Opatrny joins Reiser as McHenry sweeps individual races; Palatine, Hersey capture team titles

By Michael Newman

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Schaumburg, Ill --- It is a given that some of the runners and teams that toed the line at Busse Woods for the Schaumburg Sectional knew that they would be making the trip to Peoria for next week’s state meet. For others, it was the chance to get to that point.

Jesse Reiser (McHenry HS) knew in his mind that he would be at Detweiller Park next weekend. He knew that from the start of the season. It was just a matter on Saturday of completing the task of getting there.

The McHenry junior bided his time in the first two miles of the three mile race on the rain-soaked Busse Woods course, then used a final kick to distance himself from Zach Dale (Conant HS, Hoffman Estates) to win the Boys Sectional individual race.

The pace went out in a fast 4:51 in the first mile as Reiser tried to stretch the pack which included Graham Brown (Palatine HS), Dale, Angel Estrada (Highland Park HS), Billy Thomas (Hoffman Estates HS) and Michael Pereira (Lake Zurich HS). The pack slowed down the second mile as they passed the two miles in 10:05. Reiser decided that enough was enough as he surged around the corner with Dale stride for stride with him. It was only until the last 200 meters when he separated from the Conant junior to win in 15:03 two seconds ahead of Dale.

“I tried to separate myself like I usually do. But Dale and Estrada are such great runners I could not. I moved before the two mile. The turns were so horrendous, so muddy, it slowed down the pace a lot,” said Reiser.

“I was just thinking hold on as long as I can, then kick down the final 400 meters. He just got me,” Dale said. “I wanted to win this week but I will use this as a learning experience for next week.”

Hersey ran a controlled race but got out a little too slow. By the 1 ½ miles, they had five runners in the top forty led by Andy Philipose and David Rodriguez that were in the top ten. They had to move in the last mile to hold off a charging Buffalo Grove team to capture the team championship 93-112.

“I just told Philipose and Rodriguez to run fast and run smooth and be up with the leaders. We wanted to pack it up and move throughout the race,” said Hersey coach Jay Renaud. “I do not think that we got out very well at all. It is something that is obviously going to have to change next week.”

Hersey was led by 7-8 finish by Rodriguez and Philipose. Jack O’Neil (21^st), Grant von der Lippe (28^th), and Erick DeLorea (29^th) completed their pack. Matt Stadnicki, normally in their top five, had been sick all week and finished 56^th.

Palatine finished third behind the fourth place finish by Graham Brown. Lake Zurich, sparked by the sixth place finish by Freshman Matt Pereira, placed fourth only three points behind Palatine. The fifth spot was up for grabs. Ranked Barrington was expected to get the final spot, but a flu bug that had swept the team the past week, took effect on the Broncos. They were never in the hunt in the race and finished ninth. It left the door open for Conant and Prospect who tied for fifth place with 184 points. Both teams will qualify for next week’s state meet.

The Girls individual race was the exact opposite. Kaitlyn Ko (Buffalo Grove HS) and Lauren Opatrny (McHenry HS) started to break away from Kelly O’Brien (Palatine HS), Ali Gutt (Schaumburg HS), Solome Haile (Hoffman Estates HS) and Caroline Reynolds (Barrington HS) during the second mile of the race.

As they passed the two miles in 11:58, Opatrny started to surge but could not shake the Buffalo Grove sophomore. With about 800 meters to go, Opatrny stared to move away from. Ko. In the final 300 meters, she went into an all-out sprint. The McHenry junior went on to win and finish in 17:45, 13 seconds ahead of Ko and O’Brien.

“I just wanted to stay with Kaitlyn Ko because she is just a fantastic runner,” Opatrny said. “At the end, I just gave it all I had. I was getting a little anxious.”

Palatine’s pack had the edge in the team race placing all seven runners in the first twenty-seven. They won the team title with 57 points paced by Kelly O’Brien’s third place finish. The sophomore, who barely made the traveling team to the state meet in 2012, has come on strong over the past few weeks. “I am still figuring out what I am doing,” a smiling O’Brien said after he run. “I know that I can run with these girls.”

“We wanted to get into a good spot and get out in a good position, work our way up early,” said Palatine Coach Joe Parks. “I thought we moved up well during the race. I still think that we need to finish better. We still have some things that we need to work on for next week. Kelly has basically come out of nowhere. We have known for a while that she is pretty talented. She is just starting to believe in herself. She has definitely built up a lot of confidence.”

Hoffman Estates finished second in the race behind the seventh place finish by Solome Haile. The next three spots were only separated by five points between Schaumburg (140), Barrington (142), and Lake Zurich (145). Prospect finished sixth in David Wurster’s last race as the Lady Knights’ Cross Country Coach. Wurster announced at the beginning of the year that this would be his final year of coaching at the school.