1A/2A races take center stage at Peoria HS Invitational

Foltz in command in Girls win; Nalley holds off Genisio in Boys race; Crane, Jensen claim individual wins in 3A races

By Michael Newman

Peoria, Ill – The one certainty in Saturday’s Peoria Invitational at Detweiller Park is this was not the same course that runners had run on in the previous two big invitationals held at this venue. Rain had softened up the course taking away that speedway effect the runners felt earlier this month.

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The weather did play a part in some of the four races. By the time the 3A Boys race started just after 11AM, the temperatures had climbed to 80 degrees with the humidity in the atmosphere continuing to climb. “It felt like I was wearing a wet blanket,” 3A Boys race winner Ben Crane of New Trier said. It showed on his singlet as it looked that Crane had been doused by a bucket of water.

Crane had run 14:25.3 on this course three weeks ago in the First to the Finish Invitational. On this day on a course that had longer grass, Crane won the race this time but just running 14:40.4. The course was 15 to 18 seconds slower than in the previous meets.

It did not affect Kate Foltz of Tuscola in her win in this race. The 1A/2A Girls races had favorable conditions starting at 9:00 AM with temperatures in the low 60’s. Foltz shot off to the lead passing 1 miles in 5:14.2. Two of the other favorites in the race, Natalie Biernbaum of Normal University and Sundara Weber of Sandwich passed that point in 5:29. It seemed planned. If it was, it was good planning.

Foltz ran her final 2 miles in 5:41.7 and 5:41.4 passing 2-miles in 10:55.9. Her lead by that point had grew to 20 seconds. Her time at First to the Finish Invitational was 16:48.9 on a faster track. She came to the line with a smile on her face as she bettered that time running 16:37.4 for the win.

“I was happy about last week’s race (at St. Joseph-Ogden) and gained confidence from that,” Foltz said. “I went out at the pace I wanted to. I was a little tired in the final mile. I was happy with my performance.”

Weber ran under control throughout this race which resulted in a 16:55.30 second-place time. It was the first time that the sophomore had run under 17-minutes. Her move in the final half mile of the race gave her a six second ahead of Bierbaum who ran 17:01.9 to finish third.

There was close to 55 seconds before the next runner crossed the line with freshman Jadyn Gerardi of Anna-Jonesboro running 17:56.7 to finish fourth. Ali Londrigan of Chatham-Glenwood was the team’s first runner with a 18:06.9 to finish fifth.

2A top ranked Chatham-Glenwood ran a controlled effort to win the team title in this division with 110 points. The Titans placed 4 runners in the top 24 to help them claim the win. Crystal Lake South finished second (157 points) led by finishes from Abby Machesky (11th) and Olivia Pinta (17th).

1A #2 Anna-Jonesboro and Morton both scored 167 points with Anna-Jonesboro getting third on the sixth runner tiebreak. The Wildcats had a 55 second split from their second through fifth runners. Waterloo scored 178 points to finish fifth two points ahead of Mt. Zion (1800 points) and another three points ahead of Dunlap and Benet Academy, who both scored 183 points.

Dylon Nalley of Marion had run 14:00.2 two weeks ago at the Richard Spring Invitational and was looking for a time even faster on this course in this meet. He decided to run in this meet on Tuesday evening over running in Terre Haute Saturday.

This was the deepest field of individual talent in this meet with Dale Johnson of Sterling, Gavin Genisio of Benton, and Tuscola’s Jackson Barrett and Josiah Hortin all having run fast times in September.

The first mile was similar than two weeks ago for Nalley passing 880 yards in 2:08 and the mile in 4:29. The pack of Genisio, Hortin, Barrett, and Johnson all passed the mile mark in 4:39.

His lead was continuing to grow. Nalley’s pace however was starting to slow down as he passed 2-miles in 9:21.4. It was four seconds slower than two weeks prior. The lead had grown to 14 seconds at that point. Genisio surged coming out of the triangle portion of the course and started to break the pack that was with him. Hortin, Johnson, and Barrett were within a second of Genisio holding on for dear life.

“I knew was close to my pace, but my legs felt differently that the last race here,” Nalley said after the race. “It’s was just one of those races. I’ll move on from this.” Nalley closed in a final 4:55 mile to run 14:17.2 to capture back to back wins in this meet. Nalley now holds the two fastest times at Detweiller Park this fall.

