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

Thursday, November 8, 2007 - Palatine Grabs Third Place at State

I literally do not know where to start.  My pride in our boys knows no limits today, and I am just so happy to have coached these boys this season and seen them through to a trophy finish at the IHSA State meet yesterday.  We did not win it all, but we beat a lot of teams that we had little business beating and proved once again that Palatine boys come to play in the biggest meets. 

Updates - New photos - Gallery 3.  Check out videos taken by Sam Kwak: Video 1, Video 2, Video 3, Video 4, and Video 5.

Above: The boys and coaches pose with the program's fourth state trophy in the last five seasons.  Go P-Ville Pack.

For me, this season has been another incredible journey in what is becoming an unbelievable run of success for our program.  I am so proud that these boys accepted the responsibility of not only continuing this program at a high level, but also enhancing the experience for the runners to come.  We have never trained harder in the summer, and this group of seniors grew up a lot this year.  The pain of not getting it done in last year's state meet drove these boys to make sure that we did everything right, taking care of all the small details that lead to success.  We compensated for a talent gap against other top teams by leaning on our unity and cohesiveness.  I can speak for all four of the coaches when I say that this season was unforgettable and a truly rewarding experience.  Helping you boys achieve your goals and dreams was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Results Update - The splits from Saturday's race are recorded on IVS.org.  The IHSA actually used the one mile and two mile chip mats the last two years, and you can see how the guys fared at the various points of the race.  On Illinois Prep Top Times, you can see the positions that each athlete had at the mile and two mile.  All of our top six guys gained places in each of the last two miles.  My mom said that the announcer was also saying during the race in real time which teams were running well.  We came through the one mile and two mile marks in fourth place, but came from behind in the last mile to win that trophy.  There is also a video of the finish up on You Tube.  Check it out.  Way to close boys!

History Updates - I updated all of the lists that pertain to the state cross country meet.  Check out the updates to the Detweiller state performance list, the all-time Detweiller top fifty list, the state team finishes page, the complete invitational record for the season, and the all-state athletes.  The all-state finishes by Smoody and O'Brien moved us into sole possession of third place for total number of all-state efforts behind only York and Schaumburg.

Picture Updates - As you can see, I have two photo galleries now.  One is from Rich Sund via pictures that Brian took while the other is from Coach Asa Gordon.  Check out Gallery 1 and Gallery 2.  If anyone else has pictures, e-mail them to me at cquick@d211.org or bring them to me at school on a CD.  I also added a picture of the coaches posing together on the Coaches page.

Above: The Quick family poses together after Maddie Grace brought the team good luck at her first state meet.

IHSA State - O'Brien and Smoody Lead with All-State Finishes

We came into this race with a lot of confidence in ourselves.  For only the third time in school history, we won the MSL West title, the MSL Conference, the IHSA Regional, and the IHSA Sectional.  This team marked itself as one of the best in school history by doing that alone.  Still, we were a bit overlooked in the polls, mostly for good reason.  We lost early season meets to Neuqua Valley and Naperville North and only beat York in a squeaker.  With Hersey climbing up our back each week, Wheaton North running so well, and Waubonsie Valley and St. Charles North stepping up in the Schaumburg Sectional, we knew that winning a trophy was a daunting proposition.  We knew that we would have to execute and take some risks to get it done.  Our theme: Run Free and Run Smart.

Running free is something we talk about each year in the state meet.  I talked with the boys the last couple weeks about living purely in the moment of the race without regard for things that happened in the past or what the outcome of the race might be in the future.  We practice doing the things in a race that lead to success, and I think that helps us to run well under pressure.

Running smart involves doing the appropriate things at Detweiller Park to achieve maximum success.  We run the same race plan at state each year, and we practice it at the Peoria Notre Dame Invite.  The goal is to start smart and then move into position by running a building first mile.  Then, we want to move strongly to the two mile to achieve finishing position at that point.  The hope is that many runners start off too quickly (in the first 800 especially) and that the team which runs a measured race can have the most success.

