LAKE ZURICH CROSS COUNTRY

11/20/08 - Alumni Update: Mickey Stott, Class of '08, Finishes Freshman Season as 7th Man for UW Stout.

Mickey Stott, class of '08 and LZXC '07 captain, finished his freshman season at UW Stout as their #7 varsity runner.  Mickey ran a personal best 8K time of 27:16.  Mickey has already begun training for track, and recently ran a 1600m time trail, indoors, in a personal best 4:27.  Mickey just missed setting the LZ school record last year, with a 4:29.

11/15/08 - Gerardo Perez Places 6th in Mid-East Meet

Gerardo Perez represented the state of Illinois in the prestigious Mid-East Meet, a competition between top senior runners Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.  Gerardo finished 6th, completing the muddy 5K course in 16:02.  Gerardo was the second finisher from Illinois, behind Champion Jeff Thode of Conant.  Team Illinois won the tight team race with 56 points, and brought the Mid-East Title back to Illinois for the first time since 1996.  Complete results can be found here.

11/8/08 - LZXC Places 13th in State, Gerardo Perez All-State in 10th

We placed 13th in the IHSA State Meet, led by the All-State 10th place finish by Gerardo Perez.  Five of seven runners set PRs on the cold day, although the rain stayed in the clouds which kept the course stiff.  Our fans were out in huge numbers, and it was great to see the enthusiasm by our team with their chests painted blue and white.  Thank you for all the support.

Gerardo Perez led the way with a 10th place All-State finish.  He keyed off the leaders for the first two miles before they pulled away shortly after.  Although Gerardo was disappointed with his place and had higher expectations, the kid ran his heart out, and simply got beat by some better runners. 

In our first practice back in August, each runner set a goal for himself, and Gerardo's goal was to run 14:40 and finish All-State.  Gerardo's 14:38 surpassed that goal, and his 10th All-State finish is the 3rd highest finish in school history, bested only by Sam Romanoski's 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the early 2000s.  What a special season for a special kid: To finish 10th in the state meet, despite relatively pedestrian track PRs of 4:32 and 9:42 (which he broke as a split today), and not even qualifying for Sectionals last season, Gerardo made one of the most improbable runs to elite status of anybody in the state.   Gerardo's accolades include Wheeling Invitational Champion, Conference Champion, Regional Champion, Sectional Champion and was undefeated in Duals this season.  Gerardo also holds the course records at both Libertyville and Wheeling. 

Despite all of his individual success, Gerardo will always be remembered as the co-captain of the first team in LZXC history to qualify for the state meet.   I have a special memory of Gerardo at Conference.  After winning in record time, Gerardo hustled back to the finishing stretch to cheer on his teammates.  I have never seen Gerardo so excited while he cheered for Andrew as he finished 2nd and Jordan's 15th place finish which solidified the championship for the team.  Even when reporters wanted quotes from him about his individual championship, Gerardo's selfless nature prevailed, and his excitement for the team's success was evident.  Gerardo ends his LZXC career as the MVP of the only 2 conference championship teams in LZXC history.  Thank you to Gerardo Perez for 4 great years of service.

Andrew Morrison finished 59th in 15:20, just 1 second behind his PR.  Of all the boys, Andrew was most affected by the fast start of the state meet.  With only 60s 400 speed, Andrew simply couldn't afford to get in position before the first turn, and was forced to play catch-up for the entire race.  Nevertheless, Andrew fought valiantly to finish 59th.

Andrew's success is a result of nothing more than a lot of sweat, discomfort, and heavy breathing.  Last year, Andrew was our lone Sectional qualifier, in which he finished 101st.  Twelve months and about 4000 miles later, Andrew was the Conference runner-up, and a medalist in all our major Invitationals, including Peoria Notre Dame, Palatine Invite, Wheeling, and Sectionals.  Andrew will begin next year as one of the state's top 30 returning athletes, and has the potential to join the ranks of elites.  Andrew earned All-Conference honors for the 3rd time (2 in Cross and 1 in track), and more importantly, is only 5 seconds behind his brother's All-State time.

Francisco Soto ran a PR 15:30 en route to his 83rd place finish.  Francisco keyed off Andrew for much of the race, and his 15:30 was a PR by over 10 seconds.

Francisco was one of the most improved runners on the team this year, despite starting off the season with injuries.  After his slow interval cycle ended, He set a PR in something ridiculous like 7 races in a row.  Francisco has the most desirable characteristics that a runner can have: competitiveness.  Whether it is a race or a practice, Francisco likes to run fast.  He has never been afraid to fail, and has never been afraid to run with runners who may have beaten him before.  These qualities give Francisco the potential to step into the class of elites next season.

Paul Geimer has been a consistent force in the Varsity lineup all season, finishing as our 3rd or 4th man in every meet.  Paul ended his Junior season with his second consecutive All-Conference medal, and broke the 16 minute barrier for the 4th time this season, and the first time since the Wheeling Invitational.  Paul carries a reputation through the halls of Lake Zurich as one of the top athletes in the school.  Paul's talent and work ethic make him a likely candidate to transform from a pack runner to a front runner next season.

Pat Juras was our 5th man in 155th with a time of 16:00.  Pat set a goal this week of being one of the top 3 Freshmen finishers in the race, which is a goal he completed.  Pat was the 3rd Freshman finisher in the race behind Garrett Sweat from Edwardsville (39th) and Kyle Smith from Minooka (114th).  Pat ran the best race of anybody on the team, PRing by over 20 seconds, which is quite impressive by a Freshman.  Pat finished the season as one of the most heralded Freshmen in LZXC history, and earned his first of many All-Conference awards.

Jake Paulus ran the best race of his life as well, nearly breaking 16:00.  Jake's 157th place finish beat the 5th man of 12 different teams in the state meet, including 3 teams that finished ahead of LZ.  Jake consistently ran as our 6th man all season, and concludes his LZXC career as a 3 time Varsity athlete, earning All-Conference honors in his final season.  Jake plans on following a long line of Paulus family members to North Central College next fall.

Jordan Pavlovich ran a PR 16:03 and was our 7th finisher.  Jordan also finished ahead of the 5th man from 12 other teams, giving us valuable pusher points in the tight team race.  Jordan had an up-and down year, beginning with a disappointing injury over the summer.  However, Jordan came through for us in a big way on some of the biggest stages, running as our 5th man at both Conference and Sectionals.  Jordan gives gives us 5 returning athletes to LZXC 2009, and we are one of only 5 teams in the state who will return 5 runners with state meet experience (Prospect, Loyola, Lake Park, and Lake Forest).

Paul Geimer, Pat Juras, Jake Paulus, and Jordan Pavlovich formed our tightest pack of the year, with all finishing within 7 seconds of each other.  It was an impressive performance by each of these boys who, none of which had even run in a sectional meet before this year, let alone a state meet.  They deserve all the credit for their success, and their success is a testament to their hard work.

11/1/08 - LZXC Places 3rd in Schaumburg Section, Advances to State for 1st Time in School History

We placed 3rd in the competitive Schaumburg Sectional and advanced to the state meet for the first time in school history.  Palatine looked sharp in their victory, finishing with 88 points.  Prospect took 2nd with 110 points behind an impressive 25 second 1-5 split.  We took 3rd with 123 points.  Conant, led by an incredible 3rd place effort from Jeff Thode, took 4th with 128.  Lake Forest represented the NSC well by taking the 5th qualifying position with 152. 

It was a strong showing by the NSC, which qualified 2 teams for the first time since the great Libertyville and Stevenson teams of the mid 90's (I believe, perhaps the NSC historians can clarify this).   Also, Karsen Green of Warren finished 7th to qualify as an individual, while Grant's super soph Ryan Mamerow was the first sophomore finisher in the race in 27th.  While the MSL is still in a class by itself, the NSC showed that it is taking steps to close that gap and become more competitive with the elite conferences in the state.

