LAKE ZURICH CROSS COUNTRY

11/7/09 - LZXC Places 16th at IHSA State Meet

We placed 16th at the IHSA State Meet with a score of 394 points, 2 points out of 14th and 44 points out of 10th.  It was a successful season: we qualified for the state meet for the second year in a row, won our second conference championship and 3rd in 4 years, went undefeated in dual meet competition for the second year in a row, won a Regional title for the second time in 4 years, won the UW Parkside Rebel Invite and Wheeling Invite for the first time in team history.  Moreover, most of this damage was done without our #1 runner sitting on the sidelines.  It was truly our depth that carried us all season long , and we had different runners step up at different times all season.

At state, it was Victor Delatorre's turn to step up.  Victor ran as our #3 man for the first time this season, finishing in 15:48 and 100th place overall.  Victor has the potential to be the dominant #1 as we look forward to LZXC 2010.   Our full team finishers were:

As a team, we simply went for it.  I am proud of the way we stuck our noses into the race and competed.  I think that the unseasonable heat affected us a little, as it did for many athletes.  Our times were not what we had hoped, but the magic of Detweiller Park was evident and the atmosphere was unparalleled.  Our 16th place finish was higher than many expected from us, and we edged out our sectional rivals Schaumburg and Fremd. 

This race marks the end of some great careers as a part of LZXC.  This senior class contributed to 11 All-conference selections over the last 4 years. (Morrison, Geimer, and Soto with 3, Pavlovich with 2)  This class holds a special place in my heart because this was the first group of freshmen I coached when I stepped in in 2006.  Without question, this group has been instrumental in the progress that this program has made.   It is a group that will be missed and cannot be replaced.  I thank them for 4 great years.  They truly deserve all the accolades that come to them.

So where do we go from here?  As successful as our season was, we have greater goals than placing 16th in the state meet.  The 2010 state meet is only 364 days away.  While we are one of a few teams that have 5 athletes returning with state meet experience, this season proved that it takes more than 5 athletes.  It takes an entire team, and all of our Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors are integral in continuing the tradition that our seniors have created.  As we look forward to the Polar Bear season, know that we must simply work harder.  We must remember about hard work, over time...

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10/31/09 - LZXC Qualifies for State Meet

It was quite a day at Schaumburg's Busse Woods.  The course was in horrible shape after the 2nd rainiest October in history, and the cold wind made it quite unpleasant for the specatators.  As always, the racing was exciting and the qualifiers came down to a matter of seconds.

In possibly the closest team finish in meet history, only 2 points separated the 4th-7th place teams.  The race truly could have gone either way, and a single place in either direction could have swung the outcome of the race completely.  We were fortunate enough to finish on the qualifying end of the stick.  We finished in a tie for 5th with a Schaumburg team that always steps up their game for the sectional race.  Although our 6th finisher, Alex Brend, beat Schaumburg's 6th finisher, a tie remains as a tie in the state series, and both us and Schaumburg earned the right to advance.  Here are final scores of the top 7 team:

The MSL once again showed their dominance over the nearby conferences, claiming 4 of the 6 team qualifiers and 4 of the 7 individual qualifiers.  Palatine showed that they are still the class of the Northwest suburbs, winning easily over Prospect.  Cary Grove looked great, and Phil Fairleigh looked like a potential top 3 individual finisher at Detweiller.  Fremd also ran great to take 4th.

My heart goes out to the Barrington program, their athletes, and coaches.  They have a bright future and could possibly be the favorites in this meet next year.  This experience can only make them hungrier, which is a dangerous combination for such a talented group of young runners.

For us Bears, the race certainly did not unfold as we expected.  We counted on a low number from Andrew based on the way he has been racing lately.  When I saw him in 40th place, I was shocked.  I learned after the race that Andrew fell early in the opening 800, and my heart immediately went out to him.  I can speak from personal experience that it is so hard to get up and re-find your rhythm after a fall (I got tripped and spiked in my Junior-year sectional on the same Busse Woods course).   Falling in a race probably affects you more mentally than it does physically, and while I know that he is disappointed in himself, he did find the strength to finish 37th.  That 37th place finish was just enough on this day (I won't say how my junior sectional race ended, but it was far worse than 37th).  Nevertheless, we were without the frontrunner that we so desperately needed.  We had no finishers in the top 25, and I was certain that was a ticket to the viewing gallery at the state meet.  I would have never guessed we could qualify without a top-25 finisher.

Somehow we found a way.  According to my prerace calculations, we needed the following team scores to qualify through: Andrew in the top 10; Paul, Jon, and Ryan under 37; and Alex, Victor, or Jordan under 50.  Our final team scores were Paul at 22, Andrew at 33, Jon at 35, Ryan at 37, and Victor 47.  Also of note was Alex at 48, which played out as the wild card we needed.  While Andrew was down, the rest of the squad did their jobs.