Did it work?  Sort of.  We broke from box four on the inside and knew that the first turn would be dangerous, even in the smaller field.  With 24 boxes of teams and individuals outside of us, I hoped that we would not get seriously impeded.  Our top three looked perfect through the 400 meter mark, but I was concerned that our back end got out a touch slow.  I jogged over to the 800 to check our split at that mark, and I was happy to see Mat running smoothly coming through in 2:13 or so.  The downhill start concerns me with my speed guys, and I was proud of Mat's early control.  After he went by, my stomach sank.  There was a huge gap, and I couldn't find either Chano or OB.  I feared that one or both had fallen at the first turn.  It turned out that they just got severely pinched and had to slow down.  They were our 6th and 7th guys at the 800 mark, and I got a horrible vibe.  We were down big.

Teams that fail to get out hard in the state meet have only one option: they have to hammer and pass the entire time.  It takes a ton of discipline to do that.  Our guys had saved energy and hooked up like they were told, but they were way out of position.  As I jogged over to the entry to the back loop, I hoped that they had taken my last words to heart.  I told them to control the first 800 but then move briskly up the inside line of the first incline to get into solid contention by the mile.  I started feeling a bit better when I saw Mat working with Sulkin and Pawola for 5th place going into the back loop, and I saw that OB had moved up smartly into the back end of the all-state group.  He lost Chano a bit, but Chano was still about 10-15 meters off of him and competing well. 

Then, the wait for our back end was agonizing.  I thought we were done for sure if we couldn't move in the back loop.  Alex and Kwak were hooked up going in, and I railed on Alec and Eddie to get in the mix and do their jobs.  They went in and I booked it over to my normal spot at the 1 1/2 mark.  The top three were moving up and attacking well, and I let our back guys have it.  After a couple of really loud "you're killing us" style comments, I jogged down the road to the 1 3/4 mark.  Derrick had started to pull away from Havel, and I saw Mat banging it out with Sulkin, Pawola, and Troester as they ran up to the two mile mark.  OB had moved up into the low 20s, and I laid into Chano to catch him. 

At this point, I finally got the sense that Alex and Paul were moving up and doing some damage.  Neuqua was clearly winning with four guys in the top 20, and Waubonsie Valley threw a real charge into me as I saw a pack of four guys running like a fist right on top of Chano.  Gibson from Naperville North was really paying in here so I thought we might have a shot at them.  I never found the York 3-4-5 guys and searched vainly for the #5 guys from WV and Naperville North.  I did see that the back guys from Wheaton North, St. Charles North, and Hersey were behind our #5 man.  I started to think that we could grab 2nd or 3rd if we could hold off Waubonsie and Naperville. 

At the 2 1/2 mark, Derrick had absolutely broken Havel and was running his way into state history.  What a privilege to watch him in action.  Chris just looked so even and in control down at the bottom of the course that I thought he would make a great run at 14:00.  His 13:52 finish was certainly the best race that I have ever seen in 26 years of attending the state meet.  Behind Chris, Havel looked worn out and his body language was not good.  It was clear that Achtien was going to run him down and make it a strong race for second.  Smoody was still battling with Sulkin at this point, and I hoped that Mat's smart start would lead to a blazing finish.  OB was hammering away in here, but I feared he was losing ground and tried to wake him up.  Chano went by me in a thicket of guys in 30th place, and I was pumped to still see Alex and Kwak together with Alec closely in tow.  The team strategy had worked, and now all we needed was a kick that we had not had all season long.

I booked from the bottom of the course in full flight up to the new coaches box where I hoped that I could see the finish for once.  It was incredible to see the crowd react as Chris Derrick made his final charge up the hill toward glory.  I got there right as he crossed the line, clearly under 14:00, and I found a spot to watch the finish.  Smoody had clearly run his race strategy to perfection and used his superb speed to go by Sulkin and grab fourth place.  This finish made Mat the first athlete in our school's history to be all-state three times.  We asked Mat to pull back and let the top three go because we were concerned about him trying to beat Derrick, Havel, or Achtien and then dropping way off the pace.  The plan was to run for fourth and try to catch whoever got dropped off the lead pace.  It worked perfectly.  Mat finished in 14:25 to establish the #2 time in PHS history behind only Steve Finley's 14:20 state champion clocking from 2005.

