Rich Eschman Invite Results

Coach Miller talked to Coach Meyer of the junior high team earlier this week. Coach Meyer ran at Woodstock so he was pretty familiar with Veteran Acres Park in Crystal Lake. While the course is different from when Coach Meyer ran there, one thing he said stuck in Coach Miller's head: " It is the most difficult course in the state." While that statement is an opinion, it is an opinion backed up by a lot of facts since Veteran Acres Park is filled with rolling hills and narrow trails throughout the entire race. P.R.s are hard to come by on a course like this, but toughness was definitely on display.

Full Meet Splits

Boys Varsity Race - Results

This was our first race with our full varsity squad and it was great to see the boys working together. Freshman Luke Erickson led the way for the team with a 6-minute mile to start the race and a 6:08 in mile two. Luke finished the race in 35th place with a time of 18:55 and a great final 1.1 mile split of 6:47. Junior Charlie Wang decided he'd start his high school running career by running one of the hardest courses in the state. He ran a solid first race as our second runner, finishing in 104th place with a time of 21:54. Freshman Carson Thomas started controlled through the first mile and then did a great job catching other runners through the second mile. Coach Miller told him he ran a great half-mile during the second mile. Carson interpreted that as meaning he had only run a half-mile total. Carson didn't let that phase him and finished not far behind Charlie in 111th place with a time of 22:36. Sophomore Blake Madsen had one of the best races of his career and was close to Carson for much of the race. Blake finished in 118th place with a time of 22:51 and outdueled another runner to finish the race. Fellow sophomore Cayden Denhart also had a great kick and finished close to Blake in 122nd place with a time of 23:14. Senior Lincoln Calfo ran a great race as our team's sixth runner to finish in 132nd with a time of 23:59. Junior Liam Newton struggled through the race and finished as our seventh runner one place behind Lincoln in 24:10. This meet allowed unlimited varsity runners so we also had senior Aiden Slehofer (139th, 24:31), senior Simon Klein making his season debut (142nd, 24:49), and senior Ethan George (154th, 25:31) also running for the team. We weren't expecting to finish high team-wise against a bunch of 2A and 3A schools, but the boys showed some promise and just need to tighten up the gap between their packs. Of the 1A teams in the field, Woodstock (Marian), Richmond-Burton, and Johnsburg, the boys only finished behind Marian.

Girls Varsity Race - Results

Senior Dani Erickson and junior Ashley Ritchey were together for the first mile coming in at 6:46 and 6:47, respectively. That's when Ashley encountered side stitches for the first time in her running career. Ashley fell back behind Dani, who finished just outside the top ten in 12th place with a time of 22:33, and was even behind junior Summer Klein for most of the second and third miles. Summer had a great race on a very technical course to finish in 20th place with a time of 23:14, but Ashley ended up recovering from her side stitch and finished in 18th place with a time of 23:02. Sophomore Madi Madsen and junior Jennifer Duban were close together for the first mile, passing the mark in 7:20 and 7:24. Madi pulled ahead of Jen during miles two and three to finish in 35th place with a time of 24:24, but Jen had a great race to finish in 43rd with a time of 24:54. Senior Molly Martin made her season debut and finished with a time of 29:32 in 78th place. Junior Rose Helderle rounded out our top seven with a time of 30:48 in 85th place. The girls had an impressive team showing, finishing in 4th place with 123 points behind 3A Fremd's 88 points, 2A Belvidere North's 68 points, and 6th-ranked 3A Lake Zurich's 46 points. The girls beat 2A ranked team Crystal Lake South who finished in 5th with 128 points and also handily beat the 1A teams in the field. This girls' team is eventually going to get noticed outside of Lisle.

Boys Fr/So Race - Results

We called this race the "Steven Race," because freshman Steven King was our only entrant. The freshmen and sophomores who weren't aren't varsity only had to run 2.15 miles, but they still had to take on a pretty brutal course. Steven started the race in 7:15 and gained some ground on the runners in front of him. He finished in 75th place with a time of 16:11. Even though this was longer than two miles and a difficult course, 16:11 is faster than all the two-mile races Steven ran in junior high.

Girls Fr/So Race - Results

Sophomore Sofia Maldonado had a great race starting in 8:26 and closing in 9:51 to finish in 50th place (the last medal spot) with a total time of 18:17. Freshman Lila Helderle and freshman Sadie Shields ran neck-and-neck for the first mile. Sadie dropped back in the second mile, but Lila finished in 64th place with a time of 19:19. The freshman duo Giuliana Rotelli and Hylie Woodhouse also ran together for the first mile crossing in 9:03 and 9:05. Giuliana ended up finishing in 66th place with a time of 19:42 while Hylie was in 69th place in 19:59. Sadie finished in 75th place with a time of 20:41. Sophomore Violet King finished in 96th place and had a two-mile time of 27:14.

Lion of the Meet

As usual, there were many candidates for Lion of the Meet. Luke Erickson ran fantastic splits of 6:00, 6:08, and 6:47. Carson Thomas ran one of the most difficult courses in the state and finished third on our team without spikes. Lincoln Calfo had one of the best races I've seen from him over the past two years. Ethan George was the only runner to run negative splits from the second mile through the final 1.1 miles. Dani Erickson led the girls team with a solid race and Ashley Ritchey worked through side stitches to turn in a great race. Summer Klein closed the gap between our second and third runner and Jennifer Duban ran a great race to complete our top five. Rose Helderle had a great finish and ran a solid final two miles. Steven King ran a great race all by himself. Sofia Maldonado will eventually learn you don't win a medal at every cross country race, but she hasn't learned that lesson yet. Giuliana Rotelli ran good splits of 9:03 and 10:39. Our Lion of the Meet, though, is Blake Madsen. Blake ran one of his best races and finished as our fourth runner. Blake showed incredible drive and grit during a challenging race and didn't falter once. Congrats, Blake!