Parekh, Wilson in control in Richard Spring Classic individual wins

York Girls, Sandburg Boys dominant teams in Varsity titles

By Michael Newman

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Peoria – The pre-meet expectations in the Girls race materialized Saturday at the Richard Spring Invitational. Temperatures climbed into the 80’s for the two Varsity races that took place at Detweiller Park. The conditions did not seem to bother Ava Parekh of Latin School as she pulled away in the final mile to win the Girls Varsity race.

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“I was hoping to go out steady and consistently for three-miles,” Parekh said after he race. “I’ve run a lot of different races on this course. Going out fast, going out slow. I knew I would have some great competition today.”

Parekh had a checkered past running on this course the previous two years that she toed the line. The 16:27 that she ran on Saturday was a personal best on any 3-mile cross-country race that she has run in her career. Her time bettered the 16:53 that she ran two years ago on this course.

“I had no plan coming into this race,” Parekh added. “I just wanted to see what I could do. I did not know what the heat was going to be like. I ended up feeling great. I ended up feeling strong. It was an awesome day.”

The expectations came true of a match race between the two top runners in the state Parekh and Josephine Welin of Oak Park River Forest. This would be the first race of the season for Welin. What most people did not know watching this race is that Welin missed most of the summer training due to a stress fracture. She had only been running for almost 4 weeks.

“I guess I just wanted to see where I was at,” Welin said. “I was anxious to get on the course and run again. I am happy that my first race is out of the way.”

Welin and Parekh found each other just before they reached the horseshoe corner of the course. For the next almost two miles of the race it was the two runners in harmony stride by stride. Both runners reached the first mile in 5:20. Eight seconds later came the pack led by Brooke Johnston of Lake Zurich, Aly Negovetich of Grant, Lianna Surtz of Rosary, Ali Ince of Normal Community, and Kendall York of Lincoln OR.

The moment of the race that changed the outcome of the race is when Welin and Parekh came out of the triangle together. By the time the two runners reached the 2-mile point, Parekh opened a 3 second lead on Welin passing that point in 10:53. York was next passing in 11:11. The next pack was two seconds back that had Johnston, Negovetich, and now Grace Schager of Glenbard North who had moved up through the pack after the first mile to get to that position.

It was all Parekh after that as she covered the final mile in 5:33 to claim the win in that 16:27 time. Welin and Schager were together challenging for the second spot in that final incline. Welin held off Schager to finish second (16:40). Schager’s times have dropped so quickly this season with a 17:27 time to start the season and now 45 seconds faster in 16:42.

Six runners ran under 17-minutes in this race which looks to be one of the fastest races in the meet’s history. York held off Negovetich as the two runners finished fourth and fifth with the same 1654 time. Johnson just made it under the magical 17-minute mark as she ran 16:59 to finish sixth. Audrey Allman of Glenbard West was next in 17:04. Naomi Ruff of South Elgin, Holly Johnson of Downers Grove South (17:15), and Lily Ginsberg of Prospect (17:20) rounded out the individual top 10.

While all the action was going on in the front of the race, the top team in the state was working their way through the pack to come away with a dominating performance. #1 York placed 6 runners in between 11th and 31st places to average 17:34 for 3-miles and won the meet with 93 points.

“We always want to focus on pack running. Our coach (Lauren DeAngelis) always tells us that,” Berger said. “We know that we train together and that we can run together in races.”

Katherine Klimek led the York charge in the final mile of the race moving from 22nd at 2-miles to finish 11th overall in a 17:20 time. Katelyn Winton followed three seconds later in 14th. Brooke Berger was the team’s third runner crossing the line in 19th. Bria Bennis was next (21st) followed by Margaret Owens, Michaela Quinn (31), and Allison Fitzgibbons (89). Their split on the first four runners was 18 seconds. Their top five split was only 40 seconds.

#3 Prospect finished second behind York for the second week in a row as they scored 171 points. Ginsberg’s top 10 finish led the team followed by Hailey Erickson (13th), Audrey Ginsberg (37th), Cameron Kalaway (55th), and Samantha Patterson (65th). Their top five split was 83 seconds.

Three of the top four teams in this race are from the WSC-Silver. #10 Hinsdale Central finished third (235 points) led by a top 20 finish from Catie McCabe who finished 18th. #12 Oak Park-River Forest finished fourth (282 points) led by Welin’s finish. Lincoln OR finished fifth (302 points) led by York’s top five finish.