First I must talk about Paul Geimer.  Paul was absolutely terrific for us, finishing in 26th overall and as our #1 man.  Paul showed all the grit and toughness that has earned him the respect as our team captain.  Moreover, Paul passed 4 runners in the final 50m (all who finished within a second of each other), which made a huge difference in the team scores.  I wore my 2007 LZXC team t-shirt (the stork and frog) to the race, and this shirt was symbolic of the way Paul competed.  Paul was definitely the frog for us today.  What a sectional performance by a senior leader, and not too shabby for a National Merit Semifinalist either...

I can't say enough about the toughness of our Sophomore Jon Smith.  Jon finished 39th overall, and more importantly, handled the pressure of his first sectional race.  Ryan Moncrieff finished close behind in 41st overall, also in his first sectional.  The stretch of individuals between 36-42 was certainly a critical stretch considering the teams involved in seeking the last qualifying position.  In this critical stretch, the places went:

It is frightening to think how the results might have turned out if any of those places flipped.

Victor and Alex finished 53rd and 54th as our 5th and 6th men.  Both Victor and Alex finished ahead of every team's 5th except Palatine and Prospect, which turned out to give us the single pusher point we needed to slide into 5th.  Jordan Pavlovich ran as our 7th man, finishing 108th overall.  Considering the way the season has gone for us, it is only fitting that we would rely on our pushers to qualify.  I am so proud to be a part of a team that has had so many different guys step up at different times.   We have stepped up all season when others went down, and our depth has transformed from our weakness to our greatest strength.

Our 1-5 split was a season best 20 seconds, although that statistic is a bit misleading under the circumstances.  We will take that same pack philosophy to historic Detweiller Park next Saturday.

The one guy that has been absent from our lineup over the past 5 weeks is Francisco Soto.  After nurturing what we thought was a strained hamstring for the past 4 weeks, we finally got his injury properly diagnosed as a stress fracture on the back-outer part of his knee.  It is a rare location for such an injury and the exact cause is still unknown.  It has been very difficult to watch the senior take a backseat while his teammates battle without him, and knowing how hard he had worked for this season adds to the grief.  While Francisco will not be competing in Peoria, he remains an integral part in the growth of the LZXC program.

I also want to congratulate our Paavo friends at Columbus North High School, IN for sweeping both the boys and girls races at the Indiana State Cross Country Championships.  It was evident that there was something special about this team last summer, and it will be interesting to see how they stack up against Illinois' best in the post-season competitions. _________________________________________________________

10/24/09 - LZXC Wins Regional Title

We won the Liberyville Regional with 29 points, besting 2nd place Libertyville's 86.  This was the 3rd consecutive varsity meet we have won, while Andrew Morrison won his 2nd individual title in a row. All of our top 7 runners finished in the top 13 with a 45 second 1-7 split.  Jon Smith continues to run with more confidence as he earned a medal with his 4th place effort.  Ryan Moncrieff and Paul Geimer finished in 6th and 7th, and it was Alex Brend finishing as our 5th man in 11th.  Victor Delatorre and Jordan Pavlovich was close behind in 12th and 13th.

Our momentum continues and our confidence builds as we head towards a competitive sectional race next Saturday at Busse Woods.  _________________________________________________________

10/20/09 - LZXC Freshmen Nab 1st, Sophomores 2nd at Highland Park Frosh/Soph Invite

We are grateful for the opportunity to give our frosh/soph one extra race of the season after conference, and they have come to look forward to the 2.1m race at Highland Park's Sunset Park course.  This year the course was downright sloppy in some places, but the youngsters competed and ran well nonetheless.

Freshmen

Our Freshmen won their second meet in a row, winning with a score of 28 points.  We defeated a solid team from Buffalo, who placed 2nd with 39 points.  Jon Ramirez and Trevor Kuehr went 1-2 for the second race in a row, with times of 11:24 and 11:38 for the 2.1m course.  It is interesting to note that Jon's time was 2 seconds faster than Jon Smith's time last year in his 2nd place finish.  Jared Ripoli finished 5th (11:45), Bobby Klett finished 8th (12:05), Oliver Shim finished 12th (12:29), David Berton finished 25th (14:37), and Alex Galloway finished 33rd (17:01) to round out the scoring for the Frosh.

Sophomores

Our Sophomores were hit hard with the Tuesday morning flu bug, and when we boarded the bus, I was informed during roll call that  Brent Skupien, Jake Guilianelli, Evan Yerger, and David Smith were all missing-in-action.  Continuing with the theme for the year, when one man is down, all others must step up to fill the void.  We were down to only 6 sophomores racing out of our usual 12, so this gave some of our lesser-known sophs an opportunity to step up into a scoring role.  Step up, they did, and names like Nick Slotten, Erick Montoya, and Brendon Lin embraced the challenge, running remarkable races.  Lake Forest won the meet with 44 points, but it was a great effort by our sophs to nab 2nd with 64 points.   

Nick and Brendon both set 2m PRs in the race, and Nick's 15th place finish was his highest finish in a high school cross country race.  I am particularly proud of the intensity with which Nick competed, pushing the lead pack through the mile even though he might not have the training yet to back it up.  I look forward to his performances after he has a couple thousand miles under his belt. 

