Barrington/Conant Triangular - Boys Clinch
MSL West Title
Varsity Boys - Bethke, Kierys Step Up to
Close the Deal
As the years progress, winning these dual
meets has come to be a personal obsession. We have won all kinds of
big meets, but there is something about a great MSL dual that you just
cannot get in a bigger atmosphere. There is nowhere for an athlete on
any team to hide, and I really loved the intensity of Thursday's race
between Conant and ourselves. Both teams wanted to win, and the race
was a tight one.
Our goal was to turn this into a fast race
because Conant has at least three sub-2:00 half milers, and we did not want
the race to be slow and come down to kicks. Thode went out hard from
the gun, but Chano quickly caught him and pressed the pace. Those two
ran together through the mile, coming through just over 5:00 (which is
pretty smoking on Barrington's course). Alec was closely in tow in a
close battle with Tyler Fuchs. The rest of our guys did a great job of
hooking up and Juan, Tommy, and Adam were side by side at the mile and ahead
of Conant's #3 man. The rest of our top 12 guys were all in there in
front of their #5 at this point, and I am really proud of our JV guys for
getting in the race and forcing Conant's guys to come through them before
they got to the top 5.
Our guys made some great moves at the 1 1/2
mile mark to get clear of Ramirez, and Tommy and Bollman were really in here
putting the heat on Fuchs. Thode dropped Chano right by the two mile
mark and went on to win in 15:09. This is a staggering time at
Barrington's course, one that is only bettered by Finley's 14:55 from 2005.
Chano was feeling terrible with stomach pains all day, and I feared that
Alec and Fuchs might get into a big finish and catch him. Chano
managed to hold on though and finished in a solid 15:38. Alec kicked
away from Fuchs to finish 3rd in 15:43. With a tie ensured through the
top two, Juan and Tommy basically won the meet for us. They finished
3-4 in 15:53 and 16:01.
Behind the top four, Bethke was giving me a
heart attack. He dropped back behind Conant's sixth man at the half
mile to go, and both Larson and Kierys were pressing to step up and be our
fifth man. By the time they came to 400 meters left, though, Adam had
somehow rallied and was in front of their #4. His strength paid off
and he shut the door as our #5 in a time of 16:15. I was also proud of
Kierys for not giving up and kicking hard to catch their #5 and finish in
16:23.
Overall, it felt great to celebrate our 7th
consecutive MSL West title and the survival of the streak. This is the
third or fourth class in a row that has not lost a dual, and next year we
have the opportunity to tie the all-time MSL record of eight division titles
in a row (set by the great Fremd teams of the 1970s). Let's keep it
rolling...
Frosh-Soph Boys - Meincke Battles Hard to
Lead the Team
We challenged the frosh-soph guys to go out
and win the race with our four best guys either moved up to varsity or out.
A.J. Laskowske sat out with a sore heel, and Johnson, Bethke, and McGough
all got a taste of varsity experience. The results were great.
Tim Meincke followed up his great Tuesday practice with a gutty and
determined run. He took the lead numerous times and was in contention
to win until the final 150 meters of the race. I loved his
hard-driving action and was very proud. We won 19-42 over Barrington
and 20-43 over Conant.
Behind Meincke, we packed it in just like we
have been doing for a long time. I hope that this race was a prelude
to the type of run we will have in two weeks at the MSL Conference meet.
We went 4-5-6-7-9-10-11 and did not even run our four best! Coach
Gorman also moved up four guys to Barrington's varsity so that was a factor,
but I am so impressed by our depth. Kuerschner, Tomkiewicz, Frey, and
Gregorio finished as our 2-5 runners within eight seconds of one another.
Kendall, Marcus, and Zach Gates also packed it up to finish within four
seconds of each other. I can't believe how deep we are, and I have
really enjoyed coaching this F/S team. Let's keep winning next week at
St. Charles and go into conference with a ton of momentum.
