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First to the Finish Invitational RecapsPublished by
First to the Finish Invitational Recap
Highlights from six races at Detweiller Park - September 9, 2023
By Michael Newman
Class 1A Girls – Foltz finds her way in race win; Tolono Unity rolls past Anna-Jonesboro, Eureka for team title
It seemed if Kate Foltz of Tuscola took a wrong turn on the Detweiller Park course and ended in downtown Peoria, she still would have won by a large margin. The first race of the day was supposed to be a showdown between Latin School’s Mia Kotler and a talented field that included Foltz. Kotler was not in Peoria with the team after racing to a win last week in Hinsdale.
This was Foltz’s lead from the start passing the first mile in 5:25 with the pack led by Kennady Anderson of Wethersfield, Molly Farrell of Marshall, and Emily Downing of Cambridge 10 seconds behind. The lead continued to grow as she opened up close to a 30 second lead on the rest of the field. That was until she took a wrong turn on the course. She had to retrace her steps to get in the right direction. Her lead was so big at that point it may have affected her time but did not change the outcome.
Foltz set the standard for the day for the two other Girls Varsity that would take place. Her winning time of 16:48.9 did turn to be the fastest Girls time of the meet. Elana Rybak of Father McGivney played in the first mile of the race and then started to pick off runners during the second half of the race. She caught and passed Anderson in the final 300-meters of the race. Rybak ended up running 17:28.3 finishing 40 seconds behind Foltz and another five seconds ahead of Anderson (17:33:1).
There were eight runners in this race that ran 18-minutes or faster. Mackenzie Pound led Tolono Unity by running 17:49.9 to finish fourth. Emily Dowling and Molly Farrell were a second apart in fifth and sixth with Downing at 17:41. Jadyn Gerardi of Anna-Jonesboro in her first race at Detweiller Park ran 17:52/1 to place seventh. Sydney Gertsen of Montini Catholic ran 18:00.8 in her eighth-place finish.
The two time defending Class 1A State champions Tolono Unity to their first meet test and passed in winning the team title in this meet with 81 points placing their top 5 runners in the first 53 places led by Pound’s fourth-place finish. Erica Woodard (14th) in 18:18 and Emily Decker (17th) in 18:40 were the next two Rockets across the line. Olivia Shike (23rd) and Ashlyn Denney (37th) rounded out their team’s top five. Their top five split in this race was 104 seconds. The gap between 1-4 was 77 seconds. Their 2-5 split was 65 seconds.
#2 Anna Jonesboro proved in this race they will be a trophy and possibly a title contender this November. The Wildcats finished second with 116 points and 35 points behind Tolono Unity. Anna-Jonesboro lost their top runner from last year, Brodie Denny. They do now have a front runner in Jadyn Gerardi who finished in the top 10. The team had 5 runners finish in the top 44 compared to Unity that ran 5 in the top 37. The pack split on their 2-6 runners of Aleah Box (24th), Kinley Leek (29th), Liz Hammer (34th), Raegan Jones (44th), and Raegan Jones (45th) was 45 seconds, 43 seconds on 2-5.
#4 Eureka was solid in scoring 189 points to finish third. Meika Bender led the Hornets finishing in 16th place. Claire Albertson (46th), Ava Otto (48th), Bre Lehman (52nd), and Natali Roth (55th) were only separated by 16 seconds. The team’s top five split was 100 seconds. #9 Peoria Notre Dame finished fourth scoring 212 points. The Irish, led by the 33rd place finish from Julius Mingus and 39th place finish from Meghan Zopel who was 12 seconds behind, PND had 5 runners in the top 60 with a 61 second split on the group. #11 El Paso-Gridley finished fifth (263 points) led by Nellie Mellick finishing 25th.
Class 1A Boys – Tuscola makes statement in team, individual wins
By the time that runners started passing the two mile mark, some started to wonder who would finish second in this race. #2 Tuscola and the pack running they exhibited had solidified the win. There would be no fading back for the Warriors in the final mile.
