Boys Conference Recap
Sunday, October 18 2015 - I-8 Conference/Independents Classic
INTERSTATE 8 CONFERENCE/INDEPENDENTS CLASSIC
Boys Race
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Lisle Community Park
SPLITS | MILE SPLITS | UPDATED FINISH TIMES
COMPLETE RESULTS | PHOTO ALBUM (thanks Tom Dea!)
The Conference meet is the culmination of our regular season.
We started this season back on August 12th, more than two months ago. At least for official practices—in reality, we started preparing for this year back on June 8th with the first day of summer running. So four months of training – it was all ultimately designed for this meet.
All of the miles put in over summer running. All of the workouts in the heat, the wind, the unexpected chilliness (though that was rare this year…this fall has been exceptionally nice—let’s hope that continues) – was for this meet.
For the second of three times this season, we made the short trip down Odgen Avenue to Lisle’s Community Park for the annual Interstate 8 Conference/Independents Classic meet.
For our new parents that don’t know how this meet works – For years, the I-8 Conference meet was a very small conference meet. Some years, not even half of the schools in the Conference would show up to this meet as they didn’t have complete teams. As a result, for many years, Lisle (and the I-8) would invite a number of schools in the area that were independent – in other words, they weren’t a part of a conference. Think of Notre Dame in college football.
Anyway, the Conference meet is a “meet within a meet”. All runners run together in the same race – there’s only one girls race and one boys race. After the races are completed, the meet is scored as it normally is overall, with the independent schools included to get those results.
After those results have been scored, they then pull out the independent teams from the scoring and re-score the meet, this time with only conference schools included. All runners are eligible for awards in the Independents Classic meet – regardless of whether or not they are members of the I-8 Conference, but only I-8 Conference members are eligible for the top twelve All-Conference spots that are awarded at this meet.
Enough of the background. Let’s get to the boys’ race, shall we?
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Amboy was a tough meet for our boys. We ran our five freshmen in the Frosh-Soph race, and we finished a close ninth place, just a few points out of seventh. That left us without a complete team at the varsity level, as we also had injuries that held out Ryan and Tom. We ran very well in the varsity boys race against a tough field. But we quickly put Amboy behind us, and turned our focus to Conference.
Through the week we would get a piece of unfortunate news, as well as a different piece of fantastic news.
The bad news was that one of our top five on the varsity crew for much of the season, Tom Dea, has been ordered to what we’ll call “injured reserve” and is out for the season. We’re sorry to see Tom’s season end on such a bitter note, as he was improving greatly this year. Hopefully Tom will be back to full health in time for track season, and hopefully he’ll finally have a cross country season without an injury in 2016.
Just a couple of days before Conference, we were informed by Jake Juska – the man who has been taking so many awesome photos for us all season long – had finally been cleared to run in his first race of the season. With Tom going down, Jake coming back (and with a couple of weeks of formal training) is a great piece of news. We were expecting Jake to be out for the season as well, but for him to be cleared and back in the fold is amazing. We’re glad to have you back, Jake!
At precisely 10:50 am, the tone sounded to start the race. Nevertheless, 120 boys took off from the starting line to the first turn around the pond. They then continued behind the hill, then traveled up the hill. After they came down the hill, they passed Coach Dunne at the mile mark.
At the mile mark, it was clear that our ladies were off to a strong start. After that, the ladies rounded the pond once more, back across the field where they started from, up towards the triangle, at which they made a sharp 180 degree turn and headed down towards Short Street.
They crossed Short Street, ran behind the softball fields up towards the bridge. Just after crossing the bridge and making a right turn to begin the soccer field loop, they again passed Coach Dunne (and this time, Coach Wolf as well) at the two mile mark. It was clear that our top trio runners were again putting together an excellent race. The remainder of our pack was running well, but were well back of our top trio.
It was also clear that Sandwich and Streator had the race well in hand and it was a matter of a couple of places who would determine who the Conference champion would be. Nevertheless, the boys weren’t going to go down with a fight.
Paul Gordon was our top finisher today, opening with a 5:25 mile near the front of the chase pack. Paul kept passing people, and kept at it through the second mile, which he passed at 11:18. He then closed strong to finish the 5K circuit in 17:36. Paul’s 17:36 converts to a 17:01 3 mile time, which is a lifetime best time for Paul.
Paul earned a 7th place overall finish—and 5th place in Conference to earn an Independents Classic plaque as well as an All-Conference medal. Not bad for a three-year soccer player who is running his first year of cross country. Congratulations, Paul—we can’t wait to see what you can do in the postseason!
Jasper Requiron was our second man yesterday morning. He trailed Paul (and Sam) slightly at the opening mile, posting a 5:29 mark. That gap remained the same as Jasper passed through the second mile at 11:30, but he had moved up well through the second mile, picking off one guy after another. Jasper then charged to the finish line in 18:02, just missing breaking the 18:00 barrier on this notoriously slow course to claim 12th place overall in the meet.
Jasper’s 18:02 converts to a time of 17:27, less than 15 seconds off his PR (he was just one second off at Amboy, another hilly course) – and that brought him 9th place in the Conference to earn an Independents Classic plaque as well as All-Conference honors. Congratulations, Jasper! We’re excited to see what you can do in the postseason.
Sam Asa was our third man yesterday. He and Paul ran together through the first mile with a similar 5:25 opener, but as Paul began to pull away, Sam held on strong during the second mile, passing through in 11:26. Sam faded slightly in the third mile, but he was not going to miss out on All-Conference honors.
