Downers Grove South win 3A Boys Title at Peoria Invitational; Jortberg, Gordon Win Girls races

By Michael Newman

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Peoria, Ill. – The XC Gods looked over Detweiller Park Saturday morning and blessed the park with no wind, temperatures in the 50s, and a fast course. It was an invitation to all competing at the Peoria High Invitational to run fast times. Runners in the four races accepted that invitation.

Results

Naperville Central’s Thomas Shilgalis in the 3A boys race was up for the challenge. Naperville Central coach David Ashton said before the race that his star runner still was not at 100 percent. Shilgalis had come down with a sinus infection and bronchitis two weeks ago that had limited his training. He ran 15:20 on this course on Sept. 15 at the Richard Spring Invitational. He wanted to give it a go. Shilgalis wanted one more crack at this course before November’s state meet.

The pace in the 3A boys race, the last race of the day at Detweiller Park, was torrid. The leaders, led by Maine South’s Tommy Brady, York’s Ethan Kern, and Andrew O’Keefe of Granite City went through 880 yards in 2:12 and through the mile in 4:38, with Shilgalis on their shoulders.

The pace picked up in the triangle as the foursome of Brady, Shilgalis, Kern, and O’Keefe separated themselves from the rest of the race. As they entered back onto the main portion of the course, each of the runners made little moves testing the other three. After passing through two miles in 9:25, it was Shilgalis who made a defining move in this race as he slowly surged ahead and up the incline and around the finish line area for one more loop on the course.

If Shilgalis was trying to break the will of the other three runners in his group, it did not seem to be working at first. Brady made the effort to stay close as Kern and O’Keefe held on. Shilgalis started to break away in the final 800. He seemed to be getting stronger. Edwardsville’s Roland Prenzler was closing in on the other three and hoping to break into the first four places.

It was Shilgalis that had the final say motoring towards the finish line and seeing the clock tick over 14 minutes as he approached. He crossed the line with the win in 14:11.4, his fastest cross country time for 3 miles by 16 seconds.

“I had two bad races, but I knew I was in good shape. As soon as I got healthy, I knew I would have a fast race,” Shilgalis said. “We were all relaxed the first mile. We found out in the second mile who was feeling good. I decided to take it out to see what would happen. At that point, I tried to pull away as much as I could.”

The margin of victory for Shilgalis was 11 seconds ahead of Brady (14:22.6), who achieved a personal best. In fact, the top 10 runners that crossed the line in the race all achieved personal bests. Kern dropped 16 seconds off his personal best in running 14:25 to finish third. O’Keefe’s improvement was the same as Kern’s, as he ran 14:29 to finish fourth. Then came Prenzler who knocked his personal best down 22 seconds from the 14:54 he ran earlier in the season on this course. His time was 14:32 to round out the top five finishers.

The team race as a toss-up. The top squads were so evenly matched. Downers Grove South did not take the bait of the early fast pace deciding to work their way through the pack. That strategy paid off as the Mustangs won a close team race scoring 109 points for the title.

“Our workouts have been good, and we have been waiting for a break through. Eddie (Siuda) held back the first 800 and pulled a couple of guys with him. We knew the race was going to be fast and we made that mistake last time we were here (at FTTF, September 8),” Downers Grove South coach Brian Caldwell said. “The field was not as big as FTTF, so we knew we would be able to move up. We talked about being patient and working our way up. The guys had the goal to win today. All I really wanted them to do was race well. The guys ran tremendous.”

Eddie Siuda led the way for Downers Grove South, finishing ninth followed by John Norris (16th), John Heneghan (25th), James Weigel (27th), and George Willer (33rd) that rounded out the top five. The team's split on that group was 35 seconds.

Lyons Township ran a great team race and finished second (122 points) with only 21 seconds separating the top five runners. Ryan Bonfiglio (13th) and Jack Ehlert (15th) both ran under 15 minutes to lead the Lions, followed by Joacael Thorpe (29th), Drew Dilcher (31st), and Sawyer Madell (34th).

