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2017 Naperville Twilight Invitational Boys PreviewPublished by
State powers Downers Grove North and Neuqua Valley battle for team championship
By Michael Newman
The Naperville Twilight Invitational first started as a five team meet with Naperville area schools only in the field. The meet has moved from Neuqua Valley to Naperville North and will be contested on the Naperville North campus course for the third year. The field has also grown to 15 schools that will compete in the Boys race. The finish of last year’s 3A state meet duplicated the finish in this meet as Neuqua Valley and Downers Grove North taking the top two spots. Both teams again will battle for the team title. This time, Downers Grove North enters the meet as the top 3A ranked team in the state with Neuqua Valley close behind. We have not seen Downers Grove North’s entire top seven this season due to injuries, illnesses, and testing. We should see their entire lineup except for Matt Moravec who is not expected to run. Neuqua Valley has been building momentum as the season has progressed and could look to win this meet again. Don’t forget about Hinsdale Central and Downers Grove South. Both teams are ranked in the top ten of the 3A rankings and could have a say in who wins the team title. All eyes could be on Neuqua Valley’s Zach Kinne in this race. The junior has run been running strong especially in his last three meets including running 14:37 at Detweiller Park and 15:13 at Dellwood Park last Saturday. It could be up for grabs for the second spot with Neuqua Valley’s Ryan Kennedy, Josh Rodgers of Geneva, Jacob Ridderhoff and Jack Roberts of Downers Grove North, Stephen Pipilas and Eddie Siuda of Downers Grove North, and Thomas Shilgalis of Naperville Central all expected to be towards the front. Weather could play a factor in this race. The Chicago area has had less than half an inch of rain the past month. The wet stuff is in the forecast Wednesday morning to soften up the course. It may not be a factor since the ground is so dry. That will not matter to the teams and runner competing in this night time spectacle. Downers Grove South, Geneva, Jones College Prep, Oak Park-River Forest, and Lane Tech are the newest additions to the field. The first Boys race is the Open race beginning at 5 p.m. There is a boys race every hour on the hour with the Frosh/Soph race at 6 p.m., the Junior Varsity Race at 7 p.m. and the Varsity Championship race at 8 p.m. Here is a look at each of the teams that will be competing on Wednesday night.
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State Ranking – 1 Preview – The Trojans have been top rated since the beginning of the season winning the Levaey Invitational, the First to the Finish Invitational, and the Minooka Flight Invitational. This meet should be the first time that their expected top seven runs together in a race this fall. They most likely will be without one of their top five runners Matt Moravec who is expected to miss the meet due to an injury. Jacob Ridderhoff has been the top runner for the team in most of their meets. When Ridderhoff did not race at First to the Finish, Jack Roberts stepped into the top spot. North has not raced as a team for almost a month and have not been in a competition since Minooka three weeks ago. This team is six to seven runners deep with Miles Christensen, Nick Chudzik, and Ryan Birkmeier talented enough to step into one of the top two spots. You can expect a tight pack from this team. They could run a 20 to 25 second split on their top five. If that happens, it could be tough for this team to be defeated Wednesday night.
State Ranking – 2 Preview – The defending champions in this meet have reloaded after losing their bulk of their top seven to graduation. The Wildcats do have the talent to finish ahead of Downers Grove North in this race. Zach Kinne is coming a strong 15:13 5k last Saturday at Lockport and should be one of the individual favorites in this race. The pack behind Kinne had an eight second split from two to five at Lockport and will need to duplicate that effort. Ryan Kennedy and Danny Winek need to be a little closer to Kinne. Kennedy was 45 seconds behind last Saturday and 29 seconds back in Peoria on September 16. A 20 to 25 second gap would be a huge plus for this team. It will be a matter of pack vs. pack. Two runners before North’s top runner would be a plus. A split of under 42 seconds on Kinne could give this team the win. Tyler Bombacino and Chris Keely have been running better in the past couple of meets and could be factors.
State Ranking – 6 Preview – A squad that could sneak up on some teams in this meet. The pack running that the Red Devils have displayed has gotten tighter in the past few meets. In their third-place finish more than a week ago at Palatine, there was only a 28 second split off the 16th place finish from Sean O’Connell. A key for this team is whether Alec Hill will be running. He was the team’s second runner six seconds behind O’Connell at the First to the Finish Invitational when Hinsdale finished a close second behind Downers Grove North. Hill in the lineup could give this team a boost. Colin Yandel stepped up as the team’s second runner at Palatine and could be close to the front. The Red Devils do not have the power runners up front like some of the other teams in this field so the art of pack running needs to be applied. It would help if the team can get one or better two runners in the first ten spots. If they could accomplish that and keep their split under 32 seconds, this team could push for one of the top two finishing team spots.
State Ranking – 9 Preview – The race by the Mustangs could be considered a “rust-buster” since their top runners had not raced since the First to the Finish Invitational on September 9. Eddie Siuda led the top three of him, Stephen Pipilas, and Akhil Ghosh who were within only seven seconds of each other. All three of these runners could finish in the top ten in this race. The key for South is the gap between these three runners and the rest of the pack. The split between three and four in the first Peoria meet was 48 seconds. Last Saturday, it had dipped down to 15 seconds with an overall five-runner split of 48 seconds. Three runners in the top ten in a meet like this is a luxury that can be squandered. If their split can get under 45 seconds for five runners while keeping their pack 22 seconds behind their “big three”, the Mustangs could be a threat towards the front.