Sam got the job done as he stormed home in 18:07 (17:31 converted) to a 14th place overall finish to earn an Independents plaque, and good for 11th place in Conference–and All-Conference honors. Congratulations, Sam! We are looking forward to what you can do in the postseason!
Ryan Pleva – in his first race back after battling severe shin splints – wound up as our fourth man at Conference. Ryan opened with a 5:56 mile, followed that by passing the two mile mark in 12:31, and finished strong in a deep Conference field to finish 40th overall with a time of 19:38. That time converts to exactly 19:00. Ryan would finish 31st in Conference.
To run just a few seconds off a season PR after a major bout of shin splints on this slow, hilly 5K course is impressive. We’re hopeful that Ryan will be able to run the entire postseason this year after a rough ending for him last year.
Freshman Jake Dooley was our fifth man on this day. Jake ran an excellent race to earn a spot on our postseason roster this year. Jake opened with a blistering 5:55 first mile – the first time he’s ever broken 6 minutes.
Although Jake would pay the price in the second and third miles – he’s still learning how to race – he passed the two mile mark in 12:42 on the way to a 47th place overall finish in 20:07. That converts to a 19:28 3 mile time which is a new PR for Jake, and he finished 36th in Conference! Congratulations, Jake – good luck in the postseason, we hope you’re as excited as we are!
Another freshman – Robbie Burns – finished as our sixth man yesterday to earn a spot on our postseason roster for the state series. Robbie opened up with a 6:27 first mile, then crossed the two mile mark in 13:20. Robbie moved extremely well in the second and third miles to close the gap on his fellow freshman, Jake Dooley, to finish in 20:27, which converts to a 19:47 PR time. Robbie earned 57th place overall, good for 44th in Conference.
Connor Alessi was our seventh man on the day. Connor started out well in 6:31, but wasn’t able to hold it as well as he would have liked in the second and third mile, passing through the second mile at 13:41, and closing well to finish in 21:18, which converts to a 20:36. That was good enough for a 69th place finish overall and 52nd in Conference. Great season, Connor!
Our top seven guys combined to score 5-9-11-31-36-(44)-(51) to score 92 points to earn a third place finish. Behind our top seven scorers, there were a few more strong races turned in by those who did not factor into the scoring.
Jacob Nader followed soon behind Connor. Jacob, as he usually does, got out fast in the first mile. He held it together well in the second mile, passing by in 13:36, but paid the price in the third mile this meet. Nevertheless, Jacob stormed down the homestretch to finish in 21:34, which converts to a 20:52—which is a new PR on the season!
Jacob finished 75th overall, and 56th in Conference. Congratulations on breaking that 21:00 barrier, Jacob! Your hard work this season has paid off!
Jake Juska made it back-to-back Jakes, finishing just ten seconds after Jacob Nader. This was Jake’s first meet of the season after recovering from an injury that sidelined him for two months. Jake opened with a 6:45 mile, held steady through the two mile in 14:00, then closed strong to finish in 21:44, which converts to a 21:01 3 mile. Jake finished 78th overall, 58th in Conference.
To run a 16 second difference in mile splits over three miles and to nearly go sub-7 mile pace after missing a huge chunk of the season is an amazing accomplishment. Way to go, Jake!
Obviously, Jake was not going to be in race shape for Conference after missing so much time, but his race today is an excellent starting point for him to build off of as we begin postseason next week. He’ll be ready to go in two weeks when we return for Sectional.
Brandon Abington followed right behind Jake, just a second behind Jake. Brandon opened with a 6:40 mile, held strong through two miles to pass by in 13:44. Unfortunately, Brandon faded quite a bit in the third mile to finish with a time of 21:45, which converts to a 21:02. Brandon would finish 80th overall, and 60th in Conference. Great season Brandon!
Ben Padgitt ran another strong race to finish out his freshman season. Ben opened with a 6:51 mile (he opened in 6:43 at Mane Event for the 4K course earlier this month). Ben held on well through the second mile, crossing that mark in 14:20, and stormed home with a strong third mile to finish in 22:13, which converted to a new PR of 21:30! Congratulations, Ben on finishing your season with your best race yet!
Some fun stats set by our boys team at Conference yesterday:
- Paul’s 17:36 effort places him 10th on the top ten career best times at the Conference meet.
- With Jasper, Paul, and Sam all earning All-Conference honors, Westmont boys cross country has now had 51 different individuals earn All-Conference honors, dating back to 1977.
- The boys’ team has had at least three All-Conference medalists for four consecutive seasons, and for the ninth time in the ten seasons we have been in this conference. The lone exception is the 2011 season.
- The boys team has now finished no lower than third place in Conference since the 2003 season, a streak of 12 consecutive years finishing in the top three.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
We finished a strong third place in Conference, continuing a streak of finishing in the top three that has lasted over a decade and is a testament to the sustained success we have built as a program.
We’re a young team. We will only lose one senior for next year—Paul Gordon. We’ve got a lot of young talent coming back. We’ll be even better next year—but we’ll talk about next year when that gets here. Bottom line, the future is bright.
Thank you to the frosh-soph crew who are not continuing on to Regional for a great season. It was a pleasure to coach you all this year. We hope that you enjoyed your first year of cross country and we hope you’ll come out for track season and continue on with the program next year.
On to regional for the varsity crew.
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LOOKING AHEAD
The varsity boys move on to the Regional, which kicks off the IHSA State series, at Oakhurst Forest Preserve this coming Saturday, October 24. The boys will run at 11:00 am. Come join us and support the Sentinels as they look to qualify for the Sectional meet for the 24th consecutive season, a streak dating back to 1992!