The other great story of the sophomore race was the individual title taken by Pat Juras.  Pat outkicked a good-looking runner from LF, Nandem Mukesh (I stand corrected), to a first place time of 11:09.  Pat's time bested both Victor Delatorre's and Ryan Moncrieff's time from a year ago, and is a reminder than he should not be forgotten in years to come.  Although this season did not go as anybody expected, Pat still has that passion and desire to excel than made him the successful young man he is.

Kyle McNair placed 8th as our #2, while Isaac Honegger faded to 20th to finish as our #4 after leading the first 400 meters.  May we always remember that races are never won in the first 400m, but they are often lost there.  Nevertheless, Isaac was still one of the most improved runners on the team, improving over 4 minutes from his PR from last season.  I must give him credit ffor his improvements by attacking his training with appropriate year-round dedication.

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10/17/09 - LZXC Sweeps NSC Championships

Our focus is the conference meet every year, and every year it seems the boys run their best races at the right time.  Maybe it has something to do with Coach May's legendary Conference Speeches.  Maybe it has to do with the Team Game-Day before the meet.  Maybe it has to do with the hard work they put into their training (probably least likely...)  Whatever the factor, I am proud to say I am a part of a group of young men that truly relish in the quote "Honor your greatest opponents with your greatest performance."  As a team, we did just that.

For the first time in team history, we swept all 3 races at the North Suburban Conference Meet.  The Varsity won with 39 points to Lake Forest's 79.  The JV won a tight one with 33 points to Lake Forest's 42 (unofficially).  The Freshmen won with a team low 21 points to Warren's 65.   It is the second year in a row and 3rd time in 4 years we have won at the Varsity level.  We won the JV Conference for the 2nd year in a row, and we won the Freshman Conference for the first time ever!  It was an all-around great team effort and our depth proved to be the deciding factor in each of the races.  The course was sloppy but we ran great as a team, scoring 22 personal bests.

Varsity

We knew going into the Varsity race that Francisco would once again sit out, and we were unsure whether Paul's fight with the flu would allow him to go.  We also knew that our Stevenson and Lake Forest were hungry and capable, so it was clearly not a race we could ride the coattails of our senior frontrunners as we had earlier in the season.  If we were to win, it would have to be because of our pack.

Paul mustered the strength to run Saturday morning, but we knew he wouldn't be at full strength, so the plan was to get out quick as a team, let Andrew do what he does up front, and have everybody else pack up and methodically move up in the field in the second half of the race. 

Before I talk about the pack, I have to talk about Andrew Morrison's race.   Henry Mynatt led the majority of the race, and early on, it looked as if he were going to run away with the title.  He had a 20m lead on the field at the mile, but Andrew hung tough and slowly gained ground on Mynatt.  Andrew passed Mynatt on the hill by the tennis courts with 800m to go.  At that point, Andrew looked as strong as he has ever looked, and closed to a PR 15:10, 1 second off the course record.  It was Andrew's best performance of his career, and you could see the weight lifted off his shoulders as all his hard work is coming to fruition.  I think both Andrew and Henry are all-state caliber athletes, and it will be enjoyable to watch these two competitors battle for that mark in upcoming weeks.

Our pack did its job behind Andrew, packing around 15th place through the mile.  Ryan Moncrieff and Jon Smith ran outstanding second halves to take 6th and 7th in PR's 15:33 and 15:36.  Paul Geimer ran well to take 12th in 15:51 considering the circumstances, and Victor Delatorre closed behind him in  a PR 15:52.   Alex Brend finished 18th in 15:59 and Jordan Pavlovich finished 24th in 16:06.  All 7 athletes earned All-conference honors, and it was the 3rd All-conference medal for Morrison and Geimer, and the 2nd for Pavlovich. 

JV

At the JV level, we got a run for our money from Lake Forest.  Shawn Picha won his 2nd race in a row in a PR 16:14.  Behind him, Pat Juras and Andrew Lulis finished in 4th and 5th.  Lake Forest was ahead when they put their 4th into the shoot in 10th, but the strength of our pack once again came through for us as we placed 6 of the next 9 positions to claim the 9 point victory.  Special congrats have to go to Isaac Honegger (11th, 16:50), Kyle McNair (12th 16:51), Elliot Sepos (14th, 16:52), and David Smith (15th, 16:54) for breaking 17 for the first times in their lives. 

I have to mention Elliot Sepos's effort.  Elliot ran in his final race of his life, decided to lace up the spikes for the first time, and ran an 85 second PR!  It was a great effort by a senior who represented the blue and white admirably with his competitive spirit and desire to excel.  Thanks to Elliot for 3 great years.

