Boys Win Conference, Girls Finish 2nd

Independents Classic / Interstate 8 Conference Championship

Lisle Community Park

Saturday, October 18, 2014

This meet is the meet that we work towards all year.

Every workout, every long run, every piece of our program builds towards our Conference Championship meet. We worry about our state series run after Conference. After Amboy on Monday, our total focus was doing as well as we possibly could at Lisle's Community Park. We moved to this conference for the 2006 season, and going into the meet Saturday, both the boys and girls teams were looking for revenge on Sandwich. The boys wanted to pay back Sandwich for last year's tough loss in the Conference meet -- they beat us by two points, 53-55. The girls were looking for revenge on Sandwich as well, having finished just two points behind them at Amboy on Monday.

A note about this meet before we get into the details: Lisle invites several independent schools to compete in this meet as they are not a part of any Conference and would not have a meet to run in otherwise this week. This is in part because in previous years, so few teams were competing in the Conference championship (there were some years where we've had only three complete teams in a conference of 12 schools!). Inviting the Independent schools provides more competition -- that isn't to say that our conference isn't competitive. In fact, this year was perhaps the deepest and most competitive Conference meet that we have taken part in since our move to the Interstate 8.

So what they do in scoring the meet is they initially score everyone together, then pull out the independent teams and re-score the meet with only the Conference schools. Everyone competes for an Independents Classic plaque (they are given out to the top 15 finishers) and then the top 12 Interstate 8 finishers are awarded All-Conference honors.

So, on a cloudy and occasionally showery Saturday morning, the battle lines were drawn (or at least, the starting line was) and the stage was set for the 2014 edition of the Interstate 8 Conference Championship.

Ladies Run Strong Races at Community Park to Finish 2nd Behind Seneca

We knew going into this meet that Seneca were the odds-on favorite to repeat as Conference champions. We also knew that Sandwich would be gunning for us, especially after they had beaten us on Monday by two points at Amboy. We wanted to make sure that Sandwich wasn't going to beat us at Conference on Saturday. It was clear what our goal was: Finish 2nd. Let Seneca do their thing; we'll take care of our business to make sure that we finish right behind them in the team standings.

For the second time this season, eleven of our ladies stepped to the line to traverse Lisle's 5K course, and for some of our athletes, it was their last race of the season. For a couple of our runners, it was the final race of their cross country careers. So, they were determined to do the best that they could on Lisle's notoriously difficult course. This year's meet was very competitive for the ladies, especially within the Conference. Here's an astounding statistic to consider: As I wrote earlier, they give out plaques to the top 15 runners in the Independents Classic, regardless of whether or not they are a member of the Interstate 8 Conference. This year, the Interstate 8 Conference completely shut out the independent schools in that instance: The top seventeen runners in this meet were all from the Interstate 8. That is truly impressive.

Imogene Asa again led the Sentinels with another solid race, finishing 10th overall to earn an Independents Classic plaque to add to her trophy case. Peyton Nash and Emilia Maslany both ran excellent races to finish 14th and 15th places, respectively, and claim the last two Independents Classic plaques on offer. Shortly after that, Brittany Eiermann finished 20th overall, and was quickly followed by Lily Arndt, who ran a season best time to finish 22nd and Lisa Niemiec was just a few steps behind in 23rd. Hannah Abbatacola rounded out our top seven by finishing 30th, and Halle Nash ran another great race to finish 36th. Amanda Yates ran another solid race to finish 71st, and Victoria Thomas finished right behind in 72nd. Michelle Gorman also ran a solid race in finishing 89th.

Although Seneca certainly has the big guns up front and will be competing for a top ten spot at the State meet in November, consider this: their seventh runner finished 45th. We had eight runners in the first 36 spots. That, I think, is the best indicator of the depth and the pack that has served us so well this season. That also bodes well for our future, which is looking very bright. It is going to be a very exciting next few years for Westmont Girls Cross Country.

In the Independents Classic, the ladies scored 8-10-11-16-18-(19)-(26) to score 63 points and finish 2nd to the Seneca powerhouse.

After the Independents Classic plaques had been awarded, it was time for the Conference results to be unveiled. We knew Seneca had won easily. We knew that we were a solid second place in Conference, but how close would Sandwich be to us?

