokes' guys made it down after a rough Sectional race with a young team last year, and I know that Coach Powers is proud of all the seniors on his team who got it done for each other.  To see Jeffrey Thode running so well for his team was a great moment for the sport.  LZ made state for the first time in school history, and fellow NSC school Lake Forest rebounded from some mid-season injuries to snag the last spot.

October 26, 2008 - Palatine Programs Take Two Regional Titles

Both the boys and girls teams won IHSA Regional titles on Saturday, continuing a trend of sharing hardware that began with last week's twin MSL Conference titles.  Hopefully we can keep that trend rolling in next week's IHSA Sectional at Busse Woods.  Sarah McIntosh won the girls individual title as the ladies narrowly defeated Hoffman Estates by a score of 52-56.  Courtney Brown also ran onto the All-Regional team with a 5th place finish.

On the boys side, Lake Zurich and Conant both pushed us to the max through the two mile, but our boys stayed poised and rallied in the last mile to pull off a win that looks bigger than it actually was.  We scored 57 points to 72 for Lake Zurich and 73 for Conant.  The guys were paced by All-Regional runs from Chano Bernardo (3rd) and Alec Bollman (5th).

This Regional title was our sixth in the last seven years and continues a string of success that Miller and I have had together as coaches.  As we wind down our time coaching together, these wins get sweeter and sweeter for me.  What a joy to get to do this with you Coach!  Congrats on another big Palatine win.

October 19, 2008 - Boys and Girls Win MSL Titles

A couple of years ago (2004 I think) the boys and girls teams pulled off a clean sweep of the MSL conference meet, winning all six team and individual titles.  We did not quite succeed at that level on Saturday, but our kids were darn close.  We won five team titles and three individual titles, and it was a lot of fun to think back on how hard all of the boys and girls worked at Early Bird this summer to lay the groundwork for this success.  Congrats everyone!

The two most important races were the boys and girls varsity.  Sarah McIntosh lead the way by winning her first conference title.  Sarah, Courtney Brown, Ruth Allen, Becca Sund, and Tory Wright each earned All-Conference honors and led the team to its first title since 2005.  On the boys side, we won our sixth consecutive MSL title behind five finishers in the top 15.  Chano Bernardo (2nd), Alec Bollman (5th), Juan Perez (12th), Tom Laskowske (13th), and Luke Kierys (15th) earned All-Conference honors in leading us to a 47-80 win over a young and improving Prospect team.  It was the second All-Conference honor for both Chano and Alec.

We dominated both the F/S and JV races despite a tough challenge from Prospect in the JV.  Nine of our F/S runners were All-Conference as we defeated Prospect by a score of 37-80.  Our honorees included: Erik Bethke (3rd), Ryan McGough (4th), Tim Johnson (5th), A.J. Laskowske (8th), Erich Kuerschner (17th), Kendall Cox (20th), Reuben Frey (21st), Tim Meincke (22nd), and Anthony Gregorio (23rd).  My hands hurt just typing all of that! 

In the JV we won a close race over Prospect by a score of 24-36.  Eric Blyth won the race and ran his way onto the varsity top 7.  Behind him, Top 25 finishers included Jeff Larson (3rd), Justin Smith (4th), Ryan Wojdyla (6th), Vlad Novikov (11th), Matt Wiggen (13th), Eric Rodriguez (15th), Brian Sund (16th), Justin Olson (19th), Colin Morlock (21st), and Drew Shaler (22nd).  We took half of the top 22 spots, and I could not be prouder of these guys who work so hard and are rarely recognized.

St. Charles Best Invite - Boys Win on All Four Levels

After competing all season in high-powered invites, it is nice to go out to St. Charles and be part of something that is low-key.  There are only eight teams and no girls races.  Our goal this year was to use our depth to try and win on all four levels.  We did just that.  Outside of a flat and lackluster varsity race, the team looks prepared, and you can tell that the taper is working for the guys who are finishing their seasons at the MSL meet.  I am short on time so I'll just give the highlights:

October 3, 2008 - Boys Win 7th Straight MSL West Title

We had no weekend meet, but the boys did have to run hard on Thursday night to defeat Conant and clinch our 7th consecutive MSL West title.  The streak lives on for another year at 43 consecutive MSL races!  Conant gave us a great run, but the boys stayed poised and pulled it out in the last 800 meters to win by a score of 24-32.  We also defeated Barrington 15-49.  Our frosh-soph won both duals to finish their season undefeated.