Also of mention in the JV race was the effort by senior Scott Harbeck.  Scott ran the final 2 miles after losing a shoe, including traversing the gravel of the Des Plaines River Trail, and still finished a respectable 31st place in 17:17.  It is only fitting that Scott have shoe troubles in his final conference meet.  In his first conference meet when he was a freshman, Scott could not tie his shoes because they were knotted up, so we had to tape his shoes on.   (In that meet, Scott ran a huge 2-minute PR of 20:40- How far has he come!)  Thanks to Scott for 4 great years.

Also of note was Senior Mike Gabriel.  Mike ran a the best race of his life, finishing 52nd in 17:52 and breaking that elusive 18 minute barrier.  Mike had some chest complications in the Stevenson/Libertyville dual which took him to the emergency room and held him out of the Wheeling Invite.  He showed a lot of guts to race hard despite just recently experiencing such a scary complication. Thanks to Mike for 3 great years.

It was the final race for a couple other senior Bears:   Captain Tony Piecuch, Joe Carabetta, David Weathers, Tom Hornacek, Casey Karmell, and Greg Bielak.  These seniors have been a part of 3 conference championship teams, and have played a large role in the creation of a championship program. Thanks to all our seniors!

Freshmen

Our Freshmen were without Alex Milner, and so, as was this year's theme, when one man goes down, all others must step up to fill the void.  They did just that, with each of the top 6 running personal bests.  We won the race with a score of 22 points, beating out 2nd-place Warren who had 65.  Although we finished 1,2,3,7, and 12, these scores are a bit misleading because there are 4 elite freshmen in the conference who each ran up on Varsity (Prais from Lakes, Korhumel from Libertyville, Martinez from Warren, and Russell from Stevenson).  Nevertheless, we are excited about the future with this group.  As I have said all year, we have never had a class of freshmen that are as well-trained and hard-working as this one.  They deserve all the credit for their accomplishments: Extra effort is truly the key to success.

Jon Ramirez won the race in 16:59, his first win ever.  Trevor Kuehr followed closely behind him in 17:05, and Jared Ripoli completed the trifecta with a 3rd place 17:19.  Bobby Klett ran tough for 7th in 17:30, and Oliver Shim broke 18 for the first time, running 17:59.  David Berton also PRed in 19:33,  good for 28th.  Alex Galloway ran well with a near PR of 24:51.

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10/10/09 - LZXC Varsity/JV Win at Wheeling, Frosh/Soph Take 2nd

Our Varsity won the 20-team Wheeling Wildcat Invite for the first time in team history.  We defeated last year's champions and current AA state favorites, Belvidere North, by a score of 71 - 94.  All season long we have had guys step up when other have been down.  With Francisco Soto not competing due to a irritated hamstring, we needed all our guys to step up and run well in his absence.  We got that, as we have all season.  I am proud of the way these young men have handled adversity this season, and we are gaining momentum at the right time. 

We ran a controlled race, and produced our best 1-5 split of the season, of only 28 seconds.  Andrew led the way for us, running a near even-paced 15:30, good for 4th place.  He is looking stronger each week, and his best races are still yet to come.  Paul finished 10th in 15:43 as our 2nd man.  Ryan Moncrieff continued his consistent progress, finishing 14th in 15:49.  Alex Brend ran the best race of his short cross country career, finishing 19th in 15:55.  Victor Delatorre is improving every week, and will surprise people by season's end.  His 24th place 15:58 was his first time under 16:00.  Jordan Pavlovich (16:23) and Jon Smith (16:24) rounded out our top 7.

Our Frosh/Soph group finished 2nd with 80 points, behind a talented crew from Rolling Meadows.  Our 1-5 FS split was a team best 14 seconds.  Sophomores David Smith and Isaac Honegger led the way with 12th and 14th place finishes in 14:09 and 14:11 over the 2.5m course.  Freshmen Trevor Kuehr and Jonathon Ramirez finished 16th and 17th in 14:15 and 14:16, and Sophomore Kyle McNair rounded out the top 5 in 21st in 14:23.  The friendly competition among this group is fueling their progress.  I look forward to next week's conference meet at Warren as these young men seek their first experience under 17 minutes.

Our JV team won the unscored open race for the first time in team history as well.  Our unofficial 38 points bested conference foe Libertyville's score of 65 and Hersey's score of 73.  Shawn Picha looked terrific in winning his first ever cross country race.  He Pr'ed in 16:24.  Andrew Lulis also ran great to nab 2nd in 16:38.  Joe Carabetta ran a complete race, finishing 6th in 16:50.  Greg Bielak continues to approach the 17 minute barrier, finishing 11th in 17:02.  Scotty Harbeck rounded out the scoring 5 with an 18th place 17:13.  This whole unit ran a great race, systematically moving up through the field, maintaining a strong tempo.  With all the other great performances of the day, I think it was Sophomore Nick Slotten's effort that was most impressive.  Nick ran a 45 second PR of 18:02, and shows that he should not be forgotten in our strong sophomore class.  Also of note was Junior Mike Filenko's PR effort of 18:20.  Sub 18 is in his near future!

