Favored Verzbicas cruises to state win

Sandburg's Lukas Verbicas wins the class 3A state cross country race.
(Steven Johnston/The Doings)

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PEORIA – Lukas Verzbicas may not be Illinois' best all-time cross-country runner yet, but he was by far the best on Saturday.

The Sandburg sophomore had set his sights on breaking the 37-year-old state-meet record of 13:50.6 set by future Olympian Craig Virgin. With no one to push him and still feeling the effects of tendinitis in his left Achilles', he didn't get it.

But Verzbicas still cruised to victory in the Class 3A final at Detweiller Park, running 14 minutes, seven seconds for three miles. That was 21 seconds better than runner-up Andrew Smith of York, whose teammate Jack Driggs was third in the same time.

Verzbicas' time tied the 10th best ever at Detweiller.

"I was going for it," he said of Virgin's record, and he was on record pace through the first half of the race. "But I wasn't ready."

Though he estimated himself to be "90 percent" healthy, he had missed three days of practice the previous week because of the injury.

Still, Sandburg coach John O'Malley said, "It was an amazing race in this kind of heat. ... He sacrificed [doing well in] Nike Nationals for state today. He wanted to run for Sandburg; next week is an individual thing."

The unseasonably warm weather took its toll on runners all day, but Neuqua Valley seemed unaffected. The Wildcats won their second Class 3A title in three seasons, scoring 99 points to win a tight three-way race with nationally top-ranked Loyola (111) and York (118).

"Our pack, they just stick together till the two-mile [mark] and make their move there," said Aaron Beattie, who was fourth in 14:31 to lead Neuqua. "I'm the only guy who's never seen it happen, [but] I'm sure it's really cool."

"We've lived by the pack and died by the pack and we haven't died yet," Neuqua coach Paul Vandersteen said.

David Wing (20th), Carlton Folster (29th), Luke Verbus (33rd) and Billy Klimczak (35th) completed the scoring for Neuqua, which had a 39-second split for its top five. Loyola had two all-staters in Mark Donahue (11th) and Jack Seeberg (15th), but usual No. 1 runner Nico Composto was 30th.

"It was a tough day," Loyola coach Dan Seeberg said. "[Composto has] been encountering breathing problems. I don't know if the hot weather exacerbated it." York, which finished 44 points behind Loyola a week earlier at the Niles West Sectional, earned its 43rd state trophy.

"They ran their best race when it counted the most," Dukes coach Joe Newton said of his runners. "It wasn't good enough. The best team won."

The Dukes led the team race through two miles before Neuqua rallied.

"You always worry when York leads halfway through because they have a history of finishing strong." Vandersteen said. "But our guys have done that all year long."

In Class 2A, individual champ Paul Zeman (15:09) led Belvidere North to the team title. Sterling Newman edged Canton 122-123 for the Class 1A championship.