Gerardo Perez won his 6th race in a row, with a time of 15:01.  He ran in the lead pack for what looked like a pedestrian first 2 miles.  At the two mile mark, a four person pack consisting of Gerardo, Lesiewicz, Rieger, and Bernardo pulled away from the field, with Thode eyeing them about 10m back.  Gerardo made his move with 1200m to go, gaining about 10 meters on Lesiewicz, which held for the remainder of the race.  While his 10:07 2-mile split was not impressive, his 4:54 final mile showed he had a lot left to give, and still didn't have to unleash his finishing kick.  Gerardo's time was just 7 seconds off the Top 10 list at historic Busse Woods, and just 7 seconds off LZXC's very own Sam Romanoski's14:54 in 2002.  Gerardo joins Romanoski to be only the second Sectional Champion in LZXC history.

Andrew Morrison followed up his 8th place regional finish with an 8th place sectional finish, with a time of 15:19.  Andrew stuck with the lead pack through 2 miles.  Then when the front 4 pulled away at the 2-mile, Andrew joined Deerfield's Billy Malmed and Fremd's Aaron Ferst in the primary chase pack.  Malmed and Ferst slowly pulled away from Andrew in the final 400, and conference rival Karsen Green snuck up behind to outkick him, but Morrison fought back to edge Ferst in the final 100 for 8th place.  Andrew's efforts won him the RIM for the first time this season.

Francisco Soto is just flat out tough.  When the gun goes off, he just gets after it.  Francisco's transition from a pack runner to a front runner has been one of the biggest reasons for our success.   Francisco ran through the 2-mile in a PR 10:22 on his way to a 3-mile PR of 15:38, and was the first #3 runner in the chute at #17.

Paul Geimer and Jordan Pavlovich both corrected their mistakes from Regionals and ran much better race stoday.  Paul finished in 43rd place in 16:01, while Jordan finished in 70th with a 16:19.  I think both can and will run better next Saturday, but it was good to see both of them show the competitive spirit that has defined them as athletes.

Jake Paulus continued his consistent string of races by finishing 76th in 16:23.  I am proud that a senior athlete like Jake is going to get to enjoy this opportunity, because he has earned it over the past 4 years.  Pat Juras was the 3rd overall Freshmen finisher in the race (behind 2 of Buffalo Grove's Fab Frosh).  Pat finished in 16:34, despite being sick earlier in the week.

To the members of LZXC:  You have worked hard to earn this opportunity.  Enjoy the opportunity for it will be an experience that you will never forget.  You belong here, so race your hearts out. 

10/25/08 - Bears Place 2nd in Tough Hoffman Estates Regional

We took 2nd place at the competitive Hoffman Estates Regional.  Palatine took first with 57 points, followed by LZ with 72 and Conant right with us with 73.  Palatine and Conant both looked tough, which was no surprise since they both finished in the top 3 in the competitive MSL.  Schaumburg and Barrington also advanced and showed they are not to be forgotten, as both programs were state qualifiers last year.

Gerardo won his 5th race in a row, after pulling away from Schaumburg's excellent Junior, Pat Lesziewicz.  Andrew looked heavy and was never in position to compete with the matchups he wanted.  Andrew finished in 8th place.  Francisco ran a strong race, and continues to improve every week.  He finished 9th, and after him, we were the first team with 3 in the chute.

Paul did not run a smart race, which, surprisingly, was probably the best thing he could have done today.  The fast start of the MSL teams pulled him out faster than he has been accustomed.  As a result, he didn't ever feel in control of his race, and finished in 24th.  He is due for a breakout race; and with this race shock under his belt, he has prepared himself to run his best race on the right day.  Paul: Every piece is in place.  You have completed high-level training that leads to high-level racing- Don't be surprised by anything.

Pat Juras showed he belongs in big meets.  He finished as our 5th man in 30th place, just edging out teammate Jake Paulus.  Pat has yet to have his breakout race at the Varsity level, and could surprise people next Saturday.  Pat: You have the rare ability to get results from your body when you ask it.  Believe in yourself and DON'T SETTLE.

Jordan was our 5th man last week, but today he ran a race he would soon prefer to forget.  Jordan was never in position and as a result, wasn't able to navigate the tight field with tight turns.  Jordan: I believe in you.  We believe in you.  Go after it.

Regionals is always a dangerous meet since it is squeezed between Conference and Sectionals.  We have not forgotten who we are and where we came from, and we certainly remember that we were 7th in our own Regional just last year.  In the end, we did what we needed to do to qualify, and are honored by the chance to be the first LZXC boys team to qualify for the state meet.

10/21/08 - LZXC Freshmen and Sophomores End Season With Victories at Highland Park Frosh/Soph Invite

Our Freshmen won their final invitational of the year back in early September up at UW Parkside, and today won their final invite of the year in a close 4-team battle at the Highland Park Frosh/Soph Invite.  We scored 66 points with a solid pack, edging out host Highland Park with 68 points, Lake Forest with 74 points, and Stevenson with 76 points.  The Freshmen were led by Jon Smith, who nearly won his second race in a row as he chased a Buffalo Grove Frosh and fell just short on the shorter course.  Rounding out the scoring was Billy Rice (12th), Jake Guilianelli (13th), Kyle McNair (19th), and Brent Skupien (20th).  Our depth has been impressive all year long, and it showed up in a big way here: This group still found a way to win even though Pat Juras has been moved up to Varsity and David Smith has been sidelined with sore knees.  This Freshmen group has a lot of potential that only strength, maturity, and a couple thousand miles can cure.  Great season Freshmen.

Our Sophomore unit was blessed by a the depth of a strong Varsity team.  Many of these runners would have been Varsity runners for us in years past, but we are blessed with the luxury of letting them have success at the lower levels due to our strong Varsity squad.  We won this meet pretty handily scoring just 27 points, and picking up 5 of the top 11 positions.  Vic Delatorre won the first race of his life by running away from the field, finishing the 2.1 mile course in just over 11 minutes.  Ryan Moncrieff took a solid 2nd, followed by Shawn Picha who used his 800m speed to pick up 4th, Andrew Lulis who picked up a medal in 9th, and Matt Fajnor who finished as our 5th man in 11th.  Off these five sophomores, only Shawn Picha ran cross country last season; Victor, Andrew, and Matt were recruited off the track team, and Ryan was recruited off the baseball team's 800m time trial.  This group will blossom into a great Varsity team in two years as they continue to train to higher levels and mature as individuals.

The race of the day came from first-year soph Trevor Feltner.  Trevor wore spikes for the first time in his life, and incidentally set a 1-mile and 2-mile PR en route to his 13:53 final time for the 2.1m course.  Trevor earned the RIM for his efforts, and has already begun his Polar Bear training.  It is great to see an athlete like Trevor get so excited about a sport in such a short time.  Keep up the good work Trevor!

10/18/08 - LZXC Takes 1st in Varsity Conference, 1st in JV Conference, 2nd in Freshmen Conference

Varsity

For the second time in 3 years, we won the North Suburban Conference Meet.   We put together a complete team race, and got great efforts from everyone, to post a low score of 36 points, outdistancing runner-up Lake Forest's 50.  I am proud of our boys for going out and getting something that we talked about getting all year.

Gerardo Perez won in a time of 15:02, setting a course record for the second time in as many weeks.  Gerardo now owns the course record at Wheeling and Libertyville.  Both Wheeling and Libertyville host big Invitationals every year, making Gerardo's recent performances even more impressive considering the amount of great runners that have run at each course.  Gerardo distanced the field at the 400m mark and never looked back.  No other runners chose to challenge him this week, as they simply let him go and raced for second.  I have said it before and I will say it again: nobody is more deserving of success than Gerardo.  Many of his "fans" were asking why he missed the award ceremony after the meet...  Well, he had a choir concert, and although he won't sing for us, I've heard he has a great voice to go along with powerful legs and a big heart!  What a special kid.