Here are our lifetime PRs for the day:

Although we have only competed at Wheeling 3 times in program history, I have compiled LZXC All-time Wheeling Records, which can be found in the Records Section.

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10/10/09 - LZXC Goes Undefeated in Conference Duals for 2nd Consecutive Year

Since my last post, we won the North Suburban Conference DIvision Title by going undefeated in Conference Duals for the 2nd consecutive year. 

On 9/29 we defeated Zion Benton on their home course with a score of 19-44.  Jordan Pavlovich won his first ever high school cross country race to lead the charge.  Noel Gonzalez of the ZeeBees followed Jordan, but we claimed the next 7 positions in the race to solidify the victory.

On 10/5, we defended our home course at Lakewood Forest Preserve by defeating Libertyville 19-40 and Stevenson 21-36.  Andrew Morrison and Paul Geimer led the way for the Bears, finishing 1-2.  This was surprisingly Andrew's first ever cross country victory.  Both Andrew and Paul broke 16 on the challenging Lakewood course, with times that competitively place them among the All-time Lakewood records.  In all, we set 31 Lakewood PRs.  The Lakewood Records have been updated.

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9/27/09 - LZXC Placed 9th at Palatine Invitational

The Palatine Invitational is not only one of the most competitive invitationals in the state, it has to be one of the most competitive invitationals in the country.  It attracted 11 teams ranked in the Dyestat Illinois rankings, and 4 or 5 other teams who could potentially be state qualifiers.   Each race is incredibly fast we always walk away with a lot of PRs.  The Varsity Race was highlighted by York High School's Invitational debut, and this year Loyola High School looked like a national finalist in their upset of the Dukes in impressive form.

The meet lived up to the hype from the very first finishers of the first race.  Alex Mimlitz of York and Libertyville's Freshman sensation Nick Korhumel dazzled the crowd with their dead sprint from 300m out as flew to impressive 12:4x times for the 2.5m course.  This is now the second race I have seen Korhumel run, and his toughness and competitiveness was evident in both.  I can foresee 4 years of great races watching this kid develop.

This year, we placed 9th at the Varsity level, 8th at the Sophomore an JV levels, and 4th at the Freshman level.  Each place was the highest in our program's history at each level.  Check out the improvements we have made as a program in the past 3 years:

Our Freshmen really ran well to get 4th place.  Led by medalists Trevor Kuehr and Jon Ramirez, this group executed the race plan perfectly.  The top 4 of Kuehr (13:42), Ramirez (13:51), Jared Ripoli (14:19), and Alex Milner (14:22) ran times that placed them in the top 5 times we've ever had in the Freshman race at Palatine.  Our 5th man, Bobby Klett, was not far behind, running 14:48.  This is the first year we have had 5 Freshmen run sub-6 at this race.

Our Sophomores finished 8th overall with 232 points.  If you had asked me 3 weeks ago, I would have predicted that this unit could contend for the Sophomore title at this meet.  Unfortunately we had some key guys missing and settled for an 8th place finish.  But, a team is a team, and when one is out, others must step up, and we certainly had some that did.  David Smith has been a real pleasant surprise this year, and continues to develop into a competitive runner.  David finished 31st in 16:43.  Kyle McNair also ran his best race of the season finishing as our #3 in 16:50.  Nick Slotten ran an outstanding race to finish as our #6 in 18:11. 

Pat Juras's struggles with his breathing continues to puzzle me.  He has been diagnosed with vocal chord disfunction, which causes his vocal chords to close during heavy breathing.  It has affected him ever since his MDG performance last June, and has limited his efforts in training as well as meets.  My one hope is that we can solve this puzzle soon so this talented runner can properly pursue his potential.  Pat finished in 15th in the sophomore race.

Our JV squad finished in 8th place with 242 points.  We got great efforts in the JV race from Andrew Lulis, who was once again our #1 finisher.  Andrew ran 16:21 and is now challenging for a Varsity position.  Seniors Greg Bielak and Scott Harbeck ran well as our #2 and #4, finishing in 16:43 and 16:54.  Scott improved from 19:45 as a Sophomore 2 years ago, and has really stepped up as a senior leader in our program. 

Also of note in the JV race was the performance of Trevor Feltner.  I discussed goals with Trevor earlier in the week, and Trevor mentioned that he wanted to break 20, which he had never done before.  I told Trevor that Palatine is such a fast course that he will not only break 20, he will break 19.  Sure enough, Trevor finished in 18:43, shouting inspirational grunts to himself the entire final straightaway.  Trevor earned THE RIM for his efforts.

Our Varsity team placed 9th with 262 points.  Francisco Soto ran great in front of his home crowd, placing 12th in 14:44.   Paul Geimer and Andrew Morrison got out slow and had a difficult time moving up on a crowded course full of turns.  Paul finished 27th in 15:01 and Andrew finished 40th in 15:15.  Andrew is looking a lot better, and had that bounce to his step that he had been missing since his illness.  I look forward to his continued improvement as our lead pack tightens up.   Ryan Moncrieff was all alone as our #4, finishing 63rd in 15:33.  Shawn Picha ran the best race of his life, and finished as our #5 in 16:10.

