By Michael Newman

DyeStat IL Editor

[email protected]

Naperville --- When the sun was slowly setting in the western horizon, the lights that circled the course around the Naperville North campus took effect. What also came into effect was how the runners in the Naperville Twilight Invitational took advantage of almost perfect conditions turning them into more than exciting races. There were no real surprises in the results. We knew that the Girls Varsity team competition would be extremely close. We knew that Neuqua Valley and Downers North would be battling for the top spot. It was how these things got to that point that provided the most excitement of them all.

The over 30 turns on this campus course can cause some problems. That showed in the Varsity race as the pack pushed through the first mile in 5:40. Emily Shelton (Minooka HS) had the lead followed by teammates Ashley Tutt and Mackenzie Callahan. Naperville North’s Sarah Schmidt and Yorkville’s Nicole Greyer were close behind as the pack entered the stadium portion of the course. The question was where were two of the pre-race individual favorites Lindsey Payne and Katelynne Hart? The two Glenbard West runners were not among the race leaders. Hart was tenth at the mile mark with her teammate Payne fifteenth. The tight turns and being boxed in the first half mile put Payne into that position she stated after the race.

Shelton pushed the pace the next mile as the race entered and left the stadium after a complete circuit of the track. She had opened up an eight second lead on her teammate Callahan and more than ten seconds ahead of the rest of the pack. Payne and Hart were among that group. The two had made an exerted push to get to that group. Now they had to find a way to get to Shelton’s lead.

The pack started to drift back away from Shelton. Payne and Hart were working together to try to close the gap on Shelton. The Minooka junior still had a ten second lead but Payne and Hart were coming. In the next 600 meters, the two Glenbard West runners were making a charge towards the front. The lead had cut down to three seconds. The focus in their eyes was evident. Shelton held on to the lead until the final 600 meters of the race when Payne and Hart took the lead. Shelton held on refusing to let go. As they entered the back of the stadium, Hart took off trying to move away from her teammate and the Minooka runner. It worked.

Hart has displayed a wicked kick at the end of her races so far this year. As the freshman stepped onto the track for the final 400 meters, that kick came into play as she started to lengthen the lead on Payne. Hart had crossed the line in 16:51 four seconds ahead of Payne. The effort of pushing the pace showed in the final lap by Shelton as she finished third (17:06) eleven seconds behind. Callahan was within three seconds of her teammate to place fourth. Ashley Tutt was fifth twelve seconds behind the Minooka pair. It was disclosed after the race that Tutt had bronchitis but had battled through the race.

“I was just trying to stay relaxed and run my race (in the first mile) and not let anyone try to effect it,” Hart said. “It was so hard to see people because it was so dark. I had to make my move on the track and move up.”

“I got a little boxed in at the beginning of the race.  I think I just went out a little too conservatively,” Payne said afterwards. “The pace was so fast early on so I sat back. I think I sat back too long. I had to fight mat way up to the front. I think I used a little too much energy to do that. I know that my strategy did not work out like I wanted it to be. It is just something that I will learn from for the next time I race.”

“I wasn’t quite sure where Lindsey and Katelynne were coming off of the track,” Shelton said. “I thought they would come up on me but not that late in the race. When they caught me, I just tried to stay with them as long as I could.”

When you have four top ranked teams battling against each other, you expect a close race. As the runners were finishing, it was hard to tell who had the advantage. Five minutes after the finish, Naperville North Coach Dan Iverson showed some shock after finding out his team had won. The # 3 Huskies scored 74 points to capture the Girls team championship just four points ahead of Minooka.

“We just wanted to get better today. This is why we have this meet. That is why we had the teams that we had in this meet. It just makes us better competing against them,” Naperville North Coach Dan Iverson said. “I wasn’t sure how we would do. Glenbard West, Yorkville, and Minooka are very good teams. It took a good race that we evolved through. We worked through it. This is what we want to do in a high caliber meet like the state meet, NXR, or NXN.”

The story of the race was how Naperville North closed their gap. Sarah Schmitt was the first to cross the line placing sixth. The surprise for the team was Alex Morris. The sophomore has been the team’s #2 runner the majority of the year. The surprise was that she was only five seconds behind her teammate. Hannah Ricci was the team’s #3 runner placing fifteenth. Gabby Champion (21^st) and Claire Hill (23^rd) followed as the team’s fourth and fifth runners. Naperville North ran their best five runner split of the year with only a 40 second gap.

It was the best race of the year also for #4 Minooka as they ran their best split of the year on their top five. Vivian Van Eck followed Shelton, Callahan, and Tutt as the team’s fourth runner (22^nd overall) 42 seconds behind Tutt. Sarah Weed was the team’s fifth runner placing 44^th. Their five runner split was 84 seconds. It was just not low enough to catch Naperville North.

“I was really pleased,” Minooka Coach Kevin Gummerson said. “We did not put our perfect race together tonight but we are still a month away from the state meet. We are showing some signs that we are running up to our capability.”

#2 Yorkville finished third (84 points) but just six points behind Minooka. The Lady Foxes looked like they had the lead half way through the race. It was Naperville North making the move in the final mile that was the difference. The split on their top three runners was only eleven seconds as Greyer (12^th), Maddie Dearborn (13^th), and Olivia Borowiak (14^th) came in together. Alyssa Edwards was another seventeens seconds back as the team’s #4 runner. Alexis Grandys finished 25^th as the team’s fifth runner. Yorkville ran their best five runner split of the year only 32 seconds between the five.