Andrew finally learned how to "twist the knife", and had his best race of the season.  He found himself floating in the chase pack at the mile when he began to push the pace.  He gained some space through the two-mile, but instead of relaxing in the last mile and letting his opponents back in the race, he found the competitive fire and distanced himself from the pack to take a safe 2nd.  His final time was 15:30, 7 seconds ahead of Lake Forest's Kyle Brehm.

Francisco Soto now has 3 all-conference honors under his belt: 30th as the 5th man on our 2006 Conference Championship team, 24th as the 5th man on last year's runner up team, and now a solid 7th place finish as our 3rd man this year.  His time was 15:50, but more importantly, he finished 8 seconds and 3 places ahead of Lake Forest's 3rd.  He is improving at a scary rate, and it is clear that with the slow interval cycle completed, his legs are freshening and his confidence is growing.

Paul Geimer was our 4th man today, and continued his consistent string of strong races.  Paul did not have a flashy race, but ran solidly and competitively, taking 11th in 16:03.  Paul finished ahead of Lake Forest's 4th and just 1 place behind Lake Forest's 3rd.  With 4 in the top 11, we were looking strong.

We didn't know who would step up to be our 5th man, but we had confidence in each of Jake Paulus, Jordan Pavlovich, and Pat Juras to step up and deliver. 

Last week it was Jake, this week Jordan stepped up in a big way.  Jordan was 15th in a PR 16:12, 1 place behind Lake Forest's 4th.  Jordan looked the best he has all season.  Jake finished 20th in 16:19.  Jake has been a Varsity runner for 3 years now, and finally got the All-Conference selection that had eluded him.  Freshman Pat Juras is our 2nd Freshman All-conference runner in 3 years.  Despite spending a couple days on the bikes due to tendonitis, Pat finished in 25th place, and was LZXC's  top Freshman All-conference runner since Sam Romanoski was 7th in 1999.

JV

For the first time in LZXC history, we won the JV Conference Meet.  Both Coach May and I are probably even more thrilled about this win than the Varsity win, since it truly takes a complete team effort to win the JV Conference Race.  We won in convincing fashion, by putting 12 runners in the top 30, with our top 7 all in the top 15.  We knew we had a competitive JV squad, since 6 of these runners had filled in on the varsity at different times throughout the year.  Competitiveness within the team is clearly much more valuable than competitiveness against different teams, and this was apparent here.

Victor Delatorre took 2nd in the race, behind only Lake Forest's Zach Silber.  Victor's 16:41 was the 6th fastest sophomore in the meet (the other 5 sophomores all ran at the Varsity level).  Not bad for a runner who has been training for less than 9 months. 

Ryan Moncrieff had not run a race in 4 weeks due to a strained hip, but he looked completely healthy, finishing 3rd in 16:54.  Ryan was the 8th fastest sophomore time in the meet, not bad for a runner who has been training for less than 6 months.

Behind Vic and Ryan, Joe Carabetta finished 5th (17:02), Shawn Picha  was 9th(17:15), and Senior Captain Tom Johnson finished 12th (17:22).  This set of 5 bested the Varsity's low score of 36 with their own low score of 31, well ahead of runner-up Lake Forest's 64.  In fact, we had 10 in the chute before all other team's 5th.

For most runners, the conference race is their state meet.  We make a point of running the complete team race, from #1-54.  Our C Team won handily over the conference, while our D team was bested by only the huge numbers of the Libertyville program.  Scored as an invitational, here is how the rest of the LZ Pack fared against the conference.

Freshmen

Our Freshmen took 2nd to Libertyville, 34 - 44.  Our top Frosh, Pat Juras, ran varsity, as did Libertyville's top Frosh Kevin Heller, so this race came down to whose pack was tighter.  Today, Libertyville's pack beat us on all accounts, and they deserve credit for a great race and a great season.  The Libertyville Freshmen group is not only one of the best teams in the area, they are one of the best teams in the state.  They have over three times as many kids as us, and they are loaded with talent.  We will be hunting them for the next four years.  To my Freshmen readers: Remember- Hard work, over time, will beat talent.

This race marked the coming out party for Freshman Jon Smith, who won his first race.  Jon has shown a lot of promise this season, but had been afraid to take the race out fast.  Today he conquered that fear.  He took the lead at the mile and never looked back.  He finished in 17:06, nearly 30 seconds ahead of 2nd place, and set a PR by almost 1 minute!  Jon Smith is a name we will be seeing a lot of in the next few years.  He has all the tools; speed, endurance, a desire to excel, and most importantly, a dedication to the sport.  Jon could be a Varsity runner for us as early as next year.

Behind Jon, our 2-5 pack fought valiantly against the tough Libertyville lineup.  Billy Rice (7th in 17:51), Jake Guilianelli (9th in 17:55), Kyle McNair (13th in 18:08), and Brent Skupien (16th in 18:20) rounded out our scoring.

Of our 42 competing runners who toed the line, 23 came home with medals.  We brought home 3 trophies, and set 23 PRs on a course that is not particularly fast:

Finally, congrats and thank you to our seniors who ran their last race: Adam Burke, Aaron Curtis, Stefano Delacuesta, Tim Ewan, Joe Fazekas, Andrew Gebhardt, Tom Johnson, Sean Livelsberger, John Patitsas, Chris Quintavalli, Dan Rykse, and Phil Rykse.  It has to feel good to be the Senior Class that was a part of the Varsity and JV Conference Championship Team in their final race.

10/14/08 - 2008 Picture Gallery Updated with Pics from Mundelein Dual, Palatine Invite, Stevenson Dual, and Wheeling Invite

10/12/08 - Hanson Exhibits the Differences in Efficiency Between in Aerobic and Anaerobic Systems in Chicago Marathon

I think under ideal conditions, I could have broke 3, but with the warmer-than-ideal weather, I was subjected to a painful ending.  My splits are as follows:

I ran with the 3hr pace group through 23 miles, before they started speeding up...You can almost pinpoint the mile that I had exhausted my oxygen delivery system and switched over to lactic acid, and that made for a painful half hour.  Nevertheless, it was a 12 minute PR from last year, and 3hrs was so close I could smell it, giving confidence that on a good day, its going to happen.

10/11/08 - LZXC Places 2nd at Wheeling Invitational in Strong Team Showing

FS Places 3rd, JV Places 2nd

We went back to the Wheeling Invitational for the first time in 4 years, and came away with two second place finishes and a third place finish.  It was a strong team showing as we had different runners step up at all levels and contribute, but we learned an important lesson: It is really difficult to win an Invitational.  You really have to run a complete team race to pull out a victory, and, despite many huge efforts from out kids, we have some races still to perfect.

The big story for LZXC was Gerardo Perez winning his first big invitational.  He has had a lot of success this season in dual competitions, and has run well in the competitive Peoria Notre Dame and Palatine Invittionalss, but this meet gave him an opportunity to really do something special in front of a couple of visiting college coaches.  Gerardo knew Carmel's Cameron Reiger was the runner to beat.  Reiger had already beat him at Palatine and has been running great all season.  The plan was to mark Reiger, withstand his best move, and win the last 400.  Gerardo followed the plan to perfection, despite Normal West's Drew Kerscheiter taking the early lead and threatening to run away with the race.  I was so proud of Gerardo's discipline and mental toughness throughout the early part of the race.  Once Gerardo and Reiger reeled in Kerscheiter, Reiger made a strong move at the two mile to break Gerardo, but couldn't shake him.  The race ended fairly uneventfully, as Gerardo gently pulled away from Reiger in the final straightaway.  Gerardo ran a solid 14:49, which broke Mickey Cobrin's (from Stevenson) previous course record of 15:08.