_________________________________________________________ 9/20/09 - LZXC Places 10th at Peoria Notre Dame Invitational

We put Peoria Notre Dame on our schedule for 2 reasons: to race on the State Meet course and to run faster than we've ever run before.  Peoria Notre Dame offers one of the most competitive invitationals of the year, and its fast race is a shock to our team every year.  We had yet to truly be challenged as a team and I suspected that the Notre Dame meet might give us a well-needed knock down.

It did just that.  At the varsity level, we finished 10th with 319 points and an average time of 15:40.  Our Frosh/Soph team finished 7th with 219 points and an average time of 16:50.

In the varsity race, Francisco Soto led the way for us, finishing 29th in 15:19.  Francisco's split the mile at 4:47, and his 2m split of 9:57 was a lifetime PR for him (by over 20 seconds!).  Francisco ran a excellent race through 2 miles, and given a couple more weeks of intervals, will be able to finish his race by state.  Paul Geimer set 2m and 3m PRs of 10:08 and 15:26 en route to his 39th place finish.   Andrew Morrison is clearly not back to normal after fighting the cold for the past 14 days.  His 15:38 placed him 52nd overall.   Ryan Moncrieff was our 4th man in 15:53.  Ryan set 1m (4:57), 2m (10:26), and 3m PR's in the race, and his 4:57 was his first time under 5:00.  Alex Brend rounded out the top 5 with 3 PRs himself (4:57, 10:30, and 16:14).  It was Vic Delatorre's turn to try out the flu, so he stayed home (hopefully we get it all out of the way early...).  Since our super sophs ran down, Shawn Picha (16:43) and Jordan Pavlovich (16:58) rounded out the varsity lineup.  To the boys: I am proud of the way you attacked the early part of the race.  Don't back down now.  The last mile will come. 

We let Pat Juras and Jon Smith run Frosh/Soph, with hopes that they would challenge for the individual title.  Unfortunately, both Jon and Pat went out far too conservatively (72s and 40th place at the 400).  If they are to be contributing varsity runners this year, they cannot be afraid to get out faster.  Nevertheless, both Jon and Pat fought well in the middle of the race.  Jon hit a 2m PR (10:35) en route to his 3m PR (16:06) and a 10th place finish.  Jon's terrific summer has propelled him from an average Freshmen (18:50 at Peoria last year) to one of the top sophomores in the area.  Pat looked like he is almost over his bout with the flu , finishing 9th in 16:04.  These two will get another chance to compete against their age group this Saturday at Palatine, and hopefully they will have the confidence to be more aggressive early in the race.

Outside our top 2, we finished with a nice pack of 6 youngsters between 17:13 and 17:33, all of which set huge PRs.  David Smith led the way with a 17:13, Trevor Kuehr was our top freshman at 17:15, Brent Skupien finished in 17:21, Freshman Jon Ramirez finished in 17:22, Kyle McNair finished in 17:32, and Isaac Honegger finished in 17:33.  I would like to note Isaac's improvement from last year (23:05 to 17:33).  If only we all could improve five and a half minutes in a single year! 

At the JV level, the guys I really thought would lead the way for us had poor races.  Joe Carabetta had been contending for a varsity position, but ran without the fearlessness he had showed in the previous few meets.  Tony Piecuch did not show the intensity that you would expect of a senior captain in his final race at Detweiller.  Instead, it was Junior Andrew Lulis leading the way with a 62nd place finish in 17:04 and Greg Bielak following in 17:13.  Senior Scotty Harbeck also set a PR for his 2nd race in a row with a 17:29.

Here are some other highlights of the weekend:

-24 of 35 competing athletes set PRs.

-Oliver Shim and David Weathers looked most dapper at our Friday dinner at Avanti's.

-Congrats to David Berton for the best moustache.

-Congrats to Trevor Feltner, Nick Slotten, and Mike Filenko with their Perfect Prediction Run.

-Congrats to Coach Hanson for being the All-Time Champ at Mario Cart.

-Props to the entire team for the compliment they received on their behavior at Pizza Hut.

-Special thanks to the 9 boys who worked the water station at the Alpine Half Marathon on Sunday.

-Peoria records are updated.

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9/18/09 - Photo Gallery Updated with Lake Forest Dual

Special thanks to our photographer this year: Joe Kim.  Here is a link to the Photo Gallery.  PPM Records have also been updated.

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9/16/09 - LZXC Defeats First 2 Conference Opponents

On Tuesday, September 8, we traveled north to compete against Lakes HS.  This was the first time we have ran a dual against them in a crossover.  Lakes boasts a ranked AA program, and is the favorite to win the Prarie Division of the NSC.  I had heard about their Fab Frosh Ryan Prais and he did not disappoint.  Prais finished 3rd in the race behind Soto and Delatorre, and he has to be considered one of the top Freshmen in the state this year.  I look forward to 4 years of watching him develop into a state title contender at the AA level.  Other than Prais finishing 3rd, we fit 6 runners before their 2nd, despite Morrison and Juras not running due to illness, winning the meet 18-42.