Palatine Invite - Program Takes Top Three
on All Levels
Above: The layers of fog enclose Deer
Grove East just prior to
the running of the 2008 Palatine Invite.
Varsity Boys - Bernardo and Bollman Lead
the Way
We finished outside of the top two for the
first time in five years, and the prevailing opinion after the race was that
we simply ran...okay. Five of our seven guys ran course PRs, but the
boys were a bit flat. Maybe that had something to do with having to
run a bit harder than we wanted versus Fremd on Thursday. Maybe it
didn't. We just have not been able to get the front end and the back
end of the team functioning at top ability on the same day. Our 3-4-5
ran great at Peoria, but Chano and Alec ran poorly in comparison to their
abilities. In this one, our top two ran well, but our 3-4-5 were
hurting a bit. York took the team title with 59 points, Lyons was
second with 117, and we were fourth with 135, outdistancing St. Charles
North (154), Lake Forest (187), and Dundee Crown (192).
Our goal was to be relaxed and fast in the
first mile and pound it hard to the second mile mark. The boys did
that. Chano came through in low 4:50s with Alec closely in two.
The rest of our pack of Laskowske-Perez-Bethke-Kierys went through in 4:58
with Larson through in 5:04. We were in deep contention at the two
mile mark with our five man still near York's, but I could tell that LT was
putting a move on us. We had lost Bethke and he was not looking good.
Adam ran all week with a sinus infection, and I could tell that he was just
not at his best. Still, he did his best and closed gamely to at least
make the score respectable.
I ran out to the 400 meter to go mark, and
things were not looking good. Chano had held 4th-5th place through
much of the race, but he was in a big thicket of guys who could kick.
Alec was locked up with Aaron Ferst from Fremd and looking good. Tommy
and Juan were both going in reverse, and I really had to whip on Adam to get
around a big pack of guys and try to get back some of the points he gave
away after the two mile. My dad had us in 5-15-21-32-48 at the 150
meter to go mark. We finished in 8-14-25-36-52, which means we lost 14
points right at the finish. The times of our top five were okay
(14:39, 14:57, 15:08, 15:18, 15:34), but certainly nothing to write home
about when compared with previous teams. Obviously, we will need to
find a way to finish races of this caliber by the end of the season.
Remember, finishing is what? A habit. We only finished in one
race all season last year, but that was the big one :-).
On another note some of the
posters
on Dyestat have been prognosticating about the length of the course.
They think it must be 3.0 miles now since Sulkin didn't run as fast as they
wanted. Rest assured you people without measuring devices - the course
is still 2.94 or 2.95 depending on what device you use. The addition
of two new trails due to wetlands preservation means that the course might
run slower, but is the same length. If I have to explain that to
anyone, you do not know much about cross country. It is slower to run
the same distance with turns than it is to run in a straight line. Our
changes added four turns (two each way) where there previously was a
straightaway.
Junior Varsity Boys - Boys Give York a Run
for Their Money
I have wanted to win the Palatine Invite JV
race for a number of years now because I know that York's depth is always
their measuring stick. They have more guys than us, but we have taken
some nice shots at them before. With so many good seniors, I thought
this might be our year.
In the end we lost 30-41, but I think it had
more to do with tactical errors than anything else. Our guys just went
out too fast in the first 800 meters with all of the Invite adrenaline they
had pumping. Pollastrini and Loffredo probably would have won anyway,
but our 4-5-6 guys really faded off of where they needed to be. Still,
Morlock, Baran, and Blyth finished 3-4-5 with the latter two setting course
PRs. Wiggen, Wojdyla, and Olson finished 14-15-16 with Wiggen and
Dilla running huge new personal bests.
A ton of our guys ran sweet personal bests,
including E-Rod, Kovach, McCall, Colin, and Johnny Pass. Congrats to
the JV on a close second place finish and another great effort.
