Historic luminaries watching the Latin 2A boys cross country sectional in Chicago including Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Franklin and this guy riding a dinosaur.
Heat One
The first race of the day features the number one runners from each team as well as the individual qualifiers from regionals. At the front of the pack is Julian Watson from Hinsdale South just ahead of Niklas Anderson from Benet Academy, very similar to last week’s St. Francis regional.
Watson is able to hold off the Redwing senior and win with a time of 15:21 while Anderson crosses at 15:28. Yasir Hirsi from Mather in third, and Michael Schumacher from St. Viator in fourth.
Heat Two
The second heat features Benet junior Dominic Ullmer and freshman Ryan Amidei. The Redwings fresh off a regional title will have their hands full with St. Ignatius and St. Francis.
First half mile and Ullmer and Amidei at the front with Nick and Zach Kiley from St. Ignatius. Daniel O’Connell and Sam King from St. Francis in the mix as well.
Close to a mile into the race and Ullmer has taken a slight lead but the pack is still bunched up pretty tight.
The two mile mark has St. Ignatius now in front. No you are not seeing double, that’s Zach Kiley leading his twin brother Nick by a few lengths while Ullmer battles on in third ahead of Kevin Gee from Mather.
In the end it’s Zach Kiley who takes the heat victory and 7th place overall at 16:03. Nick about ten seconds back gets 7th overall. Ullmer crosses the line in 11th at 16:10 while Ryan Amidei finishes in 37th. O’Connell and King both end up in the top 20 for St. Francis.
Heat Three
The make or break heat is heat three as St. Ignatius can just about clinch the title in this race. Benet seniors Emmett Tully and Jack Robinson hoping to play spoilers.
A mile in and Tully and Robinson get off to a fast start as they hold a narrow lead over the rest of the top ten runners in the heat.
Around the corner and now St. Ignatius has pulled in front with both runners, Brian Moore and Henry Gilbert.
Moore ends up pulling away and winning the heat just ahead of Nathanial McKillop from Fenwick. His time of 16:14 is good for 13th place. Gilbert finishes in 18th giving St. Ignatius five top twenty runners. Emmett Tully takes fourth in the heat and 21st overall at 16:24 while Robinson is 44th. Sage Osborne finishes 36th and Sean Kingston 67th for Benet in the next race as the Redwings finish in third behind St. Francis and St. Ignatius. A very unorthodox season but a successful one is in the books.
Final results for the Latin 2A boys cross country sectional can be found HERE.
