The Week in Review

October 16-21

Step one of the IHSA state series qualification process took place this past Saturday as WNXC took to the dedicated true cross-country course in Geneva.  It is a course that typically challenges every aspect of a cross-country runner's toolbox and Saturday was no exception.  The goal was simple:  take a step forward from last Saturday and advance to next week's IHSA Sectional at Lake Park by placing in the top 6.  When it was all said and done, the WN Falcons XC team placed 2nd place and punched their ticket to the next round.  This team has battled adversity all season long, and this week was no exception as we continue to deal with post-HOCO illnesses that have left key members far less than 100%.  Each week they continue to respond with toughness, which will serve them well in the weeks to come. The team was led by Aidan Murphy's 3rd place All-Regional performance, and followed by Quinn Murphy and Luke Haworth in 7th and 8th place respectively.  Jude Hubbard continues to get stronger and came through with a 13th place performance, while an under-the weather Isaac Schuda closed the scoring out in 32nd place.  Looking ahead the goal is to finish among the top 7 teams at next week's sectional and punch the team's ticket to the IHSA State Finals in Peoria.  Go Falcons!

October 9-14

For most of our team, this is the week that we've have been pointing to all season.  Weeks and months of dedicated training have gone into preparing for the the championship portion of the season.  We are traditionally at our very best from this point on, and the boys showed that on Saturday at the DuKane Conference Championships at Lake Park's East Campus.  The weather conditions included continuous driving rain and 20+MPH wind gusts.  All in all, it made for a day that we won't soon forget!  In the end, the Varsity and JV boys took home 3rd place finishes, and the Fr/So crew ended the day with a conference championship!  Throughout the entire morning, the group never complained, but embraced the elements as we'd asked them to.  It was hard to face the reality that personal bests would likely not be in the cards on that day, but that fact didn't diminish the racing efforts.  The varsity group was led by Aidan Murphy's 3rd place finish.  He was followed by brother Quinn Murphy in 11th, Luke Haworth in 13th, Isaac Schuda in 19th, and Jude Hubbard in 20th.  For Hubbard, it was his FIRST race of the season, as he had battled his way all the way back from a season-long injury.  We look forward to seeing what this group can do over the next few weeks!

The JV squad showed incredible growth over the course of the season.  The last time they faced some of these conference foes, they were many points behind them in the standings.  However, this day, as we had hoped, brought out their very best.  They closed the gap significantly over the last mile to grab 3rd place, only 8 points out of 2nd place.  The team was led by Jack Syme's 3rd place finish, Asher Zoeller in 5th place, Luke Ranft in 8th, Gabe Leemans in 17th, and James Miles in 28th.  Knowing that one of their key members was battling sickness makes this finish even more impressive.  

Finally, our Fr/So group raced to the conference championship for the 3rd consecutive year!  Battling some of the toughest course conditions after 4 races had already trod the soggy grass, they decisively put the hammer down and claimed the title by almost 30 points.  We will hope that this group can work together and claim a varsity title in the future!  The group was led by runner-up Jack Sanders, Daniel Xochitecatl in 4th, Stefan VanGetson in 5th, Seth Pacer in 10th, and Ransom Burghart and Matthew Joyce in 17th and 18th.  All in all it was a tremendous day and a wonderful way for many to finish up their seasons and careers.  Now it's on to the IHSA State Series, beginning with the St. Charles East Regional on Saturday, October 21st at 11:00AM.  Go Falcons!

DuKane Championships Results

September 25-30

The Wheaton North harriers had a great week of training, preparing for the upcoming championship season, but still made a stop in Lockport for the always challenging Locktoberfest Invite.  The course at Dellwood park tests all aspects of a cross-country runners skills, and is among the hilliest in northern Illinois.  Unfortunately, the hay bale barriers were done away with several years ago.  They were a highlight.

The Falcons were looking to make a statement this week on the varsity level, but will have to wait until next time to do so.  Racing a bit flat from the start, the varsity squad took 4th place behind an inspired home team in Lockport, along with Lincoln-Way East, and the champions (and defending 2A state champions) Riverside-Brookfield.  The team was led by top 25 placers Aidan Murphy, Luke Haworth, Quinn Murphy, and Isaac Schuda.  The team will look to rebound and refocus for the DuKane Conference Championships in 2 weeks.

The frosh-soph squad turned in a solid 3rd place finish among nearly 20 teams.  They were led by top-25 placers Seth Pacer, Matthew Joyce, and Daniel Xochitecatl.  The top 5 split for this group was under 50 seconds, which is outstanding for this challenging course.

Finally, the JV boys brought home the championship at Lockport!  Led by Jack Syme's 2nd place finish, Asher Zoeller's 3rd place finish, Luke Ranft's 7th place finish, and Gabe Leemans' 10th place finish, the team tallied a low score of 33 points.  Other top 15 finishers were Jackson Schmela, and John Miles.

Next up for WNXC is the intrasquad Pie-Cake run this Friday.  It will be a great team-building time and a chance to run fast one more time before the conference championships on October 14th at Lake Park.

