Lake Forest packs it up to win Girls title; Aho and Overbeck win individual titles

By Michael Newman

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Wauconda, Ill --- Stevenson Boys Coach Scott Sommers was hoping that his team would stay in the shadows just a little bit longer. The addition of sophomore Brett Lucas and junior Caleb Oh to their top five have put the Patriots ready to climb to the next level on their way up the success mountain. Stevenson put five runners in the top fifteen to win the Lake County Boys team championship Wednesday afternoon at Lakewood Forest Preserve with 44 points. 2A #2 Grayslake Central was second with 48 points but were without top five runner Danny Vincent who did not run due to illness.

Lucas and Oh did not run on Stevenson’s cross country team last fall instead opting to play football. Even though Stevenson won the 8A state championship in football last November, the two caught the running bug while running track last spring.

“Caleb and Brett are guys that have run in the past. They ran track last spring,” Sommers said. “The lightbulb came on for them last spring. They came us and to us that they were ready. They wanted to sign up for summer camp. They were ready to do this full time.”

Stevenson was not on most team’s radars at the beginning of the season. With a winner over 3A #21 Buffalo Grove and Wednesday night’s win, the Patriots cannot hide any longer. Their five runner split was 77 seconds led by the second place finish by Jared Borowsky. Paul Udoni was the next runner in (6^th) followed by Lucas (9^th), Oh (12^th), and Adam Butler (15^th). What could make Stevenson a dangerous team is that the split on their two through five runners was only 32 seconds.

“We also won the JV level so we have five guys pushing our top seven. There is good competition on this team,” added Sommers. “Our sixth guy (Nikita Smyrnov) lost his shoe in the first 50 meters of the race and he still ran well. He should be up in our first five. This was not really a surprise today for us. I know what Jared can do and these guys behind him are not there far off in practice. I think we have a long way to go. It was a goal today to win this. This meet was just a checkpoint. It is just a stepping stone.”

Conditions were not optimal in the Chicago area with temperatures hovering near 90 degrees with high humidity. 30 minutes before the start of the Boys race clouds rolled in dropping the temperature making it a little more bearable to run.

Grayslake Central showed they are one of the top teams in the 2A classification starting off their season with a strong run even without Vincent. The Rams were led by the individual win by Jack Aho. The third place finisher in last spring’s 3A 3200 state final last May used some caution especially with the hot weather waiting until 600 meters to go to make his move on Borowsky. Aho crossed the line in 15:16 four seconds ahead of the Stevenson senior.

“I wanted to let Borowsky to take it out and sit on him,” Aho said. “I just wanted to make my move in the square area near two miles. He stuck with me for a good portion. I did not start to lose him until about 600 meters to go. I thought he would come back on me. I started to push with 500 to 300 to go. That was my goal to go.”

The Rams put four runners in the first eleven behind Aho’s win. Jack’s brother Matt, who was running his first cross country race, placed seventh. John Girmscheid (10^th), Eli Minsky (11^th), and Jack Battaglia (19^th) rounded out the top five. Their split on five on this day was 93 seconds. If you figure Vincent in, their split would have been 71 seconds.

“Danny Vincent has been sick and has not been in school the last two days. Having him in there would have affected our outcome. This was our first meet. They are a veteran group. We got a lot of pre-season publicity. It does not mean anything until we earn. I told today let’s go out and start earning that respect,” said Grayslake Central Coach Jim Centella. “I was really impressed with Jack Battaglia. He’s had a sore back. He usually starts out slow at the beginning of the season and comes on strong at the end. This was his best start for a year. That could be a key for us.”

The weather did not seem to bother Vernon Hills’ Vivian Overbeck either. The senior took command of the race just after 2 miles pulling away from Kortney Schardt (Lakes HS, Lake Villa) and Melissa Manetsch (Libertyville HS). Overbeck crossed the line in 18:03. Schardt passed Manetsch in the final 20 meters to take the second spot by a little more than a second (18:16.5 – 18:17.8). It was a good start for Overbeck after a great track season where she placed third in the 2A 3200 Meter Run at the state meet.

I always know that Melissa, Kortney, and I have great battles in conference. It is always close between us,” Overbeck said after her race. I know the two of them have really good kicks. They were with me at two miles. I knew at that point I was going to light it up and go.”

“Vivian has always had a racer’s mentality. She has become a better trainer,” said Vernon Hills Coach Suzanne Curry. “She has realized what to put the training in. She has always worked hard in practice. She’s never slacked off. I’ve never had to push her. She has taken it to a different level this year. She enjoyed the training process. For the other kids to see that, that’s doing more for what I can do for them.”

3A #16 Lake Forest started off their season with a win and optimism of what their campaign in 3A could be. Spurred on by a 4-5-6 finish by Emma Milburn. Lauren Garriques, and Katie Condon, the Scouts won the team championship scoring 44 points. 2A #20 Vernon Hills was close behind in second with 55 points. The split for Lake Forest’s first five was 87 seconds. The first three runners were within eight seconds of each other. The front running pack was a staple to their success a year ago and should follow again this season. What happened on the course Wednesday afternoon had Lake Forest Coach Steve Clegg pleased.

“It is so hard to figure out in conditions like this what our goal would be today. We walked out of here happy today how our new kids did and especially our returnees,” Lake Forest Coach Steve Clegg said. “It was interesting to see how they would react. Some runners do not react well to the heat. We still have to find out where each of our runner belongs. They are still discovering that. We have a big group. There will be a lot of change over. Last year runners started to slot in to spots. I think this year will be completely different. After today, we still do not know where everyone will be. I am happy today. I was thinking coming over I did not want to leave the park riding in an ambulance with someone especially in races like this. It was a great way to start. Everyone on our team is healthy and happy.”

The future is also bright for Vernon Hills who should move up the rankings next week. Two freshman, Payton Makowskyi and Hannah Ray, have emerged into the top five for the Cougars. Even though there is over a two minute split on their first five, Vernon Hills should be optimistic. There will be a gap between Overbeck, who should be in the top five at state this year, and the pack.

“Our freshmen have really bought into the program. They are really excited and hungry,” said Curry. “They love the leadership that Vivian and Shannon (Skeoch) give them. Lauren Katz is only a sophomore but they look up to her because they ran with Lauren in middle school. They saw what she did last year. I really like how they raced today not knowing what to expect.”