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Junior Blake Evertsen finished second in a highly-rated Class 3A boys cross country field at the First to the Finish Invitational Saturday, Sept. 12, at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, annual site of the state meet.

Evertsen matched Buffalo Grove senior Kevin Salvano throughout the 3.0 miles before Salvano prevailed 14:22.2 to 14:25.8.

Seniors Andrew Irvine (14:55.9) and Chris Brenk (14:56.1) were 15th and 16th.

Juniors Sam Fathizadeh (26th, 15:06.7) and Ethan Planson (39th, 15:20.9) , senior Nathan Hill (46th, 15:26.1) and junior Ryan Doorhy (49th, 15:26.9) also earned individual honors for top 50 finishes, followed by sophomore Sean O’Connell (56th, 15:32.1), junior Emmett Grundberg (73rd, 15:41.8) and senior Zach Sayre (253rd, 16:51.6). Teams were allowed as many as 10 entries.

The Red Devils (96 points), the two-time defending 3A state champions, finished second to Lyons Township (80), third in state last year. The Lions’ top-five finishers were 3-12-14-21-31 overall. Buffalo Grove (160) and New Trier (209) were third and fourth.

Salvano was fifth at the 2014 3A state meet and the second highest non-senior finisher behind third-place Lake Zurich junior Matt Pereira. Evertsen improved Saturday by roughly 16 seconds from when he was 12th at state in 14:40 and the seventh highest finishing non-senior.

Twelve of the 25 rated 3A teams by DyeStatIL were in Saturday’s field, but only three in the top 10. Hinsdale Central entered the meet No. 5, only behind No. 2 LT, with New Trier at No. 10.

Complete results are available at http://www.raceresultsplus.com/event/first-finish-invitational

Hinsdale Central junior Blake Evertsen and senior Chris Brenk were running – and finishing -- like it was 2013.

The two now are among the state’s best boys cross country runners for the two-time defending Class 3A state champions, but their 1-2 finish at the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational Saturday, Sept. 5, at Katherine Legge Memorial Park brought back sweet memories of two years ago.

Evertsen let out a jubilant yell as he crossed the finish line in first place (15:00.2 for 3.0 miles) and Brenk took second (15:05.8) thanks to a late push that saw him emerge from battling among four others over the final 600 meters.

The Red Devils (61 points), who had won the last two invites, still finished second to Neuqua Valley (33), which finished fourth at state last year, one point behind third-place Lyons Township. New Trier (99) was third.

In the pre-season DyeStatIL 3A rankings, Neuqua, the Red Devils and New Trier were No. 2, 4 and 10, respectively. In the Sept. 8 rankings, the Red Devils are No. 5 behind Sandburg (2nd at state in 2014), LT, Neuqua and York.

Senior Nathan Hill (19th, 15:36.3) and junior Ryan Doorhy (23rd, 15:45.9) in his first major varsity race, also finished among the top 25 to earn individual medals. Sophomore Sean O’Connell was 26th (15:52.5), 1.9 seconds from 25th, with junior Sam Fathizadeh (33rd, 15:58.6), senior Andrew Irvine (43rd, 16:11.8), juniors Ethan Planson (50th, 16:16.0), Emmett Grundberg (63rd, 16:26.9) and senior Zach Sayre (64th, 16:27.5) completing the team’s top-10 finishers. Teams were allowed unlimited entries.

At the Hornet-Red Devil Invite sophomore race in 2013, Evertsen, in his high school debut, and Brenk took first and second in 15:54.94 and 15:58.57.

Last year, they were part of the varsity’s 3-4-5 finish at the invite with Evertsen (15:04.37) and Brenk (15:07.00) followed by graduated Matt McBrien (15:07.25).

Both went on to be top-25 all-state finishers and help the Red Devils capture the state championship. Evertsen was a team-best 12th (14:40) and Brenk was 25th (14:50) for the last all-state medal as the team’s No. 3 finisher.

On Saturday, Brenk’s late surge edged Neuqua senior Connor Horn (3rd, 15:06.7), seventh at state in 2014, and junior Scott Anderson (4th, 15:07.0). The Wildcats’ other top-five finishers were 7-9-10 and they put five more runners in the top 20.

The Red Devils return to Peoria’s Detweiller Park, annual home of the state meet, for the First to the Finish Invitational Saturday, Sept. 12. LT and six more top-20 teams are in the 3A field -- No. 9 New Trier, No. 11 Buffalo Grove, No. 12 Whitney Young, No. 13 Lincoln-Way North, No. 18 Downers Grove North, No. 19 Marmion and No. 20 Minooka.

Varsity

Top five teams: 1. Neuqua Valley 33, 2. HINSDALE CENTRAL 61, 3. New Trier 99, 4. Minooka 157, 5. Naperville Central 164

Hinsdale Central sub-17:00 finishers (3.0 miles): 1. Blake Evertsen 15:00.2*, 2. Chris Brenk 15:05.8*, 19. Nathan Hill 15:36.3*, 23. Ryan Doorhy 15:45.9*, 26. Sean O’Connell 15:52.5, 33. Sam Fathizadeh 15:58.6, 43. Andrew Irvine 16:11.8, 50. Ethan Planson 16:16.0, 63. Emmett Grundberg 16:26.9, 64. Zach Sayre 16:27.5, 90. Jan Erik Naess 16:41.0, 91. Ruiling Ge 16:41.6, 106. Ben Schnieders 16:52.1, 107. Steven Zaher 16:53.1

* - Top 25 medalist

Open race

Sophomore Mac Anderson enjoyed quite a Hinsdale Central boys cross country debut.

Anderson was the Red Devils’ top finisher in the open race and earned an individual medal by placing 16th (10:45.4 for 1.93 miles).

Anderson, who sat out the Sept. 2 season opener to rest an injury, was a baseball player his freshman yar but then participated in summer running. He is the younger brother of senior team member Ben Anderson.

Sophomore Adam Jaber earned the last individual medal, placing 25th (11:00.6).

The Red Devils were fifth (137 points). Senior Jacob Chin (27th, 11:04.6), sophomore Kiril Kuzmanovski (34th, 11:07.5), junior Nicholas Midlash (40th, 11:12.1), sophomores Sam Schiavitti (48th, 11:18.3), Jack Borys (51st, 11:21.7), Liam Bots (56th, 11:29.2), Colin Yandel (57th, 11:30.4) and Justin Lue (61st, 11:33.9) and junior Andrew Lambert (75th, 11:44.8) all broke 12:00.

Open race

Top six teams: 1. Palatine 62, 2. Naperville North 72, 3. Neuqua Valley 73, 4. Wheaton Warrenville South 75, 5. HINSDALE CENTRAL 137, 6. Bolingbrook 154

Hinsdale Central sub-12:00 finishers (1.93 miles): 16. Mac Anderson 10:45.4*, 25. Adam Jaber 11:00.6*, 27. Jacob Chin 11:04.6, 34. Kiril Kuzmanovski 11:07.5, 40. Nicholas Midlash 11:12.1, 48. Sam Schiavitti 11:18.3, 51. Jack Borys 11:21.7, 56. Liam Bots 11:29.2, 57. Colin Yandel 11:30.4, 61. Justin Lue 11:33.9, 75. Andrew Lambert 11:44.8

* - Top 25 medalist

Freshman race

Hinsdale Central’s Kevin Hopkins and Matt Kusak ran together for most of the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational and led four Red Devils to place among the top 50 in the freshman race.

The Red Devils (216 points) were eighth. Naperville North won with 58 points.

Hopkins (11:04.0 for 1.93 miles) and Kusak (11:05.0) were 34th and 36th. The time for 25th place and the last individual medal was 10:56.6.

Fletcher Spillers (11:18.3) and Will Ricker (11:19.3) were 49th and 50th with Charlie Carter (59th, 11:30.0), Josh Terry (62nd, 11:33.3), Anshul Sankaran (68th, 11:40.2), Brandon Belgrad (70th, 11:41.4), Thomson Monson (73rd, 11:44.8) and Nate Sutton (77th, 11:47.3) completing the team’s top-10 finishers.

Freshmen

Top 10 teams: 1. Naperville North 58, 2. Naperville Central 81, 3. Palatine 124, 4. Metea Valley 134, 5. Neuqua Valley 146, 6. New Trier 172, 7. Wheaton Warrenville South 186, 8. HINSDALE CENTRAL 216, 9. Evanston 219, 10. Highland Park 282

Hinsdale Central sub-12:00 finishers (1.93 miles): 34. Kevin Hopkins 11:04.0, 36. Matt Kusak 11:05.0, 49. Fletcher Spillers 11:18.3, 50. Will Ricker 11:19.3, 59. Charlie Carter 11:30.0, 62. Josh Terry 11:33.3, 68. Anshul Sankaran 11:40.2, 70. Brandon Belgrad 11:41.4, 73. Thomson Monson 11:44.8, 77. Nate Sutton 11:47.3, 80. Liam Walsh 11:51.9, 89. Bradley Davis 11:56.1

HCXC - 2014 State Champions!

Articles:

Dyestat

STATE RECAP - By Bill Stone

In 2011, Hinsdale Central senior Josh Feldman’s older brother Jack also competed as a senior at the Class 3A boys cross country state meet.

It’s among the most powerful state finishes in program history.

Jack Feldman was on the verge of a top-25, all-state honors when he was overcome with exhaustion with around 200 meters left. Feldman staggered but somehow still managed to reach the finish, still beating 44 of the 216 runners.

“That moment had a huge impact on our team and made us better,” Josh Feldman said. “I’m just amazingly proud of how far we’ve come.”

Since he was a freshman, so much has changed for Josh Feldman and the Red Devils when he had his first and only opportunity to compete at state Saturday, Nov. 8, at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

Feldman had the race of his life. Not only did he earn all-state honors by finishing 22nd, but his effort was among the key components in the Red Devils capturing the 3A state title for the second year in a row.

Sophomore Blake Evertsen was 12th (14:40 for 3.0 miles) and junior Chris Brenk (25th, 14:50) joined Feldman in earning top-25, all-state honors with Brenk getting the final medal by three seconds. Seniors Griffin Gartner (43rd, 15:03) and Alex Domiano (44th, 15:04) were the team’s No. 4 and 5 finishers, followed by senior Matt McBrien (124th, 15:30) and sophomore Ethan Planson (142nd, 15:39).

Hinsdale Central (104 points) won by 34 points over second-place Sandburg (138) after the Eagles had handed just the Red Devils their only defeat of the season Nov. 1 at the Marist Sectional by 55 points. Rival Lyons Township (180) edged Neuqua Valley (181) by one point for the third-place state trophy.

Among the numerous fans and alumni celebrating the championship with the Red Devils was Jack Feldman, now at junior at Illinois who became the role model for Josh to join the program and commit himself to running.

“It’s just incredible. I’ve just been envisioning this day for so long. I’ve just had that goal in the back of my mind, to win state,” Feldman said. “It’s hard to take it in that the day has finally come and we did it. We’ve been working so long towards this one goal and we actually got it.”

Evertsen, Brenk and McBrien were the only returnees from last year’s team that captured the program’s first state title – and first top-three trophy ever – with 99 points, 45 ahead of second-place Downers Grove North. Domiano is the only returning member from the 2012 state lineup that finished 12th with 327 points.

Last season, Domiano and Feldman were the top two of the Red Devils’ five state alternates. This year’s alternates were seniors Austin Kleber and Nick Tandle, juniors Andrew Irvine and Nathan Hill and sophomore Jacob Belgrad. Domiano, Kleber and Irvine also were alternates for 2013.

“They performed on the day that they needed to most and just really stepped up,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. “Josh ran great and has been steady all year long and happened to run his best race at the right time. Certainly Alex and Griffin raced tremendously, but collectively it was a great effort.

“Coming in this year we were looking at it through a different lens. The perspective was quite different but it was equally as fun. The thrill that the program had from last year, the first time doing it, equaled (Saturday) because anytime you win something it’s a thrill and especially when you don’t go in expecting it. They realized how hard it is to do well and they don’t take anything for granted. We didn’t feel pressure all year as far as I could tell. They set high expectations and if things didn’t go quite well one week or one race they weren’t fazed. They came together at the right time and it’s a really savvy bunch of kids.”

There were many parallels to what the Red Devils accomplished in 2013. One constant made the ultimate difference – lots of hard work and training and a commitment that began not long after the first state trophy had been safely tucked away.

“It was harder to win state (this year), much harder,” Brenk said. “Last week, we weren’t doubting ourselves in any way because we put in the work but we knew that Sandburg would be much tougher than we anticipated.

“The alumni especially, just so many people, supported us through this week. They made a video for us to send us luck, remind us that all the work we put in the entire summer was without vain. Just going to the (starting) line, that’s all I thought about, how much support there was, how many miles I put in since Day One in the health room at Hinsdale Central and it was all worth it in the end.”

Just like 2013, the Red Devils had three runners earn all-state but all three were seniors – Billy Magnesen (9th), Kevin Huang (24th) and TJ Caveney (25th). Evertsen (29th, 15:06) and Brenk (43rd, 15:13) and McBrien (60th, 15:22) were the team’s No. 4-5-6 finishers.

Like Feldman, Caveney had the race of his life in his senior state debut. Like Caveney, Brenk pulled out the last all-state spot. Like Brenk, Planson was the team’s top runner on the sophomore team but earned a spot in the state lineup through strong postseason races.

This year, Gartner had the same place as Brenk did in 2013. With just 800 meters left, Brenk was 25th and held the last all-state spot, but Feldman passed eight runners and Gartner and Domiano 14 apiece.

That total of 36 runners passed is two more than the Red Devils’ margin of victory.

“Josh Feldman, Griffin Gartner and Alex Domiano – I think they won the race for us. They peaked at the perfect time,” Evertsen said. “Throughout the season, they’ve been capable of what they ran today. Today, they finally had that breakthrough race. It’s a testament to how well our coaches coach us. We peak at the right time, like last year when TJ Caveney wasn’t running insane workouts but he peaked at the right time and gave us the huge push (at state).

“The minute I crossed the line, my hopes already were high. I knew I had beaten Sandburg’s top three, what I really wanted to do. I turned around and see Josh crossing and don’t see any Sandburg runners and then I see Chris come in. Then the thought reached my head that we did put three in front of their No. 1.”

Once again, the hardest part was the wait for the official results to be posted. The Red Devils and numerous supporters and fans were huddled together.

Last year, the Red Devils were all but a shoo-in that they had won moments after the race. There was at least a little more apprehension this time, even after they were sure they had beaten Sandburg.

“We were happy to be in each other’s company celebrating,” Brenk said. “We were together, no matter what happened. It was a long wait, but great when we found out.”

“I heard guys, alums, supporters (right after the race) saying we might have done it. It just got me emotionally. I started feeling weak and it was hard holding back tears,” Evertsen said. “Just waiting at the poles, I envisioned us as we were last year, having a good sense that we won but just making sure. It was insane. We screamed for our lives. It was an amazing moment.”

Even the growing pain that McBrien had in his left foot subsided for a while. McBrien was on pace for an all-state season until beginning to feel foot pain just prior to the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Oct. 18.

After the state meet, McBrien found out that he competed with two stress fractures in the foot with a third one forming. He will need about six weeks to return to recovery.

“I think I may have fractured one of them before conference. I knew it was not going to be great throughout the rest of the season,” McBrien said.

“At the beginning of the season, I wanted to be top 15, top 10 in the state. I know I wasn’t able to do that but I’m glad I helped to push my teammates throughout the year by working hard to pull through in the end. We did what we had to do to repeat as state champions.”

This was a continuation of the program’s growth since the current coaching staff of Westphal and assistants Noah Lawrence and Jim Kupres took over 10 seasons ago.

In 2008, the Red Devils qualified for state as a team for the first time since 1997 but finished 25th. This was the fifth straight team appearance after having five team berths total in Hinsdale Central/Hinsdale High School history before the current coaching staff.

There also have been six individual all-staters over the past two seasons. Before the 2013 season, there were only seven different all-staters in Hinsdale Central/Hinsdale history.

“When I was a sophomore, we were just happy to be here (at state). There wasn’t as much pressure,” Domiano said. “It didn’t feel as exciting and as emotional as it was today. I don’t know how to explain it. I can’t describe it in words. It was so unreal.

“Being the eighth man last year, this has been my dream for the whole past year. I’ve been thinking about it almost every day and it’s a dream come true, having it happen again.”

Most of this season, Evertsen, Brenk and McBrien formed a strong trio that led the Red Devils in their races. They often interchanged their order of finish but usually with a close time split among them.

The team’s depth was hampered since the preseason with injuries to junior Yuji Cusick and Irvine, who returned one week before the Silver Meet.

By the postseason, however, not just McBrien but also Brenk (iliotibial band) were sidelined by injuries. Brenk sat out the Hinsdale Central Regional Oct. 25 but returned for the sectional. McBrien sat out both races. Hill competed at regionals and sectionals and Belgrad competed at regionals.

The Red Devils had the talent and luxury to compete without McBrien and Brenk and still qualify for state, but their training also was limited. They remained on course to compete at state, but how well could they run?

“I don’t care how good you are. It’s hard to miss training and then here’s a state championship,” Westphal said. “From that sense, (state) last year was a bit easier because coming in everybody was healthy. This year, that wasn’t the case.”

“It feels like so much more of an achievement this year, to be honest (to win state),” Lawrence added.

“Last year was fun and it was all new and it just felt like we came in there and we didn’t have any expectations. York was kind of the favorite and we could kind of come on and run. This year, it just felt like every single race there was a target on our back from the very beginning. The expectations were so high. This year was work, hard work and a lot of pressure so the fact that they guys were able to put it together on the day that it mattered the most and we came out with a victory, especially after (sectionals), just seems like a monumental achievement.”

Sandburg rested its top runners at its regional but came out flying at sectionals. The Eagles dominated 39-94 over the Red Devils by putting its top five among the top 11 and their sixth runner was 14th. While Sandburg finished 5-6-7-10-11, Hinsdale Central was 2-16-21-26-32. The Eagles’ No. 6 runner, sophomore Martin Skukas (14th) also finished ahead of the Red Devils’ No. 2 finisher (Feldman, 16th).

On Saturday, the Red Devils put three runners in before any of the Eagles’ top-five finishers (31-33-38-42-45). Skukas (45th, 15:05), Sandburg’s No. 5 runner Saturday, was one place and one second behind Domiano.

“I think what we did better (at state) was we were all just focused and said just run as we normally do,” Gartner said. “We didn’t have to go above and beyond to beat Sandburg because we know we’re good and we’re good enough and capable enough to beat Sandburg on a normal day. We didn’t let the hype get to us and I really think that impacted how we performed.

“There was maybe 400, 500 left and I saw Alex pass me. I said, ‘I’ve got to go with him, go with my teammates, the last race ever.’ Alex and I got to the final straightaway and I said, ‘Let’s just go.’ We took down guy after guy and I know one of those guys was (LT’s Alex Lima, 72nd). He looked at us like, ‘Are those Central’s 4-5 guys?’ and we’re like, ‘Yeah.’ ”

On his own the final three races, Evertsen remained a frontrunner and continued the momentum Saturday.

Evertsen had been second at regionals and sectionals to Downers Grove North senior Ryan Clevenger (4th at state, 14:24). On Saturday, Evertsen was the No. 3 finisher among sophomores with the 14th fastest state time by a sophomore. Lake Zurich’s Matt Pereira (14:22) and Oak Park-River Forest’s Irwin Loud (14:39) were third and 11th.

Evertsen is believed to be the first all-state sophomore in program history.

“I knew I had to get it done at the front. I had to go out as hard as I could,” Evertsen said. “Last year, I went out and got stuck and I was playing catch-up the whole meet. This year, it was different. I went out, stayed with Pereira and the top group for about a mile and that’s when it started thinning out. I just knew that I had to run my own race, execute my strategy and keep trucking away, make sure no guys passed me and maintain my position as well as I could.”

Feldman finished 17 seconds faster and even five places better than his race at the First to the Finish Invitational Sept. 13 at Detweiller.

Taking over the mantle as the team’s No. 2 finisher throughout the postseason, Feldman improved from fifth at regionals and 17th at sectionals to 22nd Saturday.

“Really the only thing that I was focusing on during that race was pushing myself as hard as I could,” Feldman said. “I knew that just to trust my training and that if I just race as hard as I possibly could that good things could happen.

“It’s amazing that I got (all-state) after working towards it so long. This is another goal that I set at the beginning of summer. Until that point, I thought that it was just impossible, it was completely out of reach but at the beginning of the summer I knew there was a chance that I could get it so I set that goal for myself.”

Feldman’s success was integral to Brenk, who also worked off Feldman at the sectional. Feldman and Brenk had been three places and two seconds apart at sectionals.

“I knew that if I ran to my level, I would be all-state,” Brenk said. “Seeing Josh outkick me at the 300-meter mark, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a fantastic cap to his high school career and I couldn’t be happier for myself and the entire team.”

Brenk also was happy to compete well after some tense moments recovering from his IT band injury. He had to adjust physically and mentally to not only being able to keep up with Evertsen but also doing his best without overextending himself.

“In that little span I wasn’t able to run, I knew I had to just gut it out the last two weeks and prioritize getting better and concentrate all of my efforts into what we displayed (at state),” Brenk said. “I’m definitely thankful the injury, when it mattered most, I was able to set it aside and the efforts to contain it paid off at the state meet. The same with Matt McBrien. He’s worked incredibly hard and we’ve all prevented nagging injuries. At the time it counted, we didn’t think of it and we’d think of each other when we raced.”

Beyond the two strong duo finishes by the No. 2-3 and 4-5 Red Devils, teamwork showed throughout. McBrien’s return to the lineup was a key component to Saturday’s performance merely from his presence as a team leader.

“Just knowing that I had my team back, the boys back on the line with me, it was absolutely amazing,” Evertsen said. “I’ve run hundreds of miles with these guys, gutted it out, insanely hard workouts and it just made it that much sweeter winning with these boys.”

Evertsen said there was a sense of normalcy at practice Monday. The team put sectionals behind them and McBrien returned to the workouts, keeping pace during a strong 6-by-800-meter sequence at racing pace.

“The whole top seven ran that workout and we all ran really great,” Evertsen said. “I know (after sectionals) my thoughts were racing everywhere and I was questioning if we could do it or not. It wasn’t until Monday where I truly thought we had a chance to repeat.”

“From a coaching perspective, (after sectionals) we took the approach, ‘Let’s regroup and get to Monday and get through that workout,’ ” Westphal said. “One thing we tried to emphasize was not looking to (state on) Saturday. Treat it one workout at a time and one day at a time. It’s one thing for coaches to emphasize but another thing for the kids to execute that day to day. It helps when you have seniors on the team, guys that ran last year.”

If things didn’t go as well for individuals Saturday, the Red Devils had the talent and preparation to adjust.

If the meet would come down to a close call, Gartner took no chances. He shaved all of his facial hair.

“Our coaches kept saying every second could be a couple or three places and that can be between winning and losing. Maybe if I shave, that’ll give me (an edge). It was a fun thing to do,” Gartner said.