On Monday, September 14, we traveled east to compete against conference rival Lake Forest.  Lake Forest had already won the Lake County Invite earlier this year, and placed high in their first two Invitationals at St. Charles and Peoria.  Lake Forest did not look like the Lake Forest we were expecting, and they were clearly hurting.  Their top runner, Henry Mynatt did not run, and I know of at least 1 other runner in their great senior class (Andrew Farver) that is hurting.  We placed 7 runners before their first finisher winning the meet 15-50, but I know they will bounce back and give us a great battle in the Conference Meet. 

We set 9 PRs against LF.  I found it interesting that, other than Freshmen, the only athletes to set PRs were High Harriers.  This is quite convincing evidence of the importance of summer training, and may we use it as knowledge in future off-seasons.  Here is the list of PRs.

Ryan Moncrieff (16:12), Jon Smith (16:27), Alex Brend (16:29), Scott Harbeck (17:50), Kyle McNair (17:51), Jon Ramirez (18:31), Jared Ripoli (18:35), Ryan Martin (18:42), and Alex Milner (19:39).

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9/5/09 - LZXC Nabs 1st UW Parkside Rebel Championship

We opened up our season with the challenging UW Parkside Rebel Invitational.  Our Varsity and Junior Varsities won for the first time in school history, and our Freshmen finished 2nd to a strong unit from Badger, WI.  We learned 2 things from our opening race: 1- We are very, very good, and 2- we have a long way to go.

Our varsity lineup was led by Andrew Morrison, Paul Geimer, and Francisco Soto.  These 3 seniors ran in the lead pack for the first 2 miles before they were dropped by a couple strong runners, Cuitlahuac Pineda Youniss from Northside Prep and Aaron Derner from Waterford, WI.  Morrison finished 3rd, Geimer 4th, and Soto 6th.  Victor Delatorre played the role of stalker as he lagged the lead pack for most of the race, and finishing 7th in 16:43.  Our pack of Pat Juras (17:01, 12th), Ryan Moncrieff (17:03, 15th), and Alex Brend (17:12, 17th) finished out our top 7.  We won the meet with 32 points, and this championship marks the first Varsity non-conference Invitational we have won in my 4 years as coach.  Here are comparisons to last year:

We also won the JV race, with an impressive score of 20 points.  Our JV team was led by one of the most improved runners in the program, Sophomore Jon Smith.  Jon won in 17:14, a time that would have placed him 19th in the Varsity race.  Jordan Pavlovich placed 2nd in 17:33, Sophomore newcomer Pat McPartlan placed 4th in 18:07, Senior Greg Bielak placed 6th in 18:25, Sophomore Kyle McNair placed 7th in 18:26, Senior Joe Carabetta placed 8th in 18:27, and Junior Stephan Brown rounded out the medal-winners with a 10th place 18:30.  Here are comparisons to last year's JV team:

Our freshmen took 2nd to Badger, WI, with 61 points.  Only 6 of our 8 freshmen were competing, but they represented the blue and white admirably.  Led by Trevor Kuehr, all 6 runners finished in the top 30 of the 122 person field, with the top 3 (Kuehr, Jonathon Ramirez, and Jared Ripoli) finishing in the medals.  This group of Freshmen has training harder than any other Freshmen team we have had, and all the success that comes their way will be related to their work ethic.  Here is a comparison to last year's Freshmen group that won at Rebel and went on to place a respectable 5th at the Palatine Invite:

I have updated the All-time Rebel Invite Records.  In all, 21 athletes made the Varsity Top 50 and 10 athletes made the Sophomore Top 50.  Special congrats go to Andrew Morrison for running the #2 Varsity time, Pat Juras for running the #1 Sophomore time, and Trevor Kuehr for running the #3 Freshmen time. 

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9/1/09 - Summer Phase Ends, LZXC '09 Sets High Harrier Record

Our Summer training phase ended and the 2009 LZXC set a record for High Harriers with 15.  Last year's team held the previous record with 14.  This summer now marks 4 consecutive years in which the LZXC team has increased their number of High Harriers.  Congrats go to the 15 athletes that earned their morning runs this season.

Special congrats go to the first-timers earning their Mile Club T's:

800 Mile Club: Ryan Moncrieff, Paul Geimer

600 Mile Club: Greg Bielak, Jon Smith

400 Mile Club: Ryan Martin, Isaac Honneger, Mike Filenko, Trevor Feltner

Full High Harrier Lists can be found on the High Harrier Page

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8/22/09 - Heaven Week Concludes (With the Scavenger Hunt Pending)

Heaven Week ended today with our traditional car wash, giving us the funds to make the trip down to Peoria.  We washed hundreds of cars, thanks to the support of our friends, family, and friends. 

