Recent News and Updates - E-mail cquick@d211.org

Saturday, September 8 - Results of "The Palatine"

I'll be out for much of today, but I did post results of today's Palatine workout along with updated lists for All-Time, Career, Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen.  We ran four of the top 10 times ever today in the best team performance in Pirate history.  Mat Smoody ran the All-Time best time of 28:43 (sorry Jorge but that 5/7/2003 one was cut short).  Eddie Lopez ran 28:51 to match Sagar's time from last year, Chano Bernardo sliced nearly 70 seconds from Morris' sophomore best time (the year Glenn won the MSL Conference and placed 12th at state), and Kevin O'Brien ran 29:23 to move into the #10 spot all-time.  Wow!

Behind those front four, there were massive improvements all over.  Check out this table of drops from previous Palatine bests:

The results of today's Junior Palatine are also now up, and I updated the All-Time list for that workout as well.  Sam Kwak ran one of the best Junior Palatine's ever to put himself into the #2 spot all-time. 

Splits and Mileage Updates - I put up splits for the Wheeling Dual and for the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invite.  There are no varsity splits for the Wheeling meet.  Mileage for Week 4 has been posted, and I will work on getting the Mileage Progression up here.  Essentially, we are running about the same amount as last year's team (which explains why some of you feel so tired).

Barrington Dual - Pirates Depth Shows in 18-45 Win

Varsity Boys - Our plan going into this one was to work on the first mile in preparation for our two big invites coming up - Peoria Notre Dame and the Palatine Invite.  We hoped that this would shock Barrington a bit and allow some of our depth guys to jump inside their top five.  It worked to perfection.  Smoody took it out in 4:45 and threw many into early oxygen debt (including some of our guys).  OB hit the mile in 4:56 followed closely by Ammo and Eddie.

As the race progressed, our guys showed their strength, and I was pleased with their ability to go out hard and maintain pace through the second mile.  Eddie showed great momentum as he surged up to try and catch Barrington star Matt Barnes, and the rest of our guys set after Barrington's #2 man, Dan Quarfoot.  Dan certainly did not have his best race, but our guys really showed their strength.  Kwak, Perez, and Bethke all caught him to give us seven of the top eight spots.  Behind that front seven, Kierys and Baran then came in before BHS's third man.  What a showcase of our depth and hard work!  I was very proud.  Times were slow due to the 90 degree heat, but Smoody did happen to put a 15:17 up on the last five spots of the all-time list.  OB's 15:27 nearly missed making the list. 

Paul Kwak continued to impress, nearly catching Alex (who went out a bit too hard).  Matt Baran continued his phenomenal season by finishing 11th overall, missing the Herald box score in the last 400 meters as Kierys kicked by him.  Adam Bethke also had a great race to run 16:21 and put himself in top 7 contention.

F/S Boys - We were missing a ton of our best F/S in this one with assorted injuries so this race was a test of our depth.  We passed with flying colors, earning a 19-40 win.  Chano Bernardo ran another electric time, finishing in 12:51 to nearly equal his course record from the week before.  Alec Bollman ran a steady 13:29 to place second overall.  Both of those times made the all-time F/S list.

Behind our top two, Justin Smith ran a solid 14:05, which is good considering that he was a race-time decision.  Freshmen Erik Bethke and A.J. Laskowske filled in as 4th and 5th men with solid runs of 14:06 and 14:09.  Sean McCauley ran an inspired race and dragged Tirth Patel with him.  I am really proud of Sean because he provided a spark on the course that had been missing at the Hinsdale Invite.  Twice he made major moves to lead his pack of teammates into contention.  Times behind the top end again suffered due to the extreme heat, but I was proud of this group.  We took 7 of the top 10 against a good program and 10 of the top 14.  Considering that we sat Larson (ankle), Grobner (hip), and Roehrborn, that was one heck of a team effort.

Tuesday, September 4 - More Pictures and Mileage Updates

We have our second dual of the season tomorrow night out at Deer Grove against Barrington.  The girls match-up will be a knockout fight between the two favorites for the conference title, and the boys will be a hotly contested and close race as always.  Come watch the kids compete!

Also, we need to start a poll on the message board for best Hinsdale Creek Jump of 2007.  I have featured the contestants in the border to the right.  It looks like Lewis might be tough to beat.  He demonstrated much of the same powerful leaping form as last year.  Figure out who has the most power and grace.

Another season is underway.  Is everybody in?

