Back to back strong efforts, it was important for this busy week of races to get a quality workout in at the onset. With less than fresh legs, we were able to take advantage of the cool temperatures and bring some teammates to new career best times on our home course. The varsity pack set the tone early, and surged forward at Lyle’s Corner to make it a virtual dead heat at the line. Good thing we had a wide mouth chute. Malone out-leaned Dallal for the W, with Allen right on their heels, Lodwig charging hard and Cunz equally close for possibly the smallest pack split in the last 30 years at Kaneland.
Fitts and Fountain earned season best times, with Phillips right in that same mix and :21 off the final pack push at 18:21. Brady Johnson dropped his career best time on a three mile course, running 18:31. Having the pack grouped up early was a benefit to many, including Evans, who capped another career best effort when he crossed the finish at 18:42. This was a :12 PR for Liam. Fiedler ran :56 faster than his previous meet, beating Ottawa’s #2 at 19:16. Scherden was just behind Dom, racing to a :23 season’s best in 19:18. Every varsity finisher was ahead of 6:30 mile pace. That’s pretty awesome, on sore legs.
At the frosh level, a similar pack plan ensued. Trevor Neal broke loose at the end to finish off a 19:34 season’s best race. Babka was :04 behind to take a second straight second place finish for this group. Chase Brennan came through the chute with a smile, crushing his previous time by 2:41 for a career best 19:45. Behrends was next to finish the day at 19:55, and Bruhl capped the perfect 15 point score when he ended his run at 20:01, a season’s best (:25). Lechocki was next in line, only three seconds back of Aidan, and Smith ended the 1-7 split at :40 while finishing in 20:14.
Reutimann smashed his own PR from a week ago when he ran 20:43, a :54 improvement. Kowalczyk did the same when he finished at 21:21, a full :38 better than his best. Brayden Farmer improved on his 2020 season time, running :11 faster at 21:31. Freshman Brayden Cattero got his first race under his belt, and was relentless to the finish and breaking 22:00 at 21:49. Patience and persistence net good results. Ethan Stace got his first race in as well, setting the standard for his next effort when he finished in 23:21.
Finn Gannon dropped :74 off of last Wednesday’s effort to finish at 23:39. Crisci keeps improving by the day and pushed to a huge 3:32 improvement on his previous best and ended the night ahead of Ottawa’s #1 runner at 23:36. Blickem and Mullins worked together throughout the race, taking turns at taking “the edge” and each improved a bunch. Blickem had a 1:46 PR to finish at 25:52, while Mullins ran 25:57 for a 1:53 PR.
On the whole, the execution of the race plans went very well and benefited many in having good targets nearby. If we use this same approach again, we feel confident that we could use these race results to see the improvements continue. On Saturday, we won’t be holding back on the first two miles. We need to get “up” for the event, and to go take full advantage of our surge points. We will freshen up a bit, and prepare for more career best performances.
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