“What also motivated me was maybe halfway through the race, I saw that Matt was really struggling and if we want a chance to win this, I’ve really got to push myself. I think it just shows if one guys falls down, there’s another one to pick it back up.”

The Red Devils’ inspired finish was fueled by a strong start. At sectionals, Westphal said the team already was in trouble by the 800-meter mark. Especially considering the gap at the end between Sandburg and the Red Devils, their raw score at one mile was even 40 points higher.

“Any state meet, this one in particular, if you’re caught in the middle of the pack or towards the back, you can’t make that up in a quality field,” Westphal said. “That’s how we raced all year – get up and hold on. We’ve been rehearsing that all year. Getting up there was key and just hold on for dear life.”

“It was beautiful how we got out. We got out absolutely perfect,” Evertsen said. “We had to execute so perfect, so right with the limited resources we had.”

Great competition and a tough schedule also again proved to keep the Red Devils sharp.

Four teams from the Marist Sectional swept the top four places at state. Downers North, actually fourth at the sectional, was 13th at state (340 points).

The other two Silver-qualifying teams, Glenbard West (208) and York (228), were fifth and sixth. Of the 25 individual all-staters, eight were from the Silver or the Marist Sectional field.

Still, the Red Devils had been rated No. 1 all season long by DyeStat Illinois and by MileSplit Illinois until after regionals, when they were put No. 2 behind Sandburg even before their first meeting of the season at sectionals.

“I think that we didn’t have the pressure of being No. 1 coming into the week. There was all of the weight on Sandburg’s back and we just ran free and we gave it all we got and it was enough,” Planson said.

“I never expected myself to run state when I set out my goals this year so it’s pretty surreal, I guess. I’m just taking in each step at a time, taking it all in.”

The seniors still have one more track season but plenty of memories as a group. McBrien shared the team’s Most Valuable Performer award with Evertsen, and Gartner was named the team’s Most Improved Runner for the second year in a row.

McBrien began the season sporting a respectable beard until first shaving after the First to the Finish Invite Sept. 13, a halfway point from the start of summer running. During the team cool down after Saturday’s victory, McBrien made a quick detour to a washroom for a final symbolic shave.

“I’ll remember throwing up after I finished (my state race) and just going over and asking (senior Max Maydanchik) how we did and he said, ‘I think we did it.’ I honestly didn’t care how I ran at that point. I just cared about how great my teammates are and what they had done,” McBrien said.

“I didn’t do what I wanted to do at the beginning of the year (place wise at state) but I’m just so happy for these guys that they pulled through. As I was running and seeing that they were all doing great, even though I couldn’t hang on, I’m just so happy for them for what they’ve done.”

McBrien was only part of strong team leadership, set mostly through example. McBrien, Feldman and seniors Alex Lambert and Stefan Rosas were the four Red Devils to reach the 1,000 Mile Club during the given timeframe of the first day of summer running to the conference meet. Evertsen, Planson, Maydanchik and senior Joe Griffin also reached that mark soon afterwards.

“All of the seniors helped step up from last year because we knew we wanted to repeat,” McBrien said. “Our official goal was to be a better team than last year, but I think we all knew that really nothing less than winning would be acceptable. All of the seniors stepped up throughout the year to be key leaders in that quest.

“I hope these younger guys remember how hard we worked for this and what it takes. This year, obviously nothing was handed to us and we put in the hard work and I know these guys will continue to do that.”

Back in August, the Red Devils were preparing, stating that somewhat ambiguous team goal of being better than last year. One tangible improvement was winning their first varsity conference title since 1955 and first outright one since 1943. They also had an undefeated season all the way until sectionals.

Then came Saturday.

“I feel we definitely accomplished that goal. We put so much more time and effort and dedication into this season,” Brenk said. “We knew, at all levels, it would be tougher in every single regard. Last year, our main competition (at state) was one school, York. This year, there was Sandburg, LT and Neuqua Valley, all being at such a level of competitiveness. It makes it that much more rewarding when you succeed after all of your work.”

As that huge mob of Hinsdale Central runners and fans celebrated the news of ultimate success, there also was the presence of the future -- many younger team members who found their way down to Peoria.

“It was interesting, the number of freshmen that came down, which was cool. They were literally right at the finish and when we went right back to our (starting) box, they were all standing there,” Westphal said. “I said, ‘Guys, take note, what it looks like, feels like, sounds like because that should be your goal to compete as a team.’ I hope they take away that it’s an expectation as a program to be down every year and to do our very best.”

By Bill Stone

Sectional Recap - by Bill Stone

Even with just three returning members from last year’s first state championship lineup, the Hinsdale Central boys cross country team is in the hunt for another title.

Senior Griffin Gartner is among the reasons why.

“It’s pretty exciting. Last year, when I started cross country, I saw the top guys running at state and I thought, ‘That would be awesome running state,’ “ Gartner said. “It’s pretty nervewracking, but I’ll just try to keep my cool for it.”

Gartner and the Red Devils know they’ll have to be at their best at state, especially after the Class 3A Marist Sectional Saturday, Nov. 1, at Midlothian Meadows. The Red Devils finished second (94 points) to easily advance with a top-five finish, but they suffered their first loss of the season to champion Sandburg (39), which dominated the state’s strongest sectional with its top-five finishers among the top 11 overall and six among the top 14.

Sophomore Blake Evertsen (14:44.70 for 2.98 miles) finished second to Downers Grove North senior and state title contender Ryan Clevenger (14:33.94) after finishing second to Clevenger at the Hinsdale Central Regional Oct. 25.

Senior Josh Feldman (15:06.06) and junior Chris Brenk (15:08.87) were 17th and 21st, followed by senior Alex Domiano (26th, 15:20.27), Gartner (32nd, 15:27.89), sophomore Ethan Planson (44th, 15:37.84) and junior Nathan Hill (46th, 14:33.94).

The 3A state meet is at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8 at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

“We’re ready. We’ve trained for this months and months over the summer,” Evertsen said. “We’ve put in a lot of commitment, more so than last year. We’re faster than last year’s team. We’re ready for the state meet. At this point, it’s just setting ourselves up for a good race on Saturday.”

The Red Devils should be at full strength at state. Evertsen, Brenk and senior Matt McBrien return from the 2013 state lineup and have been the team’s top three finishers throughout the season.

Brenk and McBrien were kept out of the Hinsdale Central Regional Oct. 25 to recover from injuries, but the Red Devils still won 44-51 over Downers Grove North at Katherine Legge Memorial Park.

While Brenk returned Saturday, McBrien still did not. McBrien is expected to compete at state.

“(Our key at state) is just getting out aggressively and putting ourselves in position,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. “If we finish where we want to, great, but at least put our nose in there. If we don’t finish where we want, the top three, four, at least we tried and the only way to know is to put yourself out there. I think it’ll be easier to reflect post-race after seeing how things play out whether we’re successful or not.”

The sectional featured the state’s top-four ranked 3A teams by DyeStat Illinois and MileSplit Illinois. Neuqua Valley (96 points) was third, just two points behind the Red Devils, while Lyons Township (120) was edged by Downers North (111) for fourth.

The Red Devils have been ranked No. 1 throughout the season by DyeStat and as well MileSplit Illinois until its final poll last week, which placed them No. 2 to Sandburg.

Saturday was the first time this season that the teams met. The Eagles’ finishers were 5-6-7-10-11-14-22.

“All of these social media websites, they hype this meet up as pretty much state in its own entity, which it isn’t,” Brenk said. “It’s merely survive and advance and that’s what our goal was this week and we did it. Now the focus is shifting to the real state meet and we know what to do to run our best then.”

Top-25 individuals at state earn all-state honors. Evertsen was the highest finishing of the three returnees, taking 29th (15:06) as the Red Devils’ No. 4 finisher, four seconds behind graduated teammate TJ Caveney for the 25th spot. Brenk (43rd, 15:13) and McBrien (60th, 15:22) were the No. 5 and 6 team finishers.

Hinsdale Central (99 points) won the 2013 state title by 45 points over second-place Downers North, which returns only Clevenger from its top-five state finishers. LT finished fourth, followed by York, New Trier and Sandburg, returns four of its top five finishers.

On Saturday, New Trier won the Niles West Sectional with Glenbard West second and top-10 rated Loyola Academy, York and Saint Ignatius also advancing. Top-10 rated Hersey won the Schaumburg Sectional.

“We have to put ourselves in a position in order to compete with Sandburg but also with a very strong field. There’s about five, six, seven (other teams) in that situation,” Westphal said. “Hats off to Sandburg. They showed their cards (at sectionals). We knew they were a very good team and they showed that. That’s good to know going in what we are the rest of the state are up against. They ran rough and they’re a very tough team.”

Any chances of a strong sectional team race were gone early, perhaps as Westphal said, as soon as the first 800 meters. At one mile, the Red Devils’ raw score was 137. By two miles, they improved to 116, basically tied with Downers North.

“I’d say my only regret (Saturday) is not going out fast enough, which was a little hard considering how crowded it was at the beginning of the race,” Feldman said.

“We know we didn’t run to our full potential today and we know that as we said before, our goal was to get top five (and advance) and that’s all what this meet is really about. We’re not going to think too much of it because it’s only sectionals, just keep our focus on what matters.”

Evertsen showed himself again to be at least a top-10 state contender Saturday. Although Clevenger still dominated Saturday’s race, Evertsen cut the gap between him and Clevenger from 22 seconds at regionals to 11. Clevenger was seventh at state last year, the second-highest finishing non-senior behind second-place Jesse Reiser of McHenry.

Evertsen put himself in the thick of the Sandburg pack at the outset. At the mile, he was fifth behind Clevenger and three Sandburg runners with another Sandburg runner behind him. At two miles, Evertsen was fourth, one second behind second-place Neuqua Valley junior Connor Horn and right behind Sandburg junior Sean Torpy. Two three- or four-runners packs were just behind Evertsen.

Horn and Evertsen began to move. Oswego senior Peter Johnsrud pulled out third (14:47.14) just ahead of Horn (14:47.97). Junior Tom Brennan (5th, 14:51.45) was the first of three consecutive Sandburg finishers.

“I met up with (Horn) and with around 1,000 meters to go, he said, ‘Let’s finish this,’ and we finished it up and I felt really, really fluid throughout the race, especially at the end,” Evertsen said.

Feldman proved to be a strong No. 2 anchor for the Red Devils. He was 20th at the mile and Brenk and Domiano were 33rd and 34th but only two seconds back. By two miles, they were 21st, 22nd and 26th.

Like Gartner, Feldman will be competing at state for the first time. Older brother Jack, who ran at state cross country twice, was among the team’s well-wishers Saturday.

“Overall I did what I needed to do today. I’d say it’s OK, not that great or not that bad,” Feldman said. “I know what I have to do this week, leading up to state. I just have to stay focused and stay focused and do what we know we can do. There’s not really much to say about that, just get focused and prepare and try my best.”

Last year, Brenk had a breakthrough at the sectional as he finished 14th as the Red Devils’ No. 4 finisher after earning the lineup’s final spot with his performance at regionals. Saturday was more of a race to help him regain his competitive juices heading into state.

“I forgot racing is an act of concentration, as Coach Westphal says, and I know that I will be definitely ready for state when it comes to show,” Brenk said.

“In the first 200 meters, the first turn, there was a bunch of elbowing and shoving and we got out of it, but Josh really helped me out. Josh helped pull me along and I’m going to be very glad to run with him next week along with the rest of the top seven. I know we’ll definitely be ready for it then.”

Unlike Feldman, Gartner, Hill and Planson all were not among the team’s five state alternates in 2013. Gartner ran cross country for the first time after joining track that spring for the first time.

Gartner’s track experience as an 800 and 400-meter runner perhaps made a difference Saturday. His late surge put him two seconds ahead of Neuqua Valley’s No. 4 and 5 finishers (34th and 35th), the final step in Hinsdale Central edging the Wildcats for second place. Gartner also beat every other team’s No. 4 runner except Sandburg and LT (30th).

“Compared to my last two races, this race gave me a lot of confidence going into state,” said Gartner, 14th at regionals and 20th at the conference meet. “After I finished conference (20th place) and regionals (14th), I just sat on the ground and it was extremely hard to recover and breathe. I think this race really helped give me confidence going into the state meet knowing that we’re all going to work together to make one goal.”

Domiano returns to state after competing as a sophomore and being an alternate last year. He is the only remaining member from the 2012 state team, which finished 12th. Domiano (142nd, 15:40) was the team’s No. 7 finisher.

Domiano actually was injured for that year’s Marist Sectional so Saturday marked his sectional debut.

“I’m happy that we have this opportunity. We’re just glad that we made it to state,” Domiano said. “I just need to be able to go out with Josh and just start out faster in general. We have a lot of work ahead of us this week. We’re going to focus on this and what it comes down to. I think it’s just going to come down to who wants it more. We just need to work on getting hungry and getting fast.”

Planson and sophomore first-year runner Jacob Belgrad made their varsity debuts at regionals. Brenk replaced Belgrad Saturday.

Hill joined cross country for the first time last year but was out most of the regular season with severe shin splints. He’s been competing this season but lately has been struck by unfortunate breaks in races.

The latest one occurred Saturday when Hill was clipped from behind and fell down after he overcame a slow start to get within range of Gartner.

In the dual meet with York Oct. 2 at KLM, Hill was shoved as he entered the creek and twisted his ankle and hit his knee against the side of the bank. At regionals, Hill clipped a pole, injured his ankle and had to pull out of the race.

“I don’t know what’s going on. I guess people are out for me or something,” Hill said. “Races can throw all sorts of things at you. You have to adjust. I’m taking notes. Every day is a new note and I know I’ve taken a lot out of this year going forward.

“I was able to respond (Saturday). I’m glad I was able to get back up and finish the race. The adrenaline was pumping after that. I think I’ve adjusted. Whenever I go down, I’m going to come back up even stronger. Hopefully I’ll have better luck at state.”

Hill said his recent misfortune in addition to his history of injuries has made him that much more determined to perform his best at the state meet.

“It means a lot. I’m really excited to go down there with a bunch of guys I’ve formed a connection with over the year,” Hill said. “I know what I have to do. I have to get out hard. I’m doing everything I can to prepare. It’s really big for me because this is the second year of cross country for me and I’m having the opportunity to go down with one of the best teams. It’s incredible to be a junior and know I have another year if I put in the work.”

Last year, the Red Devils went into state as a top-three trophy contender but not the prohibitive favorite. They were second at conference to York but then won regionals and sectionals and gained momentum and confidence. For some, the question still remained -- could a team that didn’t even finish in the top 10 the previous year, and with no returning all-staters, handle the pressure and contend for a state title?

This year’s team already has accomplished something special – the first overall conference title since 1955 and first outright title since 1943.

Saturday would be another. No team has won back-to-back 3A titles since the meet was expanded to three classes starting in 2007.

“We keep saying DBTH – Don’t Believe the Hype – and I think this race really helped show that even though we were ranked higher than Sandburg, we can’t say we’re just going to win the race,” Gartner said. “We all have to work together and push each other and make sure that just because we’re ranked higher doesn’t mean we’re going to win.”

Regionals Recap - by Bill Stone

The Hinsdale Central boys cross country team certainly was advancing out of the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Regional, Saturday, Oct. 25, but senior Alex Domiano wasn’t taking the situation lightly.

“Today was probably the most nervous I’ve been for a race,” Domiano said.

After a rough regional performance in 2013, Domiano was the third of three top-10 finishers that helped the Red Devils win their second straight regional title at Katherine Legge Memorial Park and move on to the Marist Sectional at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at Midlothian Meadows.

Sophomore Blake Evertsen (2nd, 16:14.0 for 3.0 miles) and senior Josh Feldman (5th, 15:25.9) earned top-five regional medals with Domiano (15:30.0) a comfortable sixth. Senior Griffin Gartner (14th, 16:11.1) and sophomore Ethan Planson (17th, 16:17.8) rounded out the top five, and sophomore Jacob Belgrad was 29th (16:45.2). Junior Nathan Hill did not finish after injuring his ankle during the race.

“Definitely better than last year (for me). It was rough last year, but I was glad I ran so well today,” Domiano said. “The coaches always give us goals of where they want us to place in the meets so it gives us the motivation to do as well as we can.”

The Red Devils held out two of their top three runners, senior Matt McBrien and junior Chris Brenk, to “nurse some soreness,” according to Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal. The defending 3A state champions (44 points) still finished ahead of West Suburban Conference Silver Division rivals Downers Grove North (51) and Lyons Township (59).

Evertsen, McBrien and Brenk are the three returning members of the 2013 state championship lineup. The Red Devils should have a full lineup for the Marist Sectional, where they need a top-five finish to advance to the state meet Nov. 8 at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

“The whole focus for today was whether we ran really amazing or really bad was just to make it through regionals and on to sectionals,” Evertsen said.

“We approached it as a business trip. We’ve really just been doing what we’ve been doing all season leading up to this meet with the workouts and race preparation,” Feldman said. “We know that since we’re looking up to as a team, we have to always give our best.”

The sectional field includes the four top-rated teams in 3A – No. 1 and undefeated Hinsdale Central, Sandburg, Neuqua Valley and LT – as well as state-ranked Downers Grove North and Plainfield South. LT did not run its top three finishers from the Oct. 18 Silver Meet at regionals – seniors Vince Arata and Alex Lima and junior Connor Madell.

As usual, Westphal emphasized for all of his athletes to take advantage of competing.

While Domiano was racing his third regional and Evertsen his second on Saturday, the others were making their postseason debut. For Planson and Belgrad, it was their varsity debut.

“We tell our guys, ‘I don’t care who’s running (or not). Focus on running your best. You’re here to compete. You compete,’ ” Westphal said. “It’s an opportunity (to compete) and to stay race sharp and I think they felt good about it.”

Domiano’s regional race in 2013 had huge implications. The Red Devils still were examining the finals spot for their upcoming lineups at sectionals and state.

Brenk (14th) and Domiano (16th) were their No. 6 and 7 regional finishers. Although they were only two places apart, there also was a nine-second gap.

McBrien, who sat out regionals, and Brenk were part of the sectional and state lineups, and Domiano was the first alternate. Brenk improved to be the team’s No. 4 finisher at sectionals and No. 5 finisher at state.

“I knew it was a long shot, but I didn’t want to have what happened last year happen again (Saturday). I was really nervous leading up to this race, but I ran really well so I’m really happy about that,” Domiano said.

Several other individual race goals were met.

Evertsen finished a solid second to Downers North senior Ryan Clevenger (14:51.9), seventh at state in 2013 and one of the favorites to win it all this year.

Clevenger just missed the course record of 14:50 set last year by graduated Hinsdale Central standout Billy Magnesen, who was ninth at state. Last year’s sectional also was at Hinsdale Central, but a slight detour around a water-soaked area made the course slightly shorter than an exact 3.0 mile

Evertsen had to go it alone teamwise because he usually has been part of a strong front pack with McBrien and Brenk throughout this season. Evertsen finished 10.5 seconds ahead of Downers Grove South junior Jack LaLonde (15:24.5).

“Today was a really good opportunity for me to try and see what I could do up at the front with Clevenger, take a risk. Ultimately, I kind of put myself in the position to do that but he just gunned it from the beginning, a 4:47 first mile,” Evertsen said.

“He was going fast and, unfortunately, I just couldn’t hold on, but it was good to know I could run with him and I can put myself up with him if I really, really try. Sectionals and state, we’ll see how much better I can equalize with him.”

Feldman took advantage to earn a top-five regional medal. His bold final surge caught Downers North sophomore Alec Danner (4th, 15:25.6) at the end, but Feldman just missed by .3.

“There was maybe a 15, 20-meter gap between me and him once we started kicking. I was gaining ground, but he realized that and he finished just ahead of me,” Feldman said.

“That was really one of my goals in the meet, to get in the top five and just hold my position, especially in the last one or two miles, especially towards the end.”

Feldman continues to gain momentum and confidence as he approaches his first state meet, where older brother Jack competed as a junior and senior before graduating in 2012.

“What I’m really trying to focus on is keep doing everything we’ve been doing all year and keep racing like we know we can,” Feldman said. “I just know that if our team does what we’re good at, just does what we’ve been doing all year, we can do pretty well (the next two weeks).”

With McBrien and Brenk not competing, Planson and Belgrad were added to the lineup after they finished second and third in the sophomore Silver Meet to Oak Park-River Forest standout Irwin Loud. Their efforts helped the Red Devils win the Silver Meet on that level for the second consecutive year.

“I had no idea I was running until coach told us on Thursday,” Planson said. “He told me Monday to get ready so I was mentally preparing throughout the week. It was definitely good to get the race experience for the upcoming years but good to (also) contribute to the team.”

Planson ended up being the No. 5 finisher after Hill had to drop out. Like at conference, Planson and Belgrad ran together most of Saturday before Planson surged to finish ahead of Downers North’s No. 4 and 5 finishers and LT’s No. 5 finisher.

“I know I made a move with less than a mile to go in order to have a chance to win (the regional),” Planson said. “As a team, it definitely feels good that even without Matt and Chris we still pulled out the win. Individually, this gives me confidence that I can run as well as some varsity athletes so this feels good.”

In 2012, Hinsdale Central also competed at Midlothian Meadows for the Marist Sectional. The Red Devils qualified for state with little room to spare as their 160 points earned fifth place by 12 points over sixth-place Plainfield South.

Domiano is the only remaining member of that 12-man 2012 state lineup. He did not compete in the sectional but rejoined the lineup for the state meet.

When the opportunity at state comes again, Domiano will be ready.

“Coming off that strong track season (in the spring), it gives you motivation. I know that I can run really well,” Domiano said.

“I’m really glad with how far our team has come this year. A lot of us are peaking at the right time. We’re going to run really well for the next couple of weeks and I’m excited.”

WSC RECAP-By Bill Stone

After capturing the first boys cross country state championship in program history in 2013, the Hinsdale Central boys cross country team managed to accomplish something the program hadn’t since 1955 at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Saturday, Oct. 18.

Even though the Red Devils won the team title to put the finishing touches on their first conference title in nearly 60 years, senior Matt McBrien and his teammates already were looking toward what still needs to be achieved over the next three weeks.

"It feels kind of weird. I know last year felt much more emotional at conference," McBrien said.

“Even though we won and it was a huge deal historically and everything like that, it just didn’t feel like it was as important to us. I think that’s more because we expected it of ourselves. I think the coming weeks, especially sectionals and state, that will be a much bigger deal to focus on mentally.”

In the state's toughest conference, the No. 1-rated and undefeated Red Devils put three in the top six and won with 43 points. Lyons Township (65) pulled out second over Glenbard West (67) and York (70), followed by Downers Grove North (101), Oak Park-River Forest (163) and Proviso West (240).

Sophomore Blake Evertsen took third (15:36.92 for 3.04 miles) and junior Chris Brenk (15:53.79) and McBrien (15:55.95) were fourth and sixth. They are the three remaining members from last year's state lineup.