Picture Updates - Marcin Zuberek and Brian Sund both took a bunch of pictures of the Hinsdale meet on Saturday.  Check out the new picture gallery.  Thanks guys for all of the great pics of both teams.

Mileage Update - I put the Mileage for Week 3 up on the site.  I will also have the season Mileage Progression soon when I get a chance to have Eric Colish type it in for me.  Tomorrow, I should also have splits from the first couple of meets.  Thanks to Eric for helping me with computer work.

Sunday, September 2 - Hinsdale, Wheeling Dual Results

The boys had another successful season opener Saturday at the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invite against top notch competition.  The boys varsity finished 2nd to pre-season #1 Neuqua Valley by a score of 30-80 while our sophomores placed 4th and our freshmen won the whole thing!  Our soph race was marred by the absence of Chano Bernardo (missed the bus) and Jeff Larson (injured ankle), but the meet was a solid opener that also showed us that we have much work to do if we want to climb into state trophy contention by the end of the year.

Workers Needed - Palatine Invite, MSL, IHSA Sectional

Before I get to running updates, I need to ask our parents, program friends, and alumni for their help in manning three huge meets we will be hosting this year.  We missed our normal sign-up since the parent meeting was cancelled due to hostile weather.  We are in need of a ton of volunteers for the following three dates: September 22, October 13, and October 27.  All of those dates are Saturdays.  Please e-mail me at cquick@d211.org if you are interested in becoming part of a great team effort.

Picture and History Update - Check out the first gallery of pics from the Wheeling Dual.  Thank Marcin Zuberek for taking a ton of great pictures.  We also had three additions on Thursday to the All-Time F/S list at Deer Grove East.  Congrats to our three sophomores.

Hinsdale Hornet Red-Devil Invite - Boys Place Top 4 in All Races

Boys Varsity - Four Pirates Break 16:00 in Second Place Finish

This opening invite is always a stern test, and we ran into some great teams this Saturday as we opened our invite season at Katherine Legge Park.  The boys ran well, but not incredibly while finishing second to an unbelievably tough Neuqua Valley squad.  After watching Chris Derrick and Co. run, I believe them to be one of the nation's best teams, and Chris may be a contender for the Foot Locker national crown.  His 14:30 effort broke Jon Popejoy's course record by 16 seconds and was a joy to watch as a fan of the sport.  Neuqua's team performance on Saturday surely ratifies many people's beliefs that they are currently the best team in the state.

Despite a rather wide 30-80 margin of defeat, we ran well and will continue to improve as our juniors gain experience and we move some key sophomores into the mix.  Any time that you break 16:00 at Legge to start the season, you are doing pretty well.  Our top four all broke 16:00, and our 5th and 6th men ran 16:20.  Our depth is starting to come along nicely.  Mat Smoody led the way with a 15:06 clocking that earned him 3rd place overall behind Derrick (14:30) and returning All-Stater Jim Riddle (14:56).  Riddle snagged Smoo last year at this meet by about the same margin so we hope to turn the tables on him again come November.

Behind Smoody, Kevin O'Brien ran a great race, clocking a 15:30 to place himself 8th overall.  Kevin battled with runners who will be looking to grab All-State honors later this year so he was in the right spot.  Alex and Eddie ran 15:56 and 15:59 to place 19th and 21st respectively.  More importantly, they executed a very aggressive race plan to the two mile, getting out in 10:24 and 10:25.  This will pay dividends as the races get faster in the next couple of weeks.  Paul Kwak (31st, 16:20) and Juan Perez (30th, 16:20) both ran great races as they continue to contend for spots within the top seven.

After our first six, a number of our juniors ran well to establish nice bests on the rolling hills of Katherine Legge Park.  Bethke (16:48) and Morlock (16:51) broke 17:00 while Kierys (17:00), Baran (17:08), Novikov (17:10), and Lewis Conley (17:19)  were close.  These guys will be the core of an outstanding JV team as the season moves along.  Here are the improvements from a year ago at this meet:

Boys Sophomore - Alec Bollman Paces 4th Place Team Effort

I had huge expectations for a knockout race with Neuqua Valley in this race, but it certainly did not materialize due to a variety of factors.  Chano missed the bus only two days after his record run against Wheeling, and that made it easier to pull Jeff Larson with his lower leg injury.  Still, I expected the guys to go out and compete harder.  The two guys who get big kudos from me in this one are Alec Bollman and Brian Sund.  Alec fought inside the lead group for the entire race and held off two strong challenges in the end of the race to place 3rd overall.  Brian Sund ran like a champion.  I am so proud of him.  He was the only one out of the secondary group to run with any fire.  Brian moved up throughout the race to end up in 15th place.  If Brian continues to run this well, we will be an excellent F/S team by year's end.

