Return to glory for Lockport XC teams

Lockport's Megan O'Brien finished second with a time of 19:20.78 Lockport Class 3A sectional Saturday at Dellwood Park.
(Larry Kane/For Sun-Times Media)

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LOCKPORT - A year ago both the Lockport boys and girls cross country teams missed going to state.

This year, the Porters are back.

Lockport advanced both its boys and girls teams to state, each with fourth place finishes, in the Lockport Class 3A sectional Saturday at Dellwood Park.

Plainfield South also advanced on the boys side as the Cougars placed fifth with a team score of 150. The Porters were fourth at 132, Sandburg was third with 109, Lyons was second at 60 and Neuqua Valley -- which is ranked second in the state, took home the sectional crown with a team total of 35.

"It's a lot nicer than it was last year," Lockport coach Tom Razo said. "we had some kids who were disappointed with their performance, but we made it.

"Joe Oldendorf ran a good race, his best of the year. The kids are a little more comfortable here since this is our home course. The goal was just to get there (state) first and go from there."

Oldendorf, a junior, was out with a broken right leg and missed the sectional at Reavis last year. He also suffered a broken left foot in August this year and has only been back for the past month.

"I was over running and getting injured so I cut back to 60 miles a week," Oldendorf said. "This is big. I was actually sick on Monday and wasn't expected to run well.

"But when I started the race the (very muddy) conditions didn't bother me. I'm hoping to do really well next week (at Detweiller Park in Peoria)."

Oldendorf finished 12th overall with a time of 16:53.25. Senior teammate David Inczauskis was 15th with a time of 16:59.40 and junior David Sajdak was 20th with a mark of 17:05.74.

Both Inczauskis and Sajdak had advanced to state as individuals a year ago.

Also for Lockport, sophomore Thomas Razo was 37th with a time of 17:28.43, junior Scott Hickstein was 53rd with a mark of 17:51.77, junior Ryan Mitsos was 62nd at 18:05.14 and freshman Jake Knowles placed 76th with a time of 18:20.07.

Plainfield South advanced to state for the first time since 2004 by slipping past Hinsdale Central by 15 points. Senior Jake Ferris led the way for the Cougars by finishing sixth overall with a mark of 16:36.39.

"We train for these (slippery) conditions," Ferris said. "Sleet, rain, snow, we train for this and expect the worst.

"It hasn't hit me that we're going to state yet. I'm more excited for all these guys, they stepped up in this race."

South junior Alex Deeter was 27th overall with a time of 17:18.82, senior Nick Maher was 32nd at 17:22.71, sophomore Kyle Ryan was 45th at 17:40.09, sophomore Tyler Ryan was just behind at 47th and a finish at 17:44.78, senior Curt Dunlap was 65th at 18:08.22 and junior Kevin Hardin finished 77th overall for the Cougars with a time of 18:20.22.

"Alex Deeter stepped up for us," South coach Jason Crowe said. "I didn't know if he'd make the top seven for us and he was our second best runner. It was a break out race for him, his best of the year.

"Jake was looking forward to these conditions, he loves the mud. Plus we have Pat Hardin on our staff as an assistant coach and he was on the '04 (state) team. He's our good luck charm."

Two other area runners qualified as individuals. They were Romeoville junior Sergio Miranda, who was 16th at 17:01.65, and Plainfield North junior Andrew Sandoval - who finished 23rd overall with a time of 17:07.08. Sandoval also qualified for state last year.

Lucas Verzbicas, a Sandburg sophomore who is the top-rated cross country runner in America, easily outdistanced the competition to capture the individual medalist honors.

Verzbicas, who attended Lincoln-Way Central last year but was injured for the postseason, finished with a time of 15:58.16, which was 20 seconds better than runner-up Aaron Beattie of Neuqua Valley.

On the girls side, Lockport advanced to state after being edged out a year ago. Last season the Porters were sixth at the Reavis sectional with a score of 128. Benet Academy took fifth with a total of 124.

But this time around the Porters, were the ones with an edge as they had a total of 108 to squeak past Lyons, who had 110, for fifth. Downers Grove North was second at 73 - beating out third place Hinsdale Central, who also had 73, by five seconds in overall team total time.

Sandburg took home the sectional crown, behind senior medalist Kim Christensen. The Eagles had a team total of 51, while Christensen's time of 18:53.01 was an easy winner over Lockport sophomore Megan O'Brien -- who was second with a mark of 19:20.78.

"The girls ran well," Lockport coach Evon Schlotter said. "I knew if we did, we could be in the top five. We just had to stay on our feet on this slippery course.

"Us being at home was an advantage because we know the course. But with this weather everyone is at a disadvantage with all the slips and slides."

The Porters qualified for state for the 16th time since 1987. They finished second in Class AA in 2005.

In addition to O'Brien's second place finish, Lockport was led by sophomore Stephanie Sanders in 19th with a time of 20:29.52 and senior Stephanie Houts, who was 22nd at 20:32.66.

That Porter trio qualified for state as individuals last year, with O'Brien finishing 15th overall.

"I wasn't the happiest with my individual performance (on Saturday)." O'Brien said. "But I was happy for the team, last year we missed it by four points. It's much better to go down as a team than it is to go as individuals.

"My legs were really tired, but that's OK. I'll save it up for next Saturday."

Also in the top seven team wise for Lockport were sophomore Samantha Stanley, who was 31st overall at 20:51.29, freshman Courtney Correa in 34th place at 20:53.56, junior Kelsey Hahn in 70th place at 22:05.92 and junior Mirjana Abu-Khalil - who was 79th with a time of 22:22.58.

No other area individuals advanced. Plainfield North junior Desiree Salb was 37th with a time of 21:02.53 to help the Tigers to an overall 12th place finish. Plainfield Central freshman Emily Vihnanek was right behind in 38th place with a time of 21:04.89.