York ran its full team for the first time, moving four sophomores up onto the varsity. That mix was good for the Dukes as they finished third with 128 points and six points away from Lyons Township. Kern and Daniel Klysh (ninth) led York with top ten finishes followed by Collin Hill (19th) who also ran under 15 minutes, Michael Moriarty (46th) and Sam Ayers (51st).

Sandburg finished a strong fourth (148 points) led by Ben Giblin’s 14th place finish. Mundelein bounced back from a “so-so” performance at Palatine to finish fifth (176 points) led by Dillon Blake’s 11th place finish.

Meet Highlights 

1A/2A Girls Race

The closest finish of the day was in the 1A /2A Girls race. This first race foreshadowed the fast times that were still to come. Jenna Schwartz of Waterloo, Aspen Gordon of Morton, and Brooke Stromsland of Lakes Community were all together with 600 meters left in the race. Gordon took off with 300 to go with Stromsland refusing to budge from Gordon’s side. The move had an effect on Schwartz as she started to drop back. Gordon made one more move with 150 left that was the difference-maker. Stromsland made one more surge but she ran out of room to catch the Morton senior. Gordon’s winning time of 17:00.8 was a personal best of more than 45 seconds.

“I saw the clock as git closer to the finish and I almost started to cry,” Gordon said. “I crossed the finish line and almost collapsed. I can’t believe I ran that fast.”

Stromsland improved her personal best by almost 20 seconds running 17:02 to finish second overall. Schwartz ran 17:16 to finish third showing that she still has faster times in her heading into the state series.

Crystal Lake South showed great pack running placing all their scorers in the top 27 to win the team title with 74 points.  Mackenzie Aldridge led the Gators finishing fourth overall followed by teammates Olivia Beckwith (eighth), Chelsea Greene (20th), Emma Murphy (21st), and Addie Frisch (27th). Normal University (107 points) and Lakes Community (164 points) finished second and third in the team standings. 

1A/2A Boys Race

It was just a matter of time before Nick Doud of Bloomington took the lead in this race. Doud stayed off the pace the first mile as Chatham-Glenwood’s Graham Turk led the pack through a 4:48 opening mile. Doud passed Turk with a kilometer left in the race and moved from there. Doud’s winning time of 14:47.7 was almost 18 seconds ahead of Turk who held off Waterloo’s Eli Ward for second.

“My plan was not to be in the lead early on but to try to work my way up,” Doud said. “I stayed patient in the triangle and started to make my move behind the finish line. It was a good time to make that move.”

The expectations of a close race between the top two 2A teams in the state came true as Chatham-Glenwood won the team title by just one point ahead of Bloomington 115 to 116.

Glenwood made its presence known in the front with top five finishes from Turk, Dathan Maton (4th) and Drey Maton (5th). Cooper Peterson was the team’s fourth runner (27th), followed by Cameron Smith (77th).

Bloomington placed all of its scorers in the top 60 led by Doud’s win and then followed by Bradyn Olmstead (eighth), Evan Turnbull (13th), Drew Gibson (34th), and Roger Mendiola (60th).

Dixon finished third (162 points) just ahead of Benet Academy (168 points). Centralia finished fifth (185 points). 

3A Girls Race

Julianna Stogsdill of Plainfield North, Kate Jortberg of Glenbrook South, and Edwardsville’s Abby Korak passed the mile together in 5:33. One mile later, Jortberg was by herself with a 15 second lead. She rolled from there running 17:10 for the win and 18 seconds ahead of Stogsdill. Korak ran 17:34 to finish third.

“I did not have a specific time goal. I just wanted to be near 17:30,”” Jortberg said. “I am happy with what I accomplished.”

Prospect had the team title won by the halfway point of the race. The Lady Knights placed their top five runners in the first 19 places to score 55 points for the win. Julia O’Grady led her team with a fifth-place finish followed by Marissa Valenti (eighth), Jenna Baltes (11th), Annika Erickson (12th), and Emily Hubbard (19th). The split on their top five runners was 24 seconds.

Edwardsville (120 points) and Fremd (131 points) finished second and third. 

Photo – Downers Grove South won a tight 3A Boys team race (Photo Credit: Brian Caldwell)