Behind these two stars, we put together a nice pack, but it was much too far back to matter in the team standings.  We dropped five guys together within eleven seconds from 17:59 to 18:10, but the damage had already been done and we ended up fourth and out of the trophies.  I was really proud of Tirth Patel's continued improvement and happy that Steve Repking is now injury free and becoming a factor again.  Check out Wojdyla's big drop as well.  He continues to improve each race.  The table below compares Saturday's times with those from last year.  Since freshmen only run two miles, I took the mile average and projected it for a three mile race.  A drop in time indicates not only that you could hold the same pace for a longer distance, but that you could run faster per mile for three miles than you could for two miles last year. 

Boys Freshmen - Five Freshies Break 12:00 En Route to Team Win

In the seven years I have coached at Palatine, we have never won the freshmen race at Hinsdale.  Saturday's big win was such a treat.  I had expected our guys to fare well, but having seven guys get medals and run 12:11 or better was phenomenal.  A.J. Laskowske (4th, 11:17), Erik Bethke (5th, 11:21), and Lucas Roehrborn (7th, 11:24) all garnered top ten finishes.  Behind them, Reuben Frey (11:41) and Matt Baumgartner (11:42) worked together throughout the race to shut the door on the rest of the teams.  They placed 13th and 14th overall.  Erik Kuerschner took 24th with a solid 12:03 clocking and was followed in shortly by Sam Kwak in 12:11.  Rounding out our team champions were Will Allen (12:42), Jake Alberti (13:05),. and Zach Benzo (14:18).

The thing I was most impressed with on Saturday (outside of our guts and determination) was how intelligently this group ran.  They executed our race plan to absolute perfection.  None of them went out too hard in the first 400 meters, all of them moved up nicely past the 800 meter mark, and the entire crew showed great fight in the final mile.  What a pleasure to coach these guys!  Check out Saturday's times versus those put up by varsity guys on past teams:

Wheeling Dual Results - Pirates Roll on Both Levels

It was nice to finally get a race in after a summer of tough training and dedication.  We had 10-15 guys run in excess of 800 miles, and it was time to see that work in action.  On varsity, we rolled to a 16-42 win behind a 1-4 sweep from our senior captains - Smoody, OB, Mourousias, and Lopez.  On F/S, we went 1-10 in a stellar team effort.  Our three sophomores studs, Chano Bernardo (12:46), Alec Bollman (13:01), and Jeff Larson (13:02), ran under under the best time ever by a Palatine runner.  Chano's 12:46 broke our PHS record by 17 seconds.

Boys Varsity - Six Guys Place in the Top Seven in Palatine Win

Above: The varsity pack it up.  What is Smoody doing?

Our goal in the first meet of the season was to win the race by working hard only in the middle.  It is tough to run hard from the gun twice in one week, and we tried to lay back the first mile.  Around the 1 1/2 mark our seniors took off and established a firm 1-4 position that we held all the way into the line.  This 1-4 finish coupled by nice runs by Juan Perez (15:59) and Pauk Kwak (16:07) in 6th and 7th allowed us to cruise to a 16-42 victory.  A ton of guys ran their PRs in this race.  Check it out:

Boys F/S - Pirates Win 15-50 Behind a Great Pack Effort

This was certainly a historic run by our F/S team.  Only twice have there been efforts recorded faster than 14:00 in the first meet of the season.  Our top three guys all nearly broke 13:00!  Chano Bernardo ran a sensational race to finish in 12:46 and demolish the course record.  Behind him, Alec Bollman and Jeff Larson dueled each other to finish in 13:01 and 13:02. 

The rest of our pack ran great as we swept the 1-10 spots and put 18 guys in the top 19 of the race.  The rest of the top ten were Brian Sund (14:00), A.J. Laskowske (14:02), Mike Grobner (14:05), Justin Smith (14:10), Tirth Patel (14:18), and Erik Bethke (14:19).  Other solid runs were recorded by Jacob McPherson (14:19) and Steve Repking (14:27).  Check out the improvement stats below.  Remember that these are comparisons to all-time bests, which are usually established in late season or bigger races in late September or early October.