It’s time for an IHSA Boys Cross Country 3A Sectional at Katherine Legge Memorial Park in Hinsdale. The top seven teams will advance to next weekend’s state meet. Downers Grove North and Lyons finished one and two at this sectional last season, while Naperville Central and Neuqua Valley finished three and four. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
140 runners get the IHSA Boys Cross Country Sectional started
And they are off! 140 runners, including 18 full teams are competing in today’s sectional.
About a mile into the race, it’s a close pack. Santiago Chavez of Burbank, Miguel Flores of Morton, and three DGN runners are inside the top ten. Two runners from both Sandburg and Lyons also are in the front. Jackson Truty and Ammar Bhanpuri of Naperville North are right there as the rest follows behind.
Further down the race, DGN is one and two with Grant Schroder and Will Surratt. Ben Wuggazer of Lyons is in third, Chavez of Burbank in fourth, and DGN’s Philip Cupial is in fifth. Redhawk Patrick Clune keeps a solid pace going, before North’s Bhanpuri and Truty follow behind. More Wildcats and Redhawks work past the camera and Ian French of Metea.
Getting closer to the finish, the trio of DGN’s Cupial and Schroder, along with Wuggazer of Lyons have jumped to a big lead. Redhawk Clune is about eight seconds behind the pack in fourth, and he’s followed by another Trojan in Surratt. More runners come through inside the top ten, and Naperville Central’s Manny Najera is moving up the order. Neuqua’s Meek and then Aaron Hamilton are running by and that’s followed by some Huskies and French of Metea.
Philip Cupial takes the top spot and Redhawk Clune finishes in fourth
In the end, Cupial beats out his teammate Schroder by three seconds, finishing at 14:07.37. Wuggazer of Lyons ends in third, and Redhawk Clune is just behind for a fourth-place finish. Surratt is the third Trojan to cross the finish line, as Flores of Morton, John O’Halloran of Lyons, Luke Atzman of Sandburg, DGN’s Brady Travers and Meek of Neuqua Valley round out the top ten.
Najera the Redhawk crosses the finish in 12th place before we see the first Huskie in Truty come up in 22nd. Just behind him is French of Metea in 24th, Hamilton the Wildcat in 26th, and the huskies of Reckamp and Bhanpuri cap off the top 30. Gudauskas of Neuqua is right behind them in 34th. Rounding out the top 50, Central’s Toby Slider and Neuqua’s Liam Yack cross the finish line, before we see Wildcat Anish Bhagwat end the day.
Downers Grove North runs away with the sectional plaque, with Lyons and Sandburg finishing in second and third. Neuqua, Central, North, and Morton also qualify their teams for next weekend’s state meet. French of Metea Valley advances individually.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