Andrew Morrison ran a solid race, almost equally his PR, of 15:21.  Andrew continues to take steps towards becoming an elite runner.  He was out in 4:58 which was great, but he was pressing, and wasn't able to attack the middle of the race like he can.  Nevertheless, he beat some of the MSL's best in Erik Stanton and Eric Rodriguez. 

Paul Geimer continues to search for the happy median in his race strategy.  We have always said that when he realizes how good he is, he will be almost unstoppable.  Paul was able to relax more in the first mile, but got sucked into the a pack and didn't move up as he usually does.  Paul's 15:50 was good for 17th. 

Francisco Soto followed up a great race against Lake Forest with an even better race at Wheeling.  He has virtually eliminated what once was a huge gap between him and Paul, and he looks tougher every meet as his confidence grows.  Francisco broke 16 for the first time with a 15:53, good for 18th.

Behind Francisco, our lineup was all shook up.  The Wheeling Invite allowed us to enter 8 athletes in the Varsity race, and thank goodness, because Senior Jake Paulus stepped up as our 5th man, despite running as our 8th man in the past few meets.  Jake had battled illness through the beginning of the season, but looked great in his PR 16:20, good for 48th place.  This race was undoubtedly the best cross country race of his career thus far.   Freshman Pat Juras was our 6th man with a 53rd place and a PR 16:22.  Jordan Pavlovich, typically our 5th man, looked sluggish, and finished as our 7th man in 16:26 in 57th, and Sophomore Victor Delatorre finished in 64th with a 16:33.

We lost the Varsity meet by 13 points to a strong Belvidere North squad.  Belvidere North remains the #1 ranked AA team, and has a good shot at claiming the AA state championship this year.  While we only lost by 13 points, those 13 points could have been made up by an improvement of only 6 seconds by our 5th man- even more evidence of how difficult it is to win an Invitational.

JV

We had our best JV Team Race of the season, with a 24 second 1-5 split.  How nice would it be to have this split at the varsity level!  As the day went on, it got hotter and hotter, and since the JV race ran last, these boys were more affected by the heat than the other races.  Joe Carabetta led the way for us, and ran a daring and gutsy race.  Joe took the race out fast and led for the majority of the first 2 miles, before his training caught up with him, and he faded to 8th in 17:05.  Joe has the potential to be an outstanding varsity runner at Lake Zurich, and showed he is not afraid to try.  The only thing that stands in his way is about a thousand miles.  Behind Joe, Senior Tom Johnson seemed affected by the heat in his 15th place finish (17:18).  Tim Ewan continues to run great as he ran a PR 17:25, good for 19th.  Greg Bielak ran the best race of his life, PRing in a 23rd place 17:23.  Tony Piecuch is still running sick, and ended as our 5th man, finishing in 25th place with a 17:29.

Other notable performances were: a PR by Junior Joe Kim (17:38), Junior David Weathers broke 18 for the first time (17:49), Sophomore Mike Filenko broke 20 for the first time with a 19:56, Freshman Isaac Honneger (20:31), Junior Erick Valencia (21:17),  Junior Stefano Delacuesta (21:19), Sophomore Trevor Feltner (22:46), Junior Derek Slaw (22:59), and Senior Chris Quintavalli (25:04).

Barrington ran away with the JV crown, but I was proud of the strong 2nd place showing showing by our team.  This group is ready to challenge for the JV Conference Title next week.

Frosh/Soph

Our Frosh/Soph team was without its top 3 runners, since Victor and Pat were running Varsity and Ryan Moncrieff was in Florida.  This gave other guys an opportunity to step up and score point for the team. 

Our sophomores Shawn Picha, Andrew Lulis, Stephen Brown, and Matt Fajnor stepped up in a big way for us.  Shawn and Andrew led the way with 9th and 10th place finishes, finishing the 2.55m course in 14:20.  The competitive rivalry between these two continues to grow.  Stephen and Matt packed up well to score 23 and 24 points for the team, finishing in 14:50.  Jon Smith used strong finishing kick to be our first freshman finisher in 14:55.

Complete Wheeling Invitational Results can be found here.

10/8/08 - Gelinas, Kuehr Win in Record-Setting Fashion in the District 95 Invitational

In the 2nd Annual District 95 Invitational, runners from LZMSN, LZMSS, and LZHS flocked to Lakewood Forest Preserve to compete for district supremecy on the 1.4mile course. 

Meaghan Gelinas, a 7th grader from LZMSN, won the girls middle school race in a record setting time of 9:44.  Meaghan broke sister Maddie's time of 10:01, which was set in 2007.  LZMSN provided a strong, competitive showing with 7 runners finishing the course in under 11 minutes.

Trevor Kuehr, an 8th grader at LZMSS,  improved upon his record time of 9:50.  Trevor's hard work in the off-season was apparant as he held off a strong field, in which 12 runners broke the 10 minute mark.  Trevor's winning time of 9:10 broke his own course record by 40 seconds.  Both MSN and MSS looked strong, with both teams demonstrating proper "pack running", as both schools flaunted their 30 second 1-5 splits to the cheering high school athletes.  LZMSN was led by 8th grader Oliver Shim and Jonathan Ramirez, who scored impressive 2nd and 3rd place finishes.

COMPLETE DISTRICT 95 INVITATIONAL RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE, AS WELL AS THE DISTRICT 95 INVITATIONAL RECORDS.

In the high school race, North defended the Chocolate Milk Cup in a tight but competitive race.  Freshman Pat Juras led the cause for North.

10/6/08 - LZXC Defeats Lake Forest 27-28 and Warren 23-33 to Win NSC Lake Division Championship

The stage was set: Warren, Lake Forest, and us were all undefeated in duals, and we were all meeting on the last dual of the year.  We had already beaten Warren at the Rebel Invite, and Lake Forest had completely outmanned us at the Palatine Invite.

We left Warren's course with two victories, including a victory by the slimmest of margins over 9th ranked Lake Forest.  We went 1,3,6,7,10 over Lake Forest and 1,3,5,6,8 over Warren.  The victory represents two things that LZXC had never done in history: Win the NSC Lakes Division Championship and go undefeated in duals for an entire season, 7-0.  While the victory is a great step for LZXC and a great confidence builder for the program, we know Lake Forest still has an excellent team.    While it is sweet to win, we can run better and must run better if we are to beat them again.  In fact, I think we only ran 1 great race today, which shows there is a lot of perfecting that still needs to be done.  Here is an analysis.

Gerardo ran away with the race without much contest.  He continues to look strong, fit, and tough.  His easily ran away from Karsen Green, who remains his biggest challenger in the conference, and this race has given him confidence as we prepare for the post-season.

Andrew was very close to running a great race, but didn't get it done.  Through the two-mile mark, he had distanced himself from Warren's Green and Lake Forest's Kyle Brehm, but failed to break them.  Green and Brehm stuck around and outkicked him in a spirited final sprint, one in which Morrison and Brehm ran neck and neck for the final 150 meters before Brehm pulled one step ahead.  Andrew: You must learn that just sticking in the knife is not enough; you have to twist it as well.  You must also know that nobody else, and I mean nobody, has the training that you have, and when you asks for it, your body will respond.  Andrew: don't be afraid to win.

Paul ran a very poor race, probably the worst of his season.  He went out fast to stay with the leaders, and found himself just trying to hang on the entire race.  We got very lucky that Paul was able to hang on and only get beat by 3 LF Scouts.  Typically, Paul is within 15 seconds of Andrew, but today he was 45 seconds back.  The race is not a complete loss however.  If our goal for the meet was to run a race shock, Paul did it to perfection.  His 5:00 opening mile was very close to his PR, and although it cost him a great race today, it will pay off dividends when he asks for it in the state series.