Fremd Dual - Emerging Fremd Team Provides Solid Challenge

I have known since last track season that Fremd was much improved.  With the Palatine Invite on the horizon, I did not want to have our guys work too hard in this one, but I also knew that Fremd would be fired up to give us their best shot.  We certainly got it.  Our guys handled them in the end, but it was not the cruising victory we wanted.  Chano wore Aaron Ferst down after the 1 1/2 mile mark, and our pack of Bollman, Perez, and Laskowske fought with Fremd's nice-looking sophomore Andy Mack before we let him go and finished in fourth, fifth, and sixth.  Bollman wanted to go get him and tried to run through three coach stop signs, but we told him to save it for Saturday's Palatine Invite.  Bethke once again dropped off the group and had to work hard to finish in 8th place.  The final score was 24-33.

September 29, 2008 - Varsity Places 3rd at Palatine Invite

We had a great day at the Palatine Invite on Saturday, showcasing the depth of our program against many of the other best programs in the state.  The boys varsity placed third behind Elmhurst York and Lyons Township, the sophomores and junior varsity placed second behind York, and the freshmen team won the whole thing!  Our varsity girls also won behind a near course record winning effort from Sarah McIntosh.  Check out all the results in the Results section.

September 20, 2008 - Boys Run Great at Peoria Notre Dame

Our program got to flex its muscle in the prestigious Peoria Notre Dame Invite, finishing top three on all levels.  Our varsity originally thought that we won on the sixth man tiebreaker over Sandburg, but a late change in the score (a debatable video review) saw us lose by a point.  Our junior varsity dominated the field, scoring 21 points even though the PND people refuse to score it or give a team award.  Lastly, our frosh-soph guys placed third overall.  What a great day!

Hoffman Estates Dual - Boys and Girls Win on All Levels

Hoffman Estates always has a couple of really good guys, and I know they train really hard in the summer so I always expect a tough team race as well.  A lot of their best guys from last year graduated so I did not know exactly what to expect.  We knew and respected Perez and Gonzalez and ended up getting a great battle from their third man Hamilton, but our depth allowed us to win in the end 19-41.

September 14, 2008 - Boys and Girls Win at Schaumburg

The boys and girls each had great performances on both levels in our Thursday dual with Schaumburg at Hoover Elementary School.  The ladies put seven in the top nine as Sarah McIntosh ran to a dominating victory.  They also went 1-5 in the open race.  Our F/S followed suit by sweeping the top six spots and eight of the top ten, winning 15-48.  The varsity race was even better.  Schaumburg’s Pat Lesiewicz won the race in a course record time of 15:42, but we took the next ten spots to win handily by a score of 20-43.  Lesiewicz’s run was so impressive and a privilege to watch.  Twenty years of great Schaumburg guys have run there, but he broke the record by seven seconds and looks as if he is moving into state title contention individually. 

September 7, 2008 - Boys Take Three Trophies at Hinsdale

The boys and girls teams opened their invite season on Saturday at the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invite.  Both teams competed well even though we did not win any of the five levels in which we competed.  The boys placed third in the sophomore race, second in the varsity race, and second in the freshman race.  Neuqua Valley won all three levels and looked great.  The girls placed second in both the varsity and the open races behind Hinsdale Central.  I put links to official results of all races on our Results page.

September 3, 2008 - Pirate Boys and Girls Win Openers

We finally got to kick off our season last night in a dual meet with Prospect.  The heat was brutal with the temperature in the low 90s at race time with the heat index in the mid-90s.  Despite the heat, the boys ran impressively, winning 19-41 on the varsity level and 20-39 on the F/S level.  Prospect is a talented and tough team who will be much better down the road when we meet again.  A couple of their key guys were out last night so I am sure they will be ready when the big meets come around at the end of the season.  Our girls also ran well.  I don't know the final varsity score, but we went 1-3-4-5-6 for 19 points.