Downers Grove North Boys/Girls win at EIU Showdown; headline first weekend of Illinois Meets

Close, Eddington dominate at Neuqua Valley

By Michael Newman

Naperville, Ill – Most meets that are run at the end of August can be termed rust busters. Runners training all summer to get to the starting line more two months ahead of their destiny and Detweiller Park.

Temperatures that were near 100 degrees during the week moved down to a more reasonable 70 degrees with some wind and high humidity kicked in.

It did not seem to bother #1 Downers Grove North and Neuqua Valley’s Zac Close at Saturday’s EIU Showdown held on Neuqua Valley’s Campus Course. The Neuqua Valley senior was near the front with Plainfield North’s Quinn Davis as the two pushed the pace in the opening mile passing that point in 4:52. Close made some tactical moves in the second mile in the race pulling away from Davis. Close opened it up increasing the lead and earning his first win of the season crossing the line easily at 14:15 on the 2.9 mile course.

Downers North, the top team in Class 3A to begin the season, built into this race with 10 runners together situated between 15-25 snug in the middle of the race with teammates chatting with each other making their running look effortless.

The race plan was to move up through the rest of race and they did during the second mile moving into the top. In the final mile, Ryan Eddington, Caden Weber, and Grant Schoeder moved closer and closer to Plainfield’s Davis as they narrowed in towards the finish passing Davis right before the line. All four runners crossed the line at 14:38 with the three Downers runners finishing ahead of Davis.

Six teams scored in the Boys Varsity race. Downers Grove North ran a 42 second split on their top five winning with 29 points. Phillip Cupial was the team’s fourth runner as he finished in 8th, some eight seconds behind his three teammates. John Courtney was the team’s fifth runner 24 seconds behind Cupial finishing in 12th. Downers North was without one of their top five runners Zach Bender who was a part of SAT testing on this Saturday.

#18 Highland Park edged host #13 Neuqua Valley 68-71 for second place. The Giants were led by top finishes from Nate Wehner (7th), Brian Hatoum (9th), and Barak Goldstein (11th). #4 Plainfield North ran short handed in this meet without their top runner Owen Stahl taking SAT’s. The Tigers scored 80 points to finish fourth behind top 10 finishes from Davis and Thomas Czerwinski (6th) who finished three seconds behind Davis.

It seemed that the Girls Varsity race was over by the end of the opening mile. #4 Downers Grove North had three runners in the top ten sidelined with either illness or SAT testing. It showed in their depth as the Trojans took five of the first six places as they scored just 18 points to claim the win.

Lily Eddington had a minor injury lingering with her at the end of the track season. It did not show at the beginning of the race as she had the lead at 880 yards in with Plainfield’s North Elsie Czarniewski the only runner staying close to Eddington. The Downers North sophomore made some minor moves that slowly took her further in the lead. She crossed the line in disbelief when she saw 17:13 flash on the clock forgetting that this was a 2.9 mile course. Nevertheless, it was still a fast time to run to start the season. McKenzie Willard joined her teammate in the front passing Czarniewski in the final kilometer of the race. Willard (17:31) and Czarniewski (17:39) finished second and third. Sarah Paul, Ava Gilley, and Audrey Casten finished 4-5-6 with this shorthand team still running just a 43 second split.

Neuqua Valley looked good in their first meet placing three runners in the top ten and scoring 57 points to finish second. Elizabeth Hall, Addison Guskey, and Sienna McEneaney led the Wildcats finishing 8-9-10. #18 Plainfield North ran some of their younger runners in the JV race and finished third with 78 points.

Weekend Race Highlights

Light it Up XC Invitational @ Clinton – 2A #3 Normal University ran their first 2023 race moving from 1A to 2A for the next two seasons. The Pioneers scored just 33 points to win the Boys Varsity race under the lights at Clinton HS run in warm and sticky conditions. U-High kept their pack intact with only a 25 second split on their top five runners, 35 seconds on their first six. Seniors Landen Alcorn and Mason Hart led the team finishing 6th and 7th. Sachit Muduli, who missed last season due to injury, was the team’s third runner finishing in 8 followed by Connor Hartman (10th) and Sean Kaeb (14th). Mitchell Hayes was the team’s sixth runner finishing in 15th. Clinton finished second (103 points) followed by 2A #12 Pontiac (109 points) and Decatur St. Teresa (159 points). The first three runners in this race were separated  by just a second. Issac Crumrine of Riverton and Drew Moser of Clinton both crossed the line in 15:55. Crumrine won the race by 13 hundredth of a second. Sam Springer of Delavan was a second behind finishing third.