For the first time in the meet’s history, four runners from the same school took the first four places in one of the varsity races. Jackson Barrett led his teammates across the line running 14:59.5 followed by teammates Josiah Horin, Blake McLeese, and Will Foltz taking the next three finishers. The four runners were separated by two seconds. Their top five the week before were only separated by one second showing the discipline it is needed to run in a pack and what Coach Neal Garrison said before the race wanted to see from his talented squad this season. Barrett and Hortin have been the front runners for Tuscola the past two years. Now they have company.
The two runners led along with Weston Forward of Rockford Christian staying up front for the first two miles. Foltz and McLeese were just behind Forward. In the final mile the four Tuscola runners pulled away from Forward. Tuscola scored only 27 points with their fifth runner Xander Neamtu finishing 18th overall and 40 seconds behind the pack.
#8 Eureka won the “second race” within a race finishing second overall with 182 points. Eureka’s first three runners of Carson Lehman (14th), Andrew Perry (22nd), Brady Monk (27th) were only separated by 15 seconds. Timothy Rogers (63rd) and Jacob Skutt (69th) were the Hornets fourth and fifth runners. Their top five runner split was 77 seconds. #12 Elmwood finished third with 182 points led by the sixth-place finish from Isaiah Hill. His time was a personal best of 15:12. There was a tight pack behind Hill in this meet as there was a 36 second split between second runner Reed Florey (36th) and LJ Higgs (62nd). The Trojans top five split was 93 seconds.
#6 Aurora Central Catholic was without their #1 runner Patrick Hilby who was on a college visit, but still finished fourth with 219 points. Freshman Ben Bohr led the Chargers running 15:21.3 to finish eighth. Their split off second runner David Valencia (48th) and fifth runner Jacob Gay (71st) was just 24 seconds. #4 Peoria Notre Dame scored 228 points to finish fifth led by Andrew Elward finishing in 26th place. The Irish had a 2-5 split of 18 seconds, an overall split of 50 seconds. #13 Rockford Christian finished sixth (246 points) behind Forward’s fifth-place finish and Andrew Kurien placing in 20th.
Class 2A Girls – Heitzig pulls away from Bierbaum to claim race title; Chatham-Glenwood’s youth pushes Titans to the team title
The weather in the Peoria area was close to perfect by the time this race with temperatures in the low 60’s. Becca Heitzig of Lincoln was nearly perfect in her win in this race as she appeared to be in control throughout the tour of the Detweiller Park course with sophomores Natalie Bierbaum of Normal University and Sundara Weber of Sandwich close by Heitzig’s side for the first two miles of the race.
Heitzig made a surge by the finish line going into the final loop of the course. Bierbaum stayed close to the 800 Meter Run state champion with Weber falling over the pace. It was not a definitive move by Heitzig. She would finish the race on her terms.
The Lincon senior waited until the final hiccup to the left and the final straightaway to the finish. Her move in that final 300-meters up the incline to the finish. Her winning time was 17:01.2 just four seconds ahead of Bierbaum. The U-High sophomore missed the end of last fall due to injuries. Her 17:05 shows she is ready to go towards a successful season. Weber ran a great race running 17:24.9 to finish third. Zoe Carter of Normal University led the next pack to cross the line running 17:44 to finish fourth. Paige-Elicia Caruth of Lakes Community turned too early on a turn missing the flag. She corrected the turn getting back on course and running 17:53 to finish fifth.
The next four runners to finish were separated by just four seconds. Lucy Schlachtenhaufen of Lake Forest ran 18:01 to finish sixth. Sophia Ranirez of Washington and Ava Boyd of Mahomet-Seymour both ran 18:02.8 to finish seventh and eighth. Ali Londrigan of Chatham-Glenwood was the team’s top runner as she ran 18:04.5 to finish ninth. Claire Blotnik of Joliet Catholic rounded out the top ten running 18:11.70.
