All gas, no brakes. That, in a nutshell, was Yonny Rafter’s strategy Saturday in the West Suburban Silver boys cross country meet at Proviso West.
And it worked. Rafter, an Oak Park and River Forest senior, took eighth in 15:56.96, while junior teammate Nick Houghton finished 11th in 16:08.59. That propelled the Huskies to a fourth-place finish as a team in arguably the toughest cross country conference in the state.
In fact, OPRF’s 102 points were three shy of Hinsdale Central. York won the meet with 39 points, while defending state champion Downers Grove North was second with 41.
“Usually I get out on the slower side and then I work my way up,” Rafter said. “Getting out fast put me in the position to succeed later on in the race. Coming in, I was hoping to get out and get into that top pack of runners because I was not running with them most of those races. But yesterday I did.”
Pretty impressive, coach Chris Baldwin said, considering Rafter also has a strong kick.
“He had a great race,” Baldwin said. “He got out that first mile and felt smooth. He’s always someone who closes a race really well and he showed that yesterday.”
Houghton said he was a keen observer of his teammate’s efforts during the race.
“I was looking at Yonny all the time as the race unfolded and then slowly passing guys,” he said. “It’s a very small race, 49 kids, so I would need to stick with the pack right behind the leaders.”
Seniors Brady Creel (21st place, 16:37.79), Julian St. Pierre (30th, 17:05.46) and David Schiff (32nd, 17:09.62) rounded out the top five for the Huskies, who now move on to IHSA regional competition next Saturday at Chicago’s Horner Park.
“I think we aim high,” Houghton said of the Chicago Lane regional. “[Conference] was definitely our best race of the season, but we want to keep that momentum going.”
An X-factor could be sophomore Gus Singer, who won the sophomore race in 17:02.59 and will get bumped up to varsity for regionals.
Coincidentally, not only did Rafter finish eighth Saturday, but so did his counterpart on the OPRF girls team, senior Violet Schnizlein, at 19:00.01.
“We were talking about it afterward,” Schnizlein said of Rafter. “We completely matched each other.”
Not only in placement, but race strategy as well.
“My normal race I really like to get out in the first stretch,” Schnizlein said. “I like that first sprint and being in that first pack, and then settle into my pace. I settled in once we hit the 800-meter mark.”
Coach Laura Turk said what helps Schnizlein is her respect for her competition.
“She knows where she wants to be and who she is racing against and she does that with calm confidence,” Turk said.
The Huskies took fifth in the team competition with 109 points, and got a lot of help from a supporting cast that bunched up in the mid-20s placements. Junior Isabella Crowe took 22nd in 20:05.55, freshman Loie Burwell was 23rd in 20:08.78 and junior Emily Jones was 25th in 20:12.04. Another freshman, Rose Super, took 31st in 20:31.77.
Those freshmen really provided a lift, Turk said, and should at Horner Park this Saturday.
“We talk about them running as a pack,” she said of Burwell and Super. “They have been consistent adapting to the high school program, training in groups, with partners, and they are bridging the gap with what they learned in middle school running.”
OPRF flag football
A 26-12 sectional-final loss to eventual state runnerup Chicago Whitney Young on Oct. 14 did not define his team’s 2025 campaign, according to Huskies coach Jim Geovanes.
“Our season was defined by having a really difficult schedule led by a senior group of girls who answered the bell every time,” he said. “They supported each other and grew the game.”
Graduates will include key players like quarterback Julia Henderson, slot receiver Leia Hammerschmidt and middle linebacker Elianna Brucato, but since there were no juniors on this year’s squad, Geovanes will build with a talented group of sophomores.
That includes running back Nora Partin, running back/wide receiver Alessandra Gerut and all-around athlete Kai’lee Robinson. Freshman Anna Dore, the junior varsity quarterback who got moved up when Henderson got injured, will also contribute.
“We have girls who are unreal athletes,” Geovanes said. “Those four girls are multi-sport athletes in high-level travel programs.”