Senior Josh Feldman also earned top-16 all-conference honors by taking 12th (16:09.39), followed by seniors Alex Domiano (18th, 16:30.76) and Griffin Gartner (20th, 16:35.85) and junior Nathan Hill (40th, 17:23.27).

Besides being the Red Devils' first conference title since sharing the crown with LT 59 years ago, this was their first outright title since 1943 and only their sixth conference title ever, dating back to 1924.

The overall Silver title currently is a combination of Silver Meet and dual meet results. Because Hinsdale Central was 6-0 in duals, it only needed to finish second to guarantee at least a share of the overall title.

"I think (our runners) did a great job of approaching that of not being the focal point of the season but certainly an honor nonetheless," Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. "They did a great job of approaching it as any other meet, but important. Conference is always an emotional night. They were very mature about how they approached it."

Hinsdale Central, the undefeated and No. 1 rated team in Class 3A throughout the season, begins the postseason on its home Katherine Legge Memorial Park course for the Hinsdale Central Regional at 11:45 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 25. The girls regional race is at 11 a.m.

The Red Devils only need a top-six finish among nine full teams to advance to the Marist Sectional Nov. 1. There they will see fellow top-four state-ranked teams Sandburg and Neuqua Valley as well as LT, their biggest competition at regionals.

“It's going to be a good confidence booster going into the state series and going up against some harder teams like Sandburg and Neuqua (Valley) for the weeks to come. I think it was good preparation, good practice," Evertsen said.

Last year, the Red Devils captured both their second regional title and first equivalent of a sectional title since 1955 en route to their state success. One thing that didn’t happen, though, was a conference title.

They had hoped to share the overall Silver title with perennial state power York after only losing the dual 23-32 minus No. 1 runner Billy Magnesen, but they were second at the Silver Meet 38-52. The Dukes ended up fourth at state, just behind third-place Lyons Township.

Saturday ended the Dukes’ streak of 12 consecutive outright or shared Silver titles. They have 47 conference titles over the 55 seasons since Joe Newton became head coach.

"Last year, we didn't do it. We didn't win (the conference). It was definitely a huge confidence booster that we were able to execute our plan that coach implemented for us and win,” Evertsen said.

“It's going to be a good confidence booster going into the state series and going up against some harder teams like Sandburg and Neuqua (Valley at sectionals and state). I think it was good preparation, good practice.”

When the current group of seniors were freshmen, the varsity finished second in the Silver, its highest conference finish since 1997. Back then, beating out the other strong school to get second to York somewhat felt like winning.

This year, LT also is a top-four state-ranked team and every other team but Proviso West has been ranked among the top 25 in 3A by DyeStat Illinois or MileSplit Illinois.

“Our conference has always been a really tough conference so winning it is definitely a big thing,” Feldman said.

Brenk had a little taste of Silver success last year. He not only won the sophomore race by 24 seconds, but he also helped the Red Devils win the meet title – the first individual and team Silver Meet titles on any level for the 10th-year coaching group of Westphal and assistant coaches Noah Lawrence and Jim Kupres.

Because of two regular-season dual losses, the Red Devils did not even get a share of the overall title. The 2012 Red Devils shared the overall Silver title by going 6-0 in duals but taking second at the Silver Meet. Brenk joined the postseason lineup and ran all three races.

“(Last year’s Silver Meet) was a new experience for me because freshman year I was injured for conference. It was exciting. It was great. I was caught up in it weeks afterwards,” Brenk said.

“It is definitely more gratifying to win on the varsity level. We haven’t done it since 1955. But I’m a lot more mature about it. Last year I didn’t have state or regionals or sectionals on my mind (at that point). I was still thinking just conference and that would be it. This year, with a much bigger goal in mind, you can see how this is just a stepping stone along the way. It’s (a goal) that is amazing to accomplish, ending York’s streak, which is very fun, but we have a bigger goal in mind and it starts today and ends after the state meet.”

This year’s meet was supposed to be at York’s home course, but East End Park had too much water and the meet returned to Proviso West, site of the 2013 Silver Meet. The Hillside course, however, had its mud and standing water as well, which wasn’t helped by intermittent rain during the races.

The return to the same course further showed the leadership and progress of this year’s frontrunners from 2013.

Last year, a laboring Evertsen pulled off the 16th and final all-conference spot (15:55.0) with a little help from McBrien behind him in 17th (15:55.5).

On Saturday, the only runners to beat Evertsen were Downers North senior Ryan Clevenger (15:36.92) and York freshman Charlie Kern (15:51.25). Clevenger was an all-state seventh last year and the Silver Meet runner-up to graduated teammate Zack Smith, now at Illinois.

"That was my goal, top five,” Evertsen said. “I knew Clevenger would be up there. Just based on our conference, it's a really hard conference. I was hoping for the best, but we did really well."

At the mile, Evertsen (4:58) was second, two seconds behind Clevenger, with McBrien and Brenk battling for fifth with Buechner (5:00).

Clevenger (10:07) opened a 13-second lead by the end of the second mile. Evertsen, Brenk, Buchner and McBrien (10:30) were second through fifth with Feldman (10:31) right behind battling for sixth with York senior Matt Plowman. Kern was eighth in 10:33.

“I’m really happy how the first and second mile went. Coach told us there are a lot of teams and guys in conference that think that they can run with you, but they have to earn it,” Evertsen said.

“I think we really did a good job with that. We didn’t let guys just kind of hang around. We just got after it and if anybody wanted to come, then they could but we didn’t want it to be a kicker’s race. We wanted to break apart the pack as soon as we could to eliminate the chance of guys creeping on us.”

Evertsen’s finish also was certainly much better than the 2013 Silver Meet. Evertsen had been contending for the top 10 when the ramifications of not eating properly beforehand began to take its toll with about 600 meters left and he barely reached the finish.

“In a way (last year) kind of motivated me because I didn’t do that well,” Evertsen said. “I remember a mile or two miles into the race, I felt really strong and it was really only that last 1,000 meters that I was like, ‘Wow, this really sucks and I’m feeling it now.’ I think that helped me along the course (Saturday) because I know I’ve run this part of the course fast before. I know what it feels like. It was just a motivator.”

Westphal said the later starting time of the varsity boys race (1 p.m.) roughly three hours later than most Saturday varsity races, contributed to Evertsen’s eating habits being thrown off. That didn’t happen Saturday.

“We did remind the guys collectively about timing in terms of when to get up and what to eat, make sure they had something in their system,” Westphal said. “In hindsight, last year everything was new (for Evertsen). Like any freshman, he doesn’t know what to expect, especially at the level he’s racing at. I think he learned a lot not only from freshman year but another season against high-caliber competition.”

At last year’s Silver Meet, Evertsen and McBrien were the fourth and fifth-highest finishers among non-seniors. Senior Chris Buechner (15:53.93), Glenbard West’s No. 1 runner who did not compete in the 2013 Silver Meet, edged McBrien by 2.02 seconds for fifth Saturday.

“I didn’t want to get outkicked by (Buechner) in the last 200 meters, but it felt good to be up there with my teammates at the top of the all-conference spots (this year),” McBrien said.

“(The course) felt not as mysterious almost because we went there two times last year. And it felt like I know the course pretty well. It just felt like we were there to do our business.”

Despite the conditions, Brenk still ran roughly 22 seconds faster Saturday than in last year’s sophomore victory. He edged Buechner by .14 for fourth.

“This year, what I love so much more about being on the varsity and being a full-out member of the top seven is just that there is amazing competition,” Brenk said.

“(Buechner is) one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met. He said sorry to me when he accidentally bumped me during the run. It’s different being on the varsity because you have these people who are just as good as you. It’s just a matter of rolling with your teammates who you have been training with for a while and just doing the best you can.”

Feldman also was coming off a great 2013 Silver Meet, in which he was second in the open race to Jeremy Craven, the No. 4 finisher for Downers North’s second-place state team.

Feldman bested that performance by more than 13 seconds Saturday. He finished just behind Plowman (11th, 16:07.39), who was seventh on varsity last year.

“I feel like I did what I needed to do,” Feldman said. “It definitely shows a lot of improvement over the course of one year. This year, I was fortunate to compete on the varsity level so I can see where I would place.”

At regionals, the Red Devils, LT and Downers North are the only state-ranked teams in the field, which also includes Downers Grove South, Argo, Curie, Morton, Proviso East and Proviso West and individuals from Kelly.

RECAP OF LT MEET - by Bill Stone

Senior Griffin Gartner stepped into a key scoring role for the Hinsdale Central boys cross country varsity lineup for the first time Thursday, Oct. 9, against Lyons Township.

Gartner helped the No. 1-rated and defending Class 3A state champions escape with a 26-29 dual victory in Western Springs.

“I’m realizing right now I’m the fifth guy because (junior Nathan Hill) has some congestion problems,” Gartner said. “I’m just happy that I beat their fifth guy, but as a team I know we can all run better, do better.”

The Red Devils completed an undefeated season in West Suburban Conference Silver Division duals by beating the Lions and Glenbard West 16-39, but the feeling was far from satisfying.

Sophomore Blake Evertsen was second (14:05 for 2.85 miles) to LT junior Connor Madell (14:04). Junior Chris Brenk (14:07) and seniors Matt McBrien (14:08) and Josh Feldman (14:08) were fourth, fifth and sixth and Gartner was 10th (14:16), three seconds behind senior Chris Beuchner, the Hilltoppers’ first finisher. Hill (14:35), senior Alex Domiano (14:41) were 13th and 14th.

LT’s top-five finishers were 1-3-7-8-12 overall. The Lions entered the meet ranked No. 4 by DyeStat Illinois and MileSplit Illinois, the second-highest rated Silver team.

“As a team, we didn’t really feel that confident in the scores at the end, and I don’t think any of us were confident during the race,” Gartner said. “We know that a lot of us got outkicked at the end and it was really a big disappointment when we saw the score at the end.”

The Red Devils still took a big step towards their first conference title since 1955. They finished 6-0 in duals so to secure at least a share of the overall title they only need a second-place finish at the Silver Meet at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18 at East End Park in Elmhurst.

Besides Evertsen being edged by Madell for first place by one second, Brenk was edged for third by LT senior Alex Lima in the same 14:07 with McBrien and Feldman one second back.

“I went with the top pack, the top guys until pretty much the end,” Feldman said. “I’d say my only regret was not kicking earlier because that way maybe I, Matt and Chris might have outkicked Lima. Other than that, I thought we placed decently.”

The Red Devils’ pre-race strategy, especially on a shorter course than the usual 3.0 miles, contributed to the race being closer than they would have liked.

“Our coaches apologized to us that they did hold us back and told us to let them control the race,” Gartner said.

“I think it’s just a learning experience but there’s still a lot of time left before state, when it really matters. (LT is) a very good program and it’s a chip on our shoulder we just have to brush off because we have to look at the big picture in the future. Although we didn’t run that great, we just have to realize that it’s one meet and we still face them a lot more times.”

This was the second time the varsity teams met this season. At the First to the Finish Invitational Sept. 13 at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, site of the state meet Nov. 8, the Red Devils defended their team title (86 points) while LT (201) was third behind No. 3-rated Neuqua Valley (153).

Starting with the Silver Meet, Hinsdale Central will continue to see LT, as well as Downers Grove North, at the Hinsdale Central Regional Oct. 25 at KLM and Marist Sectional Nov. 1 before the state meet.

“(This race) just shows how incredible our conference is, what great competition we have and we’re actually fortunate to have better, good competition because it makes us better,” Feldman said. “We definitely have to keep our heads down and focus for the upcoming meets against LT.”

Sophomore race

Sophomore Jacob Belgrad was prepared to keep pace with sophomore teammate Ethan Planson during the Hinsdale Central boys cross country team’s sophomore race at Lyons Township with Glenbard West Thursday, Oct. 9.

Belgrad just wasn’t completely prepared for when the surge happened.

“During the race, I was telling myself we need to pick a time to where we’re going to take off. The mile was at 5:14 and that’s kind of fast but it felt really easy,” Belgrad said.

“I thought we were going to take off at 1.5 and then Ethan just takes off. I’m like, ‘We can’t wait? This is going to be harder now.’ But we just kept on pushing and it really wasn’t that hard.”

Planson and Belgrad actually made things look fairly easy as they took first and second with several seconds to spare. They helped the Red Devils defeat Glenbard West 17-45, although the Lions still pulled out their dual 28-30.

Planson (15:08 for 2.85 miles) and Belgrad (15:09) were ahead of LT’s first finisher, Alex Pall (3rd, 15:18). Ryan Doorhy was fifth (18:23) with Ben Schnieders (15:58), John Bynan (16:09) and Andrew Denos (16:19) 11th, 13th and 14th and Joe Miscimarra (16:31), John Kanzler (16:48) and Michael Chadwell (16:51) 16th, 19th and 20th.

While losing to the Lions, the Red Devils significantly closed the gap from just five days earlier at the Locktoberfest Invite Oct. 4. LT (70 points) had finished second and 51 points ahead of the third-place Red Devils.

The Red Devils now prepare for the Silver Meet Saturday, Oct. 18, at East End Park in Elmhurst.

“The goal is top five (as individuals). We established that in Kenosha (while training this summer) so we’re definitely going to try and get top five,” Planson said.

This race was good practice. Hinsdale Central finished 4-2 in Silver duals, but its other loss to Downers Grove North was minus Belgrad and Doorhy.

Only three runners finished ahead of Planson in the Red Devils’ other Silver duals.

“Definitely now that we can run together and work together, it works well for our team and individually because we just beat two of the better teams in our conference individually,” Planson said.

“Our goal was to kind of get top three. We knew Belgrad and I would take it out strong right from the 1-to-2 mile, right in between there. I broke away from the group and he followed and then he just paced us throughout. Then in the end I ended up getting him in the kick.”

Belgrad competed in track but this is his first season with the cross country program. In the season opener Sept. 6, Belgrad was a team-best fifth at the Hornet-Red Devil Invite on the home Katherine Legge Memorial Park course, a much hillier course than LT’s.

Thursday’s frontrunning success certainly provides a lift heading into the Silver Meet.

“It was good to know we can be in front of people in our conference like LT and Glenbard,” Belgrad said. “I would just look back occasionally and we just got farther and farther ahead without much effort, really. It was a fun race. Races at (Katherine Legge Memorial Park) are just so painful for me but this was just kind of easy.”

Freshman race

Adam Jaber and his Hinsdale Central boys cross country freshman teammates were excited about their overall performance against host Lyons Township and Glenbard West Thursday, Oct. 9.

The final results weren’t as pleasing.

The Red Devils ended up tying LT 28-28 but the Lions got the dual victory based on having a higher-finishing sixth runner. Hinsdale Central also beat Glenbard West 19-36.

“We didn’t think it was going to be the sixth runner (tiebreaker). We thought team spirit and all, we’re going to win,” said Jaber, who finished second in the race.

“We considered it a tie, but if you add up all of the freshman, sophomore and varsity (scores), we won by a point overall (over LT 84-85). We felt that we won.”

Jaber (10:42) finished second to LT’s Luke VanKoevering (10:41) by one second.

Neil Cumberland (11:01), Sean O’Connell (11:03) and Steven Zaher (11:05) were fifth, sixth and seventh, followed by Colin Yandel (12th, 11:22) and Kiril Kuzmanovski (18th, 11:52) and Justin Lue (19th, 11:54).

LT’s top-five finishers were 1-4-8-9-10 overall (1-3-7-8-9 in dual scoring). Its No. 6 runner was 11th overall in 11:21.

The Red Devils found out they lost the dual on the tiebreaker during their post-race meeting at the course.

“It did not feel good,” O’Connell said. “It was good that we were tied through the first five people because LT has a really good freshman team. It was just good to know that we’re right up next to them. But then it didn’t feel good losing with the sixth runner.”

The Red Devils now turn their sights toward the Silver Meet at 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at East End Park in Elmhurst. They finished 3-3 in Silver duals, also losing to Downers Grove North and York.

“(Assistant coach Jim Kupres) was saying that we did well. That was probably our best meet of the year so far,” O’Connell said. “That was good to hear, the meet right before conference was our best one so it shows that we’re getting better every meet.”

Jaber is hoping to continue his rapid progress after needing four weeks of therapy to recover from a knee injury. This was only his third race of the season, starting with the York dual at Katherine Legge Memorial Park Oct. 2.

“I am looking forward to conference, to put everything I’ve got into it,” Jaber said. “I’m going to train very hard this week and put everything I’ve got into it and I’m hoping for the best results.”

Jaber actually used to live in Elmhurst, where he began cross country as a third grader at Jefferson School. His family then moved to Oak Brook, and he ran at Butler Junior High for three seasons.

When Jaber won the 2013 eighth-grade title at the Southeast DuPage Elementary Athletic Association Meet, his 2.0-mile time was 11:15 – roughly 30 seconds slower than he’s already running now.

“I’m doing OK with it,” Jaber said. “The York meet was kind of rough. I wasn’t prepared for that. I felt more comfortable against LT so I felt I ran a better race. Locktoberfest (Oct. 4) and KLM were pretty hilly actually. It still has a lot of uphills. LT is very flat.”

RECAP OF MEET AGAINST OPRF AND PROVISO WEST - By Bill Stone

Senior Alex Domiano and the Hinsdale Central boys cross country program have gone through many changes and challenges since the 2012 season.

After Domiano competed at state with the team as a sophomore, he was the first alternate for last year's Class 3A state championship lineup.

"I see the main difference when we were freshmen and sophomores, we didn't have such high expectations of ourselves because we've always done pretty mediocre at the state meet and we were just making our first trips downstate," Domiano said.

"Last year, that was a turning point for our team. Everybody started working really hard. We have a really good culture of excellence on our team now where there's basically no people on the team who don't want to succeed. Everybody's here to get better."

Now that Domiano again is healthy, he's among the Red Devils seeking personal progress. On Thursday, Sept. 25, he helped the state's top-ranked team defeat visiting Oak Park-River Forest and Proviso West 15-50 in West Suburban Conference Silver Division action at Katherine Legge Memorial Park.

The Red Devils had the first seven finishers in the race.

Senior Matt McBrien won his first varsity race (15:24.8 for 3.0 miles), followed by junior Chris Brenk (15:25.7), sophomore Blake Evertsen (15:27.2), seniors Griffin Gartner (15:32.1) and Josh Feldman (15:38.1), junior Nathan Hill (15:40.1) and Domiano (15:46.5). Senior Nick Tandle was ninth (16:11.9) and Austin Kleber (16:30.7), Max Maydanchik (16:43.7) and Sean O’Flaherty (16:46.3) were 14th through 16th.

"It feels like we have a full top seven right now that's ready to go," McBrien said. "It's really good that (Domiano is) coming back. He's been gone for a while."

Domiano had a strong track season but developed an iliotibial (IT) band injury right at the end of summer running. He cross trained on stationary bikes before finally making his season debut Sept. 18 against Downers Grove North, although the first two miles of that race were a tempo run. Thursday was the season debut for Kleber.

"I'm running the workouts with the top guys. I don't feel injured anymore. I've just been feeling strong and after a few more workouts, I'll be up with those top guys again," Domiano said.

"It's really nice having a team like this when you're injured. People are always telling me, 'We want you to come back soon. We hope you get better soon.' so that's always very motivational for me. I worked as hard as I could on the bike just so I could come back stronger and faster."

The Red Devils worked as a pack and quickly gained control of the race. Two Huskies stuck with the lead group but the Red Devils’ top seven led by the mile.

OPRF's top runner, sophomore Irwin Loud, competed on the sophomore level and comfortably won that race in 15:53.9, which would have been eighth in the varsity race.

"With (Loud) not in the race, our plan was just to go out with whoever went fast of the OPRF guys. Then, kind of at the 1,000, 1,200-meter mark try to push them and break away, and then try to coast through two miles and push it towards the finish," McBrien said. "Our goal was to get our top seven in front of their front guy, which we did, and just get another good race under our belt."

This was the first time McBrien won a varsity cross country race. In the opening dual, McBrien was the Red Devils' top finisher but second overall to Downers North senior Ryan Clevenger, seventh in state in 2013.

As sophomores, Domiano and McBrien usually were the team's top two finishers in races. At state, Domiano was the No. 7 finisher (142nd place) for the Red Devils, who finished 12th.

Among the team's most improved runners last season, McBrien was the Red Devils’ only junior in the 2013 state lineup, which also included Evertsen and Brenk. McBrien was the Red Devils' No. 6 finisher in 60th place.

"There are definitely higher goals (since 2012) and that doesn't only go for the race, but workouts and stuff like that," McBrien said. "Our coaches are really pushing us to get the work done during practice, and not just a few of us. All of the top guys, the top 12, top 15 guys, are really putting in the work and it's helping obviously."

Domiano ran well during track, good enough that his best 3,200-meter time was within range of the state-qualifying cut. Teams are allowed just two entries at sectionals and the Red Devils went with two senior standouts who both qualified for state -- Billy Magnesen and TJ Caveney.

Magnesen went on to finish an all-state fifth. Domiano instead competed at sectionals in the 1,600 but did not qualify.

"That didn't go as well, but there's this year, which I'm hoping to do really well," Domiano said. "That (spring season) is really motivating because I know what I am capable of now. It helps me focus on what I can accomplish and knowing that I can accomplish it."

Have the Red Devils' program expectations changed? Just ask Domiano again.

"My goal for the season is to get all-state, I want to score for our team (top five) and I want our team to win state for the second year in a row," Domiano said. "Big goals. (But) they are very attainable."

For the second weekend in a row, the Red Devils are not competing at an invitational since winning the First to the Finish Invitational Sept. 13 at Peoria's Detweiller Park on the state course.

While many other top state teams competed at Detweiller Sept. 20 in Peoria Notre Dame's Richard Spring Invitational, the Red Devils were going through a treacherous workout. McBrien said this Saturday's workout would consist mainly of a long run.

"It's just about getting the mile and getting in a good workout when nobody else is really," McBrien said. "They have a race and that can be helpful, but we just want it to be a day where we can get ahead of some really good programs. It's always a day to get something productive."

Senior Josh Feldman had an insider’s view of the Hinsdale Central boys cross country team’s 2013 Class 3A state championship.

Feldman would have competed in his first state meet for nearly all of the other 24 qualifying teams at Peoria’s Detweiller Park. Feldman instead was among the five alternates for the Red Devils’ seven-man state lineup that used just three underclassmen – Matt McBrien, Chris Brenk and Blake Evertsen.

“That was still a great experience last year. I understood that I was the ninth man and the top seven deserved to run state. It wasn’t really an issue,” Feldman said.

“In 2013, being an alternate, it definitely did motivate me for the offseason during winter and track and summer because I knew I would have to come back this year and probably be in the top seven.”

Feldman has delivered so far. On Thursday, Sept. 18, he helped the Red Devils defeat host Downers Grove North, second in Class 3A last season, 23-34 in their West Suburban Conference Silver Division dual opener at Greene Valley Forest Preserve.