Chatham Glenwood Middle School won the IESA 3A State title in 2022. 5 runners of that team are now in the top 10 for the high school team. The #2 Titans had 2 sophomores and 3 freshmen score to help their team win the 2A team title with 117 points. This team ran close to what they ran last week when they had a 62 second split on their top five. Their split was 61 seconds on their top 5 with their scores all in the top 49. Lodrigan’s top 10 finished was followed by top 20 finishes from Ashlyn Chopra (16th) and Brenna Sloman (19th). Sophie Rentmeister (35th) and Ally Knudson (49th) rounded out their top five.
#3 Grayslake Central demonstrated nice pack running to help them score 126 points to finish second nine points behind Chatham-Glenwood. The Rams put 5 runners in the top 41 led by the 15th place finish from Sara Armstrong. Central only had a 31 second split on their top 5 that included Ava Henne (23rd), Isabella Domier (27th), Jordan Sutter (32nd), and Sofia Witt (41st). Washington, who was ranked #1 in Class 2A entering this meet, scored 194 points to finish third overall behind Ramirez finishing seventh. The Panthers had an 87 second split on their top five runners. Their 2-5 split led by Jayne Hermann (33rd) was 42 seconds.
The big surprise in this race was the fourth-place finish from #29 Wheaton St. Francis. A big addition of four freshmen in their top seven helps the Spartans in this race as they scored 197 points. Two freshmen were the top two runners with Allie Sheldon running 18:33 to finish 21st and her teammate Erin Hinsdale was three seconds behind in 24th. Margaret Andrzejewski, who was all-state last year, was the team’s third runner finishing 34th followed by Elena Mamminga (42nd) and Sienna Schwan (91st). Their top five split was 80 seconds, but their first four runners were separated by just 26 seconds. #4 Dunlap scored 272 points to finish fifth behind top 20 finishes from Abby Tudeen (11th) and Katie Sell (20th).
Class 2A Boys – Johnson not a surprise in race win; Glenbard South does surprise for team title
Some were surprised to see that Glenbard South won the team title in this race. Those people forgot that the Raiders left Detweiller Park last November with a state trophy. They also left the park Saturday afternoon with another title trophy.
The individual race was everything that pre-race billing said between 2A State 3200 Meter Run record holder Ethan Hogan of Columbia and multi all-state runner Dale Johnson of Sterling who finished second in the state race last year. He made the jump to the head of field in the Saturday race.
You can tell from the start of the race that Hogan wanted to push the pace from the gun. He sped past the first half-mile in a quick 2:12. He was six seconds off the course record pace going past the mile in 4:33. Johnson was two seconds behind biding his time waiting to get close to Hogan. Johnson moved in the triangle and came out even with Hogan. The two runners were together as they passed through 2-miles in 9:28.
Johnson made a strong move just after that point wondering if the Columbia runner would go with him. He could hear him breathing hard and made another move just past the finish line. Hogan looked tired and was finding ways to try to get back in this race. Johnson would not have anything to do with that as his pace picked up along Route 29.
Johnson ran a personal best at Detweiller Park of 14:28.1 for the win. Trey Sato of Grayslake Central pulled away in the final quarter-mile to run 14:43.8 to finish second. Ishan Patel of Woodstock was four seconds back running 14:47.2 to finish third. Evan Nosek of Kaneland ran 14:57.8 to place fourth with a charging Hogan running 14:59.8 to place fifth.
The key to Glenbard South’s win was placing their top 3 runners in the first 13 places. Jaden Frederick (8th), Tim Jochum (11th), and Tom Jochum (13th) were separated by just 16 seconds. Lucas Newman (28th) and Michael Bailey (60th) gave the Raiders the win with 112 points.
