A muddy Leroy Oaks Forest Preserve in St. Charles is home to the St. Charles East sectional cross country races. Plenty of contenders with last year’s champions Neuqua Valley, regional champion Oswego East and DVC champion Naperville North in the mix.
The Race
A mass of bodies just trying to stay upright at the start as the girls race earlier in the day has torn up the course even more. Waubonsie Valley and Naperville Central also competing as teams along with the host, St. Charles East.
Right at the start it’s Luke Wentz from Oswego East, along with teammates Herbie Alvarez and Brad Wiggins. Nicolas Dovalovsky from Neuqua Valley right there with Bob Liking of St. Charles East and Jake Allen from Naperville North. A littler further back is Ian Geisler from Huntley, Jackson Morrill from West Aurora, Arthur Graham from Naperville Central and Waubonsie Valley runners Zach Benzinger, Jackson Bukala, Robert Svivak and Wes Beitler. Aidan Stone from Neuqua Valley also right on the edge of the state cutoff line.
At the finish line and St. Charles East senior Bob Liking pulls away from Jake Allen with a time of 15:21. Ian Geisler from Huntley in 2nd, Micah Wilson and Aidan King from St. Charles are 4-5. Arthur Graham from Central is just ahead of Nick Dovalovsky for 6th place. Oswego East runners Wentz and Alvarez help the Wolves to a runner up finish. Naperville North gets strong finishes from Tommy Paltzer and Chase Burrell, along with Julian Head to help the Huskies advance to state with a third place finish. Waubonsie Valley is heading to state as a team finishing 4th and Naperville Central is going down as well finishing 5th. St. Charles East wins the team championship with an impressive score of 29.
Check out other post season cross country races in our Boys Sports Highlights!