State Ranking – 15 Preview – In the three meets the Hilltoppers have run in this season, they had a good team race at Fenton, a so-so race at Peoria, and then a strong run at Kaneland more than two weeks ago. Hopefully, they can buck the up and down trend in this race. Glenbard West has a strong top two with Stephen Moody and Rory Cavan close to 15-minutes in their Peoria race. Finishing in the top ten in this race is a possibility for this duo. The key could be their third runner Will O’Brien wo was more than 60 seconds behind the top two in the Peoria race, but within in reach in the other two runs. O’Brien staying at least 20 seconds within their top two would be a big plus. He is the barometer for this team. If he is closer to the front, this team has run well. The Hilltoppers need a split on their five of under 48 seconds to have a chance to finish in the top three places.
State Ranking – 18 Preview – The Foxes ran their best race of the year to date at the Roy Griak Invitational more than a week ago. In that race where they finished ninth overall in the Gold Division, Yorkville ran a 46 second split on their top five led by their #1 runner Zack Price. The split on their next four runners was only 26 seconds. They will need to duplicate that effort in this race. Seniors Ben Summers and Patrick Black need to be within 10 to 15 seconds of Price. A split on their top five under 36 seconds with at least one runner in the first fifteen could get the Foxes among the first five teams.
State Ranking – 19 Preview – It is hard to determine what the Redhawks will do in this race. Last year, Central did not run their top runners in this meet finishing eighth out of ten teams. They ran last Saturday in Peoria finishing eighth overall led by the tenth-place finish from Thomas Shilgalis. If he is in this race, chances of him finishing in the first ten are good. Adam Balutowski finished in the top 20 in Saturday’s Peoria race and could be among the first 15 at Twilight. Their split on five in their last race was 46 seconds. A team that could be in the top five if their top seven races.
State Ranking – 25 Preview – The Eagles could be a sleeper in this field after finishing tenth in their last race at Palatine on September 23. They ran a 16 second split on their top four runners led by Christian Reyes and Ian Bacon. Their five -runner split in that race was 34 seconds. You can expect this team to have that kind of splits in this race but will need to move their pack closer to the front.
Preview – The Huskies ran last Saturday at Lockport finishing sixth overall behind the 20th place finish from Jake Allen. The sophomore has been the team’s front runner all season. North traditionally relies on tight pack running. At Peoria on Sept. 16, their top five split was 46 seconds. It was 56 seconds on the hills of Lockport. The team needs Allen or Nick Trattner in between 20th to 25th place. A split of 36 seconds or under could get this team close to the top five teams.
Preview – The Vikings make their first appearance at Naperville Twilight. They are coming off a 12th place finish last Saturday at the St. Charles North Invitational in which they did not run their entire top seven. They did have Josh Rodgers running who won the individual race. The senior could be in the top five in this race. It could be tough for the Vikings to finish among the first five teams. Geneva will need to have #2 runner Ryan Kredell within 35 seconds of Rodgers with an overall split under 65 seconds to be in the top half of the standings.
Preview – It could be hard to figure this team out as they split their squad last year running their younger runners in the Frosh/Soph race. Four of their top seven runners are either freshman or sophomores. Sophomore Jason Hoffman was their top runner at the Macnider Invitational but he could be runner in the underclassman race. If they keep their top seven together, the Indians will need to keep their top five runners within 66 seconds of each other to finish in the top half of the standings.
Preview – It is the first appearance for the Huskies in this meet. The WSC-Silver school is led by Matt Vietzen who ran 15:06 earlier this season at Detweiller Park and sixth last Saturday at Lockport. OPRF ran a 92 second split in that race with only a 31 second split on their second through fifth runners led by Peter Halloran. The Huskies will need to have their pack within 42 seconds of Vietzen with the same group split to finish within the top ten teams.
Preview – The last time that the Tigers ran their top seven together was at Palatine led by the 12th place finish by Omar Parano. The team had an 86 second split on their top five in that race. Their top three was 37 seconds within each other in that race. Their overall split needs to come down to get within the top ten teams.
Preview – The Mustangs are coming off a race last Saturday at St. Charles North where they finished sixth overall. They were led by the sixth-place finish from Ralph Papa who could be among the top 15 finishers in this race. Their split on five was 66 second on Saturday. Their split from second runner Rokas Gudinavicius was 31 seconds. A closer pack and closer to Papa could get this team in the top half of the standings. Preview – The first time running in this meet for the Indians as they could have hopes of finishing in the top ten. Julian Higueros, who ran 15:26 earlier this season at Detweiller Park, is the team’s top runner with hopes of finishing among the top 20 runners. Their split at Peoria on their top five in the varsity race was over two minutes. That was without sophomore Jack Burns and freshman Jon Archer who if they run in the varsity race could get the team’s split on five under 70 seconds. That could get this team among the first ten teams. More news |
