Jon Davis uses torrid kick to hold off Ben Veatch to win Boys; Sandburg leads Illinois top 3 finish in Boys Championships; Centerville wins a close Girls Championship race

By Michael Newman

DyeStat Illinois Editor

[email protected]

Terre Haute, In --- Judy Pendergast (Naperville North IL) and Jon Davis (Oakwood HS IL) used different approaches in the way they raced Sunday afternoon at the NXN Midwest Regional Meet. The two Illinois State champions did have a common result as they both won the individual championship races at Lavern Gibson Championship Course.

How do you beat Pendergast? For the runners in the Girls Championship race, you just don’t. It was evident that Pendergast would win this race 400 meters into the race when she was out ahead of the pack. It was just like every other race this season with the exception of the Roy Griak Invitational where she finished second.

The Naperville runner went through the mile in 5:10. Her lead was almost 12 seconds at that point with it continuing to grow. By the time she passed the two miles, the lead had grown to 25 seconds. It was not a matter of who the winner of the race would be. The focus was now on who would finish next behind her.

Morgan Gigandet (Troy OH) made an effort to stay ahead of the pack. She was swallowed up by the 3k point by the pack led by Lindsey Payne (Glenbard West IL), Anna West (Lafayette MO), Sarah Leinheiser (Carmel IN), and Madison Troy (Granville MI).

Pendergast did not kick in but it was hard to tell. Her stride continued to be as smooth as it was early in the race. A wow went through the air at the finish line as she crossed in 17:00.6. It was a course record by 8 seconds ahead of the 17:08 that 2 time national champion Anna Rohrer had run. It did not seem like she ran that fast as she looked back after the finish to wait for the pack and more importantly her teammates.

It was a furious final 400 meters for the pack behind. Missouri Class 4 Champion Anna West just edged Indiana State Champion Sarah Leinheiser both crossing in 17:28. Less than a second later came in Madison Troy. The Michigan sophomore was the surprise of the race as she took the fourth spot and the automatic bid to Portland. Four seconds later came in Alex Buck (Pendelton Heights IN). The senior’s finish in this race was different from two weeks ago at the Indiana State Meet. Buck was in second with 400 to go when she lost energy and collapsed. She did finish 70^th. The finish on Sunday was redemption for that. She had earned a trip to the NXN Championships. Lindsey Payne pushed herself in having trouble keeping her balance the final 10 meters. She crossed the line staying on her feet in 17:36 with a sixth place finish. She will run as an individlau at Portland if Naperville North is selected as an at-large team.

“"It was tough. I was trying to pay attention to the split at the first mile and then kind of go from there and not look at my watch,” Pendergast said after her race. “I tried to stay positive and keep going. I was thinking about (my team) the whole time.”

The Naperville North team behind her is one of the things that fuels Pendergast. As each runner from her team came in, she congratulated her and asked where they though they finished it was so hard to tell with a multitude of runners coming in at the same time. Naperville North would have to wait until the team results were announced.

There was a hush in the air as the top 5 teams were announced during the awards ceremony. Who would be going to Portland?

Illinois 2A State Champion Yorkville was fifth with 180 points. The Foxes ran a 40 second split off of the 31^st place finish by Alexis Grandys.

Before the final four teams were announced, the announced stated that the final four teams were only separated by 14 points.

Carmel IN was announced in fourth with 159 points. The Indiana state champions were looking for a sixth straight NXN Championship appearance. They will have to wait a couple of weeks to see if they earn an at-large bid. Then it was announced that Naperville North IL was next with 153 points. The Huskies, like Carmel, will have to wait to see if they earn an at-large bid for Portland. Being only one point out of second place in such a tough regional like the Midwest Regional was, chances look good for the Illinois team and also Carmel. Both teams were ranked in the top 10 nationally for most of the season.

As the team results were counted down, each team announced earned a gasp and little screams from the Centerville OH team. Their name had not yet been announced. Each place announced and not being them made the screams a little louder with each team announced.

Northville MI was the surprise team of the meet finishing second with 152 points and earning an automatic bid to the NXN Championships.  They were not even in the conversation before the race of the teams that would be challenging for the win. Now they were the talk of the town. They had finished fourth the week before at the Michigan D1 State Meet.

Lexa Barrott led her team with a 20^th place finish. The key for the second place finish for this team was the seven second split from second runner Olivia Harp (53^rd overall) and fifth runner Emma Hermann (70^th overall). Their split on the top five was only 38 seconds.

When Northville’s name was announced, the Centerville team area was up for grabs as they screamed and held on to each other in celebration. The Ohio D1 State Champion was the champ with 145 points. Lainey Studebaker made an individual sacrifice to make sure here team would make the trip to Oregon. The week before at the state meet, she won the individual state championship. On Sunday, she stayed with her teammates keeping their pack together. Even though she finished 35^th overall, that sacrifice kept her team within 19 seconds of each other clinching the team title.