Imogene Asa earned her third All-Conference honor, finishing 10th in a very deep field. Peyton Nash and Emilia Maslany finished 14th and 15th in Conference. Brittany Eiermann was 19th, Lily Arndt 21st, Lisa Niemiec 22nd, Hannah Abbatacola 27th, and Halle Nash 32nd. Amanda Yates was 59th, Victoria Thomas 60th, and Michelle Gorman 69th.

In the Conference standings, the ladies scored 8-10-11-15-17-(18)-(23) to finish with 61 points, again 2nd place to Seneca.

It was a great way to end the regular season on a very high note, and us coaches could not be prouder of our ladies. They simply ran an outstanding race when it mattered most, and they were rewarded with a seventh consecutive top three finish in Conference, dating back to our Conference Championship in 2008. We are very proud of our tradition of excellence, and that continued today.

 Three All-Conference Seniors Lead Sentinels to 12th Conference Championship In Program History

It could not have been clearer on Saturday morning as we were setting up camp at Lisle's Community Park: Our men's team was determined to reclaim the Conference Championship from Sandwich, having lost to them by two points last year. Although we were without Jasper once again, we were determined to bring back the Conference championship to Westmont.

Fifty minutes after the girls race begin, the boys stepped to the line, led by defending Conference champion Nick Dea, who was looking to repeat his Conference championship.

Unfortunately, Ross McCormick of Seneca was not going to let the Conference championship slip away from him this year after last year. McCormick quickly put an end to any doubt about who was going to win the overall meet and Conference championships.

Nick Dea took care of business and finished a very strong second place overall. Anthony Alessi finished third overall for the third consecutive year, and Mitch Perrotta took fifth overall. Tony Cordero ran another strong race to finish 18th overall, and freshman Jake Juska stepped up to the plate again to serve as our fifth man with another outstanding race to finish 28th. Sam Asa turned in another solid race to finish 35th, Ryan Pleva finished 53rd, and Jacob Nader turned in a great race to finish 73rd overall.

Congratulations go to Nick Dea, Anthony Alessi, and Mitch Perrotta on their outstanding races and earning Independents Classic plaques!

The boys would score 2-3-5-18-28-(35)-(52) to score 56 points and win the Independents Classic championship.

Although we knew that we had won Conference given the gap in points between us and Sandwich in the overall Independents Classic race, we still had some All-Conference honors to claim. Congratulations go to Nick Dea, who earned his third All-Conference award in his cross country career with his 2nd place finish. Anthony Alessi became one of a very select few athletes in our program's history to earn All-Conference honors in all four years of his career by finishing 3rd for the third consecutive year. Mitch Perrotta earned a second All-Conference honor in his career with his fifth place finish.

In the Conference standings, Tony Cordero finished 15th, Jake Juska finished 23rd, Sam Asa finished 26th, Ryan Pleva finished 39th, and Jacob Nader finished 51st.

The boys scored 2-3-5-15-23-(26)-(39) to score 48 points and reclaim the Conference title from Sandwich, who finished second with 78 points!

The boys' Conference title is the twelfth in program history. Our other Conference titles came in 1978, 1981, 1993-94, 1998, 2006-07-08-09-10, 2012, and now 2014. This is the seventh Conference title we have won in the nine seasons we have been in the Interstate 8.

Congratulations on your accomplishment, gentlemen -- you earned it, and you should be very proud of yourselves! Your coaches are very proud of you!

State Series Run Begins with Regional at Oakhurst Forest Preserve

Next week, we will begin our IHSA State Series run by returning to one of our favorite courses to run at -- Oakhurst Forest Preserve. We will be running on the 2.9 mile course for the Regional meet, which will be hosted by Aurora Christian.

In the Regional round, the top seven (7) teams will advance to the Lisle Sectional, to be held on November 1st. The top five (5) individuals that are not on an advancing team will also advance to the Lisle Sectional.

The girls have the opportunity to advance to the Sectional meet for the ninth consecutive season, dating back to 2006. The boys have advanced to the Sectional meet every year since 1992, and have the opportunity to do so for the 23rd consecutive year on Saturday. The boys will also be looking to defend their Regional championship from last season. This is a great opportunity for both teams to continue to add to our tradition of excellence.

We know that we have been working all year towards the Conference meet, and all of your hard work and effort clearly paid off on Saturday. Now, our focus turns to the Regional. We will worry about the Sectional meet next week. We are tapering, yes, but we still need to put in quality practices day in and day out. We do that, and we will take care of business at the Regional meet and move on to the Sectional.

The state series is here. Our journey continues, but it is nearly over...but not yet.