Now my thoughts turned to OB and Chano and their bids for all-state status.  OB was absolutely thundering up the inside line, kicking for all he was worth.  In front of him, both Bill Wisser from Hersey and Jim Riddle from Neuqua were collapsing and struggling to finish and OB got on a roll to go by them and a couple of others to snag 18th place overall and his first all-state honor.  He finished in 14:51 to set the #15 state time in PHS history.  What an impressive run!  Kevin does not possess the same degree of talent that Mat and other speedy and more "pretty" runners have, but he carries with him an incredible mental and physical toughness.  How many other 10:03 two milers have been all-state?  I could not be prouder of his run yesterday and the redemption that OB gained after running a sub-par and injured race in the 2006 state finals. 

Chano had clearly tailed off from the 2 1/2 mark, but he was still doing his best for the team.  A huge pile of guys were competing into the last 10 meters  Chano ended up on the back end of six guys who finished in the same second at 15:03.  More importantly he established himself as the 11th returnee for next year and was the third fastest sophomore in the race behind only Neuqua's Aaron Beattie (13th in 14:45) and Naperville's Tyler Jermann (31st in 15:03).  Moreover, he gained crucial experience for when he will have to lead this team in the next two years.

After Chano came through, the wait began.  The coaches had known all season that the state trophies would come down to how well our back end could do.  We needed two of the back four to get it done each week or we were cooked.  Kicking was not our strong suit all season, but our guys showed up when it mattered most.  Alex, Paul, and Alec came in within seven seconds of one another at 15:28, 15:33, and 15:35.  More importantly, each of them had gained places rather than pulling our usual fades.  In the biggest meet of their careers, each of them had risked it all by executing what they were asked - they controlled the first 800 of the race and kept coming all the rest of the way to the line.  Neither Alex nor Kwak has much speed so I was really leery of either going out too hard.  I told them all season that they would have to believe in the training and the race plan and that those kicks would be there in the big moment in the state meet.  I have never been more happy to be right. 

I couldn't be happier for Alex and Paul.  Alex ran poorly in the Sectional the week before to end up as the #7 man and was clearly down on himself.  To see him come through for his boys makes me swell with pride.  Alex did everything he could all summer and fall to maximize his talent, and nothing makes a coach feel better than to see a young person achieve something that they wanted so deeply. 

That sentiment extends even further with Paul Kwak.  I remember waking up one morning in July with the brilliant idea that Paul should be a team captain.  It goes to show you how anonymous Kwak was in the large scheme of things that I had never even considered the notion.  Paul had certainly worked hard in the last three years to improve, but he was still only a 4:57 miler!  I remember trying to tell him back in May that being on the top 12 (much less the top 7) was not the most realistic of goals.  I do not think I will be talking like that to anyone anymore.  Paul Kwak taught me so much this season about what I can be as a coach, and the lengths to which my athletes will go to be who they want to be as athletes.  I was floored when Paul told me that he had been running 100 mile weeks during the summer.  I know he did 20 miles one day just because he was bored.  Even on the opening day of practice, I yelled at Alex, Eddie, and OB because Kwak was running as the #2 man in the workout.  I just couldn't conceive that he could be any good.  Yesterday he ran #5 man in the state meet, provided the extra finish that won us a state trophy, and caused me to cry like a baby as I sit here and type this.  Paul Kwak proves that there is greatness in every single person you coach.  There truly are no limits to where the properly motivated individual can go in this sport. What a story!

Behind Alex and Paul, Alec ran a solid race, but was not at his best.  I give him credit for hanging in there and kicking hard to nearly catch Paul by the line.  Alec ran 15:35 to come within ten seconds of his September PR, but he more importantly found out what it means to compete at state and will bring that with him the next two years.  As for Eddie, I am not really sure what happened with his race.  I am certainly proud of the young man.  He ran consistently in our top five all year, including superb runs at the Regional and the Sectional.  Eddie was in the group at the halfway mark, but just did not have it yesterday.  That is why we have a team, and they picked him up just like he has done for them in the past. 