#1 Glenbard West did not run their best race of the year finishing fourth with 87 points just three behind Yorkville. Then again, it was definitely not their worst. The team ran their best split of the season on five (89 seconds). Katie Hohe followed Hart and Payne as the team’s third runner (11^th). Chloe Connolly (35^th) and Janie Nabholz (38^th) were the team’s fourth and fifth runners. One of the surprises in the meet was not the fifth place finish of Wheaton-Warrenville South, but how close they were to the big four. The top four runners of Allison McGrath (8^th), Sara Atkins (10^th), Laurel Moneysmith (18^th), and Amanda Obrist (19^th) were only separated by 32 seconds. The team’s #5 runner freshman Maria Rucoba finished 45^th to give the team a 71 second five runner split.

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The excitement of the Girls race was just starting to die down when the gun went off for the start of the Boys race. Soren Knudsen (Minooka HS) and Blake Evertsen (Hinsdale Central HS) were determined to make sure that the pace would not be slow in this race as they pushed the pace the first 800 meters of the race as they went through in 2:17. By the mile they had stretched out the pack going through in 4:50. Neuqua Valley’s Jake McEneaney and Jackson Jett along with Downers Grove North’s Alec Danner were close to the two. There was action going on in the pack behind the five as the packs from Downers Grove North and Neuqua Valley were battling for position. Just like the pre-race previews, the two squads were battling for spots in the top ten.

Evertsen and Knudsen pushed the pace around the lap of the track but Jett, McEneaney, and Danner refused to drop. At the half way point, it was still close only four points separated the two powerhouses. The crowd was sensing that this race would be close. Just not that close. In the next 800 meters of the course, Neuqua Valley started to move their pack up having five runners in front of the fourth runner of Downers Grove North.

The final 600 meters of the race defined the race individually along with the team standings. 35 minutes before the start of the race, Knudsen was doing a workout on the course clicking off five minute miles as simple as that. His strength showed in the closing of the race. Both Evertsen and Knudsen were pushing the pace. That 600 mark was when Knudsen took off as he approached the stadium. McEneaney made a move passing Evertsen with his sights on Knudsen. As the Minooka senior made the 180 degree turn onto the track, he peeked to see McEneaney bearing down on him.

Just like that, Knudsen put his head down and started his kick. What was less than a three second lead started to grow. There was no looking back after that. Knudsen proved that he will be one of the top runners in the state in one month’s time as he crossed the line in 14:40.4 breaking last year’s course record set by Glenbard West’s Eric Neumann by seventeen seconds.

“Blake (Evertsen) is such an incredible competitor. He is such an animal. When every we race, we are always after each other,” Knudsen said. “He made a little move on the track and I went with him trying to thin out the pack, It did not work that well. In the final part of the race, Jake and I started to move that final 800 of the race. It was a cohesive move by us both. When we got on the track, it was every man for himself.”

McEneaney finished nine seconds back in 14:49. Evertsen followed in third five seconds back (14:54). McEneaney turned around to watch the finish to see where his teammates were. He did not have to wait that long to witness of Gold and Navy crossing the line. McEneaney’s teammates made their move in the final meters of the race closing the door on a good Neuqua Valley team. The Wildcats finished placing five runners in before Downers North could get one runner across the finish. Jackson Jett finished fourth only six seconds behind McEneaney. It was then Josh Mollway (5^th), Zach Kinne (6^th), and Matt Milostan (7^th) that finished. Kinne and Milostan passed Downers Grove North’s Matt Moravec and Nick Chudzik in the final 50 meters to achieve putting five runners in the first seven. What makes Neuqua Valley so good is their depth. Scott Anderson ran his first race of the season and finished tenth overall. He was projected as the team’s top runner heading into the season. There he was running 15:10. Neuqua’s split on their top five was only 12 seconds. The six runner split including Anderson was only 21 seconds. Their 24 points was dominating winning this race.

“I just told the guys before the race not to get excited. This is just like the state meet electricity wise around the course. “I just told them that they needed to be patient and not get caught up in the hype,” Neuqua Valley Coach Paul Vandersteen said. “They really, really waited and sat until it was time to go. I think our top seven is capable of running under 15 minutes. I just can’t wait until the state meet.”

It seemed as they crossed the line that Downers Grove North ran a bad race. The #3 Trojans scored 55 points to finish second. It just looked bad compared to Neuqua Valley’s overwhelming performance. In reality, North ran a great team race. Moravec (8^th) and Chudzik (9^th) were the first two runners across the line for their team. Then Jacob Ridderhoff (11^th), Alec Danner (12^th), and Sam McCool (15^th) followed. The split on their top five was only fifteen seconds. The split on their top seven was only 21 seconds.

Hinsdale Central coaches Jim Westphal and Noah Lawrence thought that their team was a little conservative the first mile. The #7 Red Devils came on strong the final half of the race to finish third (81 points). Following Evertsen into the finish was a pack led by Ethan Planson (14^th overall). Jacob Belgard (17^th), Ryan Doorhy (22^nd), and Sam Fathizadeh (25^th) made up the rest of their top five. Their split on five was a season’s best of 39 seconds.