Neuqua takes North's place atop standings

Neuqua Valley senior Aaron Beattie finished fourth overall in the Class 3A boys state cross-country meet on Saturday in Peoria. Beattie finished in 14 minutes, 31 seconds.

(Rob Dicker/For Sun-Times Media)

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

PEORIA -- Saturday's reversal of fortunes in the boys 3A state race highlighted a Naperville-heavy day at Detweiller Park.

Last year, Naperville North won the boys team title and Neuqua finished fourth. This year, the Wildcats claimed the championship and the Huskies finished seventh.

The Naperville North girls and Naperville Central's Amanda Fox both continued their excellence also -- on the state's biggest stage.

Neuqua Valley's Aaron Beattie, a senior, ran the fastest time of any Naperville boy in the state race. He finished fourth in 14 minutes, 31 seconds. Naperville North senior, Tyler Jermann, claimed 13th-place honors with his 14:51 showing.

The Wildcats David Wing (20th, 14:56) joined those two in earning all-state status as one of the top 25 runners in 3A.

"The wind and heat played in our favor," Wildcats coach Paul Vandersteen said of the mid-60 degree day. "We could not have asked for a better situation today."

Ironically, the conditions may have prevented boys champion Lukas Verzbicas (Sandburg) from shattering former Neuqua standout Chris Derrick's course record. Derrick set that mark in 2007.

Verzbicas ended the day in 14:07.

"I don't think anybody ran particularly well today because of the heat," Vandersteen said. "As a team, I thought we executed about as well as we possibly could have hoped to. Our plan was to run together for the first 1.5 miles. The goal was to see if we could pick people off after that."

North boys coach Dave Racey had mixed feelings at the end of the day.

"Team-wise, we did better than a lot of people thought we would," he said. "I feel really bad for Tyler (Jermann) and Bob (Guthrie). I felt I let them down a little."

Racey called the team's top two seniors "great leaders" and "super dedicated." He said he is fortunate to have the privilege of coaching both in the spring during track season.

Racey speculated that perhaps Jermann pushed himself a bit too hard through the middle of the race. Nonetheless, Racey called Jermann's effort "gutsy."

Guthrie finished 34th in 15:10. Never was there a better example of him and Jermann carrying the team than last week at the St. Charles East Sectional. Jermann won the meet and Guthrie took third.

Both are still deciding on colleges.

In the girls race, North repeated last year's performance by finishing fourth. They scored 174 points to Palatine's 99.

Huskies freshman Emily Smith (17:51) finished 16th as the team's top placer.

"(She) ran another really great race," Huskies coach Dan Iverson said. "It was a team effort today. We knew it was going to be tight going in, and we're very happy with how we finished."

Fox finished seventh with a brilliant, 17:27 race. State is just the second meet this year she hasn't won.

Fox nevertheless took great pride in the effort she turned in Saturday. She trailed behind the lead pack to start the race but rallied to hold third place midway through the run.

She said trailing at the start was unintentional and not a strategy.

"That's not my game plan," Fox said. "That's usually how all my races go. I don't have a huge sprint starting out, so I usually end up having to come back later in the race."

Fox said she appreciated the large Naperville Central contingent that came out to support her. That group included her coaches and a slew of teammates.

"They were a huge support going into the race and (helping in) mentally preparing me."