McBrien (15:39 for 3.0 miles) and Evertsen (15:45) finished second and third to Downers North senior Ryan Clevenger (15:31). Feldman (15:48), senior Griffin Gartner (15:52) and junior Nathan Hill (15:54) were fifth through seventh to complete the Red Devils’ top-five finishers, followed by senior Alex Domiano (9th, 16:01) and Nick Tandle (13th, 16:26).

“The first two miles we were tempoing since Downers North had an invite on Saturday (at Minooka),” Feldman said. “Both varsity squads agreed to tempo the first two miles and then the last mile we sort of turned it on and made it into a race.”

Clevenger was an all-state seventh in 2013, two places ahead of the Red Devils’ Billy Magnesen, as the second-highest finishing non-senior. Seniors Zac Christensen (114th) and Jack Diamond (184th) were the team’s No. 6 and 7 finishers and the only other non-seniors in the lineup. Christensen (8th, 15:58) and Diamond (11th, 16:21) were the Trojans’ No. 3 and 4 finishers Thursday behind sophomore Alec Danner (4th, 15:47).

If Feldman competes at state this year, he also will have the perspective of his older brother, Jack, who ran at the state meet in both 2011 and 2012, when Josh was a freshman in the program.

Jack Feldman probably would have been all-state as a senior if not struck for being struck down by exhaustion and collapsing roughly 25 meters from the finish line. Feldman somehow still managed to crawl the rest of the way and cross the finish line in 172nd place -- ahead of 44 other finishers.

“Not necessarily just the state meet, but it’s just how I remember him as a senior when I was a freshman and trying to sort of be a leader like he was and just do the best that I can do really,” Feldman said.

On Thursday, the Red Devils competed without Brenk, who was resting an injury. They did, however, see the season debut of Domiano, the only remaining member of the 2012 state lineup who was eighth man for state.

“I didn’t really feel more pressure (without Brenk). I knew what our team needed to do and we also had a big pack of guys where I was,” Feldman said. “Griffin, Alex and Nathan were right behind me so those guys just kind of stuck with me and we finished the race together.”

Sophomores

Hinsdale Central sophomore Ben Schnieders has handled the competing part of this boys cross country season.

He was out most of his freshman season after breaking his wrist and in mid-September and requiring surgery. Then he broke his ankle and missed the entire track season.

“It’s great to be running,” Schnieders said.

On Thursday, Sept. 18, Schnieders handled the competitive aspect of the sport. Schnieders delivered a strong finish to end up in third place, although the Red Devils lost to host Downers Grove North 24-31 in their West Suburban Conference Silver Division dual at Greene Valley Forest Preserve.

Ethan Planson won the 3.0-mile race (17:00) by 14 seconds over Downers North’s Tristan Jahn. Schnieders (17:33) was followed by four Trojans and then the Red Devils’ pack of Andrew Denos (18:20), Joe Miscimarra (18:27), Emmett Grundberg (18:28), Michael Chadwell (18:59) and Sam Fathizadeh (19:02) in eighth through 12th.

Schnieders was five seconds ahead of fourth-place Andrew Marek (17:38). Like most Red Devils, Schnieders made his season debut at the home Hornet-Red Devil Invitational Sept. 6.

“I was behind three or four guys and then I passed them with like a mile left to go and just hoped they didn’t catch me,” Schnieders said. “At the Hornet-Red Devil, I was pretty far back (45th for sophomores) so I think I learned that I can hang with some of the top guys at other schools.”

Planson’s strong start resulted in a sizeable margin of victory Thursday. After taking sixth in the sophomore race at the Hornet-Red Devil Invite, he was second in the open race at the First to the Finish Invite Sept. 13 at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

Planson thought he may have gone out a little too hard for the 200 meters, but he opened a 50-meter lead by the first quarter mile. He doubled that margin by the one-mile mark.

“Coach came up to me and said, ‘You’re going to be running by yourself the whole time,’ so I kind of just took it out strong and just got the win I guess,” Planson said.

“I’m definitely improving from the Hornet-Red Devil to Peoria for sure. This race I ran by myself. Not the greatest race pace, but it’s beneficial because I need to know how to run by myself. I feel like even though I ran a minute and a half off of my (personal record), I think it’s definitely beneficial and it’s going to be constructive for the next couple of races.”

Freshmen

Hinsdale Central freshman Steven Zaher did a lot of competitive running for St. Isaac Jogues School, but that was only in the sport of track.

“I was mostly a sprinter for 100s and 200s,” Zaher said. “I wasn’t really long distance at all until I joined cross country (at Hinsdale Central). It’s challenging but it’s been worth it to see the improvements I’ve made over the past month.”

Zaher and several teammates made nice strides in their second high-school races although the Red Devils lost to host Downers Grove North 19-41 in their West Suburban Conference Silver Division opener Thursday, Sept. 18, at Greene Valley Forest Preserve.

Neil Cumberland (11:33 for 2.0 miles) finished second to the Trojans’ Nick Chudzik (11:28) by five seconds.

Sean O’Connell (7th, 12:23) and Zaher (9th, 12:27) also were among the top 10. Thomas Pierce, Colin Yandel (12:56) and Justin Lue (13:04) were 11th, 12th and 14th and Kiril Kuzmanovski (13:19) and Connor Gambia (13:31) were 17th and 18th.

Zaher said it was hard to compare his first two races because the season-opening Hornet-Red Devil Invitational Sept. 6 was only 1.93 miles for the freshman race. Zaher was 55th (11:24.7) as the team’s No. 5 finisher.

Still, Zaher feels he has made progress as far as competitiveness.

“I was more used to running pretty much at 100 percent. I was more used to the whole meet experience, the process that’s involved before, during and after a race,” Zaher said.

“At Downers, I was better at racing with the other kids and trying to catch up with them and knew how to pace myself better. I went really hard in the beginning to try and keep up with the pack. They got a little bit of ground in the middle of the race and I just kept going with the pace and slowed down a little bit near the end of it, but I picked it up again at the end, the final sprint.”

Zaher is just beginning but his older sister Annie began Hinsdale Central girls cross country as a freshman with no previous competitive running experience in the sport nor track. In May, she won the 3A state title in the 1,600-meter run and should be in contention for all-state honors at the cross country state meet Nov. 8.

“We ran sometimes together at Waterfall Glen. She would pace me,” Zaher said. “(This year, my goal is) just probably to stay with the top three freshmen the whole time.”

First to the Finish Recap - By Bill Stone

Junior Chris Brenk, a returning member of the Hinsdale Central boys cross country team's 2013 3A state championship lineup, enjoyed a breakthrough Saturday by being the team's No. 1 finisher for the first time in a varsity race.

In his eyes, Brenk was simply the frontrunner of the Red Devils' powerful lead pack with fellow returning state-title contributors Matt McBrien and Blake Evertsen.

"I wouldn't put that in stone, saying that from now on I'm going to be finishing first all of the time (for Hinsdale Central)," Brenk said.

"I'm going to predict this, and it's going to happen probably, we're going to be across the board. All three of us working together, some races some of us might feel better than others and our places will be switched, but overall our times will be roughly similar."

Many of the other results remained familiar. The top-rated Red Devils again rolled to the championship of the First to the Finish Invitational at Peoria's Detweiller Park, annual site of the state meet. The Red Devils topped a 49–team field with 86 points.

Brenk (14:48.4 for 3.0 miles), senior McBrien (14:52.5) and sophomore Evertsen (14:58.8) finished seventh, 11th and 12th.

Senior Josh Feldman (27th, 15:07.3), junior Nathan Hill (29th, 15:09.8) and senior Griffin Gartner (41st, 15:17.7) also earned top-50 medals, followed by seniors Nick Tandle (86th, 15:46.7) and Matt Tobia (220th, 16:38.7).

Varsity teams were allowed as many as 10 entries.

Brenk and McBrien shared breaking 15:00 in a race for the first time.

"With people around us, the three of us working together and Josh and Nathan not far behind just makes it all the more better," Brenk said. "It's really good to have three guys just in close proximity with each other and I'm sure as the season progresses we'll all get better, but it was good to win for the team and it was good to place so high and get just good times for all of us. I hope that come October, November that we can try and do the same."

There was plenty of deja vu from the 2013 state title run to go around Saturday. These Red Devils also won the invite after capturing the home and season-opening Hornet-Red Devil Invitational the week before.

The 2013 Red Devils put themselves on the map by winning the First to the Finish with 60 points, 123 points ahead of second-place Buffalo Grove, in a weaker overall field than Saturday. It temporarily earned them the first No. 1 state ranking in program history.

Already ranked No. 1 by DyeStat Illinois and MileSplit Illinois, these Red Devils won by 67 points Saturday over No. 2 Neuqua Valley (183 points) with rival Lyons Township (201) and New Trier (209) third and fourth.

"Last year was more of an unknown, coming off the Hornet-Red, and we didn't know how they would respond from week to week," Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. "There wasn't the unknown this weekend. (We have) guys who had run the course multiple times, guys who have already run the course and knew what to expect and knew it was a really good field.

"I think our goal was to compete well at high intensity from week to week. Sometimes that's hard to do, especially early in the season, so doing that I thought was a nice way to approach it and I thought the guys did a great job, again, of running well."

Hinsdale Central had beaten Neuqua 39-54 to win the Hornet-Red Devil. On Saturday, the Wildcats’ five finishers were 4-22-26-47-54.

At the Hornet-Red Devil, Evertsen led the way as he, Brenk and McBrien finished third, fourth and fifth. The trio approached the long, final straightaway of Detweiller similarly within strides of each other but opted this time to let each other finish as best as possible.

The trio’s split was 10.4 seconds as opposed to 2.88 at the Hornet-Red Devil.

"We realized at some point last week we could have branched off a little bit. We got too comfortable with each other," Brenk said. "It's good to have a low split, but as Blake was talking about (Friday), it's better to have people at a lower position, getting better times and spots, than having a low split."

At last year’s First to the Finish Invite, the Red Devils put three in the top 10 with Evertsen taking seventh (14:56.82) right behind graduated Billy Magnesen (2nd) and Kevin Huang (5th). On Saturday, they were the only team to put two in the top 10. New Trier, Saint Ignatius (5th, 223), McHenry (13th, 402) and Edwardsville (24th, 682) put two runners in the top 20.

McHenry senior Jesse Reiser, second in state last year, won in 14:20.5 with Downers Grove North senior Ryan Clevenger, seventh at state, second in 14:32.4.

"It was really a different meet than (the Hornet-Red Devil) because so many people were willing to run faster. But it's always good to have these guys running with me," McBrien said.

"It feels good to win again. I think the competition this year was a lot higher. Really, it's more about racing Neuqua again and making sure we're focused for what's coming ahead and what's the real competition (for more important meets) by October, November."

Last year's invite proved to be a breakthrough for Evertsen in his first varsity race. Although his time was similar Saturday, he showed his progress by working with his teammates and holding onto 12th place, 3.4 seconds ahead of Glenbard West’s No. 1 runner, Chris Buechner (15:02.2).

"Chris (Brenk) went and Matt went with him. I was just sitting behind them," Evertsen said. "The last mile, I was hoping to negative split maybe or just go faster, but I kind of slowed down. The main focus was, going into the last 400, just to not get passed by anyone, just maintain my spot because I knew I probably wasn't going to get anyone in front of me. I just wanted to maintain my spot and make sure I didn't give up any points."

The breakthrough race Saturday came from Gartner slashing the gap between him and Hill, the Red Devils’ No. 5 and 6 runners, from 28.70 to 7.8 seconds.

The sweetest part of Gartner's finish was that he beat Neuqua's No. 5 finisher by 13 places and 7.6 seconds. Only the top five finishers account for a team's score, but the No. 6 and 7 finishers still can increase the total for other teams. Neuqua’s Austin Kinne (67th, 15:34.9) was the top No. 8 finisher.

"It really meant a lot. It just really felt amazing to actually really contribute, not actually scoring but making Neuqua's score higher, knowing that I beat their fifth guy," Gartner said.

"It just felt great. When I passed through the line at the end and saw the time, I was like, 'Wow.' It was great to see the improvements we've made as a team over the last couple of weeks and how the summer workouts have paid off."

"Griffin had an amazing race, getting it done in the back," Evertsen said. "I think in last week's race, we were stronger in the front but this week we definitely had guys in the back getting it done and that kind of made up for our longer split in the front."

Hornet-Red Devil Invitational - Recap by Bill Stone

Last year, Hinsdale Central sophomore Blake Evertsen made his high-school cross country debut at the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational by winning the frosh-soph race with some room to spare.

Or so he thought. Junior teammate Chris Brenk actually was second and fewer than four seconds behind.

"I didn't really know Chris was behind me the whole race until I turned around the last 5 meters and saw him. It was like, 'Oh, Chris is there,' " Evertsen said.

Now returnees from the Red Devils' Class 3A state championship lineup, Evertsen and Brenk once again were near each other at the season-opening invite Saturday, Sept. 6, and the feeling was even sweeter.

Evertsen, senior Matt McBrien and Brenk swept third, fourth and fifth place in the 3.0-mile race as the Red Devils won their 18-team home invite for the second straight year at Katherine Legge Memorial Park and an early showdown of several top-ranked teams in the preseason polls.

Evertsen (15:04.37), Brenk (15:07.00) and McBrien (15:07.25) finished within 2.88 seconds of each other. With senior Josh Feldman (12th, 15:23.52) and junior Nathan Hill (15th, 15:28.32) also in the top 10, the Red Devils won with just 39 points. Neuqua Valley (54) was second with Naperville Central (111) and New Trier (139) third and fourth.

"Focusing on pack running, the last 800 meters, Blake, Matt and I were literally a foot from each other, even until 200 meters left into the straightaway," Brenk said. "That just made it all the more fun and enthralling to be part of a pack and a team together. It was a very fun race."

McBrien is the third returnee from the state championship lineup, which began its quest by winning the Hornet-Red Devil Invite with 59 points -- the Red Devils' first title at its invite since 1992, when only nine teams competed. McBrien was 18th at the invite as the team’s No. 4 finisher.

Seniors Griffin Gartner (34th, 15:57.02) and Nick Tandle (46th, 16:12.76) were the team’s No. 6 and 7 finishers Saturday. Seniors Matt Tobia (54th, 16:22.61) and Sean O’Flaherty (95th, 16:59.90) also broke 17:00 in the race.

Still, the Red Devils' excitement afterwards was subdued, more of a pride in solid individual and collective efforts more so than simply once again clutching the invite's title plaque.

"It's not much of a different feeling (winning again), just a good recognition of

all of the summer miles we've put in," McBrien said. "It's a good transition into

the racing season always and it's nice to get the win for the first meet because

there's a lot of training that goes over the summer and this is a hard transition.

Our goals are usually more like making sure we execute everything right and

while it's a big deal and it's nice to win again, I think we're just going to be

looking forward more than anything than focusing on this one."

The impact and margin of the victory still are hard to overlook.

Hinsdale Central was rated No. 1 preseason by DyeStat Illinois and No. 2 by

MileSplit Illinois behind Neuqua. Naperville Central, New Trier and

Naperville North, fifth on Saturday (143) received at least one top-five ranking.

For a team that graduated its three all-staters from 2013 (Billy Magnesen,

Kevin Huang and TJ Caveney), the Red Devils proved that they once again are

among the state's elite. The Red Devils next try to defend their team title

Saturday, Sept. 13, at the First to the Finish Invite in their return to Peoria's

Detweiller Park, the annual site of the state meet.

"We didn't want to maximize (the Hornet-Red Devil Invite) but we didn't want

to make it the pinnacle of the season, either," Hinsdale Central coach

Jim Westphal said. "It's a good meet to open up with. It's competitive. We

stressed that and (assistant coach Noah Lawrence) talked about it with all of

the kids, too. It's just a process to get back into. What do you the morning of

(the race)? What's your mindset as you go up to the starting line? Those things

that get you focused and prepared, how did we execute at that end? That's

what we focused on more than first, second, third or fourth. We didn't really

talk about a top-three finish because we said if you guys execute (we're fine)."

While the Red Devils were motivated, Lawrence gave them a lofty pre-meet

goal Thursday. He thought the team could put three in the top 10 and five in

the top 15. Four of last year’s top 50 state finishers were in the race, two of

them Red Devils in Evertsen (29th) and Brenk (43rd). Palatine senior Graham

Brown, eighth at state last year, won in 14:55.65 with Highland Park senior

Ben Casey second in 15:01.63. Wheaton Warrenville South senior Kyle Cepeda,

33rd at state in 2013, was 10th (15:15.46). Naperville North senior

Kerry Gschwendtner, 35th at state, did not compete.

Neuqua Valley’s top-five finishers went 6-7-8-14-19. The Red Devils received a lift when the sophomore team earlier achieved its goal of putting put three in the top 10.

"The sophomores were 5-6-7 and our coach said this (varsity goal) is reasonable. We can get after this," Brenk said.

"I think having us three up front, it was just good because we kept each other accountable," Evertsen said. "I was always focusing on where Matt was, where Chris was and just making sure we were all in contact with each other. Today was a good practice for later meets to come, just as far as pack running and everybody doing their par and doing their job."

One joyous aspect for the trio was when they picked up their pace running across the park and the turn into the uphill homestretch.

Toward the finish, they passed Neuqua junior Connor Horn (6th, 15:12.59), who is coming off an injury-plagued sophomore year.

"We should definitely expect him to be up in the front throughout the season," Evertsen said. "I think around a mile and a half, he and Graham kind of went and I told Matt, 'Just let them go,' because we had a good thing going on. I think he went out maybe a little too early, but that's just racing."

Feldman and Hill were 2013 state alternates and are excited to be in the mix. Feldman, the No. 8 man for last year's team come the state series, improved significantly from being 36th and its No. 7 varsity finisher at the 2013 Hornet-Red Devil.

"It was definitely a good start to the season. I've been putting in a lot of miles over the summer and it was a fairly big (personal record) so it was good to start the season off strong," Feldman said. "It was definitely fun. I think it was great that we had pack running. Nathan and I really worked together the entire race. We fed off those first three guys for the first half. I also think the home-course advantage really helped, too."

Hill has the advantage of entering his second cross country season much healthier. Last year, he admittedly over trained and spent most of the season battling shin splints. He had much more uninterrupted training during the track season and began to see his potential.

"Especially during training, we don't really run a 3.0-mile race ever. This just gets you back on track, gets you in that mindset of how to race," Hill said.

"It just feels great looking up ahead and seeing three guys in a row jump across the creek (on the KLM course) and then Josh right in front of me. That's just really satisfying, knowing your teammates (are running well). Two Neuqua guys passed me at the two-mile mark and I was just starting to feel it, but then coming down the hill, I saw four Red Devils in front of me and that was a huge motivator and got me through the last 1,000 meters of the race."

The invite also was a personal victory for the coaching staff. The execution of such a massive undertaking requires numerous efforts -- from both District 86 schools. The second year of the new course also required an adjustment around a soggy area late in the week.

Assistant coach Jim Kupres once again was instrumental in the course management and many of the behind-the-scenes operations.

"The coaches that come, they love the meet. We pride ourselves in that," Westphal said. "Jim and (girls head coach Mark McCabe) do, to me, the lions' share of the work, coming out here, cleaning and managing, and then all of the rest of us that filter in to do the little things. And our maintenance crew, of course, (supervised by Jim Lewandowski). It's a fun effort, but I'm glad it's over."

At Peoria, the Red Devils will once again see Neuqua, Naperville Central and New Trier as well as three top-10 ranked West Suburban Conference Silver Division rivals for the first time -- Lyons Township, Downers Grove North and Glenbard West. Downers North and LT were second and fourth at state in 2013, respectively.

"I'm sure they excited internally (winning the Hornet-Red Devil), like, 'I'm excited about my race,' " Westphal said of his athletes. "(But) we're only as good as our last meet and next week's a new week. I think we have to remind them and if we say, 'We won the Hornet-Red Devil and that's great,' in the sport you've got to be careful to keep it in perspective."

Pre-Season Review by Bill Stone

During preseason training for the Hinsdale Central boys cross country team, senior Matt McBrien was sporting a healthy beard for the first time.

“I shaved for senior pictures, a couple of weeks ago. It’s for the team, but I like it, too,” McBrien said. “(I’ll keep it) the whole season, unless it gets in the way.”

While there may be a different look for McBrien and the Red Devils, this year’s group has the difficult task of following the footsteps of their first team state championship in the sport.

As usual, the season begins at home with the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational Saturday, Sept. 6 at Katherine Legge Memorial Park.

“I’ve been a little more nervous going into this season than previous seasons because last year our goal was to be top three at the beginning of the season,” McBrien said.

“It was just kind of like, ‘We’ve done a lot of work, we know that, and we hope it works and we’ll be sad if it didn’t.’ But now I feel like we’d almost be letting people down if we didn’t win, which is the wrong way to think about it, but that’s what makes me more nervous.”

McBrien, freshman Blake Evertsen and sophomore Chris Brenk return from last year’s seven-runner state lineup that dominated last November at Peoria’s Detweiller Park as well as all five alternates – seniors Alex Domiano, Josh Feldman and Austin Kleber and juniors Yuji Cusick and Andrew Irvine.

Most opponents still remain more worried about the Red Devils than the other way around. Even though they graduated their three individual all-state finishers, Billy Magnesen (9th, 14:41 for 3.0 miles), Kevin Huang (24th, 15:01) and TJ Caveney (25th, 15:02), the Red Devils came out No. 1 in the DyeStat Illinois preseason rankings and No. 2 in the MileSplit Illinois rankings behind Neuqua Valley.

“We stress, because the season ended last year, is just to improve as a program. Whatever that means, time will tell,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. “I don’t want to sound vague, but our philosophy is if you always put a number (place) on things, there are so many variables that come into play and so many good teams and programs that all we can do is focus on what we can do to get better each day. The kids know a lot of hard work on their end and a little luck and timing comes with it.

“As good as (winning state) was, if you focus on what you’ve done rather than what you can do, sometimes (your program) can become stagnant and not fair to the kids you’re working with now – and kids like Billy, Kevin, TJ, Emmett (Scully) would agree. It was a fun and special time but we’re going to evolve and we’ve got to focus on the guys moving forward.”

Last year was a special combination of seniors and underclassmen who all bought into the offseason training program.

At state, the Red Devils were so dominant that even without Magnesen’s top-10 finish, they still would have won the state title.

Evertsen (29th, 15:06) was the top state finisher among freshmen, just four places and four seconds behind Caveney for the last of the top-25, all-state honors. Brenk (43rd, 15:13) was the Red Devils’ No. 5 finisher, followed by McBrien (60th, 15:22) and Scully (104th, 15:38).

Hinsdale Central (99 points) was 45 points ahead of second-place Downers Grove North (144), which also enjoyed its highest program finish. With Lyons Township (190) and York (196) fourth and fifth behind O’Fallon (157), the West Suburban Conference Silver Division had four of the top five finishing teams.

“I think about when I came across the (finish) line and I saw Brenk and Blake down there and I saw the other seniors,” McBrien said. “I asked my dad where was York because I thought they were be our main competition and he said, ‘I have no idea.’ That’s when I thought for the first time maybe we did it.”