In the end, the final scores came out to be Neuqua Valley 86, York 105, Palatine 139, Waubonsie Valley 149, and Naperville North 150.  We certainly benefited this season from some unfortunate luck on the parts of our competitors.  Kids from Waubonsie and Naperville had a lot of injury trouble, and Coach Racey's squad fell prey to illness right during the week of state.  Still, our boys played the game all season and played it well.  None of the varsity guys missed as much as a day all season with a running-related injury, and we once again got through the season without a significant illness. 

In the end, we are sitting here with our fourth trophy in five years and that is all that matters to us.  The Palatine cross country team has always been an incredible experience, one that was bequeathed to me by Coaches Joe Johnson, Fred Miller, and Ron Theberge.  The idea that we have been able to enhance and build on this legacy of success is such an honor.  You boys have become models for how success can happen, and I could not be happier as a teacher and coach than I am when I work with you guys each day.

In the end, we made some more magic yesterday, and this train is surely rolling.  We've gone 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 6th, and 3rd over the last five years and people still doubt us each season.  Let's keep that chip on our shoulders, train hard, and make this train roll for a long, long time to come...

Monday, October 29, 2007 - Pirates Win IHSA Sectional

The goal on Saturday was simple: run a true team race where each man gave something of himself to help the collective effort.  We also had to rally around each other after Chano's ankle injury in gym class on Thursday.  When someone is down on a team, the rest have to pick up the slack, and we certainly did that on Saturday. 

Smoody pulled back to race with Kevin, and the result was that Smoody earned his normal spot and OB ran the best race of his career.  The two senior captains fed off of each other throughout.  Mat blasted off just before the two mile mark and took Hersey's Billy Wisser with him.  OB kept contact though and was able to catch Wisser in the last 400 meters to put together a vital 2-3 finish up front.

Behind them, Chano grouped up early with E-Lo, Ammo, Kwak, and Alec, but then left them by the 1200 as he realized that his ankle was strong enough to run fast.  What a gutsy effort by Chano!  He bridged a 50 meter gap just past the mile by the two mile and kept coming, finishing up in 12th place by the end.  The goal for the rest of the guys was to pack like a fist to the two mile mark, and they certainly did that.  As I told them today in our meeting, watching all four of them go up the bike path in the Twilight Zone was a "forever" moment for me.  It demonstrated every value of giving and teamwork that we preach and was a powerful show of trust in each other and the coaches.  From there, Eddie and Alec kicked the best to finish 22nd and 25th overall.  Kwak came in right after them with Alex struggling a bit as the seventh man.  Hopefully two of these guys step out of that mix again next week and get the job done.

In the end we defeated Hersey by a score of 57-79 to claim the title.  We were clearly the top two teams in a weakened MSL Sectional (no Schaumburg, Conant, or Hoffman Estates this year), and Coach Phillips' boys simply will not go away.  They keep giving us good shots each week, and I am sure they will do so again next week in the state finals.

Sunday, October 20, 2007 - Pirates win 12th IHSA Regional

Smoody wanted to tail Havel early today, but Kevin did a really nice job of pushing the early pace to the 800 meter mark.  I am proud of Mat for continuing to race to win.  It certainly is costing him because he keeps getting caught from behind and having to kick in to beat the other Hersey guys.  Erik Stanton almost caught Mat in the kick again, but Smoody powered away in the last 100 meters to finish 2nd.  Even though Stanton caught him, I would rather have Mat's winning mentality than any other.  He again made a move on Havel at about the 1200 meter mark, but Kevin quickly closed the gap and asserted control just past the mile.  His finish time of 14:42 was another course record and another testament to how great of an athlete he truly is.  He will almost surely become only the second athlete to be top five all four years in high school (following fellow Macarthur prodigy Jorge Torres), and I hope that he gives Chris Derrick a run for his money.

Behind Smoody, OB and Chano never quite got together.  Chano needs to do a better job of finding Kevin at the start of races so he does not have to spurt so hard to get up with him.  Those two mixed it up with Stanton and Wisser for awhile, but then they faded back and held their spots.  They will need to race much better in the middle of the race if they get dropped because they gave up way too much time to the Hersey guys.  Still, they finished 5th and 6th to keep the score up top close.  Our top three ran 14:59, 15:20, and 15:21.  Both Smoody and OB were All-Regional.