Sophomore Boys - A.J. and Erik Push Team
to Second Place
We performed terribly in this race a year
ago, and I was much happier with how we ran last Saturday. A.J. was a
bit off during the race, and I found out afterward that his heel was killing
him. He did finish 14th overall though in a nice time of 16:04, and
Erik Bethke had a much better race than the year before to finish in 19th
with a time of 16:09. The real story of the meet was the emergence of
Ryan McGough as our 3rd man. Ryan transferred from Jacobs after his
freshman season, and his 16:16 was good for a huge PR and a 21st place
finish.
After the top three, we got solid races from
Kuerschner (16:33), Cox (16:46), and Frey (16:47). Kuersch ran over 90
seconds better than he did last year at the MSL meet, and I was proud of
Kendall for rallying late in the race. Reuben nearly equaled his time
from last year's MSL meet as he continues to race well in his return from a
broken leg. Zach Gates also continued to round into shape, running as
a solid 7th man.
York's sophs are really good this year so
they won with 44 points. Our total of 123 though was good enough for
second over LT (135), Hersey (156), Dundee Crown (176), and Barrington
(178).
Freshmen Boys - The Fab Five Dominate En
Route to a Big Win
As I look back on the day, this race ended up
being the most exciting thing that happened. I told the guys early in
the week after looking at York's F/S results from Peoria Notre Dame that we
were going to win the Palatine Invite. I kept repeating it to them
over and over, and my words turned out to be prophetic. We dominated
the Palatine Invite, winning with 36 points over St. Charles North (67),
Libertyville (130), and York (136).
The huge story in this one was the emergence
of Tim Johnson as a star. Tim has been running well all season, but
his efforts have been a bit timid and lacking in confidence. Coach
Miller and I challenged him to pass his freshman teammates and go for it in
races. He did that on Tuesday in practice when he slashed his 1600 PR
to 5:08, and he did it again in this race. Tim bided his time, got
into the top group at the 1 1/2 mile mark, and then ran away with the race
in the last half mile to win in 13:07. His time is the fastest ever
recorded on this course by a Palatine freshman, besting Tommy Laskowske's
13:15 from his Palatine Invite run in 2005.
After Tim we packed it up well and benefited
greatly from the return of Marcus Garcia. We have been running as a
four-headed monster, but Marcus gives us that extra guy to put this team
over the top. Anthony Gregorio went out hard and led the race through
the 1 1/12 mile mark. He finished in 13:29 for 6th place. The
rest of our pack came in together in 11th (Garcia), 12th (Meincke), and 13th
(Tomkiewicz) places. Noah Yosif ran well in this one as well to get
26th, and we would have won with him as our #5 man, but Marcus made this a
dominating victory. I love to have great under-level teams, and if
these boys stay committed and work hard they could be a very special group.
Erdmann, Scheve, Stover, Bobus, and Pacheco also ran PRs to complete a great
team effort.
Fremd Dual - Emerging Fremd Team Provides
Solid Challenge
Varsity Boys - Bollman, Laskowske, and
Perez Key a Solid Victory
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.
On a more interesting note, if you score the
meet with just the returnees for next year, we lose by a score of 24-33. I
know that the two teams had different priorities in this race, but Fremd
will be a challenger for the overall conference title next year since they
return their top six. They also have another runner, Yutaro Okuda, who
ran 9:58 last track season, but has been hampered by an injury all summer
long. Our boys will certainly have to wake up and answer a huge
challenge next year. What a fun race that one will be!
Frosh-Soph Boys - The P-Ville F/S Pack
Wipes Out Another Team
We moved Erik and A.J. up to try and
challenge Fremd's two sophomore varsity guys so this team was undermanned.
They didn't notice though because our boys went 1-10 to deliver a great
testimony to our depth. Marcus Garcia was running his first race as a
Pirate and sprinted away to win. What a debut! I'm not going to
go into details, but our boys worked hard to burn Fremd's top guy and then
cruised in as a big group to win easily by a score of 15-50.
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, Girls 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.