Natalie Bierbaum of Normal University controlled the Girls race running 17:41 to win by 36 seconds ahead of Tessa Bowers of Shelbyville (18:17). Lexi Lord of Clinton (18:21) and Zoe Carter of Normal University (18:27) finished third and fourth. 2A #15 Normal University and 1A #11 Shelbyville both scored 70 points with U-High winning the race with a sixth runner tiebreak. Host Clinton finished third (100 points) had three more teams within 16 points of them.

Aurora City Championships @ East Aurora HS – A last minute change of venue due to construction at Waubonsie Valley did not seem to bother the runners in both Varsity races. It was #12 Aurora West that was in control throughout the Boys Varsity race placing 4 runners in the top 6 and 5 runners in the top 11 to win the City Championships with just 25 points. It came down to a sprint to determine the Boys winner. Class 2A State Record holder in the 800 Meter Run Patrick Hilby used his ending speed to edge Sean Heetland by six-tenth of a second to win the Boys Individual race. Both runners were timed at 15:46 and ahead of the rest of the pack by 30 seconds.

Aurora West was the only ranked team in this race and it showed. Nathan Gehrmann, Samuel Rocio, and Branden DeLeon finished 4-5-6 separated by just one second. Aiden Massaro was the Blackhawks fifth runner placing 11th. Metea Valley and Waubonsie Valley finished second and third both scoring 65 points. Metea Valley was led by the third-place finish from Austin Brown. Waubonsie Valley was led by top 10 finishes from Tyler Heap (8th) and Zach Self (10th) with only a 28 second split on their top five. Metea Valley’s top five split was 44 seconds with only 17 seconds separating their second through fifth runners.

The Girls Varsity race was renamed after former Aurora West runner Megan Sporny who passed in June after a long battle with cancer. Sporny was an All-State Wheelchair track athlete in the 2022 State Meet. #22 Metea Valley placed 5 runners in the top 13 led by top 10 finishes from Keira Nelson (4th), Maya Hall (7th), and Brooke Horning (10th) giving them the win with 45 points. 2A #13 Rosary finished second (63 points) led by top 10 finishes from individual winner Vivian Wyller (18:47) and second-place finish of Chiara Surtz  (19:08). Rosary’s third runner was Olivia Kunio who finished sixth. Cecilia Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic finished third in her first high school cross-country race.

Civic Memorial Twilight Invitational @ Bethalto Sports Complex – Landon Harris of Granite City made a huge impact in his first high school race. Harris, who gained notoriety while in middle school, ran 16:03 to win the Boys race by 11 seconds.  Host 2A #16 Civic Memorial placed 5 runners in the top 13 won the team title 38-45 ahead of Highland. Max Weber, who is a recent transfer into the school, ran 16:14 to finish second ahead of teammate DJ Dutton (16:30). Highland easily won the Girls team title (35 points) with their top runner Payton Frey running 20:22 to win the race. She was 45 seconds ahead of Emilee Franklin of Granite City. Alton (81-points), Roxana (84 points), and Granite City (85 points) were the next three finishing teams.

Doc Acklin Memoria Invitational @ Paris HS – 1A #5 St. Joseph-Ogden was an easy winner in the Boys race scoring only 39 points for the win with Toledo Cumberland with 98 points finishing second. The Spartans put their first four runners in the first six places led by Carson Maroon who ran 16:46 for the individual race win. Alex Gordon of Effingham ran 17:19 to finish second. 2A #22 Effingham scored 31 points to win the Girls team title placing 5 runners in the top 11. It was a close individual race finish as Effingham’s Jessica Larsen ran 19:35.2 edging Molly Farrell of Marshall by a tenth of a second (19:35.3).

Mascoutah XC Opener @ Mascoutah Middle School – Mascoutah edged 1A #7 Pinckneyville 46-53 for the Boys team title. Freeburg scored 111 points to finish third. Isaac Teel of Pinckneyville opened the season by running 15:12 for the individual win. Mascoutah’s Leo Cozzi ran 15:52 to finish second ahead of Pinckneyville #2 runner Landen Boman ran 15:58 to finish third. Father McGivney placed in the top two places in the Girls race. Elena Rybak looked fantastic in running 17:35 to win the individual title with teammate Kaitlyn Hatley running 18:12 to finish second. Freshman Aubreigh Desmond finished third to lead a rebuilt Althoff Catholic to a 70-72 win ahead of 1A #5 Pinckneyville in a close team race. Mascoutah scored 77 points to finish third ahead of 1A #18 Father McGivney (84 points). Althoff Catholic was the team surprise. Four of their top five runners are freshmen.

