IHSA Regional Recap - Boys

IHSA Aurora Christian Regional

BOYS RACE

Saturday, October 24, 2015

SPLITS | UPDATED FINISH TIMES

COMPLETE RESULTS | IHSA REGIONAL RESULTS PAGE

PHOTO ALBUM (thanks Ashley Eiermann and Ben Padgitt!)

Fifty minutes after the girls race began, it was time for the boys team to toe the line for the right to advance to the Lisle Sectional next week.

As we said last week, conference is the culmination of our regular season. The Regional meet is our first step on the three-week sprint to the state meet that is the postseason.

We knew going in that Melrose Park (Walther Christian) and Elmhurst (Timothy Christian) would likely be our chief competition in this race and that we were going to have to run at our best to achieve our goal of finishing in the top three with some other competitors close on our heels heading into the Regional.

By the time the boys’ race had started, Mother Nature had finished throwing her fit, and the skies had cleared somewhat. The ladies had just put on a dominating performance of their own with seven in the top sixteen to claim their first Regional title since 2011. The boys were hoping to follow that with a strong race of their own.

At precisely 11:00 am the starter’s pistol fired to signal the start of the boys race. The course, particularly in the forest, was in slightly worse shape due to the girls’ race having just run through there.

With Tanner Chada of Aurora (A. Christian) quickly establishing control of the race en route to another regional title, Paul was up front battling with the chase pack for position. Jasper and Sam were also off to good starts.

Between Sam and Ryan though, there was a significant gap already building at the point of the first mile. Ryan was closely followed by Robbie Burns at the mile, with another gap developing between Robbie and Jake Squared -- Jake Dooley and Jake Juska.

Just like the girls race, the plan was to move in the second and third miles of the race as best as we could and see where our chips fell.

Paul Gordon was again our top finisher, moving up through the chase pack well in the second mile, en route to a fourth place finish in 16:43 for the 2.88 mile course. Paul’s fourth place finish earned him a Regional medal for his efforts. Congratulations, Paul!

Jasper Requiron was our next finisher, and he also moved well in the second mile to finish eighth in 17:00 in his first-ever postseason competition after being forced to sit out postseason last year with injury problems. Not far behind Jasper, Sam Asa posted a twelfth place finish in 17:23, also moving well through the second mile to move up quite a few spots.

After the front trio came our back trio of Ryan Pleva, Robbie Burns and Jake Dooley. Ryan Pleva ran steady en route to a 18:54 finish and 31st place, with Robbie Burns (who had been close behind Ryan all race) just a step behind in 18:55, good for 32nd place. A few places further back in 39th came Jake Dooley, finishing in 19:11. Rounding out the Sentinel attack was Jake Juska, in just his second race of the year after initially thinking he was going to be out for the season, ran another strong race to finish 56th in 20:40.

The boys scored 3-6-10-26-27-(34)-(47) to score 72 points, which earned them a third place finish and the right to advance to the Lisle (Sr.) Sectional next week at Community Park! Congratulations, guys, well done!

FUN STATS FROM REGIONAL:

-Paul’s 4th place finish (and Regional medal) makes him the 23rd Westmont Boys Cross Country athlete to earn a regional medal.

-Paul’s Regional medal is the 37th Regional medal earned in program history, dating back to 1977.

-The boys team as a whole advanced to the Sectional championship meet for the 24th consecutive season! This streak began with the 1992 season.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To advance to a Sectional meet for 24 consecutive seasons -- a streak dating back to the early 1990s -- is quite a feat. Not many other programs in this state can claim that.

We know going in that Sectional is going to be a tough fight. But..anything can happen in a Sectional meet. That's why they run the races! So... on to Sectional, gentlemen… another week practice and then 16-20 minutes of chaos at Lisle to determine who earns one of those coveted trips to Peoria’s Detweiller Park for the State meet. Are you ready?

We are.

The boys run on Saturday, October 31st, at Lisle Community Park at 11:00 am. Come out and support the Sentinels as the boys try for a fourth consecutive trip to the State meet!

LET'S GO SENTINELS!!!