“When we were all huddled around the results pole, just waiting, then they came. We’re all quiet and (someone) yells, ‘Hinsdale Central No. 1,’ ” Evertsen said.

“Then it was just insane. Coach (Noah Lawrence) jumped on us and from there on, I was teary eyed and it was a great day. Coming back from the cool down, all of the fans were there, everyone that came gave us hugs and it was a very emotional moment. I knew that our team had worked hard for it so it just made it so perfect and everything just came together that day. Hopefully something like that can happen this year.”

One benefit the Red Devils have seen from that great day is increased depth in its talent base.

“Last year, I think 34 or so guys broke 5:00 in the mile and almost all of them are coming back,” Brenk said.

Besides their 2013 state returnees, Domiano competed at state for the 2012 team (12th, 327 points) and was their No. 7 finisher (142nd, 15:40).

Besides the eight members of last year’s state lineup, the short list of other possible contributors includes seniors Griffin Gartner, Alex Lambert, Max Maydanchik, Stefan Rosas and Nick Tandle, juniors Nathan Hill and Graham Reid and sophomores John Bynan, Joe Miscimarra, Ethan Planson and Jacob Belgrad, competing in cross country for the first time.

“I would say as a program, especially the guys that are now sophomores and juniors, the expectation to continue, to maintain that level of competitiveness certainly is there,” Westphal said.

“It’s a nice mix of guys who had state meet experience and some guys who are kind of up and coming. I’d expect (Evertsen, Brenk and McBrien) to establish themselves in race situations, having more confidence and being leaders. I think (all-state is) certainly their goal. If Josh can continue to develop, he could be top 30, and possibly all-state. Who knows? Chris Brenk wasn’t on the radar last year and was 43rd. I think those are realistic goals.”

Many Red Devils have built on their cross country training with strong track seasons and summer training. Brenk, however, spent most of the track season recovering from patellar tendinitis. Cusick currently is recovering from a stress reaction in his hip and Irvine has been bothered by a shin injury.

“That last track season really got me and discouraged me, but I’m motivated to bounce back as hard and fast as I can for cross country. I definitely want to be all-state. I want to be one of the top runners of the junior class,” Brenk said.

“Since that three-month injury, that made me learn some patience. The bright side is now that I’m an underclassman, I know what I have to do to stay injury preventative. If I was ever going to have an injury, I would rather have it my earlier years than my later years, when I’m more needed for the top seven. If an injury for any one of us happens to the top seven, while it would be devastating, at the same time any one of us would be willing to jump in and place (well).”

Last year’s training and hard work yielded results that could not be anticipated.

As a sophomore, Brenk was the Red Devils’ No. 1 runner at that level but yet still seemed to come out of nowhere towards the end of the season to earn a varsity spot during the postseason.

Evertsen joined the varsity full-time after winning the frosh-soph race at the Hornet-Red Devil Invite. Brenk was second in that race. Evertsen ended up as the highest freshman finisher at the 3A state meet.

Evertsen now is regarded among the top sophomores in the state along with Lake Zurich’s Matt Pereira, who was 69th at state (15:25) and was an all-state eighth in the 3,200 at the state track meet (9:27.09).

“Last year, I didn’t really have any expectations. I really didn’t know what to expect for myself and the team. Now, given that I’ve seen everyone’s capabilities and I’ve run with the team, been through the hard workouts, put in the mileage, I feel that this season is going to be a lot better,” Evertsen said.

“Last season, I was excited by everything. Everything was new. I think, I know I can improve upon my times and help the team out a lot more than last year. I want to shoot for around top 10 (at state). This early in the season, I don’t want to put any limits on myself or shoot too high. I just want to see how the season play and formulate goals.”

McBrien built upon his strong 2012 season with Domiano on the sophomore level. Now he’s emerged as one of the team leaders over the offseason along with Feldman, often referred to by Lawrence as the state’s top No. 8 runner last postseason.

“I would like to be top 15 at state individually and if it were a dream season, to be top eight,” McBrien said.

“I hope that the new kids that would be running at state and in our top 12 can feed off the experience of everybody’s that gone down. I hope to just help out the young guys, encouraging them to keep working hard, especially as freshmen.”

State remains the ultimate goal, but there are many others along the way. The Red Devils still are seeking their first conference title since 1955 after being a close second to York in 2013, including a tough 23-32 dual loss to the Dukes without Magnesen competing. The Red Devils won the Silver Meet on the sophomore level for the first time under their current coaching staff, but they did not even share the overall title because of regular-season dual losses.

The Red Devils’ state success also earned them a chance to compete as a group at the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) Dec. 7 in Portland, Ore. The Hinsdale XC Club took 22nd with Evertsen, McBrien and Domiano part of the lineup. It’s an experience they’d like to earn again, and this time they feel they would be better prepared.

“Our goal is to be better than last year, whatever that means – more people under 5:00 (for the mile) by the end of track season, more people under 10:30, more people reaching times better than we did last year at each individual time trial,” Brenk said. “Hopefully throughout getting that goal, we’ll achieve a high place at state and maybe even go back to NXN.”

The 2013 Red Devils also built upon and achieved ultimate success by keeping an even keel, despite a great deal of success started by dominating the Hornet-Red Devil. Evertsen reiterated Lawrence’s advice to “don’t believe the hype” from the pre-season rankings or from early-season success.

“Obviously after winning state, the bar is still really high. Last year we were the underdogs. This year, we’re a huge target,” Evertsen said. “If we win a couple of meets pre-season, (we need to) just stay within ourselves and know that the important racing is later in the season. We just have to stay humble.”

“The key to success is having a good summer of training, which we already have put in, but then to just to be confident in ourselves and do not focus too much on last year,” McBrien added. “Last year was a really great year, but just to make sure it’s about us now and it’s our team and our own team and it’s not just about winning state against but winning state for ourselves.”

State Recap - by Bill Stone

The long journey of senior Kevin Huang and his Hinsdale Central boys cross country teammates had reached the final mile of the Class 3A state meet Saturday, Nov. 9, at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

”That was hard. I definitely got out a little too fast, I think,” Huang said.

Even after all of the months of training for a commitment that began two weeks after the 2012 state meet, Huang needed a little boost to make one last push.

Huang soon was approached by teammate Blake Evertsen – a freshman.

”I already was starting to fade a lot and a couple of people had passed me. Blake comes up to me and said, ‘Come on, Kevin, let’s go,’ ” Huang said.

”He helped me fight the wind. He helped me finish strong. He helped me get all-state, too. I guess it just shows the true strength of our team, always pushing each other. We’re not doing it for ourselves. We’re doing it for each other and I think that’s what made it special this year.”

Together, the Red Devils also accomplished something pretty special. They became the first boys cross country state champions for their school.

The Red Devils captured the 3A title with just 99 points, 45 ahead of second-place Downers Grove North (144 points), which also enjoyed its program’s highest state finish. O’Fallon (157) was third after being second the previous two seasons.

Senior Billy Magnesen finished ninth (14:41 for 3.0 miles) to equal the highest individual finish in history with two other runners in the post-Hinsdale High School era.

Huang (15:01) and senior T.J. Caveney (15:02) were 24th and 25th and Evertsen (29th, 15:06) also finished among the top 30, followed closely by sophomore Chris Brenk (43rd, 15:13), junior Matt McBrien (60th, 15:22) and senior Emmett Scully (104th, 15:38).

”I think I’m going to remember most when we walked up on the (awards) stage and all of our fans were right in front of us and yelling and screaming,” Magnesen said.

“It was a moment to remember, that’s for sure. I’m never going to forget any of today. It was the best day of my life for sure so far, one of the most important days for sure and to have it end the way it did was just amazing. I can’t even put it into words anymore.”

The rest of the Red Devils’ 12-runner state lineup was juniors Alex Domiano, who ran at regionals, Josh Feldman and Austin Kleber and sophomores Yuji Cusick and Andrew Irvine.

Jim Westphal is the head coach with and assistant coaches Noah Lawrence, Jim Kupres and John Snee. Westphal, Lawrence and Kupres began coaching the program as a unit in 2005. When the Red Devils qualified for state in 2008, it was their first team state trip since 1997 and just sixth overall. Saturday was the team’s unprecedented fourth straight state team appearance.

Did Westphal ever think a team championship would ever happen?

”You could dream of it, sometimes when you’re out running by yourself at Waterfall (Glen) and have your thoughts to yourself -- what it would be like and how you’d respond,” Westphal said. “For that to happen is special.

”When Noah, Jim and I started, our goal was to be competitive and get our program to where we could compete at a top 10, top five level. This year, we were shooting for top five and top three as the season wore on. We didn’t need to tell the kids that. They knew it and they were humble about it. They still knew they had to take care of all of the little things and work really, really hard and control their emotions. It was just a savvy group, a special group. All of their personalities kind of melted and jelled all the way down to Evertsen.”

While Hinsdale Central also has won state titles in boys golf and girls tennis this fall, it’s whole new territory for the boys cross country program.

Before Saturday, the Red Devils never earned any top-three trophy or even finished higher than sixth in 1955 as Hinsdale High School and eighth in 1997.

Boys cross country is now the 15th sport in Hinsdale/Hinsdale Central history to win a state title (8 boys, 7 girls). The girls cross country team won the Class AA crown in 2006.

”That makes it all the more special. We get to put up a banner in the school that says cross country for boys cross country for the first time. We get to carry around the trophy at school. It’s absolutely awesome,” Magnesen said. “For it to never happened before is surprising because we’ve had such good athletic success with school is pretty surprising to me. But for us to be the first team, it’s really special.”

Despite their recent state success, the Red Devils were unable to crack the top 10 the past three seasons in 25-team fields. They were 14th in 2010 (345), 16th in 2011 (378) and 12th last year (327), 18 points shy of 10th.

On Saturday, the Red Devils ran so well that even by taking away the top-10 finish from Magnesen, they still would have won the team title by nine points.

”This is just the best day of my life, by far. I can’t even describe it right now,” Huang said. “Just coming back from 12th place, 16th sophomore year and now this incredible year, from the first day of summer, we made our goal to get that trophy at state and to work as hard. I’m just glad it all paid off today – finally.”

Huang’s finishing kick proved to be one for the ages. By placing among the top 25, Magnesen, Huang and Caveney also earned individual all-state honors for the first time.

Only 10 Red Devils have ever earned all-state honors, and four have come over the last four seasons. Before Saturday, the Red Devils never had more than one all-stater in any state race, much less three.

Huang’s final kick contributed to getting the final two all-state spots.

”I definitely owe (my all-state) to (Evertsen),” Huang said. “ And T.J. came out of nowhere. That was just incredible. I don’t even know how that happened, not at all. This is the best day ever.”

Official word on the team victory required about an hour’s wait after the race. Final results were backed up all day since the 1A boys race because of a power outage and with the difficulty of verifying results from the videotape of the race with the computer race chips in each runners’ bib. The sun of a beautiful autumn day hindered the reading of runners’ bibs on their chests as they finished.

Whatever happened, the Red Devils did take solace that if they hadn’t won, they still had run a great team race. Another team would have to earn it.

”Nobody wanted to say it until the results were actually posted, but we were confident,” Caveney said.

“I knew I ran a good race, but I wasn’t sure about the team (standings). I wasn’t sure how the other teams matched up to us at that point. I didn’t really know we won until the actual results were read.”

Even moments after the race, most believed the Red Devils had certainly earned a trophy, if not won. Westphal tried to keep the athletes and huge fan base from jumping to conclusions.

“There was kind of a cautious anticipation. It didn’t feel like eternity for some reason because there were so many things going on to pass the time quickly,” Westphal said. ”We knew we ran well and whatever the outcome, that’s awesome because they did exactly as we told them to do.”

While Lawrence stood in the area where the results would be posted, Hinsdale Central athletes and fans waited behind it nearby.

“Once they were posted, someone yelled, ‘Central No. 1,’ and it was unbelievable. Everybody was jumping up and down and screaming.” Caveney said.

”The coaches are the best in the state. It was great to get it done to make the team and the coaches proud. I think we deserved it after all of the work we put in. It was nice to see it pay off with the first title in school history.”

The Huang-Evertsen surge down the stretch perhaps typified the commitment and bond that carried the Red Devils to this moment.

When times were at their toughest, the team’s most experienced state runner was motivated by its least. Huang was the first Hinsdale Central to compete at state with his team three times. Evertsen is the first Hinsdale Central freshman to compete at state in the modern era, if not ever.

”That was definitely one of the highlights of my race. Basically finishing with (Huang) and keeping him strong and not letting him fade, it was emotional for me, too,” Evertsen said. “I’m just glad that I can make the race really nice for him. I wanted him to end on a good note so I’m glad I could do that for him.

”Definitely we were running for each other. That’s what it all came down to. And I think the reason why we won was basically the product of all of our training. It was really nice winning, but also great being there and experiencing the seniors’ last cross country race and really holding onto that team unity through to the end. To finish my first state meet and his last state meet together, that was cool.”

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the lineup had a freshman, sophomore and junior besides four seniors. The link of this season’s team with those of the recent and even distant past seemed to construct an endless chain.

The coaches and team received a great indication by the gathering of alumni and fans Nov. 2 at Katherine Legge Memorial Park when Hinsdale Central was the host school for sectionals for the first time.

”We made sure the kids were aware of that, and they were, the idea in a sense that you’re running for a greater cause and not just running for you,” Westphal said. “You’re running for those guys before you.”

At Detweiller, the celebration mob was like a who’s who of greats from the recent past, such as 2010 all-stater Billy Fayette, 2012 graduates Jack Feldman and Tom Lyons and Ryan Somerfield from last year’s team. The Hinsdale Central girls team, which finished 14th at state, and its athletes also were on hand to celebrate and combine for a giant group photo.

”The whole weekend, from start to finish was really memorable,” Scully said. “The thing that I’ll remember is the post race, where all of the alumni, Billy Fayette, all of the guys were there. We went for our cool down and came back and all of the fans were there waiting and clapping for us.”

Fayette was a surprise arrival from Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, N.C.), thanks to his parents arranging a flight. He only briefly visited the Red Devils beforehand to wish them luck.

”I saw how focused they were and could just tell things were going in the right direction,” Fayette said. ”Words can’t describe it. It’s so special. I’m so proud of these athletes and coaches. These guys have put in more work than any team that I’ve ever seen come through this program. It would have been tough to miss this.”

Heading into state, Lawrence requested for well wishers to send him e-mails for the state runners that he would post on his blog page as part of the team’s website. Sixty notes arrived, more than twice than in 2012. Many were from past Hinsdale Central runners whom these runners have never met personally.

”(Lawrence) gave us this giant packet. It was just incredible seeing what kind of a great community and how many fans and everyone was out here supporting us,” Huang said. “It shows we’re not just running for ourselves, but we’re running for Hinsdale Central and all of the alumni and the entire community. This is for all of us.”

Congratulations also came from other teams. While awaiting their awards, the Red Devils were formally congratulated by the entire team from 10th-place Neuqua Valley, the 2009 3A champions.

Congratulations also where in order for the West Suburban Conference Silver Division, which took first and second place, and fourth and fifth with Lyons Township (190) and York (196), the defending 3A state champions and No. 1-rated team heading into the postseason.

Downers North, which previously finished third at state twice, gave its traditional “Hip, hip, hooray” cheer, led by former long-time coach Will Kupisch and the athletes shook hands and congratulated each other as two of the final teams to leave the parks.

The Trojans and Lions were second and third to the Red Devils the previous two weeks at the regionals and sectionals. Because of injuries, the Trojans didn’t have their best lineup intact from the Aug. 29 season opener and the last two races. LT, third at state in 2012, also ran its best race all season at state.

”We’re cheering for each other. We’re rooting for each other. Four out of the top five, that’s really cool for the conference and for the kids. It’s fun because they’re great guys. Each coach is a great guy,” Westphal said.

”That’s what it’s about. You’re not going to trophy every year. You’re not going to win every year, with the exception of York, historically, so when you do get down, you appreciate it but you also appreciate those other good points within the conference.”

The lone returnees from last year’s state lineup who competed Saturday were Magnesen (32nd, 14:53), Huang (46th, 15:03) and Caveney (126th, 15:33). The 2012 state lineup also consisted of three seniors (Somerfield, Dylan Palo and Rajan Khana) and Domiano (142nd, 15:40).

Two weeks after state, the Hinsdale Central cross country underclassmen convened in a classroom and discussed about goals for the 2013 season. The Red Devils committed to earning a team trophy and broke down what they were willing to do during the spring, summer and fall training seasons.

The plans were written on a large, long sheet of red paper.

”They came up with the ideas. It wasn’t from the coaches,” Lawrence said. “We could give suggestions, but they said, ‘Well, what if we do this?’ Then they would all say, ‘Are we committed to doing that?’ If they said yes, they would write it down.

”At the end of the night, they all signed it.”

The Red Devils had some strong building blocks from which to start. In the senior-dominated 2012 state meet, only six non-seniors were all-state and Magnesen and Huang were the No. 11 and 17 best finishers among the non-seniors. In May, they gained their first state berths in boys track with Huang part of the 3,200-meter relay and Magnesen advancing in the 3,200.

York and O’Fallon had several returnees from their 2012 first and second-place teams and received the pre-season nods as No. 1 and 2 in the three weekly state polls.

Hinsdale Central was ranked No. 7 by DyeStat Illinois and MileSplit Illinois and No. 9 by the Illinois Cross Country Coaches Association. But third place appeared to be wide open.

”We were expected to be a team that would run tough at state, get in the top 10, top five maybe, but it’s hard to judge when you have an incoming freshman that’s going to be good and it’s hard to quantify team cohesion and team belief,” Magnesen said. “We knew all along that we were going to be competing to be state champs. For that to come true speaks to the fight and the love for this sport that this team has.”

The Red Devils were seeking to reach uncharted territory. Even when they won their season-opening Hornet-Red Devil Invitational Sept. 7 for the first time since 1992, there was satisfaction but little fanfare. What happened Nov. 9 at state still remained the priority.

In their annual regular-season trip to Detweiller Sept. 14, the Red Devils ran even better, winning the First to the Finish Invite for the first time by 123 points with times that reflected the best team performance ever at Detweiller.

The performance even garnered a No. 1 ranking from DyeStat Illinois, but York competed for the first time Sept. 19 and regained its spot. As the Red Devils often said, ‘Don’t Buy the Hype,’ a saying that hung in the locker of former Chicago White Sox standout Frank Thomas. While still the same course, running well at Detweiller on Nov. 9 was what truly mattered.

Westphal, however, kept the training routine as normal as possible. While speaking logistics about the trip earlier in the week, he never fully discussed preparing for the state race until Friday.

”I think the hardest wait was the week before (state). It was so hard to be patient because it’s, ‘Oh my gosh. We’ve waited four, five months,’ ” Scully said. ”The bus ride (Friday) was basically silent and then we ran the course, got to the hotel and then just tried to stay patient, tried to stay patient and calm. (Saturday morning) we had a weird feeling, kind of eerie, because we knew it was the day. It was a good feeling and bad feeling, kind of scary. We had that opportunity right in front of us and it was finally here.”

With his performance Saturday, Magnesen equaled the best individual state performance in the Hinsdale Central era by Jon Thanos (1982) and John Herbert (1975), the only two-time all-stater in program history.

The highest all-time finishes are by Hinsdale High School runners Dave Hahl (6th in 1954) and Ben Pippenger (7th in 1949).

”It’s cool and all, but when I’m going to look back on the season, I’m not going to remember finishing ninth. I’m going to remember finishing first.” Magnesen said. “In the end, it doesn’t mean as much to me as a state trophy. It’s a good honor to have but it’s been shadowed by other great things we’ve done this season.”

Huang improved significantly from his state races last year and 2011 (134th, 15:48), his first season of cross country. Last year, he peaked at state, but that was after battling a virus since the summer and his training was significantly hindered.

This season, Huang didn’t miss a race, taking over as the team’s frontrunner in three races that Magnesen missed to recover from iliotibial (IT) band issues after feeling discomfort following the dual with LT Sept. 19.

”I just tried to take it week by week and maintain my confidence and do my best every race,” Huang said. “Really, all it came down to this year was I made sure I stuck to the routine every day. I went to bed at the right time. I was stretching every day. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I took ice baths. Pretty much I was doing whatever I could to make sure I would stay healthy.”

Caveney had among the most satisfying state races personally. He was disappointed about being the team’s No. 5 finisher at regionals (13th) but then was the No. 7 finisher at sectionals (24th).

Now Caveney is an all-state 25th in the state of Illinois. He was only one second ahead of the next two finishers.

”Actually, my goal going into it was top 40, though I’m happy with that. Going into the final straightaway, when I heard a coach yelling out positions, (saying) 21 to one of the runners, I got a big adrenaline rush with about 800 meters to go knowing I had a chance,” Caveney said.

”I didn’t want to have anything left at the end. I didn’t want to regret anything. I gave it all I had and it ended perfectly me for me, the last all-state spot. I didn’t actually know officially until the results came out. Coach Lawrence yelled when we were celebrating, ‘Caveney got the last all-state spot.’ ”

Caveney said his experience at state played a role in his success. He was ready for the differences and prepared as best he could mentally and physically, eating well and getting enough sleep.

During the race, he was able to get out fast as planned and put himself in a good position from the outset.

”Coach Lawrence said we were doing it (winning) at one point. I knew we were doing well as a team and so I knew I’d be a big part of that so that was big motivation for me,” Caveney said.

”It was great being able to finish off the season winning. It was a long season, a lot of work and all leading up to one day that mattered. We had that goal in mind all season so to actually get it done on the day was big, just really felt good. I guess I learned I cold do more than I thought I could. I didn’t expect to be all-state. Performing under that high pressure was something I could do and I was really happy about that.”

Evertsen and Brenk also handled their state responsibilities as newcomers to the varsity this season. They both benefited from running with the varsity at Detweiller in September. The seniors also proved to be a calming influence.

”Driving to the park and getting into warmups, I wasn’t nervous. I thought either that’s a really good sign or really a bad sign,” Westphal said. “I just felt like with the coaching staff, everything was covered. It also helped that we had four seniors who were able to manage the details among the athletes. I think Blake and Chris and Matt drew from that. They felt a sense of confidence by watching those guys.”

”I just tried to keep calm for as long as I could,” Brenk said. “As coach stressed to us weeks leading up to the race, control your emotions and just not to go overboard because that could overall affect your race. We decided we just had a job to do.”

Just four seconds behind Caveney, Evertsen missed becoming the first all-state freshman in the highest enrollment class since 2004, when Hersey’s Kevin Havel was fifth in Class AA) en route to four all-state races, all in the top five, and competed at Stanford.

Evertsen also was not fazed by the bigger stage.

”I think it was a strong race for me as far as feeling good and feeling strong. I definitely felt fluid throughout the race,” Evertsen said. “I felt myself moving constantly and slowly moving up. The only thing was the last 50 meters, Kevin and T.J. passed me and a few other guys passed me. That kind of took away the all-state, but I’m still completely proud of my individual race.”

