The OPRF boys cross-country team’s bid to unseat York from its dominance over the Huskies in dual meets for the last nine years fell short last week at Schiller Woods. Top-ranked OPRF lost 25-31 to the No. 2-ranked Dukes, who the Huskies defeated at the Notre Dame Invitational in Peoria just two weeks ago.
York’s Jack Driggs won the meet and broke a course record set by OPRF’s Malachy Schrobilgen the week before. Driggs finished in 14:40.3, while Schrobilgen’s record was 14:54.99. Schrobilgen finished Thursday’s race in third place with a time of 15:12.6.
Jack Stapleton led the Huskies by finishing second in 15:12.5.
“Our top three guys ran great, but the rest of the team did not respond to York’s small surge around the mile and half marker,” said OPRF head coach Jose Sosa. “It’s a bit disappointing, but I’m not too concerned about it. We place a lot more emphasis on invitationals because they are so similar to the state meet, and I’m extremely happy with the way we have been running in those.”
Sosa rested much of his varsity team this weekend and brought up some junior varsity runners to compete at the Niles West Pat Savage Invitational on Saturday. Junior Michael Gardner finished 15th overall in the White Division with a time of 16:29.41. The Huskies ran tight as five runners took the 27th through 31st place slots. Andrew Dunn finished 27th in 16:50.56, while Grant MacMillan finished 28th in 16:51.48. Nicholas Reyes, a varsity runner making his way back after being out with an illness, finished 29th in 16:51.55. Juniors Adam Wood and Ryan Conrardy finished 30th and 31st with times of 16:51.63 and 16:52.58 respectively.
OPRF finished third as a team at Niles West, garnering a score of 129.
OPRF girls cross-country
The OPRF girls cross-country team endured a little bit of everything at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Saturday. Some sun, rain, and a whole lot of wind didn’t stop the Huskies from finishing 10th (341 points) out of 34 teams at the meet.
Erin Schrobilgen led the Huskies by placing fifth overall with a time of 19:20. Liz Reyes finished 50th (20:37) and Katie Kurtz 75th (21:06) in a field of 316 runners.
Other finishers for OPRF included Carolina Cotton (98th, 21:23), Kate Ritter (132nd, 21:48) and Veronica Saltzman (137th, 21:58).