#3 Normal University displayed their tight pack running scoring 127 points. The Pioneers did not have any runners in the top 10. They did run a 19 second split on their top 5, 31 seconds on their top 6. Mason Hart (16th) and Landen Alcorn (20th) led U-High separated by 3 seconds. Sachit Munduli (25th), Connor Hartman (32nd), Sean Kaeb (44th), and Mitchell Hayes (54th) followed.
#6 Woodstock jumped into the state trophy conversation after scoring 167 points. Ishan Patel third and his brother Aryan Patel finishing ninth. Elery Shutt led a 22 second split on the team’s third through fifth runners by finishing 42nd. #1 Morton finished fourth (213 points) led by Josh Weeks finishing 10th. #5 Prairie Ridge finished fifth (217 points) running a 7 second split on top three runners Will Gelon (22nd), Gerrit Dam (26th), and Evan Gilleland (30th).
Class 3A Girls – Storms wins individual race leading Barrington to team title
With Liv Phillips of Naperville Central on a college visit and not running, all eyes turned to Scout Storms to win this race. It would have been a good race. The two could challenge each other at Naperville Twilight next month.
Barrington’s Storms took the lead at 200-meters into the race and never looked back winning by 29 seconds running the second fastest time of the meet at 16:52.4. Storms went through the first mile in 5:24. Julie Piot was chasing after Storms from the first mile on. No one came close to the Naperville North senior as she ran 17:21 to finish second. Danielle Jensen of McHenry looked impressive in running 17:33.1 to finish third.
Stella Davis of Evanston finished sixth (17:43) just behind Barrington’s Lewis and Naperville North’s Tandon. Anna Lester of Vernon Hills had a breakout race running 17:44 to finish seventh. 11 runners in this race ran under 18-minutes. Nicole Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South was with the front pack most of this race. She did run a personal best of 17:52 to finish tenth. Following Poglitsch was Hudson Szymoniak of Hampshire who continued to run strong this early in the season. Her time was a personal best of 17:54 running under 18-minutes for the first time.
Two of the top 5 Class 3A teams were in this field. #5 Barrington behind Storms scored 52 points for a dominating win. The Fillies placed 2 more runners in the top 10 with 5 runners total in the top 21. Abby Lewis ran 17:40 to finish 4th with Mia Sirois running 17:51 to place 9th. Sabrina Roach (17th) and Kaleigh Burns (21st) were separated by eight seconds as the team’s fourth and fifth runners. The teams 2-5 split was just 42 seconds.
#3 Naperville North was a step ahead of the rest of the field as they scored 129 points to finish second. The Huskies were without one of their top five runners, Emma Berres. Piot led the team with her runner-up finish followed by Shania Tandon who ran 17:42 to finish fifth. Rianna Tandon (31st), Kayla Marx (40th), and Brynn Pfeiffer (51st) were the team’s third through fifth runners separated by 21 seconds.
The next three teams were separated by 10 points. #13 Minooka added a freshman into their top five as they scored 206 points to finish third. Maya Ledesma led the Indians by finishing eighth. Maya Gummerson (29th), freshman Natalie Nahs (54th), Cassie Brushaber (57th), and Liana Blount (62nd) were separated by 34 seconds. Their overall split was 75 seconds.
#18 Batavia, led by freshmen Gwendolyn Krodel (27th) and Avery Hacker (28th) was three points behind Minooka in finishing fourth with 209 points. Batavia had a 34 second split on their top five. #16 Edwardsville had a 43 second split on their top 5 led by Ella Thompson (25th) and Olivia Coll (26th). The Tigers scored 216 points in finishing fifth.
Class 3A Boys – Viger holds off Crane for individual win; Downers Grove North and their sea of purple singlets leads the way for team title
The individual race came down to the final 200 meters on this course to decide a winner. On the other hand, the team winner was decided just after the first mile of this race. The final mile of the race turned out to be one of the most exciting moments of this meet with Camyn Viger of Plainfield South and Ben Crane of New Trier making mini moves in the final mile to see if one could break the other.