Back when he competed in Peoria Sept. 14, Evertsen had a season goal of breaking 15:30 but then ran 14:56.82 for seventh overall. A 15:30 would have barely cracked the top 80 Saturday.

Having strong teammates and the magnitude of what the Red Devils could accomplish helped Evertsen make the most out of this season, even as a freshman.

“Definitely just realizing that I was fortunate enough to come in at the right time and be with the right people and just run with them and strive for this goal to be the best we could at state, just made it so much better,” Evertsen said.

”I think all of our success is collective. It’s nice that, in the end, we carry each other and we all earned it. I’m very, very proud to have been a part of it, memorable and special.”

His freshman year, Brenk watched last year’s entire postseason in a protective boot because of injury. When Evertsen was promoted to the varsity after the Hornet-Red Devil, Brenk became the No. 1 runner for a sophomore team that won the Silver Meet – the first conference meet victory on any level since the current coaching staff began.

Brenk, who easily won that race, made his varsity debut at regionals and retained his spot by being the No. 6 finisher (14th), one place behind Caveney. Brenk then was the No. 4 finisher at sectionals (14th), one place ahead of Scully.

“Definitely from last year to this year I’ve had a huge leap, along with all of my sophomore teammates especially,” Brenk said. ”At the beginning of the year, after track, it wasn’t at all in my mind thinking about top seven or top 12 or state. The last thing I thought last year was I’d actually be running in (the state) meet.

“Coach has said take every day and every meet one at a time. I always was mentally prepared the day before what if this is my last race? I want to give everything I can. Then I was pretty satisfied with the last few races that I’ve ran. I did it mainly for myself freshman year, but this year what I’ve learned about myself is we’re all in this together. Everybody on the team has different personalities, but we accept everyone. That’s who they are, and we all work together and try to be the best that we can be.”

McBrien and Scully were state alternates last season. McBrien made the huge leap from being a top competitor on the sophomore level with Domiano last season.

After sitting out regionals, McBrien was the No. 6 finisher at sectionals (19th). In his No. 6 team finish Saturday, McBrien was better than every other team’s No. 5 finisher and all other No. 4 team finishers except two.

”I think the consistency came with the training we had over the summer when had a really consistent training plan where we were stronger, worked harder,” McBrien said. “I really like all of my teammates. No struggles, just a great group of guys to run meets with.”

Scully often has been described as the glue of the team. He played an important role in the training demeanor of the team as the first of seven runners in this season’s 1,000-Mile Club to reach that mark. The mileage was calculated in workouts and races from the start of summer training in June until the Silver Meet Oct. 19.

”I actually ran my slowest time of the season (at state), which was a little disappointing, but it’ll be forever overshadowed by the fact that we won. I’m glad I didn’t screw everything up. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter at all,” Scully said.

”All of the coaches know what they’re doing. They’re the best coaches in the state. It’s something that the seniors and I are happy that we were the class able to do it for the coaches because it was going to happen for the coaches. We’re the first ones, but I think it’s just going to open the floodgates.”

The Red Devils were fortunate to have few huge setbacks this season. It was the final piece to Westphal’s stressing of the four Hs – Happy, Humble, Hungry and Healthy.

There certainly was a brief scare as Magnesen rehabilitated his IT band. He only sat out two duals and an invite, but he missed the Red Devils’ 23-32 dual loss at York Oct. 3, which the Red Devils very well might have won had he competed. In fact, Magnesen nearly did before Westphal reconsidered and kept him out, thinking once again about Nov. 9.

”It feels like such a distant memory at this point,” Magnesen said. “It makes me feel I worked so much harder and all that, but in reality it was a week and a half out of my season.”

In their other regular-season meeting with York at the Silver Meet, the Red Devils nearly won again but Evertsen did not eat enough beforehand and hit a physical wall down the stretch. He dropped roughly 10 places yet still managed to get 16th. Hinsdale Central finished second to York by 12 points, 38-50.

Saturday marked the first time the Red Devils beat York on the varsity level in roughly 40 years.

”That contributed to the hungry part,” Huang said. “We knew that they always beat us. That definitely got us going. It made us want to beat them all the more and kept us going for sure, especially during the postseason.”

The state track meet also ended on a somewhat disappointing note for Huang and the Red Devils. The 3,200 relay with Huang and three seniors wasn’t able to reach the 12-team state finals after finishing 11th in 2012, taking 17th (7:57.90), 1.77 seconds from finals.

Magnesen, who was 32nd in the 3,200 (9:26.02), felt he also should have done better.

”It fired me up for sure,” Magnesen said. “(My times) wasn’t a huge drop off. It was that being average wasn’t OK.”

Scully recalled becoming motivated through Huang’s disappointment. Huang wrote a long and poignant paragraph on the Internet for his teammates. He expressed his frustration and told them how he hopes they never have to experience that feeling during any of their races.

This was a call to action. Several seniors responded.

”With other teammates, I think they really saw exactly how disappointed I was. I didn’t verbally tell them, but I just remember from day one there was a feeling that we’re not messing around any more this season,” Huang said.

”It really came from guys like Emmett, Aria (Darbandi). We really just needed to make this season year special. We really wanted to leave our legacy at Hinsdale Central and that meant putting in the work every day. If others and the rest of the team caught up to that, hopefully we’d run to the best of our ability and show what a team focused and determined to one goal can really do.”

More than 26 years ago, Westphal was the 1987 Class AA state champion in track for Oak Park-River Forest in the 3,200. As a senior, Westphal had trailed Notre Dame standout and state cross country champion Len Sitko by as many as 30 meters, but he didn’t concede. Westphal ran a 60.3-second split on his eighth and final lap and edged Sitko at the finish line by half a shoe length – 8:56.1 seconds (8:56.05 fully-automatic time) to 8:56.2.

When a contemporary coach asked Westphal to compare the two IHSA titles, he struggled.

”They’re so far removed obviously. I was totally blessed to have that opportunity (in 1987), the joy, but that season there wasn’t one hitch. There was no drama, no injuries, no sickness,” Westphal said.

”Not that this came easy this year, but there we no hiccups the whole way through. We had a few adjustments. Billy (with his IT band), that was a 10-day stretch but nothing major, nothing where we thought, ‘Oh boy. We’ll be lucky to finish in the top 10.’ It’s a very family centered celebration and when I was an athlete it was the same kind of feeling. Everybody could feel good about the accomplishment, even if they didn’t participate that day.”

Lawrence is a 1998 York graduate who ran for the Dukes and legendary coach Joe Newton. Saturday’s victory had special meaning for him because his senior year at York ended on a bittersweet note. The Dukes, who have won a record 28 state cross country championships, finished second in Class AA that year to Lockport by one point, 134-135.

”I would say, without a doubt, (this state title is) is my single, proudest athletic achievement – bar none. There’s nothing even remotely close,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence was the team’s No. 3 state finisher. His twin brother, Collin, who usually finished nearby, collapsed during the race and was 224th of 229 finishers. The Dukes still believed they had won while driving to the awards ceremony, then at Peoria High School, only to soon find out the frustrating news.

”That was my memory of my senior state meet, coming so excruciatingly short and knowing how much hard work we put into that season and just to come within inches of your goal is pretty heartbreaking,” Lawrence said. “It’s not like I would think back and cry about it, but it was always a source of motivation for me as a coach because I wanted to really get the feel of what it was like to be part of a state championship team.”

The awards staging area is at one end of the park, far from the race course but near where many teams set up their tents. As the Red Devils were preparing for the final race of the day, Westphal said he was even temporarily mesmerized by the 1A boys awards, seeing the trophies and the jubilation – hours before the Red Devils would realize theirs.

”Just through the years (in cross country and track), just missing, missing and just wondering when is our luck going to change? It changed in a big way so it was amazing,” Kupres added.

”It was unbelievable standing up there. For so many years, you see people standing up there. You’re like, ‘When will it be us?’ These guys, they ran with confidence today and they didn’t back down. It was a little nervewracking going in, definitely, but they ran like they did the whole season and just kept it going. Unbelievable.”

The Red Devils are hoping this is just the start for future championships and success in cross country and track. One benefit is that all four classes shared the lessons, and they probably will have to in the future.

”I think it serves as a testament for the kids,” Westphal said. “Is it a breakthrough? Yes. But do we have to continue to work hard, stay healthy and do the right things? Absolutely. Our goal is to get better each year and continue to compete at a high level. Now we’ve got kids who are excited about it.”

The long, red sheet of paper with 2013 team goals is gone, now in the possession of Caveney. It will be up to a new group of seniors to write the Red Devils’ next chapter by setting the culture of excellence and motivating more talented underclassmen to accomplish more than they ever imagined.

”I was thinking actually right after the state meet, I did it sophomore year. I helped the team win state sophomore year. How cool would it be if I were in (the seniors’) position? We hadn’t won anything up until this meet and to have won the last meet, I would have felt so great,” Brenk said.

”I just thought of that when I was racing. I want to do everything I can to make sure they have the best race that they can. I hope that future teammates will do the same for me when I’m a senior, along with everyone else on the team.”

-- by Bill Stone

HC wins Sectional Title - Recap by Bill Stone

The first few minutes following the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional Saturday, Nov. 2, summarized the story for senior T.J. Caveney and his Hinsdale Central boys cross country teammates.

The Red Devils had just captured only their second sectional title in anticipation of their highest finish ever – if not also their first top-three state trophy – at the 3A state meet Saturday, Nov. 9, at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

In 2012, Caveney and the Red Devils advanced out of sectionals with the fifth and final team berth by only 12 points ahead of sixth-place Plainfield East.

”Last year, the cool down was actually really nervewracking. It was just a silent cool down through the woods. No one was talking,” Caveney said. “This year, we were all happy, joking around. It was a lot different this year.”

Senior Billy Magnesen finished fourth (14:43.14 for 2.95 miles) behind Downers Grove North senior Zack Smith (14:36.66) and junior Ryan Clevenger (14:37.16) and Plainfield South senior Dan Lathrop (14:38.80).

Freshman Blake Evertsen (8th, 14:54.98) also cracked the top 10. Senior Kevin Huang (11th, 15:00.98) missed the top 10 by .30, followed by sophomore Chris Brenk (14th, 15:07.62), senior Emmett Scully (15th, 15:08.12), junior Matt McBrien (19th, 15:09.80) and Caveney (24th, 15:10.78).

”Our goal was to have all seven in the top 25 and our No. 7 guy (Caveney) was 24th,” Magnesen said. ”It was a very well executed race for our team. Our coaches told us the way we wanted to run (Friday). We nailed it with Kevin, Blake and I out front as high as we could and then our next four guys in the top 25 as long as possible.”

The 3A boys state meet is at 2 p.m. following the 3A girls race at 1 p.m. Awards for both 3A races is at 3 p.m. Top three teams earn trophies and top 25 individuals receive all-state medals.

This is an unprecedented fourth straight state trip for the Red Devils and their 10th overall, five of them over the last six seasons.

Hinsdale Central, which only needed a top-five sectional finish to advance, had just 52 points to win by 26 over second-place Downers North (78 points). Lyons Township (116), Sandburg (120) and Neuqua Valley (130) also advanced.

Saturday’s performance once again proved their potential to surpass the program’s highest state team finish of sixth in 1955 – the last team to win a comparable sectional title by capturing the district championship, then a combination of today’s regionals and sectionals. The Red Devils’ last top-10 finish was seventh in 1997.

At Lyons Township Oct. 26, the Red Devils won only their second regional since 1955.

”It’s really cool to have that happen. Ultimately, it’s just kind of we think that’s nice. It’s great to have a sectional championship and regional championship but for all of those things, the most important thing still is yet to come,” Magnesen said.

”At sectionals, we had a great team race. Nobody felt completely happy. Some of us felt we didn’t run our best. It’s a great feeling that we won by a lot and still didn’t run our best. We hope to show the state our best next week.”

Magnesen, Huang and Caveney were part of last year’s state lineup that finished 12th (327 points). Huang also ran at state with the 2012 team, which was 16th (378).

Scully was a state alternate and McBrien was part of the state training group. Evertsen has emerged as one of the top freshmen in the state and Brenk has been peaking after spending the regular season on the sophomore level.

”I’m excited for the guys. (Winning sectionals is) a nice accomplishment. It shows the hard work that they’ve done so far,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said.

”We really stress process and stress staying humble and stress staying hungry. It’s not going to end here so we’re looking forward to next week (at state).”

The Red Devils’ rewriting of program history added another page Saturday. This was the first time that Hinsdale Central played host to a sectional at KLM, the site where they annually open the season with the Hornet-Red Devil Invite.

Because of flooding from heavy rains, the new 3.0-mile course unveiled at the invite Sept. 7 was slightly altered to 2.95 miles.

”It’s the last time I’m ever going to run a meet at KLM so it feels really good to just know that we went out with a bang and took first place on a day where anything else wouldn’t be acceptable on our home turf,” Scully said. “Sectionals is such a big stage so it was just a great way to put an exclamation mark, I guess, on the career at KLM.”

State will be an even better overall conclusion. Scully competed at regionals, when the Red Devils rested their top four runners, but he did not finish well enough among his teammates in the race to remain in the lineup for sectionals or state.

”I can’t even imagine it. I’m really excited and I think our whole team is to have this opportunity right ahead of us,” Scully said. “It’s an incredible thing that we worked for and we’re going to be able to take advantage. I’ll be more nervous as the week comes on, but aside from that, it’s just excitement and determination right now.”

The state title picture has become more clouded. The Red Devils have been ranked No. 2 by the three weekly state polls throughout the season behind defending state champion York. On Saturday, however, the Dukes suffered their first defeat of the season 79-95 to top-10 ranked New Trier at the Lake Park Sectional.

Hersey was ranked third in all three final regular-season state polls while other contenders include O’Fallon (second at state last year), Wheaton Warrenville South. Downers North could surprise as it did at sectionals with its strong 1-2 punch and by having its complete lineup intact Saturday for the first time since late August.

In its regular-season trip to Detweiller Sept. 14, Hinsdale Central enjoyed a breakthrough race by winning the First to the Finish Invite (60 points) by 123 points over Buffalo Grove. Magnesen (2nd) was the top finisher from Illinois, just ahead of Clevenger (3rd) and Smith (4th), and Huang (5th) and Evertsen (7th) also were in the top 10.

”It’s a huge confidence boost, that’s for sure, knowing we’ve run there once before (extremely well). How we’re running as a team now is more important,” Magnesen said.

”Basically our goal is just to go to state and do the best that we can, do the best Hinsdale Central has ever done. I think going down there we’re just hoping for the best we have this season and running to compete with the best.”

Only seven runners in Hinsdale/Hinsdale Central history have earned all-state honors and never more than one in any season. The highest finish is sixth by Dave Hahl in 1954 with three other top-10 finishes – seventh by Ben Pippenger in 1949 and ninth by John Herbert in 1976 and Jon Thanos in 1982. Billy Fayette, the Red Devils’ last all-stater, was 16th as a senior in 2010.

At state in 2012, Magnesen was 32nd (14:53 for 3.0 miles), seven places and five seconds from 25th, and Huang was 15 seconds away in 46th (15:03). Caveney (126th, 15:33) was the Red Devils’ No. 6 finisher.

Only six all-state runners last year were non-seniors, led by the 2013 title favorite, O’Fallon senior Patrick Perrier, third last year (14:15). McHenry junior Jesse Reiser, Smith and Buffalo Grove senior Steven Salvano finished seventh through ninth. Lathrop was 28th while Clevenger, one of the state’s most improved runners, didn’t even qualify.

Magnesen and Huang were the 11th and 17th highest finishing non-seniors.

On Saturday, Magnesen was in the lead group of four at the mile in 4:56/4:57 and in fourth at the halfway point with a gap on Neuqua Valley senior Nick Bushelle (14:48.38), whom he beat by 4.24 seconds.

Huang was seventh at the mile in 4:58 and sixth at the halfway point.

”I’m going to go out there and compete the best I can,” Magnesen said. “Times are worthless, really. I’m going to go out and stay with the front pack as long as I can and what happens, happens. If I die, I die. If I work my way up with the top runners, anything can happen. I hope to stay with the top guys as long as possible and I’m running to a place that helps us achieve our goal.”

The rest of the Red Devils also continued their aggressive racing style Saturday. By the mile, they already were in sight of their goal with all seven of their runners among the top 25. McBrien was 24th in 5:03, just behind Caveney, with a two-body length lead on a pack of four Sandburg runners.

”Actually all year long our strategy has been get out fast, make sure we’re in the right position by the 800 and mile,” Huang said. “Mainly, that’s the strategy we need at state. We’ve been practicing it all year long. I think we’re well prepared for it and we just have to do it on the day.”

Evertsen has the opportunity to not only join the elite list of all-staters but an even more select list of freshmen to accomplish the feat. After winning the frosh-soph race the Hornet-Red Devil Invite, Evertsen made his varsity debut at Detweiller and had an outstanding race.

Going into the season hoping to run 15:30, Evertsen broke 15:00 in Peoria with some room to spare, just as he did on the sub-3.0-mile course Saturday. His concerns from hitting the physical wall in the final moments of the conference meet Oct. 19 because he didn’t eat enough beforehand seem in the far distance.

To get back on track, Evertsen used a somewhat more conservative start. He was 14th at the mile in 4:59 but soon climbed into the top 10.

”Especially for me, coming off my last couple of races haven’t been up to par, it was really nice to do really well in this one (at sectionals),” Evertsen said. “With other races, it was a matter of nutrition and just my mind kind of messing with me. Now that I have a great meet under my belt and a great performance, it’s going to be really interesting going into state.

”Really, this whole cross country season, I’ve gotten the feel for what cross country requires as far as work ethic and I just feel so confident from the work that I’ve put in. I feel confident in our team with the amount of work we’ve put in and the amount of dedication we’ve shown to each other.”

At the conference meet, Evertsen credited McBrien with helping him finish just in front for the 16th and final all-conference spot. McBrien then sat out the regional as Brenk and junior Alex Domiano, who ran at state in 2012, competed for the final spot on the sectional team.

McBrien took advantage of his postseason opportunity Saturday, something he’s envisioned ever since being in Peoria last November.

”I remember when I was on the state team last year, I set my goal to be on the state team the next year so now that I know that I’m going there, it’s a really good feeling,” McBrien said.

”I ran really well today. I got out fast, even though there was lots of pushing and shoving the first 400 meters. I was still able to get into a pretty good position through the 800 and kind of maintain and move up a little bit the rest of the race. I think it’s a really good confidence booster going into state to know that I can run against some of the best people in the state.”

Brenk took another step forward from regionals, when he was 14th as the team’s No. 6 finisher. He joined the Red Devils’ pack of Scully, McBrien and Caveney and finished strong to edge Scully by .50 and join Sandburg’s Tom Brennan (12th, 15:02.54) as the only sophomores in the top 30. Evertsen was the only freshman.

Injured most of his freshman year, Brenk gained motivation from the Hornet-Red Devil, when he was second to Evertsen in the frosh-soph race and also broke 16:00 (15:58.57 to 15:54.94).

“Last year, I never even considered being a part of the top 12 or top seven. Early on into this season, I definitely realized it was something I could maybe do if I really worked hard,” Brenk said. “It’s just so nice to be all together and work hard and do it for the team. That’s what I love about cross country is you work with each other and bond together, and it’s a great feeling.”

Brenk’s race goal Saturday to use the uphills more to his advantage, something he learned was one of his strengths during a recent workout.

“I definitely delivered that during the race and I got ahead of a lot more people than I thought I would, “ Brenk said. “Last week, (Caveney) outkicked me in the last 400 or so and this time my goal was to stay with him.”

“Now that we’ve had seven runners step up, Brenk really stepped up today, we’ve got a good group up front and we're really looking forward to (state),” Caveney said.

Caveney said that he can finish on a strong note at state and perform much better than his races at regionals and sectionals.

Huang, the state veteran of the group, has the feeling that this weekend will be his most memorable state experience.

“Really for me now, it’s all about the team,” Huang said.

”I think this is probably the best Hinsdale Central team we’ve ever had. Our entire culture this season has been so different from the last two years I’ve been on. I think this year finally at the state meet we can really turn some heads and make something special happen.”

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Hinsdale Central Wins Regional Championship for only 2nd time since 1955 - Recap by Bill Stone

In 2012, Hinsdale Central senior Emmett Scully plowed through his final race of the season at Class 3A Lyons Township Regional.

Upon his return to the LT Regional Saturday, Oct. 26, Scully officially had logged more miles than anyone on the team since the start of summer running in June.

“It was definitely, ‘All right, I have to get stronger,’ and this is the way that I did that,” Scully said. “It’s funny how different today was than a year ago today.”

Scully was more than one minute faster, and the Red Devils comfortably won only the program’s third regional title with 35 points as they put four among the top 10 and all seven entries among the top 16.

Seniors Billy Magnesen (14:50.55 for 2.98 miles) and Kevin Huang (14:53.89) were third and fourth to Downers Grove North senior Zack Smith (14:36.11) and junior Ryan Clevenger (14:36.48).

Freshman Blake Evertsen (15:02.50) was sixth, Scully (15:06.85) was ninth and senior T.J. Caveney (15:13.48), sophomore Chris Brenk (15:20.31) and junior Alex Domiano (15:29.29) were 13th, 14th and 16th.

The Red Devils finished ahead of Downers North (47 points) and LT (75), just like the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet, in which they finished second through fourth behind champion York.

In 2012, on the same LT course, Scully was 21st (16:11) as the Red Devils’ No. 5 finisher for an altered regional lineup in which only the team’s top three runners went on to compete at the state meet.

“Last year, I was falling apart at the seams. I was just trying to keep myself together and put together a decent race,” Scully said. “This year I’m feeling so much better and not even close to where I was last year in terms of being burned out or anything.”

The Red Devils remain on course for having their best state performance in school history as they prepare for the 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional at noon Saturday, Nov. 2, at Katherine Legge Memorial Park. The Red Devils, ranked No. 2 in the state to defending state champion York, only need a top-five sectional finish to return to the state meet for a program-best fourth consecutive year.

“Really, regionals is a big part of the process to get to state so it was good to go away with a win,” Magnesen said. “We didn’t run our best. We know we can run better. In the end, it’s just kind of a step along the way.”

There was hardly any pressure Saturday. The Red Devils only needed to finish among the top six among nine teams, but Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal maintained the usual lineup with one slight alteration.

Junior No. 6 runner Matt McBrien was taken out for Brenk to examine the possibly of his competing in the next two races. While the Red Devils finished second to York at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Oct. 19 at Proviso West, Brenk had helped the frosh-soph team win its race by capturing the individual title by 24.5 seconds.

“We want to keep (our lineup) consistent week to week because I think if you start to change things up, then it’s hard to turn it on and off,” Westphal said.

“I think it went fairly well. We raced aggressively. That was the plan, to go out strong and hold on and see how we felt. The goal is to continue to train, be smart and race hard. We wanted to come and race hard because we’re going to have to do it for two more weeks so we wanted to keep that philosophy and that plan in place.”

