Joliet-area runners make trek to Peoria

All eyes will be focused on Sandburg junior All-American and defending state champion Lucas Lucas Verzbicas when the state cross country championships are conducted Saturday at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

Meanwhile, the Joliet area will have significant representation in the various races.

Cross country in Illinois features three class for girls and three for boys. Four sectionals feed into 1A and 2A races, five into the 3A races.

Verzbicas ran in the 3A sectional Lockport hosted on the 3.1-mile course at Dellwood Park and, as the form chart dictates, coasted to victory in a course-record 15 minutes 9 seconds. That was 30 seconds faster than his nearest competitor.

Area state qualifiers there included Plainfield North senior Andrew Sandoval, who finished fifth in 15;57, and Plainfield East junior Niko Petrusich, 17th in 16:24.

Sandoval finished fifth overall with a time of 15:57. This is the third straight season the Plainfield North senior has qualified for state. But he was injured last year and did not run.

"I'm ready to go right now," Sandoval said after the sectional. "I was hurt last year, but I set my goal and made it. It's a good feeling to go again."

Petrusich, meanwhile, is the first individual cross country state qualifier for Plainfield East.

"It's an incredible feeling," he said. "It's because of all my coaches and what they taught me. But I also had a had a strong belief in myself that helped me do what I did."

The Joliet area missed having a 3A boys team qualifier at Dellwood Park, but Minooka did advance with a second place in the Normal West Sectional at Maxwell Park in Normal.

Lockport finished sixth at Dellwood, the first non-qualifying position. But the Porters' top runner, David Sajdak, broke down at the end and fell twice before literally crawling over the finish line to place 32nd overall. He had qualified for state all three years previously either individually or with the team.

"Through the first 2 1/2 miles, I thought he was going to challenge for second," Lockport coach Tom Razo said. "But with 250 meters left, he started struggling.

"You know it can happen, you just don't think it will happen to one of your athletes. He had been running like an all-state athlete, so it's disappointing. He would have qualified."

Minooka's boys scored 68 points at Normal to finish second behind O'Fallon. Indians senior Joe McAsey was seventh with a 3.0-mile time of 15:14. Other placers for the Indians included junior Kyle Smith (11th, 15:28), senior Danny Bahret (13th, 15:31), junior Dan Popek (14th, 15:32) and sophomore Joey Santillo (22nd, 15:41).

"This group of boys is running great right now," Minooka coach Kevin Gummerson said. "Each week we are getting better and better. These kids are beginning to realize how good of a team they are."

McAsey has been among the state's most consistent runners all season for Minooka, which tied the school record for best sectional finish.

"Joe has been our top man all year and his teammates backed him up with a great run across the board," Gummerson said. "We have a lot of confidence right now."

Three other area boys advanced. Lincoln-Way East's Nick Sinadinos was 12th in 15:30 and teammate Tom Rotondi was 18th in 15:36. Lincoln-Way Central's Kyle Counter advanced with a 20th place of 15:38.

3A Girls

The Lockport girls surprised themselves with the second-place finish at Dellwood Park.

"It was definitely a big shock to finish second," said Lockport standout junior Megan O'Brien, who led the Porters with a third-place finish in 19:03. "My legs were sore and it's been a tough week. But my heart took over at the end to get third."

Juniors Stephanie Sanders, seventh in 19;18, Samantha Stanley, 14th in 19:41, rounded out the top three for the Porters. The rest of the Lockport team was senior Kelsey Hahn, 31st at 20:21, sophomore Courtney Correa, 33rd at 20:26, freshman Biannca Weimeyer, 39th at 20:35, and junior Alexi McDermid, 80th in 21:54.

Minooka and Lincoln-Way Central advanced at Normal. Minooka was third via a sixth-runner tiebreaker with 128 points. O'Fallon won with 64 and Andrew was second with 127. Lincoln-Way Central was fifth.

Minooka sophomore Laura Simon placed seventh in 18:21. Other Indians were Kiley Saunders (19th, 18:45), Kaitlin Hoy (21st, 18:46), Haley McNamara (39th, 19:12) and Allie Rossi (44th, 19:18).

"The girls had another strong showing," said Gummerson, who doubles as coach of the Minooka girls. "There is a ton of pressure at this sectional and these kids did not let it rattle them. They went out and ran extremely hard.

"Laura Simon was awesome. She has done a great job of leading this team all year. This was the race of her career."

Leading Lincoln-Way Central to fifth place were sophomore Alena Pacheco (sixth, 18:20), freshman Angela Burklow (24th, 18:50), freshman Mallory Johnson (32nd, 19:02), freshman Taylor Martinez (43rd, 19:16) and senior Mia Dauparas (47th, 19:21).

Lincoln-Way East sophomore Kaley McLawhorn finished 20th in 18:45 and qualified.

Class 2A

On the boys side, two area individuals qualified. Morris junior Heath Hougas ran a 15:41 in the East Peoria Sectional on the 2.95-mile Illinois Central College Course. In the Nazareth Sectional, Lemont senior Tom Hoster turned in a 16:54 for 3.0-mile course at Niles West to finish 14th. This will be his third state appearance.

The Lemont girls qualified in the fifth and final team qualifying spot at Niles West. Junior Amber Trick and freshman Nicole Balinski paced the Indians, each finishing in 20:21. Freshman Karoline Walczak (20:55), junior Morgan Rex (21:10) and sophomore Wendy Mazur (21:25) rounded out the top five.

Class 1A

For the boys in the Aurora Christian Sectional, Seneca junior Ray LaFree advanced with his ninth-place finish of 15:20 over the 3.0-mile course.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.