The Boys race next took centerstage on this Detweiller Park course. Adrenaline took control of the first 880-yards of the race as the pack thundered through in a fast 2:12 just 6 seconds off the pace Josh Methner went through when he set the course record two years ago. The pace slowed down in the next half as Marcellus Mines of Joliet West, Micah Wilson of St. Charles East, Michael Schumacher of St. Viator, Aidan Simon of Loyola Academy, Aiden Smith of Lincoln OR, and Jake Phillips of Marist led the pack through a 4:41 first mile.

Action usually happens when the race enters the back triangle portion of the course. Runners try to make moves to break up the pace of the race and make the race their own. On this day and this race, action in that back section was void. The pace stayed the same. No one made a move. Maybe it was the heat that was taking a grip on some of the runners. Maybe it was indecision of the runners waiting to see which runner would make the break.

Micah Wilson was the runner that made a break just before 2-miles as he went through in 9:41. This was the sixth time that he had raced on this course. He more experience than anyone did in this race on these grounds. He knew when he wanted to go and the second time up the incline seemed to be the perfect moment. Mines and Schumacher were just a second behind making an effort to stay close. Sandburg’s Declan Tunney and Grant Giblin along with York’s Ethan Summer grasped the opportunity and started to counter that move.

The race was Wilson’s as he approached the finish line or so he thought. He peeked with 100-meters left and saw Giblin and Summer making a charge. Wilson had enough of a gap at that point as he crossed the line in a winning 14:37 time.

“I know I am one of the most experienced runners on this course. This was my sixth time racing on here total,” said Wilson. “I knew how the race would go out. I knew if I went with the pack. I knew when I wanted to make my move.”

Giblin was next finishing in 2nd at 14:40. Summer crossed the line 2 seconds later in 3rd. Tunney was the second Sandburg runner in as he finished 4th another 2 seconds behind Summer. Mines rounded out the top five finishing 5th in a 14:45 time. Schumacher was a second back in 6th. Then came Parker Nold of Oswego East (14:50), Phillips (14:55), Simon (14:57), and Ethan Forsell of Oswego (14:58) in the top 10 finishers.

#4 Sandburg had raced only once this season and had prepared for this early season test. The Eagles passed with flying colors scoring only 63 points to win the team title. They placed 5 runners in the top 30 led by the top 10 finishes from Giblin and Tunney. Brock Rice also ran under 15-minutes as he ran 14:59 to finish 11th. Sean Marquardt (19th) and Trent Anderson (30th) rounded out the top five for this team. Their split on the group was a good 38 seconds. Those kinds of splits win state championships in November.

“We did not have a lot of pressure coming into this race. We knew we wanted to make a statement but we dd not really need a state ready race,” Tunney said. “We just wanted to race as good as we could and get used to Detweiller.”

#8 York’s second race of the season was far better than their first race a week ago at Joliet Central when they finished behind Oswego. The places changed this week as the Dukes scored 129 points to finish second. Summer’s 3rd place finish led the way. Jeff Luka was next (13th) followed by Garrett Schwan (21st), Colin Lewandowski (44th), and Eric Rutherford (56th). Their top five split was 55 seconds with a 37 second split between Luka and Rutherford.

#3 Oswego was without one of their top five runners Balin Doud for the second week in a row. The Panthers still scored 137 points to finish third. Ethan Forsell’s 10th place finish led the team followed by Benjamin Huey (28), Braden Cardamone (32), Brady Nelson (33), and Benjamin Forsell (39). Their top five split was only 26 seconds. Lincoln OR finished fourth (195 points) with a 42 second top five split led by Tucker Bowerfind (16) and Aiden Smith (36). #14 Palatine (255 points) and #5 St. Charles East (281 points) finished fifth and sixth.

It was an eye-opening experience for Lincoln, a school that is in Portland OR and is ranked in the NXR Northwest Region top five by DyeStat.com. Their Coach Eric Dettman ran on four state championships teams for York from 2002 to 2005. He wanted his team to experience what he cherished while running in Illinois.

“This was a lot more intense and physical, Smith said. “You look to the left and you really can’t say ‘what up’. It’s more serious and less laid back than it is in Oregon.”

“This was a super fun experience with the team,” added Bowerfind. “We’ve learned so much from this race. I didn’t know about all these kids if they had a big kick or how they ran. You just have to put yourself in the mix and just go.”

“It was a bit scary at the start with so many people closing in together,” said Kendall York. “After the race got going, you kind of forgot about that. This was so competitive compared to the races we have had with COVID.”