Locktoberfest Results

September 18-23

The WNXC crew scaled it back a bit this week and raced on Wednesday at our traditional DVC Legacy Quad at St. James Farm.  This meet brings together 4 original DuPage Valley Conference members(WN and WWS left the DVC in 2018 to help form the DuKane Conference).  It was obvious from the start the this day would not be the same as our magical day in Peoria.  The guys came out a bit flat and didn't seem to have the energy for massive P.R.'s as we saw on Saturday.  Other teams that raced on Saturday experienced the same results.  Overall, our squad raced hard and came away with solid 2nd place finishes on both levels.  There were certainly many lessons learned and they'll hopefully be applied in the weeks ahead.  We are entering the home stretch of the season for many guys and we hope to see them finish on a high note.

DVC Legacy Quad Results

September 11-16

The team packed up early on Saturday morning and headed down to Peoria, site of the IHSA State Cross-Country course at Detweiller Park, for the Peoria Notre Dame Invite.  This meet is traditionally a chance for our team to measure up against some of the best programs in the state, and this year didn't waver from that course.  A beautiful day and dry, firm course conditions led to almost every one of our guys earning a personal best!  It was one of the fastest races here that coaches can remember in a long time.  Overall,  our teams came away with solid finishes, despite still being a bit shorthanded on each level and moving guys up.  The Varsity placed 16th out of over 60 teams, while our Fr/So and JV teams placed 14th.  The most memorable(and frightening) moment of the day was Aidan Murphy losing one of his shoes within the first 400 meters of the race and still managing to finish 35th out of over 500 runners in a time of 15:02.  That time ranks among the top-10 all-time WN times in history at Detweiller Park.  We can't wait to see what he does with both shoes!  Overall, the long ride was worth it as we had well over 90% of our guys earn a 3 mile PR.  More to come!

Peoria Notre Dame Results

September 4-9

WNXC travelled back to the familiar confines of Lake Park's East campus this past Saturday, where we took on over 25 teams from around the Chicagoland area.  We knew that this week would be a challenge, as we had several key members out of the line up due to ACT testing, injury, or other reasons.  We challenged each member of the team to tighten their belt just a little more, and run for each other to keep our tradition of excellence going.  Above all, the goal was working to achieve a personal best up to this point in the season.  The team didn't back down, and the results were very encouraging.  The JV squad kicked things off with a 3rd place finish, with almost all of the racers earning significant lifetime bests.  This groups was led by John Miles, who cut off over 1 minute over the same course we raced on just a week and a half earlier!  He was quickly followed by his brother James, Gabe Leemans, Adam Johnson, and Liam Ebert.   Next up, the very short-handed Varsity squad claimed 12th place and had almost each member earn a personal best.  Luke Haworth and Isaac Schuda cracked the top 20 with huge performances, and Jackson Schmela, Asher Zoeller, and Jack Syme all contributed to close out the scoring.  We asked a lot of the latter 3, as they were moving up a level and tasked with helping our program maintain its tradition of excellence.  They did not disappoint.  Finally, our frosh-soph crew closed out the meet with a team title!  They too were missing 1 key member, but it didn't matter on this day.  Placing 4 in the top 11 and 5 in the top 25, they outdistanced Lake Park by 15 points.  This young crew was led by Jack Sanders in 3rd place, Stefan VanGetson in 5th, Matthew Joyce in 8th, and Seth Pacer in 11th.  Brandon Weiland recovered from an early fall to move up into 22nd place to close out the scoring.  Overall, despite being short-handed, the team grew and represented WN with class and pride.  Next up:  the ever-competitive Peoria Notre Dame Invite, where some of the best teams in the state will compete at historic Detweiller Park. 

Lake Park Results

August 28-September 2

We were finally able to toe the line for competition this past week!  The Falcons took to the course at Lake Park on Wednesday, securing a comfortable victory over the hosts, St. Viator, and Glenbard North.  Many guys established lifetime personal bests and it was only the first race of the season!  The best is yet to come.  The Falcons were led by the 1-2-3 finishes of Aidan Murphy, Quinn Murphy, and Luke Haworth.

Lake Park Results

Saturday, WNXC hit to road and crossed the border to Iowa, where we took on some of the region's best teams at the Pleasant Valley Spartan Challenge, including Iowa #2 Johnston and #11 Pleasant Valley, and Minnesota #4 Edina.  The course at Crow Creek is one of the  most challenging in the Midwest, if not the country.  With hills named "Exterminator" and "Incinerator" it tests both the mental and physical limits of athletes.  When all was said and done, the Falcons claimed 4th place finishes in both the Varsity and Fr/So races, and 6th place on the JV level.  Highlights were Aidan Murphy's individual title on the varsity level, and freshman Stefan VanGetson's 14th place finish on the Fr/So level.  In all it was a successful meet, but there is more work to do in the future.   Next week we travel back to Lake Park for the Harvey Braus Invite.

Spartan Challenge Results

August 21-25

The heat and humidty sapped our strength and cancelled our home opener, but the guys endured and still had a productive week.  On to next week and our first two races of the season at Lake Park and Pleasant Valley!

August 14-19

Our second week of practice culminated with the annual time trial at Northside Park.  It was a beautiful morning for the guys to challenge themselves and see where their fitness stood.  This may have been one of the best efforts we've had in awhile!  So many guys were over 1 minute faster than last year, and that TT was run on the track, which is at least 10-15 seconds faster than the grass course of Northside Park.  It was a very encouraging morning and points to a great season, especially once we are all healthy!

You can find full results here.