AURORA -- Andrew Larsen and Elisia Meyle left no doubt about who the top cross country runners in Aurora were Saturday during the annual City Meet at Oakhurst Forest Preserve.
Both Larsen and Meyle won their contests by crushing the competition on the scenic 3.0- mile cross country course en route to leading Marmion and West Aurora to decisive victories.
The Cadets garnered their third consecutive title with 21 points and placed seven runners in the top 10, while West Aurora scored 30 points to win the girls' title.
"They worked hard to stay together as a group," said Blackhawks' coach Angela Cassetto. "We were hoping for a good race and we finished better than expected."
In the boys' race, Larsen, a senior, jumped out to a quick lead in the forested section of the course and never looked back as he continually built his lead over West Aurora's Steve Loran, East Aurora's Andy Parra and a tenacious pack of Cadet teammates.
"I liked the back half (of the course)," he admitted , "The first half seemed a little bit slow."
According to several runners, the path inside the woods was still soft and uneven from Thursday's deluge. But once they hit the gravel-topped loop around the lake, conditions improved.
Larsen finished the race in a time of 14:42.6, nearly 40 seconds faster than runner-up Loran who recorded a time of 15:21.9.
"Very impressive," remarked Marmion coach Bob Rebenstorf.
The Cadets' main pack of Oscar Aguinaga, Zach Young, Ben Kanute, Bennet Marsh, Matt Wenzel and Mike Weiler finished within 35 seconds of each other to outpace the second-place Blackhawks' pack.
"We really wanted to establish ourselves," said Rebenstorf. "We take the City Meet seriously and want to have a good showing."
Earlier, Meyle and her Blackhawk teammates surprised the field by controlling the race from the start. Heading into the woods, Meyle sprinted past Aurora Christian's Sarina Oleson and others to put herself in the lead.
"I took the lead and she never passed me again," Meyle said.
As the sophomore raced through the middle of the course she never once looked back, believing Oleson and Rosary's Kelly Kieffer were just a few yards off her pace. When she finally did glace over her shoulder, she had a commanding lead.
"I didn't know that I had that big of a lead," she admitted.
Meyle finished the race in a time of 18:17.32, almost 50 seconds faster than Oleson. Kieffer placed third.
"We were going back and forth," Kieffer said of her battle with Oleson.
Meyle's teammates Brittany Loza, Charlotte Smith, Gretta Meyle and Ytai Flores also finished in the top 10.
"They are very excited and very happy," Cassetto added about her team's win. "I don't think people expected them to work so hard as a group. So, we are really pleased."
Cross Country: Aurora City Meet
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