West ends 35-year cross country drought
Saturday, October 23 2010 - -West ends 35-year cross country drought
By Tamara McQueen-Salentine For The Beacon-News Oct 23, 2010 11:41PM
Waubonsie Valley's David Groeben wins the West Aurora Regional cross-country meet Saturday at Waubonsee College. | Donnell Collins~For Sun-Times Media
ARTICLE EXTRAS
SUGAR GROVE — It’s been a long time since the West Aurora boys cross country team celebrated a regional championship. Thirty-five years to be exact.
On Saturday, the wait ended thanks to the squad’s depth and ability to rise to a challenge at Waubonsee Community College during the Class 3A West Aurora Regional. And although the team was excited about the win, they were just as concerned about the well being of senior leader Steve Loran.
Loran, who led early in the race, collapsed shortly after the two-mile mark and was unable to complete the race. He is expected to be in the lineup next Saturday.
“There was a lot of adversity we faced in that race,” Blackhawks coach Matt Sinnott said. “Individually, we didn’t have the races we were looking for or expecting. But the rest of the team stepped up and did their job.”
Sophomore Omar Gomez led the Blackhawks with a fourth-place finish, followed by Muth (8) and sophomore Robert Herrera (7) in the Top 10.
“It was kind of an off day for our team,” admitted senior Matt Muth, “but the young guys really stepped up for us today.”
The Blackhawks bested runner-up Waubonsie Valley 58-79. Warriors senior David Groeber won the individual title.
Groeber battled Loran for first-place early in the race, before taking the lead for good with about 1.5 miles left on the course; cruising to the finish line in a time of 15 minutes 29.4 seconds.
“I was a little surprised by the gap at the end,” Groeber admitted. His time was nearly 25 seconds faster than second-place finisher Bill Koskiewicz of Geneva.
Other teams qualifying for sectionals were Geneva (82), Batavia (98) and Oswego (111).
Mike Redmond paced the Bulldogs with a sixth-place finish, while Caleb Beck led the Panthers by finishing fifth.
“I think we ran really well today,” said Beck, a sophomore. “We went out strong, had a really nice second mile and then came on in the third-mile.”
Local individuals advancing were Metea Valley juniors Joe Stewart (3) and Matt Stewart (7); and East Aurora senior Gerardo Paleo (21). “The twins ran great,” Mustangs coach Chris Rohde said.
Girls regional: Geneva senior Kelly Whitley earned her third individual regional title in a time of 17:38.8 and paced the Vikings to an impressive win with 34 points.
She was joined in the top five by teammates Tess Ehrhardt (3) and Liza Tauscher (4).
“We didn’t know what to expect when we got here, because it was pouring rain,” Whitley said. “We knew it was going to be a sloppy course, but I think we were all mentally prepared for that. And I think we ran great on the course. We ran how we wanted.”
Also qualifying as a team were West Aurora (86), Batavia (91), Bartlett (91) and Metea (119). “We’re very excited,” Mustangs coach Joy Gonzalez said. “That was our goal — to continue to make progress every year. We got two individuals through last year and now we’re taking our whole team ... that is definitely progress.”
Individual qualifiers were Oswego’s Kelsey Hjorth (6) and Lauren Choi (21), along with Waubonsie’s Ashley Bruner (8), Kristina Chapman (13) and Lauren Newmyer (22).
“I’m happy, with this being my first year, that I made it,” Hjorth said.
Qualifying teams and individuals will compete at the St. Charles East Sectional at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve on Saturday.