Francisco did run a great race.  Although Gerardo got the press for winning the race and Jordan was awarded the RIM for his final kick, Francisco was our unsung hero.  Cisco had essentially race shocked his system every other race this year, so today when he relaxed in the opening mile, he was able to work the back end of the course and finish strong.  Cisco was locked in with Lake Forest's #4 Briskman and #5 Farver, and without a strong finish, we would not have had a chance.  He showed his toughness and 800m speed in the final straight, and we were the first with 4 in the chute.  After Francisco manned up, it was now up to Jordan.

Jordan Pavlovich was our Mr. Clutch last spring as he anchored our 3200m relay.  Whenever we needed a big race, Jordan produced.  Jordan is not flashy, but he is tough.  If the meet is on the line, I take Jordan over all others.  Today was no different.  With 800m to go, Jordan was 10m back of LF's #6 Silber.  We needed Jordan to beat him or else we would have lost on the 28-28 tie breaker.  As it came down to the finish, Jordan had the same fire in his eyes that he had in track, and blew away a tough LF runner to give us the victory. 

All season long, the strength of our top 3 had carried us, but today it was our 4-5 men that won the meet for us.  I thought going in that we would have to go 1,2,4 or 1,2,5 to win, so after our top 3 were in with 1,3,6, we really needed to be tough to pull it out.  I am so proud of the victory not just because we won, but because of the way we won.  When we needed others to step up, they did.  This is a great step for our TEAM.

JV

We were missing a large part of our team for a variety of reasons, so the back end of the meet didn't live up to what I thought it would.  Warren and Lake Forest both have bigger teams, and since we were undermanned at the JV level, we had to work we got beat handily by Warren and LF's depth.  Here are the B, C, D, and E Team Results.

LZXC has never won the JV Conference Meet, and that is one goal we still have yet to accomplish.  Our B Team kept it close despite missing Tony Piecuch, Joe Carabetta, and Ryan Moncrieff, but we still lost, and must be more competitive in 2 weeks.

We got 16 PR's at Warren despite running on a course with a lot of turns:

10/2/08 - LZXC Continues to Roll with 24-33 Victory Over Stevenson

I don't usually post after dual meets, but a victory over conference rival Stevenson is always a big thing.  Stevenson had dominated the conference in the early part of the decade, and traces of that dominance still remain.  They always have a couple extremely competitive runners and always race very hard. 

Varsity

We were without Francisco Soto who was sick and Ryan Moncrieff who had a sore IT band, so the door was open for others to step up.  Freshman Star Pat Juras did just that, and won the prestigious Tire Rim for his efforts.  Pat stepped up to be our 5th scorer in the meet, edging out Sophomore courterpart Vic Delatorre in the final sprint.  Pat's 17:00 time at Lakewood placed him as the top Freshman in LZXC History, ahead of past Frosh Phenoms Mike Glow and Mike Greenwood.  Pat finished 8th overall in the race.

Gerardo ran smoothly and comfortably to win in a Lakewood PR of 15:40.  We chose to hold Gerardo back instead of going for a course record, although his time still placed him 6th on the All-Time List.  Andrew Morrison took 2nd ahead of Tyler Bartlow in 16:05, and finally passed Coach Hanson on the LZXC Lakewood List.  Paul Geimer looked sluggish after a relaxed training week, but still picked up a 5th place finish.  It was good to have Jordan Pavlovich back in our lineup, as he adds a component of toughness to our team.  He is starting to round into form, and ran within sight's distance of Paul for most of the race.  He finished in 16:52, good for 7th place.

Although we knew Stevenson was down a little from years past, the boys did a great job of not looking ahead to Monday's matchup with Lake Forest and Warren.  The weather allowed all of the top 7 to set Lakewood PR's, and our pack is tightening up, just in time for a big end-of-the-year push.

FS/JV

We beat Stevenson all the way down the line as our depth continues to improve.  In fact, I matched up our "B-team" (our 8-14) against Stevenson's B-Team, our "C-Team" (our 15-21) against Stevenson's C Team, and Our "D-Team" (our 22-28) against Stevenson's D Team.  Here are the results:

While the A and B teams were relatively close, we dominated the rest of the race with a strong team race.  Many of the non-varsity runners train and race without recognition, yet still deserve the recognition for the efforts they put in.  Many of our athletes ran Lakewood PR's, and two particular performances stick out in my mind.

Sophomore Stephen Brown has been overshadowed all season by fellow sophomores Vic Delatorre, Ryan Moncrieff, and Shawn Picha, but he deserves some recognition after his performance on Monday.  Stephen ran 17:55, breaking his Lakewood PR by over a minute, and finishing as our 10th finisher.  Stephen has a load of talent that is just waiting to be tapped, and I hope this is just the tip of the iceberg with him.

Another performance that stands out in my mind was a race by a first year junior Erick Valencia.  Just 2 weeks ago, Erick ran 26:12 on the Lakewood course against Libertyville.  Erick destroyed that previous PR, and finished in 23:27, a mere two and a forty-five second PR.  It is the efforts of athletes like Erick that make my job such an enjoyable one.

9/27/08 - Palatine Invitational Results

Last year we placed 19th, 16th, 21st, and 19th in the Varsity, JV, Sophomore, and Freshmen Races of the competitive Palatine Invite.  This year we placed 11th in the Varsity, JV, and Sophomore races, and our strong Freshmen Unit placed 5th.  The entire program improved, and all but 1 athlete ran faster than last year.  We brought home a handful of medals, and continue to take the necessary steps towards competing with the elite programs in the state.

Varsity - There was a bit of uneasiness heading into this race.  Jordan was at a wedding in Missouri.  Jake Paulus was still sick from his weeklong cold.  Gerardo was hamstrung.  I was interested to see how we responded to a little adversity.

Gerardo ran another impressive race, perhaps more impressive than Peoria, and his hamstring was almost a non-factor.  He took 6th place in 14:33, which Lake Zurich's fastest time since Sam Romanoski in 2002.  Sulkin and Herbert from York broke away from the field early, but a chase pack developed, including Dundee Crown's Manfrin, Carmel's Rieger, Palatine's Bernardo, Sandburg's Dahleen, and our very own Gerardo Perez.  Gerardo took the lead of this pack around the mile mark, but failed to break away, and was destined to a sprint to the finish.  In the end, Manfrin used his mile speed to take 3rd, Rieger looked strong to take 4th, and Dahleen passed Gerardo in the last 10 steps to take 5th.  Gerardo's was unbothered by his hamstring until the final 400, and he smartly chose to stride into the chute instead of dropping his trademark kick.

Andrew Morrison placed 18th in 15:04, and despite his pedestrian first mile, ran a solid race to pick up a medal.  He moved up the entire race, passing close to 40 bodies, and even had a kick at the end.  More importantly, he finished ahead of all conference rivals from Lake Forest and Stevenson.  With those two dual meets approaching, the placement at the front pack will be critical.

Paul Geimer continues to key of Morrison, for better or worse.  Paul also was stuck behind a lot of runners early, but fought the entire race, and slid into a 32nd place finish in 15:14, just outside the medals.  This was Paul's best race of the season, and he looks like he is ready for a breakout race very soon.

Francisco Soto continues to race himself into shape after a tough August.  The plan was to have Francisco key off the Palatine Pack, many of the runners he knew after attending Middle School in Palatine.  He stuck to that race plan early, and even made a move on the Palatine pack early in the second mile.  From there, however, it was a painful finish.  Francisco faded horribly in the last mile, to finish 102nd in 16:08.  Francisco has never been afraid to take out a race fast, and that is a reason why he always runs his best races at the end of the year.  I am very proud of the way Francisco challenges himself in races, but as we transition from midseason races to postseason races, we must learn to settle down in the first 800 and save our legs for the last mile.  While he did not run well today, he will give us a powerful 1-4 to match our powerful 1-3 once he gets his legs under him.