“Everybody tried to control at first but then we started cheering as it closer to first,” Studebaker said about her team at the awards. “We have been building up for the entire season and gaining momentum. Our theme this year has been “Roll On” so we have been trying to roll throughout the season. We put it together today.”

The Girls race showed how fast this course was on this day. The wind was dying down and the temperatures were at 60 degrees by the time the Boys Championship race took the line.

There were 50 runners together as they passed through the first mile of the race in 4:43. It did not seem that fast but controlled as each of the runners up front were feeling each other out. The action starting towards the end of the second mile when Ben Veatch (Carmel IN), Irwin Loud (Oak Park-River Forest IL), and Jon Davis (Oakwood IL) started to push the pace. The pace had slowed down the second mile as the three went by in 9:38. This was setting up to be a fast final mile.

Davis and Loud were content to let Veatch lead as they approached the 4k point of the race. Behind them followed Isaac Harding (Rockford MI) and Austin Hindman (Lafayette MO) trying to stay with the pace. The next followed led by Sean Torpy (Sandburg IL) and Jack Aho (Grayslake Central IL). Trailing that pack was Charlie Kern (York IL) in 14^th. He was starting to move up.

With 800 to go, Davis made the move taking the lead. Veatch stayed with Davis with Loud struggling to hold on. A week before in the Illinois 1A State Meet, Davis had run 13:59.3 for 3 miles closing that race in 2:06. It looked like that type of finish would happen again. The race set that up with such a slow second mile.

As they entered the final 400 meters on the main straightaway, Davis started pumping harder with his arms trying to gain some kind of separation from Veatch. The Carmel runner would not budge as he tried to pass Davis. Illinois state champ refused. The last 400 was under 60 seconds as Davis crossed the line in 14:59.9. Veatch was a little more than a second back in 15:01.3. Davis was the second runner to run under 15 minutes on this course. Veatch had run 14:59 two weeks ago at his state meet. The strain of the race was showing on Davis face as he crossed the line. He had given everything that he had to win that race. Veatch covered his face not believing that he had suffered his first loss of the season. You can’t really calling it a loss. It showed in those final meters at the finish. Davis was just a little bit better on this day. Running near 15 minutes on this course is not a loss.

“I had an interesting plan. One that I had not tried before. My plan was completely dependent on everyone else,” Davis said. “I had not run this course before so I stuck with Veatch because he has experience on this course. I knew he had some speed.  I just stuck with Veatch so he could get me to an 800 to go. It was a new experience chasing somebody. Regardless of the pace, I was going to go with 800 left. I just wanted to finish hard.”

Isaac Harding, Jack Aho, and Charlie Kern Jr. all finished within a half second of each other finishing third through fifth. All three runners would be going to Portland as individual qualifiers. Sean Torpy was next two seconds behind in 6^th. There were four Illinois runners in the top six. Irwin Loud collapsed before the final 400. He picked himself up and walked to the finish crossing the line in 18:43. He refused medical attention as he approached the finish line. A fighting heart will find a way to finish a race.

The Illinois dominance in this Boys race showed with their finish in the team standings. There were four Illinois schools in the top five in the team standings. Six Illinois schools were in the top ten. The schools from Illinois were not getting the national attention that they duly deserved during the regular season. This Sunday race in Indiana proved that the only rankings that are worth looking at are at the end of the season.

US #1 and Illinois 3A Sate Champion Sandburg did not run their best race of the season but it was still enough to win this meet with 120 points running a 64 second split on their top five. Following Sean Torpy was his brother Chris (26^th), Brandon Lukas (38^th), Max Lenhardt (47^th), and Tom Brennan (105^th).

Neuqua Valley IL, who finished third a week ago behind Sandburg in the Illinois 3A meet, used their pack running to their advantage. They ran a 22 second split on their top five while scoring 140 points to place second.  Scott Anderson led his team with a 28^th place finish. Lyons Township finished ahead of Neuqua Valley the week before. On this day they finished third with 150 points. The Lions will have to wait for an at-large bid in two weeks. They are deserving of going to Portland especially with how well they are running during the season especially now at the end. Sophomore Danny Kilrea was the top finisher for his team as he placed 17^th overall.

Lafayette MO was ranked ahead of Neuqua Valley and Lyons Township most of the season. The Missouri Class 4 champions finished fourth for the second year in a row. The Lancers had two runners in the top 25 led by Austin Hindman (8^th) and Devin Meyrer (21^st). Their 84 second split on their top five gave them a 210 point score. York IL placed fifth behind Kern’s fifth place finish. They had a 16 second split on their two to five runners but their pack was 56 seconds behind Kern. The Dukes scored 230 points.