Hinsdale Central boys’ cross country hosts the Hornet Red Devil Invite at Katherine Legge Park on a warm and humid Saturday morning. Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley, Benet Academy, and Metea Valley represent the Naperville area schools in this competition. The Mustangs are fresh off a second-place finish in last week’s Aurora City Invite. Neuqua Valley runner Jesse Gudauskas ends up running away with the individual title. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The runners are off at the start of the gun. Getting off to a good start are Naperville Central’s runners and a pack from Prospect going neck and neck in the early going. Metea Valley and Neuqua Valley disappear into the group. While the runners of Benet Academy trail behind.
Wildcats and Redhawks race to the front
Running out fast in the half mile is Patrick Rosean of Prospect, taking a close lead over Wildcat Jesse Gudauskas trailing behind, followed by Oswego East’s Anthony Garcia. This was followed up by a trio of New Trier runners, Santiago Lopez of Hinsdale South, and runners from Batavia. Naperville Central’s Manny Najera and Derek Williamson are pacing together with other Redhawk teammates, including Chase Gewin and Nicholas Norberg. Grayson Meek, Tyler Rozycki, Nolan Creaves, Miles Barrett, and Kaya Kuscu are running well for Neuqua along with Mustangs Agastya Kalal, Ranbir Marwaha, and Ismail Anwar.
Damien Schultz, Ben Marks, and Gage Ross are the top Redwings in the hunt.
New Trier and Hinsdale Central are running strong
Going into mile two, it’s a three-way lead with Gudauskas, Henry Miller of Hinsdale Central, and Chicago Latin’s Nicholas Rastatter. New Trier’s Sebastian Vining trails behind Gudauskas, with Garcia keeping pace. Patrick Rosean is behind New Trier’s Nicolas Hampton. Hinsdale South’s Mesfin Diedrich and Santiago Lopez are both holding the line. Behind the front pack are Wildcats Grayson Meek and Tyler Rozycki, followed by the Redhawk trio of Williamson, Najera, and Gewin.
Jesse Gudauskas crosses in first for Neuqua
At the finish line, it’s Jesse Gudauskas who pulls away and closes out a great race with a huge lead and a time of 15:04. Henry Miller from Hinsdale Central takes second at 15:16, and Amilo Rajandram of Whitney Young finishes third. Hinsdale Central’s Johnny Krueger and South’s Mesfin Diedrich finished in the top 6. New Trier has a pair of top ten runners in Sebastian Vining and Nicolas Hampton, while Carter Hollis finishes in the top 20, helping the Trevians take the team victory. Redhawks Derek Williamson and Manny Najera finish in 11th and 14th place as Naperville Central places third as a team while Gerwin also finishes in the top 20. Hinsdale Central is the runner-up while the Wildcats of Neuqua Valley finish in 5th place as a team.
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