Tony Piecuch (130th in 16:39), Jake Paulus (137th in 16:46), and Tom Johnson (143rd in 16:54) completed our varsity scoring.  We continue to search for somebody to step up in the back end of our Varsity lineup, and while none of these three did today, these are some of our most improved runners.  Last year at Palatine, Tony, Jake, and Tom ran 18:11, 17:00, and 18:12 for improvements of 92, 14, and 78 seconds, respectively. 

Our 11th place Varsity finish is the highest we have ever had in the Palatine Invite.

Freshmen - Our strong Freshman team placed 5th behind Palatine, St. Charles North, York, and a strong Libertyville squad.  The story of the race was Pat Juras, who placed second over the 2.5 mile course in 13:13.  Pat was sick earlier in the week, and although he was still feeling symptoms, ran a strong race and almost pull out the victory.  After Pat, we put together a solid 2-7 pack, finishing between 14:20 and 15:15.  Billy Rice finished 29th in 14:20, Jake Guilianelli finished 38th in 14:42, Jon Smith finished 45th in 14:49, David Smith ran his best race of the season to round out the scoring in 51st with a time of 14:57.

Sophomores - We scratched Ryan Moncrieff just before the race due to a sore hip, so we were a little weaker up front.  Victor worked the middle mile to perfection, and looked like he was going to make a move on the leaders, before he cramped up in the last mile.  Victor finished in 18th in 16:08, our 3rd fastest sophomore time at Palatine, behind only Andrew Morrison and Paul Geimer.  Victor continues to make his case as a Varsity athlete, but will need to be tougher in the final 400m if he is be counted on in big meets.

Behind Victor, Shawn Picha finished 38th in 16:42, Andrew Lulis ran the best race of his life to finish 67th in 17:14, Stephen Brown finished 114th in 18:14 and Matt Fajnor rounded out the scoring with a 18:17 115th place finish.

This sophomore group placed 19th as Freshmen last year, and improved to 11th this year as Sophomores.

JV

Our JV team improved from 16th last year to 11th this year, behind a strong race from Greg Bielak and a tight 3-7 pack.

Joe Carabetta was our first finisher in 34th place 16:45, the same time he ran last year.  Greg Bielak ran the best cross country race of his career, finishing as our #2 man in a 70th place 17:15 finish.  Once again, Andrew Gebhardt, Adam Burke, David Weathers, Joe Kim, and Tim Ewan teamed up to run between 17:30 and 17:45, and round out the scoring.  David Weathers ran a great race to step up and be our 5th man.

The "Tough Guy Of The Meet" Award goes to Mike Gabriel.  Mike started having chest pains around the 800m mark, yet proceeded to finish the race two and a half minutes faster than last year, in a respectable 19:55.  Mike's chest pains continued after the race concluded, and he was taken away on a stretcher with an irregular heartbeat.  Thankfully, all tests were negative, and Mike will be OK.  Mike is a high-class, high-character kid and his dedication to his team despite unbelievable adversity is a testament to his mental toughness.  Mike provided a great quote while he was lying on the hospital bed: the doctor was describing the results of the test while Mike was plugged with tubes and chords all over his body, Mike asked "Am I going to lose my CD?"  Priceless.

9/20/08 - Peoria Notre Dame Results

Detweiller Park was much dryer than it was last week at Woodruff, although the remnants of that mudfest still remained.  The course was hard, yet footprints of cross country spikes remained in some sections of the course.  It was around 80 degrees outside, hotter than a runner would prefer, and I think the heat affected some runners more than others.  43 of our 54 athletes made the trip down to Peoria to run on the state meet course and 28 came back with PRs. 

Varsity:  We brought back a 5th place trophy, our highest finish in this meet in the 3 years we have competed.  If you would have told me before the race started that we will take 5th, I would have been thrilled, and I would say it would have taken a great race from every guy.

 In fact, only Gerardo ran a great race.  He had his trademark smile on his face around the 1.5 mile mark.  From there on, Gerardo moved up from 10th to finish 4th in 15:05.  He truly ran the race to perfection.  Palatine's Chano Bernardo took the race out fast in the first 800, and Gerardo tucked in with the lead pack that followed him.  That pack eventually swallowed Bernardo and the race remained close until the last mile.  The top 3: Dahleen from Sandburg, Lesiewicz from Schaumburg, and Downers North's Silver, pulled away from the field, and Gerardo was the first finisher of the second pack.  Only 2 LZ runners have ever run faster at Detweiller than Gerardo's 15:05: Sam Romanoski (who did it 4 times) and LZXC Legend, Sebastian Wschiansky, (who ran 14:48 for 17th in the 1979 state meet).

Andrew Morrison was our 2nd runner, finishing 17th in 15:30.  Andrew stuck to the race plan to pack up with Gerardo early in the race.  He was out with the leaders in 4:53, but slowly faded from there.  Considering his PPM pace of 5:12 and his conversion of 5 sets of SI's at 15:00 pace, I know he can run 15:06-15:12.  We are in the 4th week of SI's, so we will start to see those conversions show up in racing very soon.  A mid-week cold may have had an adverse affect on his race as well, although Zicam probably minimized that threat.  Despite a somewhat disappointing race, Andrew finished with a PR, and is now only 15 seconds behind older brother Steve's PR.

Every athlete ate the Avanti's spaghetti on Friday night... except for Paul Geimer, who was the Prediction Run Winner.  Incidentally, only one athlete was throwing up on Saturday... Paul Geimer.  Never underestimate the power of Avanti's spaghetti!  Paul finished as our 3rd runner, 30th place in 15:44.  Paul hooked up with Andrew and Gerardo early in the race, before he began to fade as well.  I am really proud of the way Paul hung in there and fought the entire race.  Considering his uneasy stomach, Paul still went out in a PR 4:55 first mile (yes, that was a PR), and stuck to the race plan to work the race through the two-mile.  Paul didn't have the strength that he usually has at the end of the race, but his SI workouts show he is ready to run 15:15-15:20.  As we prepare for the Palatine Invite next Saturday and our big dual meets coming up, Paul's toughness will be a tremendous asset for LZXC.

The back end of our varsity really ran a poor tactical race.  In such a large field, it is very easy to get caught up in a pace group, and that is just what happened.  Francisco Soto (16:27), Jordan Pavlovich (16:38), Tony Piecuch (17:12), and Jake Paulus (17:32) were at 70 at the 400, and were already in 120th place.  We went through the mile at 5:15-5:19, which was even slower than our Frosh/Soph Pack.  Despite the huge long straightaways on Detweiller Park, there are still too many turns and too many runners to run your own race if you are caught in the masses.  We must learn to get out faster or else we will continually be stuck running behind runners that we can beat.  We must also learn to run as a pack.  This foursome is not very intimidating as individuals, but as a pack we can be a Rock.  The ability to run as a pack is still what separates us from the best teams.  There is no doubt that this groups is capable of running 15:xx, but we are not going to do it on our own, and we are not going to do it with a conservative race plan.  Despite our poor performance, we ran well enough to beat some very good teams, and earn a 5th place trophy at a large, prestigious invitational. 

Next Saturday's Palatine Invitational presents another opportunity: an opportunity to practice a faster start, an opportunity to race with some of the best teams in the state, and an opportunity to practice our pack mentality in a big meet.  If we run undisciplined, we will look like a very small fish.  However, if we run with the discipline and culture that we have developed in the past 3 months/ 6 months/ 4 years, we can take that step towards becoming an elite team.

Frosh/Soph - Our Frosh/Soph pack did a better job of sticking to the race plan than the Varsity.  As a result, many of them ran times that outperformed their varsity counterparts.  Our front 4 of Victor Delatorre (16:33), Ryan Moncreiff (16:39), Pat Juras (16:48), and Shawn Picha (17:10) were able to hold pack through the 1 mile at 5:13-5:16.  It was a race shock for all 4 runners, who held on fairly well despite the fast start.  While we still need to improve our pack, I was really proud of the way this group went out and competed.  The have a bright future, and showed that they are not scared to try and win a race.  Furthermore, this group set themselves up to run a great race at the Palatine Invite, and will tolerate its fast start after this experience.