Viger came into this meet as the defending individual champion. Crane is running high on confidence right now after a win the week before at Hinsdale Central. The two runners led the way for the first two miles of the race. There was a pack of 10 runners that were with the two leaders most of the time. The pack started to break up as soon as the pack left the triangle portion of the course.
The team race was already developing with Downers Grove North’s top seven runners all near the front. If Crane has started the season with the confidence, the Trojans running side by side with confidence exuding with themselves and discouraging the teams behind them. That is what pack running is expected to accomplish. Ryan Eddington, Grant Schroeder, and Caden Weber stayed with Crane and Viger as they approached the finish line. Nate Wehner of Highland Park and Dylan Maloney of Plainfield South started to fall off the fast pace.
Viger made a move approaching the Route 29 portion of the course. He could not break Crane, but it did break the Downers North threesome away from the front. It did not break their pack.
Viger continued to make moves. Crane was making moves to take the lead. Neither would let go of the lead. As the two runners came around the hiccup onto the main straight of the finish, Viger put his head down and dug down deep into himself to drive him up the incline to the finish line. Crane had the same intensity in his kick, but Viger wanted to repeat in his race win from a year ago.
Viger crossed the line winning with a 14:23.4 time. Crane was next at 14:25.3 establishing a huge personal best in a 3-mile race.
Eddington, Weber, and Schroder came in at 14:35 separated by just a second. Wehner was next at 14:40.1 in sixth more than a second ahead of Maloney and his 14:41.8 time. Quinn Davis and Thomas Czerwinski of Plainfield North finished 8-10 with Davis running 14:44. Nicholas Strayer of Lyons Township was sandwiched in between finishing ninth running 14:45. 16 runners in this race ran 15:00 or faster. That is pretty remarkable for the first race of the year at Detweiller Park.
The top ranked team in the state Downers Grove North showed why they are the top team in the Land of Lincoln at this time. It also shows that they may be underestimated in national eyes, but they will be among the top five nationally by the time we get to November.
The Trojans scored a remarkable 39 points winning by more than 80 points led by having three runners in the top five. There was a gap of 20 seconds before their second pack of three runners started coming across the line. Phillip Cupial (13yh) was the team’s fourth runner running 14:56. Zach Bender finished 17th eight seconds behind Cupial. Isaac Moss was another four seconds behind in 19th place. Their top five split in this race was just 29 seconds. North did have their first eight runners in this race finish in the top 48.
#12 Plainfield North rebounded after their Plainfield City Meet scoring 120 points to finish second. Davis, Czerwinski, and Owen Stahl in 15th led the way for the Tigers followed by Easton Miller (49th) and Aidan Connors (52nd). Their top five split was 49 seconds. #7 Plainfield South scored 151 points to finish third overall. The Cougars were without one of their top five runners Gavin Borger. Riley Fink was the team’s third runner (24th) running 15:16. Joaquin DeAlba (29th) and Cole Maranowicz (99th) were the team’s fourth and fifth runners. The gap between Maloney and Fink was 36 seconds. The loss of Borger in this race showed as he would have been with the 3-4 pack. The split between that twosome was six seconds. Their overall split on five was 93 seconds.
Three points behind Plainfield South was #3 New Trier who scored 154 points to finish fourth. The pack for the Trevians behind Crane started with Atticus Miller finishing 18th overall with Felix Hekster placing 28th. Walter Garrett (53rd) and Evan Shu (67th) were the teams fourth and fifth runners. Their overall top five split was a healthy 74 seconds. Their split from Miller to Shu was just 35 seconds. #8 Highland Park (205 points) and #16 Naperville Central (213 points) finished fifth and sixth. #6 Lyons Township was without one of their top runners Cillian Henning in this race. The Lions still finished seventh scoring 235 points. |