We keep winning races because our top three give us low numbers, but our back four runners will need to do much better in the next two weeks.  They pack well by the end of races, but we need someone to step up and bridge the gap toward OB and Chano.  Alex Mourousias made good moves by the 1 1/2 mark to get near the top 10 and Eddie joined him from behind.  Mid-race, we looked phenomenal with five guys in the top 13, but Hersey's guys really closed well in the last 400 meters.  Cwiok caught Ammo right at the line for a two point swing, and Tisza kicked past some other runners to get the score a bit closer.  Still, Kwak and Bollman managed to hold off Tisza and deliver a double bump that helped us win the meet.  Our back four placed 13th, 15th, 17th, and 20th in times of 15:50, 15:52, 15;56, and 15:58.

Sunday, October 14, 2007 - Palatine Wins 5th Straight MSL Title

The race went out really hard in the 2:10-2:13 range for the first 800 meters.  Smoody and Havel hit the mile in 4:36-4:37 with O'Brien leading a second group of guys through in 4:46.  Chano followed him shortly and the rest of our pack came through at 4:55-4:57.  We looked good at the mile, but the big move in the middle of the race never materialized.  Lopez got up as far as 17th by the two-mile, but our inability to finish when combined with the depth of the field really hurt us.  Our goal was seven All-Conference guys, and we had seven in the top thirty, but only five All-Conference.

I asked Smoody to make a pro-active move against Havel at some point between the mile and two mile, and he did just that to gap Kevin by 10 meters or so.  Havel quickly ate that up though by the 1 3/4 mark, and he powered away to win in 14:10.  Mat paid a bit for the early racing, and Erik Stanton, who ran an outstanding race, caught up to him in the stretch run.  Smoody held him off to finish in 14:23.  Behind him, OB and Chano held their end of the deal, finishing 4th and 7th.  Chano's finish placed him as the top sophomore in the conference.

Our back end faded after the two mile, and it took great kicks from Bollman and Mourousias for them to get into the final two All-Conference spots.  Clay Locke moved past them at 300 to go, but both of them passed Wheeling's Eric Rodriguez on the way in to secure the honor.  Paul Kwak finished gamely, but his 29th was a disappointing finish for him.  Eddie Lo fell from 17th to 30th in the last .95 miles, and he will need to work on pacing himself better so that he has a finish in the big meets.

St. Charles Best Invite - The P-Ville Pack Sweeps All Levels

We wanted a mentally easy sharpening race on Saturday and that is exactly what we got.  The weather was hot, and we challenged the boys to get the job done without the entire varsity unit intact.  Chano and Alec ran down to help the sophomores, and Eddie Lopez had to sit out the race.  Thus, we added top JV guys Juan Perez, Adam Bethke, and Colin Morlock to the existing varsity mix of Smoody, OB, Ammo, and Kwak with hopes of pulling off a win.  It worked.

Smoody and OB ran side by side through the two mile mark and then kicked in to take the top two in 15:24 and 15:34.  Alex captained the back end pack through the mile and then made a huge surge to get up into fourth place.  He ended up dropping to sixth in the kick, but ran well.  Can you guys believe that Kwak placed top 10 in a varsity invite?  He got 9th, and neither Miller nor myself are shocked by the things he can do anymore.  Kwak is legit.  Juan closed the door for us in 14th place while Adam Bethke and Colin Morlock placed 24th and 25th in their first ever varsity invite action.  The final score was 32-50.  Not bad for keeping the sophs down and running without Eddie Lopez.

Hoffman Estates Dual - Boys Clinch MSL West Title

Palatine Invite - Varsity Boys Win for First Time in School History

Saturday's race was surely an exciting one for all of us.  In Illinois, excellence has been defined by the program run by Joe Newton at Elmhurst York.  Until Saturday, we had never beaten York in a varsity competition, placing 2nd in the state to them five times.  Obviously, the true test of things will come on November 3 in the state meet.  York will be much better by then, but I hope that we are too.  Beating York is meaningless in the large scheme of things.  Attaining the same spirit of greatness that they possess is the big thing, and I hope that we took a step in the right direction by winning this Invite.  They have not lost since the 2002 Sectional meet so I am glad it was us to break the streak.

