Wheeler’s Nurse, Hobart’s Dunn have fun

Updated: August 27, 2011 9:17PM

HAMMOND — Brent Dunn admitted he wasn’t feeling well and didn’t know what to expect before the starting gun sounded at the Gavit Invitational.

“I’m not sure what it was, but I was feeling tired,” Hobart’s sophomore runner said. “At the beginning, I didn’t feel great, but I just tried to stay with the leaders. It was hard, but I just kept pushing and I started to feel good.”

Good enough to win.

Dunn, who finished 10th a year ago, took first place in the boys AA race Saturday at Dowling Park.

His time of 16:45 was just ahead of Morgan Township’s Alec Kostelnik (16:48) and Lowell’s Kyle Eller (16:52). The Brickies placed six runners among the top 19 performers to easily win the team title with 42 points.

Lowell (66) was second, while defending champion Portage ended up third (71) and Munster (75) was fourth.

“I knew I’d have to go strong to win at the end,” Dunn said. “I really pushed hard and was strongest the last 1,000 meters. I’m very surprised I won, though. I looked at the Morgan kid (Kostelnik) as the guy to beat. He has a strong kick. I knew he was tired. I knew I was tired. I knew I just had to go and get it.”

Two of the top boys runners — Highland’s Jake Baranowski (back) and Portage’s Anthony Best didn’t compete in Saturday’s race.

“Coming into the race, I was thinking third,” Dunn said. “That was reasonable.”

Hobart coach Ty Artherhults was pleased with his team’s performance, particularly Dunn’s.

“I think he’s still gaining a lot of confidence as a runner,” Artherhults said. “He’s put in a lot of hard work. He had sort of a hard lesson on Tuesday. He was leading against (Baranowski) the other day, but let up a little near the end and Jake snuck by him.”

In the boys A division, Wheeler took the team title with 52 points as Bearcats senior Kyle Nurse won the race in 17:26.

“I wanted to go a little bit faster, but the hill really gets you,” Nurse said. “It’s definitely difficult. It’s a mind game from there. You just have to push through it. I’ll take it. I’m really competitive. I love racing. Winning is the best feeling in the world, especially with a lot of kids running.”

Rensselaer (75) and Hanover Central (77) were second, and third, respectively.

“It was a good team effort today,” Wheeler coach Luis Guillen said. “That’s what we’ve been preaching. With five of the top 20 runners, they really came through. It was a really good day for us.”

Lake Central’s Darius Arriaga collapsed two miles into the race and was helped off the course. His parents took him to a doctor.

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