Freshman Billy Rice was our 5th man, and, like the front 4, ran a fiery, competitive race.  Billy split the 1-mile in a PR 5:29, and held on for a 17:45, despite running on only 5 hours sleep.  Billy was the key to our strong 6th place team finish, just outside of the trophies.

Last year, our Frosh/Soph team placed 4th, many of whom made a strong transition to Varsity competition this year.  This year's sophomores looked much improved and our Freshmen have that important winner's mentality.  I was proud of the entire Frosh/Soph team, and 14 of 15 set a new PR, including many who broke 19 minutes for the first time. 

JV - The JV race looked like a Palatine/Lyons Township Dual meet.  While our guys weren't at the front, they ran competitively and ran hard.  The squad was led by senior captain Tom Johnson, whose 17:21 was good for 30th.  Junior Joe Carabetta's 17:34 was good for 45th. Joe is still racing himself into shape, and has yet to find the form that earned him varsity minutes last year.  Andrew Gebhardt, Adam Burke, Joe Kim, and Greg Bielak packed up nicely to break 18:00 for the first time.  Other PR's included David Weather's running 18:29, Tim Ewan's 18:43, Mike Gabriel's 18:47, John Patitsas's 19:21, Erick Valencia's 25:49, and Chris Quintavalli's 28:51.

The complete Peoria Notre Dame Results can be found here.  Race splits can be found here.  Updated 2008 Photo Gallery can be found here.

9/15/08 - Libertyville Dual Results

We soundly defeated Libertyville 17-45, with a 1-2-3-5-6-7-9-10-11-12 finish at a surprisingly dry Lakewood course.  Our race plan was to use this race as a tune-up for Peoria, so we tried to hammer the first 2 miles and hold on at the end.  Some runners attacked this workout to perfection, hitting the 2 mile at PR times.  Others ran a more conservative race, and though they looked better in the end, did less to prepare themselves for faster races later in the season.  We must continue to try to challenge our body to do things things it hasn't done if we want it to do the things we want it to do.

Gerardo ran a great race, hitting splits of 5:05 and 10:15 en route to his 16:03 final time.  He dominated Andrew and Paul from the gun, and held on pretty well in the last mile despite the quick start. His 16:03 placed him 2nd on the All Time LZ List at Lakewood (behind only Sam Romanoski) and 18th overall on the Lakewood course. 

Andrew and Paul did not fare as well with the race pace.  Andrew looked sluggish the entire race, and could be a result of his battle with a cold, and Paul simply seems afraid to pass Andrew.  Andrew, Paul, and Gerardo have yet to team up to run a great race together, but when they do, they make a formidable 1-2-3 punch.

The back end of our pack welcomed Cisco back to the lineup, and it was clear that he is the key to our success as a team.  He is the one guy who is not afraid to go out with the leaders, and is our chance to bridge the gap between our 1-2-3 and our 4-5-6-7.  Cisco ran the workout to perfection, hitting the 1m in 5:15, but unsurprisingly faltered in the last mile to a still respectable 5th place finish.  Due to his quad strain at the end of summer, Cisco is the only varsity runner who has yet to begin intervals, so he still has a lot of growth yet to come this season.

Although Tony P. and Jordan beat Cisco, they failed to follow the race plan and did less to prepare themselves for the state series.  We must remember that we run for October, not September, and that fear is the only thing that can hold us back.  Jordan and Tony ran very conservatively, hitting the first mile in 5:25-5:30, and nearly even split the 3.05m course.  Nevertheless, it was good to see the two of them rounding into form after a frustrating summer, and once Jake is back in the lineup (out due to illness), we will have a solid back end pack that will only get better as our health and fitness get back to par.

We are very excited about our Frosh/Soph unit, especially our top 4, who all finished within 5 seconds of each other.  Three newcomers to the team have been a Godsend: Sophomore track transplant Victor Delatorre,  Sophomore Ryan Moncreiff (who I am proud to say I recruited from the Baseball team's 1/2 mile timetrial), and Freshman standout Pat Juras, who may break all our Freshman records before the season is done.  These three give last season's Freshman standout Shawn Picha some friendly competition at the helm, and a powerful front pack for the upcoming Invitationals.  These four all finished near 17:30 on a slow Lakewood course, and advanced them far up our All-Time Lists.  Pat's 17:32 placed him 3rd on the All-Time Freshman List, behind only Mike Greenwood and Mike Glow, who were both standout Varsity runners as Freshmen.

We are still waiting for a 5th Frosh/Soph to break out and join our top 4, although none made the leap against Libertyville.  Some possible candidates to surprise at Peoria include Sophomore Andrew Lulis, who was the 13th LZ finisher (18th overall) in 18:24.  Andrew is a standout swimmer, so has the powerful cardiovascular system to be a great runner, and could learn to transfer that endurance to the cross country course.  Our strong Freshmen squad could produce a surprise performance or two in the upcoming weeks, either from Billy Rice, Jake Guilianelli, Brent Skupien, David Smith, Kyle McNair, or Jon Smith.  While they still might be a year's maturity away from becoming serious high school athletes, they have a winner's mentality, are very passionate, and work hard.

I was proud of Sophomores Stephen Brown (19:03) and Colin Steiger (20:42), who have impressed with their work ethic this season.  Their PPMs have continually improved in practice, and they have become more than just another face in a crowded race.  In their second season, they have found the competitive spirit that we hope continues to grow as they grow as athletes.

With our 2 most competitive invites just around the corner, we look forward to seeing how the much improved LZXC compares to some of the top programs in the state.

9/10/08 - 2008 LZXC Photo Gallery Updated

9/8/08  UW Rebel Invite Results

It felt good to finally get a race in after months of consistent training.  We had a number of guys sitting out for various reasons, including a couple key varsity contributors.  Nevertheless, the squads who toed the line really competed well, and represented the Blue and White in a positive way.

Freshmen Race:  This Freshmen group is truly something special; they work intelligently hard, are competitive, fun, talented.  They continue to set the standard for all future Freshmen squads.  We knew the Freshmen were good, but we didn't know how they would fare in the heat of the battle.  Well, they did not disappoint.  The Freshmen won the meet with 46 points over a strong Libertyville team, who ended with 53 points.  Our Freshmen finished 1,8,9,11,19,21,25,26,36,53 in a field of 123.  Most impressive was all Freshmen finished in the top half of the race, and 8 of 10 finished in the top fifth.  While we will certainly be competing against the talented Libertyville team for the next 4 years, this group is off to a great start.  Pat Juras highlighted the 4K race with his dominating victory in 14:17. 

Varsity Race:  I never imagined running 3 sophomores in the Varsity race with the amount of upper-class depth we have, (two of which who had never run a cross country race before), but under the circumstances, we were scrambling to field a competitive varsity team.  Those three sophomores, Victor Delatorre (41st, 18:07), Ryan Moncreiff (43rd, 18:11), and Shawn Picha (50th, 18:26) earned their spot in the Varsity lineup, and until they are beaten, it is still their position to hold.  Jordan Pavlovich and Francisco Soto were held out of the meet, which may have cost us a team title, but was necessary if we are to get to where we want to be in the future.  Both Jordan and Francisco are progressing as expected after a disappointing summer, and will both play a critical role in our team's success.

Jake Paulus is much improved with a year of solid training, and showed he will be competitive in the NSC all season long.  Jake's 30th place finish (17:43) put him 3 seconds outside of the medal stand.

Andrew (16:40), Gerardo (17:00), and Paul (17:00) led the way with solid 3rd, 7th, and 8th place finishes.  I thought that they would have run faster than they did, but they appeared tired from Friday's high SI's.  Warren's Karsen Green looked dominant after winning by 11 seconds over Shorewood's state champion Ben Tyler, and it will take better performances if our Big 3 are to be competitive with runners like him.