The 2009 Heaven Week was possibly the most exciting Heaven Week we have ever had.  Victor Delatorre was ahead early in the week with a strong Timed Mile and excellent Prediction Run.  Francisco Soto overtook him with an impressive Guess-Your-Time Run, but Paul Geimer's Long PPM in the Middle School Challenge earned him the bragging rights as current leader.  We still have one event remaining, the Scavenger Hunt, which was rained out on Wednesday.  Victor, Francisco, and always consistent Andrew Morrison will try to chase down Paul in the much-anticipated Hunt, where anything can happen.  I can attest that this year's Scavenger Hunt is the most challenging Hunt ever, so all participators must bring their A-games!

Here are some highlights from the 2009 Heaven Week:

-Francisco Soto wins the Timed Mile a a tight race with a 4:47.  Oliver Shim is the first freshmen finisher with a 5:47.

-The Pushup Contest ended in a 3-way tie between Victor Delatorre, Kyle McNair, and David Smith, each achieving 23 rounds of pushups.  Shawn Picha practiced to become a "motivational speaker" with his words of encouragement during the Pushup Contest.

-Tuesday's Prediction Run ended with 3 runners correctly guessing their pace within 1 second per mile.  Earning a perfect 40 points were Victor Delatorre, Francisco Soto, and Kyle McNair.

-Wednesday's Short PPM boasted 8 of the top 12 4m PPMs in history, led by Andrew Morrison's 20:50.  This year's team boasts 10 athletes sub 23 (and counting).

-Although the Wednesday PM Scavenger Hunt was canceled, we enjoyed an evening of team bonding, with a full team Bunny Game.  One thing is for sure, these Freshmen learn fast, as they outlasted many of our veterans.

-Thursday's Guess-Your-Time Run was won by Trevor Feltner, as his guess was only 5 seconds off his actual time.  Twenty different athletes earned 30 or more points (out of a possible 40).

-Friday's Long PPM Middle School Challenge lived up to all the hype.  Middle School North won for the 3rd time in a row as they evened the overall series 3-3.  The final score was 146-151, as this Challenge literally came down to the final times reported.  Many PR's were set in the unseasonably cool weather.

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7/17/09 - Fall Athletic Registration Has Begun!

Registration for fall sports has begun!  Registration papers can be acquired in the athletic office.  All athletes are encouraged to turn in their paperwork ASAP. 

***Any returning LZXC members who fail to have all their paperwork, including physical, turned in prior to the first day of practice (August 12) will not compete in the first meet of the season.***

2009 LZXC Practice Schedule is ready for your viewing!  Get excited!

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7/15/09 - LZXC Kettle Moraine Camping Trip is a Success

Twenty two athletes attended the Kettle Moraine Camping Trip this year in Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin.  It was a key experience for all and everyone earned the training boost they desired.  Check out the Final Kettle Moraine Results and All Time Kettle Moraine Results.

Here are some highlights:

     Best Meal - Mrs. Delatorre's steak tacos

     Paper Bag Contest Co-Champions - Shawn Picha (2nd time) and Casey Karmell

     Green Loop, Ottawa Lake Run, and The Beast Champion - Paul Geimer

     Best Magic Trick - Coach Hanson and Victor Delatorre

     AM Prediction Run Champion - Trevor Feltner and Kyle McNair

     Hot Dog Eating Contest Champion - Jared Ripoli (6)

     Flashlight Relay Champions - Pat Juras and Tony Piecuch

     Best Mafia play - Scott Harbeck as the suicide mafia

     Best Mafia newcomer - Mark Noll

     Top Freshman - Bobby Klett

     Top Sophomore - Pat Juras

     Top Overall Camper - Paul Geimer

     Top Overall Adult - Mr. McNair

     Worst Marshmallow - Coach May

     Best Blister - Greg Bielak

     Best Sand Hole - Elliott Sepos, Trevor Feltner, Casey Karmell, and others

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6/13/09 - Six LZXC Athletes Compete at Midwest Distance Gala

Six LZXC Athletes competed in the Midwest Distance Gala.  Gerardo Perez placed 2nd in the 2000m Steeplechase in a time of 6:12.48.  Paul Geimer also ran the 2000m Steeplechase and placed 6th with a time of 6:42.50.  Gerardo improved his time by 11 seconds from last year, while Paul's time bested that by Andrew Morrison and Mickey Stott last year.

Pat Juras ran the Freshmen Mile and placed 5th with a time of 4:37.71.  Pat's time converts to a 1600 of 4:36.1, which places him as the #1 Freshman Mile in LZXC history.  Pat now owns the Freshmen records at the 800, 1600, and 3200m distances.

Francisco Soto, Jake Paulus, and Isaac Honneger ran the 5000m open race.  Francisco placed 14th in 16:33, Jake placed 18th in 17:03, and Isaac placed 20th in 19:11.

Pictures are located on the Archives Page.

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OVER 75 RUNNERS ARE ALREADY REGISTERED FOR THE LAKE ZURICH CROSS COUNTRY CAMP... AND COUNTING!