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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!

Above: Both programs pose after victorious MSL runs.

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.

Above: Coach Miller gets a going away present from the boys

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.

Results Updates - I put links to all races from Saturday's MSL meet and last week's St. Charles Best Invite in the Results section.

Picture Updates - I added a gallery of pictures from the MSL meet, courtesy of Dan LaRocca and Chandler Stover (who took a ton of pictures from behind all you JV guys - rookie).

History Updates - I did a ton of work to update all of the MSL lists.  I updated the MSL individual champions, the MSL team champions, the MSL F/S champions, the MSL JV champions, our MSL All-Conference list, and the 2008 MSL top 25 results sheet.  Check out past MSL results at the bottom of the History section.

Above: The Quick family poses after daddy's teams won!

Varsity Boys - Luke Kierys Steps Up as the Hero

We came into this one as the favorite, but we knew that Prospect had been getting healthy and running much faster since our dual in August.  They ran well at Detweiller two weeks ago and were getting a couple more guys back in the lineup.  We also knew Conant would be good, but the absence of Jeffrey Thode, their number one guy, put them at a disadvantage.  In the end our guys got the job done by scoring 47 points to beat Prospect (80), Conant (113), Hersey (135) and Fremd (144).

Our race plan was to run with poise in the first 800, turn up the pace going down the hill past the half, and launch a concerted group attack at the 1 1/4 mile mark.  The plan worked to perfection.  I was a bit worried at the 200 meter mark because we came off the line slowly, but that was fine in the long run.  Our guys hooked up with one another and moved up nicely by the 600 with all seven guys in the top 25.  I was worried about Kierys because he was off the back of the group, but my worries would prove to be unfounded.  Adam, Juan, and Tommy were really driving in here past the 800 and I was happy with our position at the mile.

Chano went out a little bit too fast the first 400, and he looked in danger of being dropped at the 1 1/2 mile mark as Pat Lesiewicz of Schaumburg and Chris Hayek of Prospect gapped him a little bit.  He made a decision to get right back in though, and it paid off for him later in the race.  Alec was clustered in here with Ferst from Fremd and Stanton from Hersey, and I was worried because he looked complacent rather than commanding.  Behind him, Juan Perez was driving and forcing pace with Tommy in tow.  My scare was that Adam and Baran had both been dropped badly.  Thank God for Kierys - he was in 23rd place at the halfway mark and was about to make the move that won us the race.

I have coached a lot of races over the years where I have seen a guy grow up before my eyes and run the race I always dreamed he could run.  Luke started to run that race heading to the two mile.  I ran down the hill pumping my fist in the air just watching Lukasz annihilate guys.  He was in 19th by the time he hit the starting line and had moved up to 16th by the two mile.  Dave Cameron, one of my pals, noted that my #5 (Bethke) was falling back, and I told him with pure joy that my #6 was rolling.

Our pre-race plan for Chano was for him to run relaxed and fast and try to maintain contact until the two mile.  Then, he was going to try and break Lesiewicz or Hayek with an uphill move.  At the 2 1/4 mark he had gapped Pat by a good 10 meters, but Lesiewicz used his speed down the hill to catch back up and rally for an eight second win.  Congrats to him on a well-fought race.  Chano finished 2nd, but it was the best race I have seen him run in a Palatine jersey.

Bollman was in 7th going by me at 400 meters to go, but he put the hammer down to catch both Stanton and Karkalis and end up in 5th place.  I saw Ciolek going by our guys in here to snatch some points for Prospect, but our back end never gave up on each other and stayed together in that last mile.  What a testament to the strong friendship and group cohesion of our seniors.  Perez (12th), Laskowske (13th), and Kierys (15th) all finished within 5 seconds of one another to nail down a conference title.  Our 35 second split off of a great race by Chano starts to put us in contention with the best teams in the state.  If we can get that down to 30 seconds, we may surprise some teams by the end. 

I was really proud of this team and happy to see all of the hard work pay off.  Our 6th straight win in the MSL meet tied Fremd's 1970s teams for the longest streak in conference history.  Next year, we will face some long odds with Prospect and Fremd returning so many guys, but that kind of challenge will only make things more fun.  Can do boys.  Can do.

