Hart, Cavan Win At Naperville Twilight Invitational

Naperville North girls win memorable race; Neuqua Valley packs its way to boys title 

By Michael Newman for DyeStat

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NAPERVILLE, Ill. --- The competition at Wednesday night’s Naperville Twilight Invitational met the pre-meet expectations. The weather did not. Strong 20 to 25 mph winds slowed the races down on the Naperville North High campus course. Still, the racing did not disappoint.

Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart ignored the conditions, taking the lead early and never giving it up. The meet record was on her mind when she stepped to the starting line. Coach Paul Hass told Hart to go for the win, ignore the time. Hart pushed through the first 880 yards in 2:30 and mile at 5:15.

The strong winds affected her from that point on as she crossed the line in 16:37 for the win. It was the third time that Hart, a junior, has won the race.

“My strategy should have changed,” Hart said. “I just wanted to go out fast and run a fast time. I felt good in training. I was ready for it. The conditions were restrictive today and I think we saw that across the board in some of the other races.”

Katrina Schlenker of Batavia and Alex Morris of Naperville North broke away from the lead pack early and pushed each other for the rest of the race. Schlenker crossed the line in second (16:53) ahead of the third-place finish from Morris (16:58).

All eyes were on the team competition in this race as Yorkville, Naperville North, and Downers Grove South would face each again four days after their 1-2-3 finish Saturday at the Roy Griak Invitational. Coaches proclaimed this a mini state meet. The atmosphere on the course confirmed it.

Naperville North bounced back from finishing second Saturday behind Yorkville. It helped running at home. It also helped that the pack was tighter from 2-5. The Lady Huskies scored 70 points to capture team title as Yorkville scored 80 points to place second.

Morris ran a better race. North’s pack was the key in this race as it moved up to the front throughout. Freshman Lucy Westlake led the pack as she finished 13th overall. Then came in Audrey Mendrys, who was seven seconds back in 15th. Campbell Petersen was next in 17th, followed by Claire Hill in 22nd. Five runners in the top 22 proved too tough to beat. The split from Westlake to Hill was only 15 seconds.

“I think it was a good race. I was working hard to get every team point,” Morris said. “Our team was working together to get the lowest points possible. It was a good step forward for this team.”

Yorkville ran well in comparision to Saturday also. Yorkville had three runners in before Westlake as Kailey Fox finished sixth, Emily Eberhart placed seventh, and Helena Kleronomos finished 12th. Sara Klemm finished 25th but was behind Naperville North’s seventh runner. Olivia Borowiak, running with an injury, was the team’s fifth runner placing 30th.

Downers Grove South finished third with 103 points. Brenna Cohoon led the Lady Mustangs with a fourth-place finish. South ran a 30-second pack, led by Erin Reidy’s 18th-place finish. Alex Sprang (26th), Becky Versaskas (27th) and Rebecca Diddia (28th) were the next three runners separated by only seven seconds.

The depth of Illinois girls teams showed in the rest of the standings led by Minooka’s fourth-place finish (146 points). The Indians were led by Vivian Van Eck’s ninth-place finish. Wheaton-Warrenville South was fifth (179 points), led by the fifth-place finish from Samantha Poglitsch.

The wind played a big factor in the boys race, especially in the front. It was the challenge that was expected between Glenbard West’s Rory Cavan, Jack Roberts of Downers Grove North, and Thomas Shilgalis of Naperville Central that never materialized. Roberts was not in the race suffering from a minor hamstring injury. Downers Grove North Coach John Sipple felt it was better to be cautious.

On this night, this race was all Cavan’s. The senior went through the first mile in 4:45 with Shilgalis at 4:48. Cavan’s teammate Stephen Moody was another three seconds back. The rest of the pack went by the first mile at 5:00 to 5:03.

Cavan’s lead was up to 10 seconds as he left the track and moved back to the course. Cavan was the only runner under 15 minutes in this race as he ran 14:56 for the win. Moody passed Shilgalis in the final mile to finish second (15:09). Downers Grove North’s Matt Moravec finished third (15:11) in his first invitational race back after being out with an injury. Neuqua Valley’s Chris Keeley was next (15:13) as Shilgalis ended in fifth (15:19).

“I knew I put myself in a good position in the first couple of races this year,” Cavan said. “I know that Stephen and I had a lot left in the tank today. My first mile felt good. For us, this race was a big confidence-booster.”

“The first two races I went out a little too hard and had nothing left at the end” Moody added. “This race I stayed back a little and worked my way up.”

It was Neuqua Valley’s pack that defined the boys race even though Glenbard West had the top two finishing spots. The Wildcats placed five runners in the top 22 to score 71 points for the championship. Glenbard West was next with 79 points.

“We were excited the way we ran last year and looked what happened the rest of the way,” Neuqua Valley coach Paul Vandersteen said. “We ran a good race tonight, but we still have plenty of work to do.”

Neuqua Valley received top 10 finishes from Keeley and Michael Madiol (sixth). Matt Jett (19th), Michael O’Connor (20th), and Nicolas Dovalovsky (22nd) rounded out the top five. The split on the top five runners was 42 seconds, with only one second separating the third through fifth runners.

Glenbard West followed with Will O’Brien (15th) as the team’s third runner behind Cavan and Moody. Ian Repking (30th) and William Hohe (31st) were the team’s fourth and fifth runners both finishing at 16:08. The split for the Hilltoppers was 72 seconds on their top five, with 19 seconds separating their third through fifth runners. Downers Grove South was a distant third (148 points), led by Eddie Siuda’s seventh-place finish. Jones College Prep displayed a 20-second split on their top five to finish fourth (177 points). Naperville Central finished fifth (183 points, just one point ahead of Downers Grove North and four points ahead of seventh-place Naperville North (187 points).