Plainfield South takes own invite

Updated: September 24, 2011 3:37PM

Whenever you host an invite at home, the No. 1 goal is to win it.

Plainfield South’s boys team did just that at the Cougar Cross Country Invite Saturday at Troy Crossroads School in Shorewood.

The Cougars placed five runners in the top 15 to outlast the eight-team field with 38 points. Neuqua Valley was second with 46 and Naperville Central scored 51 points to place third.

“Being a home invite, our goal was to win the race,” Plainfield South coach Jason Crowe said. “Naperville Central has a quality program and team and Neuqua Valley running its junior varsity is still a pretty good team. We’re happy we won.”

Plainfield South’s Tyler Ryan ran a 16:22 during a pouring rain to win the individual championship, the first in his career.

“I really wasn’t focusing on my time,” Ryan said. “The rain was fun and I just wanted to win the race. The start went really well for me so I was able to pick it up more in the second and third mile.”

Sophomore Dan Lathrop took third for the Cougars in 16:37. He was one of three sophomores promoted for the race.

Plainfield North’s Dan Wooldridge took second in 16:33. Minooka’s Evan Slabaugh earned a medal by taking 15th in 17:07.

The Indians ran their junior varsity boys and girls teams, giving their top seven runners a rare Saturday off. Minooka took fourth with 121 points, Lemont placed fifth with 168, Plainfield North came in seventh with 198 and Morris was eighth with 202.

Plainfield North placed five runners among the top 11 to win the girls race with 39 points. Minooka’s junior varsity team was third with 74 points, Plainfield South was next with 93 and Morris came in fifth with 123.

“The girls did really well,” Plainfield North coach Tammy Gummerson said. “Our fifth girl was 11th, so they did very, very well today. They raced today. They all set goals today and they accomplished them.”

Maggie Kennedy (fifth in 20:11), Catherine Crosson (sixth in 20:12), Taryn Seeland (eighth in 20:50) and Comet Blecha (ninth in 21:00) placed in the top 10 for the Tigers.

Plainfield South’s Kayla Rice was the top local finisher, coming in fourth in 20:11.

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