Kane County Meet @ Northwestern Medicine XC Course, Geneva – It was a good race between two of the top ten Class 2A teams in the state. Evan Nosek of Kaneland led throughout running 15:25 for the win with Cole Tupper of Elgin running 15:46 to finish second. 2A #5 Kaneland edged 2A #6 Marmion Academy 60-65 for the Boys team title. #20 St. Charles East scored 71 points to finish third. Kaneland had three runners in the top ten individually led by Nosek, David Valkanov (5th), and Evan Whildin (7th). Collin Reutimann was the team’s fourth runner (23rd) followed by Zach Murdock (28th). The Knights top five split was 2:11. Marmion Academy las led by the 3-4 finish by John Daffenberg and Connor Carlson. Robert Gramley (13th), Matthew Sullivan (15th), and Rory Bennett (35th) rounded out the Cadets’ top five. Their top five split was 1:46. St. Charles East was without one of their top five runners Jedidiah Wilson, but still had a 1:24 split off top runners Greyson Ellenson (8th), Oscar Frontjes (10th), and Adrian Ahuati (11th).

#12 Batavia edged Hampshire 42-45 for the Girls Team title placing 5 runners in the top 15. St. Charles North scored 51 points to finish third. Marley Andelman of St. Charles East ran 18:47.9 to claim the individual title with Hudson Szymonik of Hampshire running 18:57 to finish second. Batavia were led by two freshman Avery Hacker (4th) and Gwendolyn Krodel (6th). The team had a 65 seconds split on their scorers. Hampshire had a good opening meet with 5 runners in the top 17 with a 1:41 split.

Normal West Invitational – Defending 3A State Champion #14 Plainfield South ran a 90 second split on their top five in winning the Boys team title with 41 points. Lincoln-Way Central scored 52 points to finish second ahead of Washington (105 points) and Minooka (107 points). Camyn Viger broke away from the field just after two-miles to run 15:09 to claim the individual title. Teammate Dylan Maloney ran 15:24 to finish second. The Cougars did not run their top five runner Gavin Borger in this race. Lincoln-Way Central had a solid top four, led by Braden Hoff in 4th, place their first 4 (4-7) that finished ahead of Plainfield South’s third runner Joaquin DeAlba who finished 9th. Lincoln-Way Central’s top five split was 64 seconds, 17 seconds on their top four.

Maya Ledesma of Minooka claims the Girls individual race title running 19:09 to claim the win. Washington’s Sophia Ramirez (19:21) and Olivia Nordheilm (19:28) finished second and third to lead the 2A #2 Panthers to the team win with 42 points. #5 Minooka finished second (70 points). Washington placed 5 runners in the top 15 with a 67 second split.

McHenry County Meet @ Emricson Park, Woodstock – Danielle Jensen of McHenry became the fourth runner from her school to win this county title. The senior ran 18:54 to easily win the race with teammate Skyler Balzer running 19:42 to finish second. Huntley, led by the third-place finish from Haley Rahman, scored 35 points to win the team title ahead of 2A #6 Crystal Lake South who scored 48 points. 2A #11 Woodstock edged 2A #8 Prairie Ridge 45-46 for the team title. Huntley scored 82 points to finish third. Ishan Patel of Woodstock ran 15:53 on his home course to win by 18 seconds ahead of Tommy Nitz from Huntley. Aryan Patel of Woodstock ran 16:17 to finish third with Will Gelon of Prairie Ridge running 16:21 to finish fourth.

Saber Corn Classic @ St. Thomas More – 1A #30 Tolono Unity edged Urbana University 37-40 to claim the Boys team title placing 5 runners in the top 14. Eli Crowe of Unity ran 17:10 for the individual title ahead of U-High’s Ross Kimme who ran 17:31 to place second. Urbana University claimed the Girls team title (66 points) ahead of Monticello (71 points) and 1A #12 St. Thomas More (76 points). Sylvia Miller of Monticello ran 20:39 to win the Girls individual race with Macie Russell of Oakwood running 20:42 to finish second.