Senior Andrew Harmon and his Oak Park and River Forest High School boys cross country teammates are returning to the Class 3A state meet, but the feeling after the Lake Park Sectional Saturday was a whole lot different.
“We all knew we could do it, but seeing everyone come through, seeing (senior Finn Kelly) run right with me, that excitement. I’ve never felt that after a race,” Harmon said. “In years past, we knew we would make it. Everyone so excited after the race meant so much.”
The Huskies earned the berth more comfortably than expected by taking fifth among the seven advancing teams (144 points). State is Saturday, Nov. 9 at Peoria’s Detweiller Park. Senior Liam O’Connor, an all-state 17th in 2023, was third (14:44.6 for 3.0 miles) to earn top-10, individual all-sectional honors. Kelly (26th, 15:24.9) and Harmon (28th, 15:29.1) also were top 30, followed by juniors Yonny Rafter (41st, 15:48.2), Julian St. Pierre (64th, 16:07.8), David Schiff (73rd, 16:14.5) and sophomore Connor Harmon (93rd, 16:31.3), Andrew’s brother.
One aspect is different. This is the first time the Huskies have qualified for three consecutive state meets. They’ve previously had six back-to-back trips, most recently 2009-10. Based on rankings, OPRF was projected to battle for seventh against seven other top-30 state-ranked teams.
“We’ve had a lot of guys who’ve had ups and downs this season,” Harmon said. “Just seeing what we’ve done in the past and trying to carry on the tradition, we really wanted to do it and so we just kept the faith on state.”
Last year, the Huskies were sixth at state (258) and third at sectionals (134). Three seniors return from that lineup with Harmon (179th) and Kelly (194th) the No. 6 and 7 state finishers. Kelly and Harmon again were top finishers side by side Saturday.
Recovering from a foot injury, Harmon gritted through the conference meet, Oct. 19. That also was the varsity season debut for Kelly, who has battled foot injuries since last year’s sectional. Kelly needed ice water for his foot after that race.
“I don’t feel [pain] right now. I feel amazing,” Kelly said. “I think what kind of helped me come back is the community we have and how close this top seven is. I knew we needed a performance today. I just went out there and did my best and it ended up being enough.”
O’Connor is the No. 10 finisher back from last year’s state meet.
“I really want to be top 10. And I think I can,” O’Connor said. “I really was not feeling great [Saturday] and then I saw my teammates and I knew I had to stay in third place.”
The juniors have improved by at least two minutes from their 2023 races.
“Those guys weren’t even in our top 14 last year. Those guys have really stepped up and elevated the whole team, along with the senior class,” OPRF coach Chris Baldwin said. The “eighth runner” also excelled Saturday, i.e. numerous teammates who came as fans.
“When these guys finished, found out that they qualified, they wanted to go celebrate with the other 50 teammates who were here,” Baldwin said.
The OPRF girls were eighth (222 points), 14 points from seventh-place Glenbard West. Junior Violet Schnizlein just missed being among the 10 individual qualifiers not among the advancing teams.
“Overall we ran well. Our top five ran great races,” OPRF coach Ashley Raymond said. “We knew that [not qualifying] could be the situation going into the meet so we were like, ‘We need to cross the finish line knowing that we’re happy with our performance, whether we make it or not.’ We had a great day. It just wasn’t enough.”
Schnizlein (33rd, 18:23.5) was the 11th individual candidate, four places and 5.5 seconds from the final qualifier. Senior Nora Butterly (47th, 18:47.8), sophomore Isabella Crowe (48th, 18:48.2) and senior Alana Gerona (53rd, 18:51.2) also broke 19:00, followed by sophomore Emily Jones (59th, 19:04.3), junior Chloe Kozicki (93rd, 19:58.20 and senior Julia Chang (120th, 20:43.2).
The Huskies graduated their two 2023 individual state qualifiers (Katie Stabb and Lenny Sterritt). They were ninth at sectionals, eight points from seventh. Schnizelein (70th) and Gerona (81st) improved upon their 2023 finishes Saturday.
“We’re all proud of what we did today. We just know that we left everything out there and did all that we could,” Gerona said.
“We were always running with our packs [this season]. A lot of us were under 19:00. We were all together faster and able to run with each other and push each other a lot more.”
