Kinne leads Neuqua Valley to team title

By Michael Newman

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Hinsdale – The common refrain from coaches at Saturday’s Hornet-Red Devil Invitational at Hinsdale’s Katherine Legge Memorial was that they need to find a fourth or fifth scorer. It was the first big meet of the season and yes, this is the time when you find out what you have.

WSC-Silver Rivals 3A No. 2 Glenbard West and No. 4 Hinsdale Central found out that they will be battling each other during this season many times. The first time against each other was close as Hinsdale Central had the edge 84-86 ahead of Glenbard West.

Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart started where she left off at the end of the track season, dominating the rest of the field that she raced against. It really was not a race. It was a race against the clock for the Glenbard West sophomore.

Hart took the lead in the first 100 meters of the race. She never looked back.

The lead that she had at the halfway point was a staggering 22 seconds. It continued to grow as Hart ran the final circuit of the rolling hills of this course.

She crossed the line in 16:42.8. It was an amazing time, but only the third-fastest time ever on this course. Former Glenbard West runner Lindsey Graham holds the record of 16:27 run in a dual meet in 2014. Hart’s teammate Lindsey Payne had run 16:40.1 in 2015.

“I did remember last year’s race (she finished third) just trying to hold on to Lindsey before she pulled away,” Hart said afterwards. “Today I was fortunate to redeem myself and having a good race.”

The biggest surprise in the girls varsity race was Evanston’s Enyaeva Michelin. The senior had never broken 18 minutes on a 3-mile cross country course. Her fastest time heading into Saturday’s race was 18:24.8 in 2015.

Michelin continues to grow in confidence after earning all-state honors last spring at 800 meters and then winning her age group in the 1,500 at the USATF Junior Olympics at the end of July. She pulled away from all-state runners Emily Shelton of Minooka and Payne to drop her personal best down to 17:21.4. She might have more to say in the weeks to come in her running. Shelton (17:33.8) and Payne (18:00.6) finished third and fourth. Both runners said after the meet that they were sick but still ran refusing to use that as an excuse. Champions will do that.

The difference was two points but Glenbard West had the edge up front with the finishes of Hart and Payne along with Katie Hohe finishing in the top five.

“It is tough sometimes to find front-runners,” Glenbard West Coach Paul Hass said. “We have the three low sticks right now. We just have to develop our fourth and fifth runners.”

The gap was 95 seconds between the fifth-place Hohe and their fourth and fifth runners Chloe Connolly and Abby Hoffman.

Hinsdale Central matched Glenbard West’s front three staying close to the front with Reilly Revord (seventh), McKenna Revord (eighth), and Grace McCabe (10th) who finished within 14 seconds of each other. The difference maker for the Red Devilettes was their fourth runner Lucy Fischer and her 22nd-place finish. Fifth runner for Hinsdale Central Caitlin Chval finished just behind Glenbard West’s Connolly in 37th place. The split on their top five was 81 seconds.

“I thought we ran pretty good today. The Revords led the way throughout the race,” Hinsdale Central Coach Mark McCabe said. “Grace moved up during the second half of the race to get closer.”

No. 6 Minooka finished third with 111 points doing that with two of their top five runners competing in the Frosh/Soph race. Naperville Central, led by the 16th-place finish by Meghan Donovan, was right behind in fourth (116 points) with only a 25-second split on their top five. No. 22 New Trier was next with 132 points. No. 20 Wheaton-Warrenville South finished sixth with 152 points but like Minooka, held some of their young runners who would have been in the top five in the frosh/soph race in which the Tigers won.

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The secret of the success for Neuqua Valley in their state title run last year was the way that they ran together in the front. Even though the Wildcats lost six of their top seven to graduation, a new group of varsity runners showed their mettle in the boys varsity race placing three runners in the top 10 in winning the team title with 42 points.

“They followed our plan perfectly,” Coach Paul Vandersteen said. “It was a typical Neuqua race where we ran under control and then charged the final mile. I’m pleased with our performance.”

Neuqua Valley was impressive up front as returning all-state runner Zach Kinne had control of the race from the outset. His presence up front was evident the entire race. He moved away in the final mile to cross the line in 15:07. Teammate Ryan Kennedy passed New Trier’s Patrick Norrick in the final 200 meters, crossing the line in 15:10. Norrick finish third (15:13).

Tyler Bombacino moved the final mile finishing eighth overall. Kinne, Kennedy, and Bombacino all ran the final mile in 5:04 according to Vandersteen. Christopher Keely (13th) and Alex Johnson (18th) rounded out the top five for Neuqua. Their split on their top five was 38 seconds.

It did not look like Neuqua Valley would win through the first two miles of the race. The presence of #6 Wheaton-Warrenville South, which had four runners in front of Neuqua’s pack at that point. What was missing for the Tigers was their fifth runner John Keys, who did not run. He had been sick the entire week. They placed four runners in the top 12 with only 19 seconds separating William Hauenstein (fourth), Sean Maison (fifth), Scott Maison (sixth), and Jacob Kluckhorn (12th).

The absence of Keys hurt South as their fifth runner Joseph Kim finished 94th. The Tigers finished third (101 points) behind the second-place finish of #14 Hinsdale Central (82 points). The Red Devils were led by finishes by Alec Hill (seventh) and Sean O’Connell (11th).

No. 12 New Trier (145 points) and #23 Naperville Central (180 points) finished fourth and fifth just ahead of Palatine (185 points).

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