Junior Varsity Boys - Blyth Seizes the Opportunity

They do not give a trophy for winning this race as a team, but every time we have won this race our varsity has earned a state trophy.  A varsity team is only as good as the guys who are pushing them for spots.  Eric Blyth has been on the outside of the varsity looking in so far this season, but he wanted in and broke through on Saturday.  Sterner put together a great race to win and run 16:20.  That time bested the times of Bethke (16:29) and Baran (16:31) from the varsity race and earned him a varsity shot next week in place of Baran.

The other big story in this race was the performance of our juniors, especially Justin Smith.  I know that Justin had not been happy with his races the last couple of weeks, and I told him that I wanted him to just go for it on Saturday.  Did he ever.  He led through the two mile mark and ran with great passion and desire.  What an example for our younger guys!  He ended up fourth in the race behind Jeff Larson, who also ran much tougher than he has been of late.  Ryan Wojdyla continued his recent string of great races to finish sixth overall, and fellow juniors Brian Sund (16th) and Drew Shaler (22nd) also nabbed Top 25 honors.

Our other seniors besides Blyth had solid, but not spectacular runs.  Colin Morlock ventured a furious effort early, but went out too hard and ended up in 22nd place.  Wiggen (13th) and E-Rod (15th) ran solid races as usual, and Vlad ended up as our #5 man in 11th.  Justin Olson put up a classic 800 meter runner finish, rallying hard in the last 400 meters to nab 4-5 guys in the final kick and grab 19th place.  Tirth Patel finished in 26th, but battled hard and ran his best race of the season.  Our Ironman Award has to go out to Kyle McCall, who ran the last 2 1/2 miles with one shoe on.  If you don't believe me, check this picture (his shoe lies in the mud just behind):

Freshmen-Sophomore Boys - Sophomores Lead Dominant Win

Our goal heading into this one was to achieve absolute domination.  We had been killing teams with our depth all season long, and we envisioned doing it again in the conference meet.  Injuries were a bit debilitating as Lucas Roehrborn and Peter Tomkiewicz did not run, but our sophomores stepped up to lead the way.

Erik Bethke was determined to win this race and get into firm consideration for the varsity top 12.  He relaxed early and then pushed really hard to the two mile to get a lead.  In the end Steve Tubergen from Hersey overtook him and ran away to win.  Erik finished ten seconds back in 3rd place, leading a mini-pack with Ryan McGough (4th), and Tim Johnson (5th).  Tim was the second fastest freshman in the meet, trailing only Jereme Atchison, who was 14th place in the varsity race.  A.J. Laskowske also finished in the top 10 in eighth, running hard despite nursing a sore foot.

Our usual pack developed early and hung together throughout much of the race.  Reuben Frey and Kendall Cox really asserted themselves early to lead the charge.  Reuben ran with great passion and desire.  You could see it in his eyes as he pushed pace.  I had to whip on Meincke and Gregorio to get in the sophomore group, and I kept getting on Kuerschner to mix it up.  He finally got it together in the last mile and went up to finish 17th as our 5th man.  Behind him, we landed a pack of four guys in a row: Cox (20th), Frey (21st), Meincke (22nd), and Gregorio (23rd).  I got in Cox's ear at 400 meters to go, pushing him to drop his arms and kick.  He went from 24th to 20th in the last quarter, and I was proud of how he rebounded.

Our two hard luck stories in this race had to be Zach Gates and Marcus Garcia.  Gates took the whole summer off to try his hand at baseball, and only came out for the team the second week of practice.  He placed 29th despite doing little training in the summer.  What a bright future he has!  Marcus had been bothered all week by a sore foot, and he did not look to be at his best.  He finished an excellent 30th place. 

In the end we finished up the season by defeating Prospect 37-80.  This was certainly one of the best F/S teams I have ever coached, and I cannot wait to see where these guys go in the future.  Our freshmen still have one last race on Thursday at Schaumburg, but it was sweet to see our sophomores run so well to end their season.

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 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.