In 2011 at LT, Hinsdale Central technically won its first regional title ever with 40 points. Huang (20th, 16:12), the Red Devils’ No. 7 finisher that day, is the only remaining member of that regional lineup. The 1955 team, which owns the program’s highest state finish of sixth, also won a district championship, the equivalent of today’s regionals.

At the 2012 LT Regional, the Red Devils sat out their top four runners (Magnesen, Huang and graduated Ryan Somerfield and Dylan Palo) and used the race as a time trial to determine the other spots for the sectional, and ultimately, state lineup. Caveney was the Red Devils’ top finisher in 13th (15:55), just ahead of graduated Rajan Khanna (14th, 15:57) and Domiano (16th, 16:01), who also both competed at state.

“It was kind of weird because we had to fight for spots for sectionals among ourselves so (the regional race) was pretty intense,” Caveney said.

Going into the offseason, the Red Devils’ core group of top runners became more committed to the second official year of the 1,000 Mile Club. The goal is to achieve that mileage through races and competition from the start of summer training in June until the Silver Meet.

This season, seven runners reached 1,000 miles in the allotted time, about half that made the pledge, and five more exceeded 920 miles. Scully, Magnesen, Huang, McBrien, senior Aria Darbandi, junior Josh Feldman and sophomore Andrew Irvine all received 1,000 Mile Club T-shirts designed by Westphal that look like holdovers from his heyday of running in the mid-1980s.

Only four runners achieved the feat in 2012, an average of about 60 miles weekly. Magnesen and Scully had this group’s highest logged mileage for one week, each between 76 and 77 miles, although an unresolved controversy remains over who actually ran more.

“Last year, I actually missed (1,000 miles) by two days but this year I beat it by like 20 days and had plenty of mileage to spare,” Scully said. “That was definitely a highlight to my training and I think it’s paying off because my body just responds well to that. I think 1,000 miles definitely helped that sustainability, that resistance.”

The battle for the individual title was pretty reminiscent of the Silver Meet, where Smith and Clevenger finished 1-2 with Magnesen and Huang third and fifth around York senior Nathan Mroz.

This time, the Red Devils tried to push the pace early and the lead pack of four crossed the mile in 4:52 with Scully, Downers Grove South’s Jacob Amiri and Evertsen close behind. Domiano, Caveney and Brenk were eighth through 10th in 4:57.

The Trojans used a little spurt just before the two-mile mark to gain some distance. Smith and Clevenger led in 9:50, followed by Magnesen (9:56) and Huang (9:58) in third and fourth with Evertsen, Scully and Amiri battling for fifth in 10:07.

“Usually the Downers North guys, at least the last two weeks, have always been taking it out so I decided to take it out at our control for once,” Huang said. “It didn’t really pan out too well. I knew I just wasn’t really feeling too great today. This last week has been pretty tough with school with the last week of the quarter, but definitely I’ve just got to regain focus for the last two weeks of the season and finish the season strong.”

In their first meeting this season with Downers North Sept. 14 in Peoria, Magnesen finished second overall, Clevenger and Smith were third and fourth, roughly eight to nine seconds behind, and Huang was fifth, 14 seconds from Magnesen. When the teams had their dual Oct. 10at Proviso West, Clevenger and Smith were 1-2 with Magnesen and Huang 3-4 about 15-to-18 seconds behind. That was Magnesen’s first race back since Sept. 26 as he recovered from an iliotibial (IT) band injury.

“We were told to take it out hard (Saturday) because at Peoria we took it out hard and I beat Smith and Clevenger, at least,” Magnesen said. “We knew if we wanted to beat them we were going to take it out hard because they don’t always respond as well to that, but today they did and kudos to them. They ran well.”

Morton’s Mateo Hernandez (15:00.42), eighth at two miles, edged Evertsen by 2.08 seconds for the last individual regional medal. Still, it was a strong performance for Evertsen, especially after he hit the wall physically in the final stretch of the Silver Meet, going from a battle for sixth to still hang on for 16th and the final all-conference medal.

“I had a better breakfast. I really paid attention to that, hydrating and eating carbs the night before,” Evertsen said. “I think an hour before the race, I had a bar and a little before (the race) I had the other half.”

Evertsen may have been slightly more conservative with his racing strategy, working off Scully for most of the first two miles. LT’s first two finishers, James Ryan (15:05.93) and Dan Lupano (15:06.40), split Evertsen and Scully to finish seventh and eighth.

“The last part of the second lap, coming into the third lap (mile), that’s when I saw Kevin and I was just focusing on Kevin, just keeping my head up and trying not to fade any more back. I was hearing there were (two) LT guys behind me,” Evertsen said.

While Caveney said he was disappointed with his race, he provided contact for Brenk and Domiano. Even at two miles, Caveney (10:12) was 11th with Brenk (10:13) and Domiano (10:14) close behind in 13th and 15th.

Just like his Silver Meet race, Brenk opened up room during the final mile, only being passed by Downers North senior Marc Mathy (11th, 15:10.74). Brenk was 4.69 seconds ahead of the Trojans’ No. 4 finisher, senior Jared Spilky (15th, 15:25.10).

“(Regionals was) just a lot more intense compared to normal meets,” Brenk said. “There is such a high pressure in trying to do well. It was a very difficult race, but I think I did pretty well with it.”

The battle between Brenk and Domiano to be the team’s No. 6 finisher only heightened the intensity of the race. Brenk’s winning frosh-soph time at the Silver Meet was roughly 15 seconds slower than Domiano in the varsity race, but Brenk also controlled the second half of his race and felt afterwards that he could have run faster if pushed.

“It was more of a leisurely race for (our other five guys), but not as much for Alex and I. We definitely had to challenge each other and it was very difficult,” Brenk said. “I do think I definitely ran better (than conference). I wouldn’t say that I prepared myself the best leading up until today, but I did just the basic things that you need to do, like hydrate and eat a sufficient amount.”

While a great state performance and top-three trophy remain at the top of the Red Devils’ list of goals, they can make program history Saturday. Hinsdale Central has never won a sectional title.

Magnesen and Huang also will be looking forward to their next showdown with Smith, eighth at state last year, and Clevenger.

“All in all, we’ve just got to take away (from Saturday) that sectionals is at our home course and we’re going to be running the best that we can and trying to perform like it’s one of the best races of the season,” Magnesen said. “We’re really excited for that, and I think we’re going to be ready.”

WSC-Soph/Frosh/Open recap - by Bill Stone

Hinsdale Central’s Yuji Cusick and Nathan Hill both became extremely sick moments after competing in the sophomore race at the West Suburban Conference Silver Meet Saturday, Oct. 19 at Proviso West.

For them, it still was a great feeling.

The postseason perils were reflective of both Red Devils giving everything they could for a great team race. This also marked a rare instance in which the talented runners were together in the same race.

While Chris Brenk made program history by winning the individual title by an impressive 24.5 seconds, other gut-wrenching efforts behind him sealed the deal as the Red Devils finally had the race they always knew was possible.

They won the Silver Meet with 37 points, 17 points ahead of second-place York (54 points), after losing the regular-season duals to the Dukes and Lyons Township because of depleted lineups. Oak Park-River Forest (57) was third Saturday and LT (94) was fifth, losing a sixth-runner tiebreaker for fourth with Glenbard West.

“Oh yeah, I’m definitely a lot more happy about that than the individual title,” Brenk said. “Everyone worked really hard. We all prepared harder than some of the other races we ran and it all showed.

“Probably the best thing I’ll remember would be when we just got back from our cool down and Yuji comes over and said we might have won it actually. We’re all like, ‘What?’ We went over to the results and sure enough Hinsdale was ahead of York and we all started clapping and were very happy. It was a great moment.”

Brenk covered the 3.07 miles in 16:16.2 to easily outdistance York sophomore Devin Davies (16:40.7).

Andrew Irvine (4th, 16:48.6), Cusick (5th, 16:49.7) and Hill (8th, 17:03.1) also were among the top 10 and earned all-conference honors with top-16 finishes, and No. 5 finisher Ben Anderson (19th, 17:38.1) also turned in a great race, missing 16th by 8.6 seconds. Jake Chin (30th, 18:04.7), Graham Reid (46th, 18:53.0), Vincent Stein (57th, 19:41.2), Scott McLaughlin (65th, 20:08.5), Peter Ren (67th, 20:10.9) and Joe Scheri (80th, 21:28.0).

During the nine-year coaching tenure of head coach Jim Westphal and assistant coaches Noah Lawrence and Jim Kupres, this is the first time that the Red Devils have had an individual champion at the Silver Meet or won a Silver Meet on any level.

"(Brenk is) our first individual champion, which is neat. And in terms of conference, a team winning as well,” Westphal said. “Having an individual champion is always nice, and that speaks well for Chris’ future, too. And the fashion that he did it. He was pretty far out there, pretty comfortable.”

Irvine is the only member of the four all-conference runners who was all-conference in the 2012 freshman Silver race (5th). That team’s No. 1 runner, Tyshaun Hamilton, a move-in just before his freshman year, moved back to New York City.

”It felt amazing. We just had a really good team race today,” Irvine said. “I just went out, stayed in the pack and then with a mile to go, Yuji and I started picking it up a little bit. Comparing it to last year, I just went for it at the end and I just feel great right now.”

Hill and Cusick needed a while to feel as good afterwards. After sitting out most of the season to recover from shin splints, Hill tried to gain an edge by drinking lots of Pedialyte to increase his electrolytes and eating several Power Bars for energy.

”It was kind of out of my comfort zone, wasn’t really normal and that’s what kind of caused the post-race incident. I didn’t feel too well after the race,” Hill said. “I was just proud to represent the team and it felt great to get the win against York. It was awesome.”

The overall Silver standings are a 50-50 combination of dual meet and Silver Meet results.

Last year’s sophomore team captured the program’s first conference championship on that level since 1987. The Red Devils finished 5-1 in duals and second at the Silver Meet to York 51-56 but they captured the overall title since Lyons Township, 6-0 in duals, dropped to fourth at the Silver Meet.

“(Lawrence) told me that if I happened to win the race I’d be the first individual racer they had that would win conference,” Brenk said. “That ended up being my main goal. During the race, I kept on thinking what if I happen to break that. It was very encouraging and I was very happy with that.”

The only disappointment was that, because of the two dual losses, the Red Devils did not get a share of the overall Silver title. The Red Devils, who were second outright, would have shared the overall title if OPRF had beaten York since the Dukes entered with a 6-0 dual mark.

”We won the real race. I think this whole system with the dual meets is kind of lame,” said Cusick, a first-year cross country runner. “On the varsity level, the best we could do is share the title (even if they won the Silver Meet). If we perform at the biggest meet, I think the biggest meet should count, not the little dual meets.”

The Red Devils achieved all of their major race goals. They put three among the top five, including the individual champion, four in the top 10 and put their No. 5 runner among the top 20. York’s top-five finished 2-6-13-15-18.

”We beat them in every spot (man for man),” Irvine said.

Hill said the goal of winning conference was written as a preseason goal but not discussed in preparation for the Silver Meet.

”That just happened by chance because we obtained all of our other goals,” Hill said. “Our goals necessarily weren’t to beat York. It was weird to look back at that group (of preseason goals) now and be like, ‘We actually obtained that goal,’ because it seemed really far -fetched at the start of the season, but it actually came true.”

The team goal became realized after a crazy season. In their first dual Sept. 19, Brenk and Irvine finished 1-2, but the Red Devils lost to LT 25-34 without Cusick, Hill and Anderson. On Oct. 3, Brenk sat out the York dual to rest an injury and the Red Devils lost 20-39, although Brenk’s presence alone wouldn’t have altered the final result.

Hill rarely competed this season, and when he made his season debut Sept. 26, he helped the Red Devils edge OPRF 27-28 at Glenbard West.

York finished 1-2-3 in the dual with the Red Devils, but Brenk had won all of the Silver duals in which he participated.

A Brenk title appeared in question for a while Saturday, but the Dukes were dealt a heavy blow when their frontrunner, Jon May, dropped out coming out of the forest during the third mile after being in second place.

Brenk and May were even at the mile in 5:07, but Brenk held a three-second lead by two miles and was comfortably in control as he exited the forest.

Even if May held second and the other results remained changed, the Red Devils still would have won 41-42.

“I never really noticed it. I didn’t know he dropped out until about 20 minutes after it was over,” Brenk said.

“I am definitely very happy with my performance. I get very nervous before races, but Saturday was a very big change. I felt a lot more prepared when I woke up and confident. I’m very happy that I happened to win but I’m not going to try and brag about it. I know that I have 2 1/2 more years of high school and I’m determined to try not to make this my peak by any means.”

Irvine, Cusick and Hill were seventh through ninth at the mile and still battling for fifth as a group at two miles, six seconds behind LT sophomore Connor Madell and 13 behind Davies.

They just missed catching Madell (3rd, 16:47.9) but they finished comfortably ahead of the next two runners behind them, York sophomore Tommy Devereux (17:01.5) and OPRF sophomore Jack Monaghan (17:02.6). Hill, only .5 behind Monaghan, was 7.2 seconds ahead of ninth-place OPRF sophomore Nicholas Martire (17:10.3).

”All around the board, from top to bottom, I think we did really well,” Cusick said. “Nathan killed it today. (Lawrence) told him to fall into 10th place by the forest, and he was up with us.

”I have to admit, I thought I would hate cross country, but I’ve grown into it. I like the shorter races (in track), but I’m beginning to really love it. It’s not just a season that I have to go through just for track. Running with teammates in the same race, our whole team together, it’s a lot of fun.”

There also was a moral victory for Irvine, who had been edged by Monaghan for second place in the dual by 1.3 seconds. Cusick was fourth in that race, 2.9 seconds back.

”Last year in the OPRF meet, last year in conference and this year in the OPRF meet, every time he’s beaten me by one place, and today I got him,” Irvine said.

Hill’s personal victory came was still visible when he was seen Monday as several team members prepared for a time trial.

”With my shins, I can’t really walk right now without a limp, which is painful,” Hill said. “I’m glad I did it. It was worth the sacrifice, my leg for the next week, to beat York. It really gave me a sense of when I’m healthy I’m going to be so relieved and it’s just going to be so much easier to get to where I want to be.”

Anderson also came away enthusiastic about the finish to his first cross country season. Chin was the team’s No. 5 finisher in the OPRF dual, but Anderson came on strong at the end of the season. Anderson was the Red Devils’ No. 4 finisher in the final dual Oct. 10 against Downers North, a meet that Cusick missed.

”It was great. I had a big spot to fill (as the No. 5 runner) and I’m just really glad that I was able to do that, help my teammates because they deserve this victory, too,” Anderson said.

“I knew that I was going to be the fifth man so I knew I had to step it up and push and just leave everything out there. Definitely, my best race yet. I’ve learned a lot racing wise this year so I think that was a really good race.”

Anderson pulled out 19th by 1.3 seconds as the next to last runner under 17:40.

”It’s a huge sense of satisfaction because I get to see it (and compete),” Hill said. “It was so hard to watch Andrew Irvine, Yuji and Brenk go out in the sophomore races and we'd lose only because we didn’t have a No. 4, 5 guy. Now just putting me back into the equation, plus Ben Anderson, who stepped up huge and really saved us the day, it’s really great to see. That’s what did it for us.”

Junior varsity race

Junior Josh Feldman affectionately is known in the Hinsdale Central boys cross country circles as one of the best No. 9 varsity runners in the state.

At the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Saturday, Oct. 19, the Red Devils were only allowed to enter seven runners in the varsity race.

Feldman had the opportunity to be a frontrunner in the junior varsity race, and he nearly won.

Feldman covered the 3.07 miles in 16:22.6 and was a strong second to Downers Grove North senior Jeremy Craven (16:20.4), the Trojans’ No. 3-4 runner for the Trojans’ varsity who competed for the first time since the Aug. 28 season opener after suffering a stress fracture in his left foot.

Junior Austin Kleber finished 12th (16:45.0) to also earn all-conference honors for a top-16 finish.

“It was close. I was pretty close to (Craven) at the end, I but I wasn’t able to get him,” Feldman said.

“Even though it’s JV, it really shows how deep (our) team is. I’m only our ninth man, and yet still I was ahead of most of the teams’ eighth man.”

Junior first-year runner Griffin Gartner was 18th (16:55.1), 3.2 seconds from 16th, and juniors Sean O’Flaherty (16:57.2) and Nick Tandle (17:04.2) were 20th and 22nd, followed by senior Jack Griffin (26th, 17:11.9), junior Matt Tobia (32nd, 17:27.9), senior Aria Darbandi (35th, 17:31.7), Max Maydanchik (50th, 18:00.3), Joe Griffin (54th, 18:02.4), Alex Lambert (59th, 18:09.1), Sam MacKenzie (75th, 18:36.7), Stefan Rosas (77th, 18:38.9) and Garrett Schmidt (80th, 18:42.9).

Hinsdale Central (74) was third in the race to York (43) and Lyons Township (46), but no final overall Silver standings are kept on the JV boys level.

Feldman earned all-conference honors for the second straight year after being 26th in the 2011 freshman Silver race. In last year’s sophomore Silver race, Feldman was an all-conference 14th as the No. 3 finisher behind juniors Alex Domiano (3rd) and Matt McBrien (4th), who have been varsity regulars this season.

Kleber, the team’s No. 4 finisher, was 17th, .9 of a second from 16th place. On Saturday, he made all-conference for the first time with 8.3 seconds to spare.

“Last season, being so close to all-conference, it was a lot more satisfying, but I was a little disappointed with today,” Kleber said. “I was hoping to do better than I did, but I guess you can’t always win.

“I’m a lot more satisfied than I was last year. Even though I got all-conference, it’s still not what I wanted.”

Kleber joined Feldman in going for big races Saturday. They led after one mile in 5:09 but with a deep trail pack. Craven, under strict orders from his coach to run controlled in his first race back, was a nearby in fifth at 5:11.

By the two-mile mark, Craven and Feldman were engaged in a two-man race, at least nine seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Kleber had fallen to ninth by that point but was still in contact with third-place Glenbard West junior Chris Buechner. Gartner was battling for 16th.

“I felt really good the first mile and then I felt OK in a mile and a half and then I felt like my legs just turned off,” Kleber said. “Then I started fading. I tried keeping up with other guys, but I just couldn’t.”

While finishing second, Feldman was convincingly ahead of third-place York senior Connor York (16:33.4), who was 4.6 seconds ahead of the fourth-place Buechner (16:38.0).

“(Dale) beat me earlier in the season, but I was able to beat him actually by a lot so that was good,” Feldman said.

It’s been an up and down season for Feldman, who felt that he got off to a great start in the season-opening Hornet-Red Devil Invite Sept. 7. Feldman finished 36th (16:16.24) and followed that with a 15:46.76 for 80th at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, annual site of the state meet, in the First to the Finish Invite.

Feldman’s time Saturday was significantly better than his 17:15 when the Red Devils ran at Proviso West for a triangular Oct. 10.

“The beginning of the season started really well and I got sick for a couple of days so that set me back a little bit,” Feldman said. “Then I sort of came back slowly and then today I had another good race. It’s nice transitioning into the upper levels coming from being a sophomore.

“I’d say the Hornet-Red Devil Invite and Peoria were some of my best races. (The Silver Meet) was definitely a good race and I would have liked to win, but I’ll take second. Second’s good.”

Kleber said this was his best season so far, mainly because he was able to remain injury free.

“This was my first season where I ran in every dual meet because I’ve been pretty injury plagued my first two years,” Kleber said.

“This season was by far my best season I’ve ever had. Looking back on everything, I’m really satisfied with what I’ve done. Just the fact that I’ve run in every race I think is pretty big for me.”

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Freshman race

Just as Hinsdale Central freshman Ryan Doorhy prepared for his final race of the cross country season at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Saturday, Oct. 19, he could feel himself coming down with illness.

"(On Friday), I started to get a little cold, but we still had a practice and I think I still pushed it hard in practice,” Doorhy said. “It wasn’t that big of a setback. I didn’t let it affect me.”

Doorhy still comfortably earned all-conference honors – and a top-10 finish – as he took ninth to lead the Red Devils in the freshman Silver race at Proviso West.

Doorhy (17:46.2 for 3.07 miles), the last runner under 17:50 in the race, and Ethan Planson (13th, 17:54.5) both earned all-conference honors by placing among the top 16. Doorhy was only 2.2 seconds from seventh.

”I didn’t feel that great, but it turned out I did a lot better than I thought I would do,” Doorhy said. “I was hoping to get top five, trying to get up there with those York kids.”

The Red Devils (108 points) were fourth and fourth in the final overall standings after a 3-3 dual record. Their other top finishers were John Bynan (27th, 18:48.3), Andrew Denos (36th, 19:12.4), Luke Northey (47th, 19:34.9), Mike Chadwell (71st, 20:26.6), Joe Miscimarra (72nd, 20:29.0), Matt Cresto (76th, 20:40.4), Alex Konstantinovic (87th, 21:15.0) and Nicholas Midlash (93rd, 21:39.5).

Doorhy was battling for sixth at one mile (5:26) and was eighth at two miles (11:19).

”I really tried to do that (get top five). I really tried my best,” Doorhy said.

Unlike past years, the Silver Meet course was the same for the freshman as the following three levels (sophomore, varsity, junior varsity). The race generally had been about a mile shorter as had most dual meets during the regular season.

When the Red Devils competed at Proviso West Oct. 10 against Downers Grove North and the Panthers, everyone ran the 3.07-mile course.

Doorhy (18:15) and Planson (18:54) both made significant improvements from their races only nine days earlier.

”Around the corners, I knew I had to get on the inside if I was on the other side,” Planson said. “That definitely helped me kind of pass people so it was definitely good, (having) the race here before.”

Based on dual results, Planson said he was projected by assistant coach Noah Lawrence to finish from 16th to 18th, right on the cusp of all-conference honors.

At the mile, Planson was 18th among a large pack in 5:34. By the two-mile mark, he was at the front of a pack battling for 12th in 11:31.

Planson ended up between two Oak Park-River Forest runners in a 1.5-second span, Chance Bayles (17:54.0) and Matthew Politis (17:55.5). The 16th-place finisher, York’s Eddie Pedote (18:03.2) was 8.7 seconds behind Planson.

”I was on the bubble (entering the race) so it definitely feels good,” Planson said. “People kept telling me 14, 15, 16 (during the race) so I knew I was right on the bubble. I just knew I had to maintain. I didn’t fall back or anything. I was like, ‘Everyone’s trying to get all-conference,’ but I was like, ‘Maybe (I can get) top 10,’ so I had to stay in the pack.

”I knew I couldn’t let a lot of people pass me so I just tried to kick. I did OK.”

It’s been a great season for Doorhy and Planson, who like many Red Devils knew each other before this season only as competitors from other schools. Doorhy attended Westview Hills Middle School and Planson went to Gower Middle School.