As for the race itself, it went out under control with a ton of runners bunched up at the mile in a relatively pedestrian 4:50-4:51.  Our top three were all in contact with the lead pack, and Alex and Eddie were tagging along right near the back of it.  I expected it to shoot right at the mile, but no one took the pace.  It kept moving at an even effort into the back 1000 loop.  I yelled at Smoody to take it and push the pace, but he just stayed with.  Achtien from York and Havel from Hersey started the final push just prior to the two mile, and that finally broke up the pack.  Smoody tried to go with, but was quickly dropped. 

Behind him, our guys were running beautifully.  OB and Chano hooked up again and were running with great fire in the Twilight Zone.  Eddie and Alex had both made moves to gap York's 4th and 5th men, and both Bollman and Kwak were ahead of their #5 at the two mile.  Going down the hill past the Larson Turn, we looked to have the race in hand.  Our trouble, though, is in the finish, and I had told Miller before the race that Thursday's tough race at Conant might not climb on our backs until the last 800.  It certainly did.

At the 400 to go mark, Achtien and Havel were locked in a side by side dual to the finish.  I yelled at both of them to kick hard because each had a shot at Sean Macnamara's 14:00 course record.  Havel took control for a second just past the 300 to guy, but I heard that Achtien had another gear in the last 100 meters of the race.  Their times of 14:02 and 14:04 are the #2 and #4 times on our course.  I got a chance to talk with Tom Achtien after the meet, and he was a real humble and classy guy who sported a Finley Attack shirt to get his award!  Tom, if you read this, give me a shout out, and we'll see if you can hook me up with a shirt.

As for our guys, things started to get really tight in the last 400.  Sulkin and Smoody were running side by side in a really close race.  Smoody nipped him right at the finish line to set a new best of 14:13 and swing two points our way.  That ended up being the margin of victory.  Sulkin's 14:14 is the fastest junior time ever on our course, and he looks for all intents and purposes to be an early favorite for next year's state title.  What a tough runner!

The big story for us in the last mile of the race was the continued emergence of Chano Bernardo.  Kevin O'Brien held his 11th place finish from the two mile in, but Chano just had sensational late-race acceleration to come across a big gap and get a couple guys on the way to an 8th place finish of 14:31.  This is the #2 sophomore time ever, behind only Kevin Havel's 14:26 from his sophomore year.  This is surely excellent company to keep.

Our 4-7 guys ran like warriors through the middle of the race, but Alex and Eddie tied up really bad in the last 400 meters.  York's #5 lit up a big kick to catch some guys, and Eddie lost seven places all at once about 200 meters from the line.  Alex gave away some places at well.  A big win turned into a nail-biter really quick.  These seniors run with absolute courage, but we will have to find 400 more meters if we hope to contend in November.  On the way in, we did get a great kick from Bollman, who came back in the last 15 meters to get York's #5 man.  Kwak held on in front of that #5 until 200 to go, but had to be satisfied with a massive 15:15 PR.

In the end, we won 77-79 over York with conference foe Hersey third with 118 or so.  The exciting thing is that we did not unload our best race of the season to win.  We can certainly run much better in the back end and will have to in order to grab a state trophy.

Peoria Notre Dame Invite - Varsity Places a Strong Second

Our goals for the varsity race were simple: run a great two miles and win the team race.  We did the first and almost accomplished the second.  Naperville North edged us 106-110 for the team title, but I could not have been prouder of how our guys ran the race.  They competed hard for each other and ran with great determination.  All athletes but Mat Smoody established new PRs on the course, and Mat's consolation prize was that he ran the fastest time ever by a PHS athlete at the Peoria Notre Dame Invite.  Mat eclipsed the 14:41 Steve Finley ran the year that he won the state title, and posted the #8 time in PHS history on the course.

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

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.