Boys Cross Country: Niles West plans to pack for more trips to State Meet

The Niles West boys started a new chapter in cross country history on Saturday.

Never before have the Wolves qualified for the State Finals as a team. They have had plenty of individuals advance to State, but in their first trip as a squad, they took 19th by scoring 391 points in the IHSA Class 3A State Meet held at Detweiller Park, in Peoria.

“This was a real feather in our hat,” said Niles West coach Mike Grossman, who ran for Niles West before embarking on a career at University of Illinois-Chicago. “I loved the fact that we made it, but I also know it will pay dividends for a long time. I believe we are on the way up. We will not only be able to credit this, but our feeder program as well.”

Palatine won the Class 3A team title with 114 points. Downstate O’Fallon took second with 120, while St. Charles East and Neuqua Valley tied for third with 144.

Neal Omar was the top Niles West finisher, touring the three-mile course in 15:12, which was good for 39th. He missed Class 3A all-state status by only 11 seconds. Danville sophomore Johnny Leverenz. the final all-state finisher, took 25th with a time of 15:01.

“We knew that we had a couple of runners that had a chance to make all-state,” said Grossman. “Neal was one those. The other was Marc-Daniel Julien. Neal ran real well. They both stated after the first half of the race, it was very tough to maneuver around the large packs of runners on the course.”

The top five runners on the Wolves team all were seniors. Besides Leverenz, Niles West will lose Julien (64th, 15:22), Masafumi Hoshi (85th, 15:29), Blake Helton (146th, 15:54) and David Iverson (173rd, 16:07).

George Webb and Yandiel Cardenas, both juniors, will return after coming in 206th and 208th, respectively. Webb finished the race in 16:48, while Cardenas clocked 16:59.

“Every one of our athletes ran their best time of the year at the State Meet,” said Grossman. “I knew when I added the numbers, we had a great chance to get in the top 20. I knew that top 10 or even top 15 was going to be very tough, if not impossible.

“We always ran our five seniors, but the sixth and seventh runners, we switched it up. We have a deep junior class and a great incoming freshman class.”

While Iverson is graduating, his mother (Gloria Iverson) has made a lasting impact on the Niles West, as well as the Niles North, cross country programs, for a long time. A former DePaul University runner who turned pro, she started the District 219 feeder program for the two schools. It allows athletes interested in cross country to get involved at a younger age.

“When we started the year, we had 18 athletes out for cross country,” said Grossman. “By the time the season ended, we had 52 athletes. That is a very good thing, because athletes competing with each other in practice will make us a better team. It is the way many teams in the Chicagoland area have become successful. We hope to follow that thinking.

“Gloria has helped so much and we feel that her knowledge and expertise had been great in getting these younger athletes out for cross country.”

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