When junior Jack Darrow and his Fenwick boys cross country teammates discovered they were in Class 2A this season, good things seemed possible.
“The past however long we’ve been in 3A, we’ve been competing against schools bigger than us so we were excited to compete against schools our size,” Darrow said.
The Friars could do great things at the 2A state meet Nov. 7 in Peoria after capturing the program’s first sectional title at the University Sectional Saturday.
Darrow (15:36.05), sophomore Emmett McEnery (15:37.58) and junior Alex Marks (15:41.41) were third, fourth and fifth and nearly beat Fenton junior Jose Vazquez-Perez’s winning 15:35.35. They were followed by senior Riley Mullen (15th, 16:11.37), junior Patrick Barnett (19th, 16:23.60), freshman Joe Wermes (27th, 16:36.80) and senior Joseph Cozzi (40th, 16:52.07).
The Friars (46 points) won by 36 points over Deerfield.
“We went 1-2-3 (at regionals) and 3-4-5 this week,” Fenwick coach Dave Rill said. “With them and our 4-5 up there, I think we have a shot at doing something special (at state).”
OPRF boys cross country
Oak Park and River Forest seniors Kimathi Johnson and Henry Harper qualified for their first 3A boys cross country state meets Saturday at the Lake Park Sectional.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, they will be competing alone.
Junior state title contender Irwin Loud struggled during the final mile and collapsed on the outdoor track that completed the 3.0-mile race.
The top-10 ranked Huskies also did not advance as a team. Their sixth-place 181 points were one place and 14 points from Wheaton North for the sectional’s final state team berth.
“I came here thinking, ‘The Huskies are going to qualify for state,’ ” Harper said. “It’ll be nice to get that experience of running at the state meet, but it’s not even nearly the same without the rest of the pack and Irwin leading the charge.”
Johnson (13th, 15:36.1) and Harper (17th, 15:40.8) were the fourth and seventh individual qualifiers. They were followed by seniors Jack Monaghan (45th, 16:10.9) and Marty Pimentel (53rd, 16:15.6) and juniors Matt Politis (55th, 16:17.5) and Eric Mulshine (61st, 16:28.1).
An all-state 11th in 2014, Loud was leading sectional champion Charlie Kern Jr. of York (14:57.6).
Loud eventually finished on his own but was disqualified because he received assistance to his feet. Pimentel also has been recovering from mononucleosis.
“We got unlucky at the end of the year and two things happened,” OPRF coach Chris Baldwin said.
“What happened to Irwin happens sometimes. When he came around to the 2.0, Charlie had definitely closed on him. You could tell something was up. I thought he might have just pushed himself too hard. But he’s a fighter. He’s a tough kid. He will push his body beyond the limit.”
Girls cross country
By just 1.2 seconds, OPRF junior Mahal Schroeder is returning to the 3A state meet.
Schroeder was 24th at the Lake Park Sectional and earned the last of seven berths for individuals not among the five advancing teams.
OPRF was seventh (223 points) and Trinity was 12th (337).
“It’s just more in shock,” said Schroeder, part of the Huskies’ 2013 team qualifier. “I was definitely not expecting at all. I was thinking team (qualifying) or nothing. It hasn’t hit me yet.”Â
Schroeder (18:32.7 for 3.0 miles) gained the final individual spot over Trinity sophomore Hailey Hansen (25th) and Wheaton North sophomore Rose Quinn (26th), who both ran 18:33.9.
“I honestly feel like I could have run a little bit faster,” Hansen said. “As soon as I found out that I was close to qualifying, I felt really motivated all of a sudden. I’m excited for track and cross country next year.”
Fenwick was 11th at the Hinsdale Central Sectional (248). Sophomore Margaret O’Brien was 39th (19:36.6).