While we ran hard, and scored better than we ever had, our 87 second 1-5 split is still 3 times too large if we are to be competitive statewide.

JV Race:  Our JV squad showed some of the biggest improvement over last year, as many of these runners have incorporated dedication and consistency into their training. 

Tony Piecuch looked good for the first time all season after winning the JV race easily in 18:05.  Tony has come a long way in 12 months; he finished with a  21:05 last year, in the middle of the pack, and now will be a stable force in the Varsity lineup.

Tim Ewan (19:43), John Patitsas, (20:22) and Mike Gabriel (20:23) backed up their High Harrier summers with huge improvements as well, and Mike even earned the ROCK with his team best 5-minute improvement from last year.

Full results can be found here.

9/1/08  RACING SEASON APPROACHES

We continue to stay consistent and dedicated as the racing season approaches.  Gerardo Perez, Andrew Morrison, and Paul Geimer have set themselves up for breakout seasons, and are already a week into Slow Intervals.  Behind them, the remainder of our Varsity is still up for grabs.  The recent health of Juniors Francisco Soto, Jordan Pavlovich, and Tony Piecuch  has opened doors for standout Sophomores Shawn Picha, Victor Delatorre, and Ryan Moncreiff to stake a claim as a part of the Varsity lineup.  The fitness of Shawn, Victor, and Ryan has been one of the most pleasant surprises this season.  Another bright spot has been Junior Mike Gabriel, who put in High Harrier miles this summer, and has propelled himself past many of his teammates in the process.  Mike will be a contributing member to our improved Junior Varsity team this year.

Our Freshman class continues to impress as well, especially Pat Juras, who has set many Freshmen LZXC records in the process.  The Freshmen certainly have the potential to be great, now only weeks, months, and years of training stand between them and greatness.

We run Mile Repeats the week before the first meet, and 9 athletes made the All-Time List.  Even without some key Varsity runners, we are far ahead of where we were last year or even by season's end in 2006.  Here is an analysis:

The full workout can be found here.

I recently received the yearbooks from LZXC Legend Sam Romanoski, which includes data, articles, and statistics from his tenure at LZ, 1999-2003.  I have added this new data to the track records, which now date back to 2000.  While this added data makes it more difficult for current LZ athletes to enter the record board, it gives us a chance to recognize the great track athletes that Lake Zurich offered in the early part of the decade.  Check out the new and improved Track All-Time Lists.

HEAVEN WEEK 2008 RESULTS

Heaven Week 2008 Results are compiled.  Here are the highlights:

- The 2008 LZXC Team will be the biggest ever, with over 50 athletes.

-  Monday AM Timed Mile: we had 4 of the fastest times ever on the Monday morning timed mile.  Also, for the first time, every athlete broke the 8 minute barrier.

- Monday PM Timed Mile: The final 4 of the Pushup contest consisted of freshmen Kyle McNair, Sophomore Ryan Moncreiff, Junior Scott Harbeck, and Senior Adam Burke.  Adam Burke quivered his way to completing 24 rounds of pushups, 300 total pushups, to take the title.

-  Tuesday's Prediction Run was won by Sophomore Matt Fajnor who hit his 3mile prediction to the second.  Gerardo Perez was off by only 1 second over his 9 miles.  9 different athletes were within 5 second of their prediction.

-  Wednesday's Short PPM showed a lot of PRs and a lot of new members of the All-Time Lists.  Gerardo Perez (21:50), Andrew Morrison (20:59), and Paul Geimer (21:56) showed they have their ducks in a row and are ready for slow intervals.  Victor Delatorre jumped to 11th on the All-Time Varsity List with his 24:16.  Freshmen Pat Juras has continued to impress by taking the #1 spot on the All-Time Freshmen List, with his 24:32.  Sophomore Ryan Moncreiff could be a star in the making, as he slides into the Top 10 on the All-Time Sophomore List, with his 25:09.  Four other Freshmen, Brent Skupien (25:36), Billy Rice (27:44), Kyle McNair (28:20), and Jon Smith (28:40) showed off the strength of this Freshmen Class by vaulting into the Top 10 Freshmen of all time.   Full PPM Records have been updated.

-  The Wednesday PM Scavenger Hunt was exciting, with 2 of 4 teams successfully completing their tasks.  Highlights included a pair of Haikus, one grammatically correct and the other apparently written by a Mathlete.

- Thursday's Guess Your Time Run was won by Mitch Dworski, with Jordan Pavlovich not far behind.  8 athletes were within 5 seconds of their guess.

- Friday's Middle School Challenge: For the first time in 3 years' Middle School North took down the Middle School Challenge Cup, and the Chocolate Milk.  The North squad was led by veterans Paul Geimer, Gerardo Perez, Tom Johnson, but it was the key additions of Ryan Moncreiff, Victor Delatorre, Pat Juras, and Brent Skupien, that made the difference.  The final score was a blowout 108-212 victory for North.

-Saturday Car Wash: This year the weather was much more cooperative for us than last year.  We washed over 100 cars (although nobody counted), and raised a lot of coin for the program.  This year we will be having almost 50 boys attending the Peoria trip.

-Heaven Week 2008 was won by Senior Gerardo Perez, followed by fellow High Harriers Paul Geimer and Andrew Morrison.  This year's top Freshman was Pat Juras, with a solid 8th place finish.  This year's Top Sophomore was a battle down to the last day.  Victor Delatorre edged Ryan Moncreiff by a half a point to take the Top Sophomore Honor.  Congrats to our winners and don't forget that winning Heaven Week is "a really big deal!"

-I am proud to present the 2008 Captain's, as voted for by the team nearly unanimously:  Seniors Tom Johnson and Gerardo Perez.  (Isn't cute that our Captain's names are Tom and Jerry...).  Tom and Jerry are the 2 remaining members of the 2006 Conference and Regional Championship teams, and have been chosen to take us back to that level of success.  Tom and Jerry are two of our most dedicated runners, our best teammates, and our biggest fans.  I am so proud to place these two athletes as the face of the program.

And They're Off!

LZXC '08 is off and running.   Important upcoming dates include:

8/18 Parent Night, 7PM

8/20 Pictures, 4PM

8/23 LZXC Carwash, 9AM-12PM

Generally, we will practice twice daily before school starts, at 7AM and 5PM.  Once school begins, we will practice at 3:30.

Kettle Moraine Camping Trip Highlights

Twenty-three athletes, three parent chaperones, and two coaches attended the very first Kettle Moraine Camping Trip.  The trip was a huge success, filled with exciting runs, competitions, meals, and logbook sessions.  All athletes are strongly encouraged to attend future Kettle Moraine Camping Trips.  Some highlights:

-Andrew Morrison winning the Green Loop, Ottawa Lake Run, and Beast.

-Spartan showers.

-Pat Juras winning the Freshman Observation Loop.

-Victor Delatorre and Scott Harbeck teaming up to win the Flashlight Relay.

-The Brew.

-Jake Paulus shaving his leg. (not plural)

-Mr. Yerger winning the Adult Beast.

-Lucas Veitch winning the Middle School Beast.

-Andrew Gebhardt winning the Hot Dog Eating Contest (6).

-The Bunny Game and Viking Game.

-The creation of the ice bath from the natural spring on Ottawa Lake Beach.

-Shawn Picha winning the Sophomore Ottawa Lake Run and the Paper Bag Contest.

Full Results of the Kettle Moraine Camping Trip are found on the Archives Page.

Fall Sports Registration Has Begun!

Fall Sports registration has begun in the HS Athletic Office.  Any juniors or seniors who have not turned in all paperwork and physicals before 8/13 will be managers for the opening meet at UW Parkside.

LZXC First Practice will be at 7AM on 8/13, in the Athletic Wing.