Week 12 Announcements

Sunday, October 29 2017

Week 12 Announcements

History was made on Saturday as the Girls team qualified for the IHSA State Finals with a 4th place finish. The Boys team, despite a valiant effort, came up 9 points short of qualifying. The weather provided a stiff challenge as the 40 degree temperature combined with the 20mph wind gusts made racing extremely tough. Despite the quality competition and harsh weather conditions, the performances on both sides marked the best in school history with the everyone leaving everything they had on the course.

* Awards Banquet is Monday, November 13th.

Please turn in banquet money ASAP!!! Information for the banquet can be found here.

* We want your pictures! Please contact Coach Shepherd (travis.shepherd@chsd117.org) if you have any pictures this season and especially from the NLCC meet. We would love to share them. Thanks!

Girls: Saturday the Lady Eagles were not to be denied in their quest to qualify as a team in one of the top sectionals in the state. Despite overcast, cold, windy, and soggy course conditions they soared to a 4th place finish. This earned them a trip downstate for the first time since 2008. Since that time the girls team has always been in the mix, but has just missed qualifying each year. Freshman Brooke Stromsland led the charge as she chased the lead pack to a 7th place, personal record, and All Sectional finish. All State 800m runner Olivia Schmitt returned to the lineup as she almost ran seasonal record and finished in 23rd. Next into the chute was Alex Bryant in 41st. Bryant has continued her rise as an emerging running star, especially in the postseason. Megan Knuettel returned to form as she posted a seasonal record in 50th place. The final scorer for the Eagles was Simone Lippmann in 53rd place finish. Lippmann came through big in the last 400m as she passed multiple girls. Morgan Gillespie and Hannah Grant continued to be consistent with their 70th and 90th place finishes, respectively.

Boys:

The Boys, despite a valiant effort, came up 9 points short of qualifying. The Sectional performance was the best in school history with everyone leaving everything they had on the course. Ethan Schommer and Owen Wenberg, as they have all year, led the Eagles up front. Schommer immediately put himself in the top 30 and moved his way to a 24th place finish. Wenberg started out more conservatively, but came on strong in the 2nd half of the race to team up with Schommer for a 26th place finish in a new lifetime best. The performance was an impressive improvement for the juniors as Schommer finished 47th last year and Wenberg 65th! Talon Knauf came through with his best race of the year. The Sophomore finished 51st and showed he will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. RJ Migas was the #4 man, moving up from 84th as a FR to 66th as a SO. Migas ran almost 30 seconds faster than last year on a very cold and windy day. Charlie Halberg rounded out the scoring for the Eagles. The Junior came up clutch by knocking off team points down the stretch as he sprinted by other runners. Halberg was 108th last year and his 77th place finish today nearly got the job done. Jack Erwin and Kael Moran were the other contributing members for the Eagles. Erwin bounced back from an injury two weeks ago to finishes as the 5th best 6 man in the race. Moran used a season best performance to finish out his storied career as an Eagle. While the finish wasn't what the team hoped for, the boys remain motivated for future success. They return their top 6 runners and will be driven all season to punch their ticket to Peoria.

*Historical Note: Senior Kael Moran battled injury all year. His drive and determination serve as an example of hard work paying off. While his race times were not what he had wanted, the fact that he was racing at all is a testament to his commitment to his team. He will leave the XC program better than he found it. His legacy is the #3 runner in school history with race performances littered all over the top 20 lists. Most importantly, he helped to establish a culture of high expectations achieved by being a great teammate, having a great attitude, and working hard. For that, the program is forever grateful.

* Click here for the meet write ups for the girls team. Click here for the write ups for the boys team.

* Sign up for the Nike Cross Regional meet is now open. Any runner interested in participating in the post season race should sign up. This NOT an official Lakes XC race, just a fun opportunity for anyone to partake in after the season.