Jack Carroll outkicks Frosh Kern to win Boys individual title; Late addition to lineup helps New Trier win Boys team title

By Michael Newman

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Skokie, Ill --- Different tactics were used by Lindsay Graham (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) in this sectional race. Last week at the Lake Park Regional race, Graham took the lead at the quarter and never looked back. In Saturday’s Niles West Sectional race, Graham was in the middle of the pack as they made the turn after the first quarter heading into the woods section of the course. Two minutes later, she emerged in the lead with a 20 meter lead that was growing.

“That was my plan,” said Graham. “I got out very smart and I was pleased where I was. I was tough back there.”

There was no contest on this day. The only competition for the Glenbard West junior was that of the clock that was timing her. She crossed the finish line in 16:34 setting a 1 second PR. It was also the second fastest Girls time run this season by an Illinois athlete on a 3 mile course.

“I am so happy. I passed the 2 mile in 11:13 and I was thinking oh no,” Graham added. “With 300 to go, some girl yelled at me “15 something”. I thought I could get a PR. So I really hauled it in.”

The battle in this race was for second place. Lindsey Payne (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) nudged by defending 3A champion Mimi Smith to grab the second spot running 17:15. Smith was two seconds back. The story of this race was the dominance of #1 Glenbard West. The Hilltoppers placed 3 runners in the first 5 and their top 5 in the first 4 to win the team title with 34 points.

“Our goal from day one is to focus on ourselves and getting better,” Glenbard Coach Paul Hass said. “If we run our very best race and someone beats us, hats off to them. I’ll be happy if we run our best. That is what our goal is.”

Behind the 1-2 finish of Graham and Payne, Lisa Luczak finished fifth followed by Grace Rogers (12^th) and Janie Nabholz (14^th). #5 New Trier used their solid pack behind the third place finish of Smith to place second with 57 points. Their pack started with Cara Keleher in 9^th and ended with Katie Glew in 18^th. That pack’s split was only nineteen seconds apart. York was a surprise qualifier placing third finishing with 153 points. Fenwick, behind Olivia Ryan’s fourth place finish, placed fourth with 178 points. Loyola Academy was the final team in scoring 195 points finishing fifth.

#23 St. Ignatius, who was missing #2 runner Olivia Meyer and had their normal fifth runner drop out during the race, placed ninth.

Christine Mujica (Niles West HS, Skokie) was the first individual qualifier that was not on a qualifying team. She finished sixth overall. Also qualifying individually was Maggie Scholle (Lane Tech HS, Chicago), Emma Dzwierzynski (Evanston Township HS), Jocelyne Mendoza (Taft HS, Chicago), Allison Hansen (Glenbard East HS, Lombard), Kalina Gardiner (Maine South HS, Park Ridge), and Lizzy Shaw (Glenbrook South HS, Glenview).

There was improbability of determining would be the team favorite heading into the Boys race. Seven schools were ranked in the top 25. The top five teams ranked in this sectional were between #5 and #9. Throughout the race, there was no breakaway packs. No noticeable surges. It was just the seven ranked teams lumped together in a pack seeing who would make the first move.

Irwin Loud (Oak Park-River Forest HS) made the first move early in the race opening up a 10 meter lead on the rest of the pack led by Jack Carroll (Loyola Academy, Wilmette) and Chris Buechner (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn). It was only a matter of time before the pack would swallow up Loud. They were content to let the sophomore do the work.

As the pack turned the corner by the baseball field in the southwest corner of the course, it was Carroll that made the first surge. Buechner and Clayton Mendez (Whitney Young HS, Chicago). Popping out of the pack was York freshman Charlie Kern wanting a piece of the lead action. Carroll entered the stadium for the final 100 meters on the track. Kern tried to catch the Loyola senior but with no luck. Carroll won the Sectional championship in 14:54. Kern was a second back. Buechner finished two seconds back in third with Mendez close by his side.

“Everybody stuck together. It was really cool to see,” said Carroll. “I knew with 400 to go I needed to make my move because there were still a couple kickers left. That’s when I took off and I kept going from there.”

#5 New Trier edged #9 Glenbard West 81-88 for the team title led by the eighth place finish by Josh Rosenkranz. The hero of the day for the Trevians was their fourth runner Tarek Afifi. He was added into the lineup at the last minute for Ted Oh who was ill. His 23^rd place finish put New Trier over the top.

“I think our effort was great today. We had a few guys that were off and a few guys that stepped up,” New Trier Coach David Wisner said. “I had not planned on running Tarek Afifi in the post season because he did have mono early in the year. At conference, he was our 16^th or 17^th man. We put him on our roster because we call him Mr. October / November. The only reason that he ran today because our seventh man Ted Oh got very sick. We put Tarek in a workout this week and he looked fantastic. I decided to roll the dice and he ended up as our fourth guy.”

After Rosenkranz and Afifi’s efforts, New Trier also had Luke Duros (12^th), Austin Santacruz (15^th), and Jack Litowitz (25^th) in their top five. New Trier’s five runner split was only 25 seconds.

Glenbard West was only seven points back with 88 points. Ben Hecht stepped up for the Hilltoppers as the third man for the team. Paul Christian, who was the fourth man and finished 28^th Saturday, was ill the day before the meet and did not go to school. Hecht finished 17^th. #6 Loyola Academy finished third with 103 points.

It was dicey on who would take the final two qualifying spots. The fourth position went to #18 Maine South. Paced by the 6^th place finish by Henry Mierczwa, the Hawks scored 138 points. The mood was silent in the York camp. The Dukes picked the one day to run a horrible race. At two miles, they looked completely out of qualifying. It would have been the first time in 50 years that a York Boys team had not qualified for the state meet. The Dukes charged the last mile hoping that they could sneak in. They just did with 140 points. St. Ignatius had the same amount and was tied for fifth. Both teams qualified for next week’s state meet. When it was announced at first, the St. Ignatius fans had a tough time believing it. Two years ago in the same race, the Wolfpack had thought that they had made it in when in fact they had not. On this day, a signed result posted on the field house wall calmed the fears that the final outcome would be changed.

Mendez was the first individual qualifier that was not on a qualifying team. Joining Mendez will be Dhruvil Patel (Niles North HS, Skokie), Irwin Loud, Nate Whitfield (Glenbrook North HS, Northbrook), Pavlo Hutsalyuk (Lane Tech HS, Chicago), Jimmy Funteas (Willowbrook HS, Villa Park), and Abraham Tobias (Taft HS, Chicago).