Genisio was focused in this meet and showed in the final mile. He was 14 seconds behind Nalley at two-miles. The gap was seven seconds at the finish as Genisio ran 14:24.10 to place second. “I came around the final curve to the home straight and could see he (Nalley) was struggling,” Genisio said. “ Iwas going to try to run him down and use my kick. I got close.”

Hortin ran 14:41 to hold off Johnson who ran 14:42 to finish fourth. Barrett ran 14:51.6 to finish fifth.

1A top ranked Tuscola showed what kind of pack they had three weeks ago at First to the Finish. They showed their strength again in this race with placing 3 runners in the top 11, 5 runners in the top 44 to win with 89 points. The Warriors led throughout this race with Blake McLeese (11th), Will Foltz (26th), and Xander Neamtu (44th) part of their top five. The top five split in this race was 78 seconds.

Normal University was the top 2A team to finish and did so with some tremendous pack running. The Pioneers finished second with 121 points led by the 15-17 finish from Mason Hart and Landen Alcorn. U-High placed their top 5 runners in the first 31 with just a 19 second split. Benet Academy showed why they are one of the top 2A teams in the state scoring 129 points finishing third placing all of their scorers in the top 50. Finn Richards was in the top 10 throughout this race running 15:01 to finish sixth overall. Aidan Hulett led the pack finishing 20th. The top 4 split was 40 seconds, 66 seconds on their top five.

1A #2 Benton finished fourth with 138 points with Genisio, Gabe McLain (10th), and Cole Buchanan (23rd) leading the Rangers. Marion scored 177 points to finish fifth followed by Mt. Zion (254 points), Payton Prep (261 points), and Civic Memorial (271 points).

Danielle Jensen of McHenry was in complete control in the 3A Girls race leading throughout. Jensen shared the lead with Evanston’s Stella Davis in the first mile with the two passing the point in 5:49. Maria Polyakov of Glenbrook North moved to the front in the triangle with Jensen staying close in hand. Jensen took off just before the finish line entering the final loop of the course. The McHenry senior ran 17:35.6 to win by 20 seconds with Polyakov running 17:55.2 to finish second. Madison Popelar of Edwardsville (18:13.8), Stella Davis (18:16.6), and Olivia Coll of Edwardsville (18:17.6) rounded out the individual top five.

It was expected that Edwardsville and Huntley, the top two teams in this race, would challenge for the win. It was the Tigers that were in charge scoring 84 points to win the team title placing 5 runners in the top 30 without one of their top five runners, Emily Thompson, not racing. Huntley scored 109 points to finish second led by Haley Rahman placing sixth.

Maine South had a 45 second split on their top five to help the Hawks finish third with 165 points. Fremd (216 points), Evanston (226 points), and Warren (231 points) finished fourth through sixth.

The heat was on in the final race of the morning at Detweiller Park as only four runners ran under 15-minutes. The final team scores did not shown how much New Trier dominated in this race. The Trevians were between 83 to 86 points throughout this race. They ended up scoring 83 points to claim the team title.

It was a different experience for Ben Crane in this race being the marked man. “It is usually I try to get in the pack in a front of the race,” Crane said. “This time, it was other runners running on my shoulders.”

Crane had the lead at the mile passing in 4:47 with Rory Gann of Fremd, Mohammed Abdullahi of Mather, and Tommy Nitz of Huntley along with 15 other runners close to his shoulder. Crane was waiting to make his move but waited until 1200 meters to go with Gaan and Josh Weeks of Morton close on his shoulder. A few fast strides along Route 29 and he was gone.

Crane ran 14:40.4 to claim the win by 14 seconds ahead of Gaan(14:54.1) and Weeks (14:56.7). Fremd freshman Jack Jennings ran under 15-minutes for the first time (14:57.5) to finish fourth. Tommy Nitz ran 15:01.5 to finish fifth.

Fremd’s top five finishes helped them finish second as a team in this meet with 138 points. St. Charles East, led by the sixth-place finish from Oscar Frontjes, scored 211 points to finish third. Sandburg was two points back scoring 213 points to finish fourth. Morton ran in the 3A division of this meet and ran well finishing fifth with 239 points.