”I think I had a great freshman year. I think the team’s done awesome,” Doorhy said. “We’ve really bonded and stuff. They motivated me. I motivated them. It’s just been a lot of fun. I’m just proud of this team, just proud of what we did this season, proud of how great we did, how we came together. We didn’t really know each other and we just bonded. I think I knew one guy (previously).”

Planson made such significant improvements that even early in the season, coaches and teammates began telling him that he was all-conference material.

”The season was definitely a good one. We went through some tough times, but in the end, I think we did pretty good as a team,” Planson said. ”I improved a lot. I was not running anywhere close (at Gower). This is like a dream and now I’m doing it. It’s definitely good.”

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WSC Write-up

by Bill Stone

If Hinsdale Central freshman Blake Evertsen could have a do over, he would have eaten more in preparation for the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Saturday, Oct. 19, at Proviso West.

The final results – and what could have been -- left him and the Red Devils even hungrier for what they can achieve in the postseason.

“I pretty much bonked. It’s where you pretty much just hit the wall and just slow down,” Evertsen said. “I tried to recover some energy to push forward, but I just didn’t have it.

”I think it goes to show how important pre-race meals are, not to skip on nutrition.”

Evertsen struggled to reach the finish line, but he still was the last of the Red Devils’ five all-conference performers in a strong effort that earned second place to defending Class 3A state champion York in the second meeting of the state’s top-two ranked teams.

Seniors Billy Magnesen (15:16.7) and Kevin Huang (15:34.3) took third and fifth on the 3.04-mile course. Downers Grove North senior Zack Smith (15:04.5) and Ryan Clevenger (15:13.3) finished 1-2.

Seniors T.J. Caveney (12th, 15:51.8) and Emmett Scully (14th, 15:52.6) and Evertsen (16th, 15:55.0) also were all-conference with top-16 finishes.

Evertsen, who finished just ahead of junior teammates Matt McBrien (17th, 15:55.5) and Alex Domiano (20th, 16:01.5), had been sixth and contending for a top-five finish with just 1,000 meters remaining.

”The last straightaway, my form was going really bad. It was really hard to move and I felt as if I was drowning,” Evertsen said.

”Knowing that I was there and that truthfully what separated me was the fact that I just wasn’t eating well, it just makes me want it even more. To come that close, just that last 800 meters that I’ve got to stick it out and dig really deep. I think I’m going to derive confidence from that.”

So can the Red Devils, who only lost to York 38-50 and were well ahead of state-ranked Downers Grove North (71 points) and Lyons Township (75).

Although once again they weren’t able to put forth their best collective effort against the Dukes, the Red Devils received further proof that they can when the teams meet again at the 3A state meet Saturday, Nov. 9, at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

The second-place Red Devils were going for their first conference championship since 1955. York captured its 12th straight conference title and 47th over the 54 seasons since Joe Newton became head coach.

“It’s kind of rough because we were hoping to win, but at the same time conference is just one day,” Scully said. ‘I feel like if we won, that might have made us rest on our laurels a bit except for now, it’s make us realize that our goals are possible but also not done yet.”

Four Red Devils returned from the 2012 Silver Meet lineup, when the team finished third (97 points) and had just two all-conference runners, Magnesen (9th) and graduated Ryan Somerfield (13th). Huang (21st), Caveney (30th) and Scully (33rd) were the team’s No. 3, 5 and 6 finishers.

Several All-conference spots were up for grabs. Only seven of the 2012 all-conference runners were non-seniors, although three were among the top six – Smith (2nd) and York seniors Kyle Mattes (3rd) and Alex Bashgawi (6th). Magnesen was the only other top-10 returnee.

“It’s just completely different this year, our depth and how much further up to the front we are,” Scully said. “I kind of figured our top five at least had to be all-conference.”

The Red Devils’ ability to compete with York also has come to fruition.

Back on Oct. 3, York won the dual meet 23-32 in Elmhurst by going 1-2-4-6-10, but the Red Devils were without Magnesen, a late scratch as he was recovering from an iliotibial (IT) band issue. Had Magnesen competed and finished first, the teams would have tied 28-28 and Domiano, 11th in the actual race, would have been the higher finishing No. 6 runner.

York’s top-five finishers Saturday were 4-6-7-8-13. Had Evertsen held sixth and everyone else remained in their places, the Red Devils and Dukes would have tied 42-42 with Domiano ahead of York’s No. 6 finisher, senior Jeffrey Nosek (23rd, 16:17.6).

”That’s exciting news to hear, obviously, but you’ve got to just look at it as what happened, happened and just use that for next time. We’re right there,” Magnesen said. “We know there’s a great opportunity at hand and we think we can still go out there and compete to be state champs.”

”We’re in the mix, if nothing else, and that’s all we want to continue to do. (Our runners) have done it time and time again. (Saturday) was no different,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said.

”York is an established, elite program that we have the privilege of running against and we get to see them often. They way (our runners) went out and competed, that’s good to see that continuity, that consistency meet to meet and I think that’s a good sign going into the postseason. If Blake doesn’t fade a little bit, perhaps the outcome is different and the boys know that.”

Evertsen received medical attention at the meet and was taken to the hospital for observation. By the time the Red Devils’ varsity bus returned to school and his teammates drove to his house for an update, Evertsen had been released. The teammates went out to eat to give him time to return home.

The varsity race was at 1 p.m., later than most Saturday races this season. Evertsen said he only ate a tiny bit of food at 9 a.m., a little bit more after his shake out and then a small bar around noon.

He was focused on improving a 16:06 on Proviso West’s course Oct. 10, when the Red Devils competed against the Panthers and Downers North.

”Honestly, I wasn’t really thinking about (my eating beforehand),” Evertsen said. “I didn’t really feel that hungry anyway so I guess I was just pulling a trick on myself. It was a little less (food) than normal, but then again I didn’t feel it.”

Westphal, positioned up the final straightaway, said he could tell Evertsen was struggling with about 600 meters left as he was being passed by York junior Matt Plowman, who beat Evertsen by one place in the dual.

As Westphal watched runners kick toward the finish, Evertsen lacked his typical final burst.

”You could just tell that he had run out of gas at that point so to hang on for the next 400, 500 meters and still finish (16th), I think is pretty remarkable,” Westphal said.

“When your body shuts down, your body shuts down. There’s nothing you can do. The fact that he finished, to collect and keep his composure, I thought was a positive. I know he wasn’t too pleased with the finish, but you make those mistakes – and I wouldn’t even call it a mistake in terms of not eating enough. It’s just an experience and I think he learned from it.”

Evertsen’s perseverance received a special reward. Two runners were on him for 16th place and the last all-conference honor, but McBrien helped Evertsen reach the chute just in front of him. Downers North senior Jared Spilky (15:56.0) was 18th for the second year in a row, one second behind Evertsen.

”I have to say I appreciate Matt letting me take his all-conference spot. He pushed me. He helped me,” Evertsen said. “I was kind of out of it, but I had a lot of people telling me that he was kind of behind me and nudged me. That’s really amazing. It’s really nice of him to let me take his all-conference spot. I would have liked it if he had it more than me.”

The battle up front wasn’t as close but certainly intense. After one mile, Clevenger had the slight lead in 4:56 with Magnesen and Huang just behind him and ahead of Smith.

By the second mile, Smith (14:48) and Clevenger (14:49) were 1-2 with Magnesen three seconds back and Huang six seconds behind in fifth. Evertsen was 15 seconds off the pace fighting for sixth.

Magnesen ended up 3.4 seconds behind Clevenger but 9.2 ahead of fourth-place York senior Nathan Mroz (15:25.9).

In the Oct. 10 dual, Magnesen (15:50) and Huang (15:51) were third and fourth to Clevenger (15:33) and Smith (15:35). The race was Magnesen’s first since Sept. 19.

”They seem to have that course down. They’ve gotten me both times there,” Magnesen said.

“I’m not really disappointed. I went out there and race to what I thought was the best of my ability. I beat all of the York guys, which was very important for our team score. Even though I didn’t get the win, I know I’ll be better next time. It was important for me to try and go out and win but it was more important to beat the first York guy.”

Huang finished comfortably in front of three York runners in sixth through eighth – Bashgawi (15:41.9), Plowman (15:42.8) and senior Mattes (15:48.5).

Mattes and Bashgawi were 23rd and 27th at state last year, respectively. Huang, 46th at state, was the Red Devils’ top finisher in the dual at York, taking third to Bashgawi and Mroz.

”That was the plan coach gave us earlier in the week, for me and Billy to stay in the top five. That’s what we did all year,” Huang said. ”Last conference, that was a really bad race (for me). I just remember the rain blowing straight in your face. I guess that just shows how much I’ve come along.”

Last year, Huang spent the season catching up to recover from an illness that hampered his training. This season, with Magnesen running or not, Huang finished among the top five at First to the Finish Invite Sept. 14 at Detweiller and Lockport’s Locktoberfest Oct. 5.

”Last year, I was honestly going into (the Silver Meet) hoping I could stay on as long as possible with the top guys,” Huang said. “This year, my mentality is completely different. After Lockport and Peoria and conference, I know I can run with the best runners in the state and it’s definitely giving me a lot of confidence going into the postseason. I’m expecting to be up with Billy in every race now.”

For Scully, Saturday’s Silver Meet truly took his conference experience full circle. Scully finished 14th after taking 33rd last year, 33rd in the 2011 frosh-soph race and 14th in the 2010 freshman race.

Caveney previously was all-conference in the 2011 frosh-soph race, taking 10th.

”Last year all-conference (on varsity) wasn’t really in the picture for me. This year, I knew what I could do. I was just more confident going into it that I could be all-conference,” Caveney said. “Overall, I was happy with our race but there were two guys that were within a second of me. I was kind of unhappy about that so going forward I want to work on my kick.”

Eighth through 15th place was separated by just 4.9 seconds. Caveney was 1.3 seconds from the top 10 and Scully was 2.1 seconds away, as well as .4 from 13th and .8 from Caveney. They were in a top-15 pack after two miles.

While it may disturb his numeric synergy, Scully, like Caveney, thought he could have placed just a little bit higher.

”If I were able to do that (race) again, next time I’d hopefully be ahead of that pack. We’ve beaten some of those guys before so it’s kind of luck of the draw,” Scully said. “These next few weeks are what it’s all about. The regular season, the last few months have been about reassuring and learning so now we’re going to put it all out there and get after it.”

The Red Devils begin their quest for the program’s unprecedented fourth consecutive state team berth and fifth in the last six seasons with the 3A Lyons Township Regional at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, in Western Springs.

Hinsdale Central’s 12-runner state series lineup is the seven varsity runners at the Silver Meet plus juniors Josh Feldman and Austin Kleber and sophomores Chris Brenk, Yuji Cusick and Andrew Irvine.

At regionals, Hinsdale Central only needs just a top-six finish among the 10 teams to advance to the Hinsdale Central Sectional Saturday, Nov. 2. The only other state-ranked teams in the regional field are Downers North and defending regional champion LT, third at state a year ago.

York competes at the Fenwick Regional and feeds into the Lake Park Sectional, where it will see top-10 rated Lane Tech and Loyola Academy.

In past years, the Red Devils have reveled in defying the polls and what should happen on paper. While they took several positives out of Saturday’s race, they know it’s up to them to perform at their best Nov. 9.

”I remember coach told us with 1,000 to go we were actually beating York by two. Obviously things like (Evertsen hitting the wall) happen that you can’t control,” Huang said. “We’re just lucky it happened at conference and not at state. Like the dual meet, this proves that we can compete with York and beat them. Hopefully, on that stage, if everything goes right, we can take the championship.”

Recap of DGN/PW Tri-Meet - by Bill Stone

FROSH/SOPH

Hinsdale Central sophomore Ben Anderson joined cross country for the first time this season after competing in track during the spring.

”I wish I had done cross country last year,” Anderson said. “I knew I wanted to come out for cross country because I had a lot of fun with track. I knew I wanted to keep doing it.”

Anderson is learning along the way, and on Thursday, Oct. 10, everything came together. He had another strong race in helping the Red Devils defeat Downers Grove North 15-48 and host Proviso West 15-50 in Hillside.

Anderson helped the Red Devils take first through fifth over the 3.04 miles as he finished fifth (18:17), 10 seconds ahead of the Trojans’ No. 1 finisher.

Sophomores Yuji Cusick (17:24), Andrew Irvine (17:34) and Nathan Hill (17:44) and freshman Ryan Doorhy (18:15) were first through fourth. Sophomore Jake Chin (18:51) and freshman Ethan Planson (18:54) were seventh and eighth and freshman John Bynan (19:25) was 11th.

With the sophomores and freshmen racing together, Anderson received some surprising help from Doorhy, whom he’s only run with once before in the frosh-soph race at Lockport’s Locktoberfest Invite Oct. 5. In that race, they were 18 seconds and 21 places apart over 3.1 miles.

”I went out rather fast and I found myself next to Ryan Doorhy at about 300 meters and I just stuck with him the whole time and we pushed each other,” Anderson said.

”I usually run with Jack Chin, and he usually gets me at the end of races. I don’t have the amazing kick. I was kind of wondering why I was with Ryan, but I just hung onto him. Mostly, I thought I was doing well (being close to Doorhy). We were in sights of Yuji and Andrew so I knew Ryan wasn’t doing poorly.”

Cusick was seeking a good race for several reasons. Chris Brenk, usually the sophomore team’s No. 1 runner, was promoted for the varsity race. Cusick also was a last-minute scratch from competing at Locktoberfest.

”When I woke up, I felt terrible. I couldn’t eat,” Cusick said. “Just during the warmup, I felt sluggish and really sick so I decided not to run.”

Any serious competition subsided when Downers North freshman Alec Danner also made his varsity debut. Danner finished four seconds behind Irvine in the frosh-soph race at Locktoberfest, which Brenk won by 17 seconds with Irvine ninth. The Trojans have just five sophomores in their program.

”We were planning on going 1-2-3 anyway. We were going to try and go for that sweep anyway so (Danner’s absence) didn’t change our mindset that much,” Cusick said.

”We took it at a pretty relaxed pace for two miles. None of us were breathing heavily. After I emerged out of the woods a second time, I made my move and decided I should go for the win. With 800 meters left, I had a pretty solid lead and I just carried that through.”

Anderson’s cross country debut at the Hornet-Red Devil Invite Sept. 7 was painful in more ways than one. He struggled in the sophomore race (73rd, 19:14.51 for 3.0 miles) and soon afterwards suffered an abdominal strain, which resulted in his missing meets Sept. 19 and 21. He came back Sept. 26 and ran well against York.

”I didn’t know I’d do this well. I ran horribly at Hornet-Red Devil and then I got injured after that so now my confidence is at an all-time high, really,” Anderson said. ”At the start of the season, I went out way too fast and just died at the end. I started slower later, but I guess I just found a good mix.”

The Red Devils’ sophomore and freshmen teams return to Proviso West to compete at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Saturday, Oct. 19. Scheduled race times at 10:45 a.m. for freshmen and 12:30 p.m. for sophomores.

The final overall standings are 50-50 combinations of regular-season and Silver Meet standings. The sophomores were 4-2 in Silver dual and the freshmen were 3-3. Both teams lost to York and Lyons Township, and the freshmen also lost to Oak Park-River Forest.

VARSITY

Hinsdale Central senior Billy Magnesen and sophomore Chris Brenk needed to adjust to racing under different circumstances Thursday, Oct. 10.

Magnesen competed for the first time since Sept. 19 while Brenk made his varsity debut in the Red Devils’ dual meet against Downers Grove North and host Proviso West.

The Red Devils beat the Trojans 25-36 and the Panthers 15-50 in Hillside to finish 5-1 in West Suburban Conference Silver Division dual meets.

”It was fun, but at the same time it felt like a race and felt tough,” said Magnesen, who was recovering from an iliotibial band (IT) issue.

”It’s been a while since my last race, almost three weeks now. It felt good to get back out there, obviously.”

Magnesen (15:50 for 3.04 miles) and Kevin Huang (15:51) finished third and fourth behind Downers North junior Ryan Clevenger (15:33) and senior Zack Smith (15:35).

The Red Devils also took fifth through ninth with Blake Evertsen (16:06), Emmett Scully, Matt McBrien and T.J Caveney all in 16:16 and Brenk (16:18). Evertsen sat out the last meet to rest a sore back.

Smith was eighth at state last year, and Clevenger has finished near him almost every race this season. The Trojans competed without their projected No. 4 finisher, senior Jeremy Craven, who has been out since the season opener.

Proviso West also is the site of the Silver Meet Saturday, Oct. 19. The grass on the practice fields that are part of the course should be mowed by then.

”I thought as a team, we ran well and I thought just for me, it was a good way to get back,” Magnesen said. ”I’m glad we got to check out the (Silver Meet) course. It was good to run against Downers North, which has two of the best runners in the state to challenge us.”

Brenk assimilated well to the Red Devils’ pack that ensured the team victory after lately having to run by himself on the frosh-soph level. Brenk was coming off winning the frosh-soph title by 17 seconds at Lockport’s Locktoberfest Invite Oct. 5 after being injured most of the week.

”It’s definitely a different experience (on varsity) just because everyone’s just so much more experienced and they’ve done this before,” Brenk said. “It’s a lot more intense. In the sophomore races, I usually was alone. I didn’t have many people to push me. This race definitely makes it a lot more challenging for me, and that’s a good way for me to get better.”

The Silver Meet will be much more intense for the Red Devils this year. They have a legitimate chance at sharing their first conference title since 1955, when the Red Devils were tri-champions with Lyons Township and Glenbard (West).

The overall standings are a 50-50 combination of regular-season and Silver Meet results. Since the Red Devils went 5-1 in duals, they would guarantee at least a share of the overall crown if they can win Saturday.

Defending Class 3A champion York is seeking its 12th straight conference title and 47th over the 54 seasons since Joe Newton became head coach. The Red Devils lost their dual at York 23-32 Oct. 3, but that was minus Magnesen.

”We’re definitely going in with the mindset of anything besides first place is going to be a little bit of a disappointment, whereas last year first place was kind of on a pedestal,” Scully said.

”It’s some of the best teams in the state with York and Downers North and (Lyons Township). It’s going to be a great meet, and it’s going to be fast in terms of the quality of the competition. We think that we can do some damage, especially with Blake and Billy running full strength.”

The individual title also should be interesting. The Trojans took first in all duals, and Smith is the highest returning state finisher, but the Red Devils and Dukes “conceded” first and second to Smith and Clevenger while locking up dual victories.

”For Kevin and me, I don’t think we were on full force (Thursday),” Magnesen said. “(Clevenger and Smith) were smart, though they went at about a mile and a half when Kevin and I were both not really paying attention to them. They lost us and at that point it was kind of over. (Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal) was like, ‘All right. We’re looking good behind you guys. Just cruise through the last mile or so.’ ”

Seven of last year’s top-16 all-conference medalists were juniors. Magnesen was ninth overall and the fourth-highest finishing junior. Smith was second to York graduate Scott Milling by 1.2 seconds.

”I’m feeling pretty good. I feel like I’m definitely back in the swing of things now,” Magnesen said. “I’ve done a few hard workouts at this point, which is very important. I think we’re looking good as a team.”

Brenk went into the weekend not sure whether he was going to remain on the varsity at the Silver Meet or probably return to the frosh-soph level. Brenk was undefeated in his two frosh-soph Silver races but did not compete against York.

”Coach Westphal said that I would most likely be running the sophomore race. He told me I should definitely be up there in the race with the top guys,” Brenk said. “(But) I might be running varsity. It depends, but it’s his decision for the team.”

Recap of Locktoberfest and York Dual - By Bill Stone

Frosh-soph race

Hinsdale Central sophomore Chris Brenk sat out most of the week with sore legs, unsure he was going to or should even compete at the Locktoberfest Invitational Saturday, Oct. 5.

The final decision came at the course.

”I woke up today and I felt pretty good,” Brenk said. “(Sophomore teammate) Nathan Hill gave me some Advil pills (Friday) morning that he used to help his legs. Those pills seemed like they worked a lot so I decided to run.”

Brenk could have been apprehensive. Instead, he had his most impressive victory.

By a decisive 17 seconds, Brenk won the frosh-soph title by covering the 3.1 miles in 16:58.

Sophomore Andrew Irvine also earned a top-15 medal by taking ninth in 17:30.

”I didn’t feel any problem during the race. It might have been the adrenaline, but I don’t know. It felt pretty good,” Brenk said.

”The first mile, I went out pretty fast and the second and third mile, I kind of laid back a little bit. My frame of mind was just to position myself and hold on as long as I could. I don’t think I had the best finish. I think I can work on my kick definitely, but I still had a good race.”

The Red Devils’ other finishers were freshman Ryan Doorhy (55th, 18:34), Jake Chin (67th, 18:44), Ben Anderson (76th, 18:52), Ethan Planson (99th, 19:10) and Graham Reid (138th, 19:59). The Red Devils were sixth (202 points).

"(Brenk’s victory) was encouraging because he’s been out a couple of days,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. “We thought, ‘All right, why don’t you get you racing on Saturday?’ It was really touch and go until this morning of whether he would race. He warmed up and said he felt good enough so we said to step in.”

Brenk didn’t run like he was a race time decision. He went out strong the first 400 meters and began to worry he was going out too fast.

”At the same time, there was a swarm of Neuqua Valley people to my right, and over time I had just found that they had dropped really fast,” Brenk said.

Brenk wanted to at least have a chance to compete Saturday so he sat out the team’s 20-39 dual loss to York Thursday, Oct. 3, at East End Park.

After a hard workout Monday with alternating speed and tempo intervals, Brenk experienced pain in both legs. He sat out practice Tuesday and Wednesday.

”Since I didn’t come to Locktoberfest last year, this was certainly a very exciting race,” Brenk said.

“A bunch of people told me it’s really fun with the free apples at the end. It was just a hilly course and a difficult course, but it’s a fun one and this is certainly a nice experience for me because I learned that I like to get out fast, yet I need to improve upon my kick and maintain the pace after the second mile.”

Irvine refined his strategy from a frustrating race Thursday and it paid big dividends.

Irvine was almost a minute faster than what he ran at Locktoberfest in 2012, when he was 58th in the frosh-soph race in 18:28. Chin moved up from 70th in 18:38.

”It’s good to have that improvement. I think just the training is paying off now,” Irvine said.

“I went out on Thursday a little too fast and this time I tried to go out more intelligently as advised from the coaches. It seemed to work because I didn’t die at the end of the race the way I did (against York).”

Irvine was close enough to enjoy Brenk’s victory and feed off of it personally.

”I did see him ahead, but I wasn’t sure if there were people who I couldn’t see ahead of him because a couple of people went out really fast,” Irvine said. “I knew he was in the top five and I was pretty sure I was in the top 15 and that just kind of helped push me forward to get a better place.”

Against York, Yuji Cusick (15:35 for 2.87 miles) and Irvine (15:38) were fourth and fifth, Hill was seventh (16:01) and Chin was 16th (16:48). Cusick warmed up for Saturday’s race but was a late scratch.

York won the freshman race 17-45. Doorhy was fourth (11:02 for 1.94 miles), 14 seconds from first place, and Planson (11:24) and John Bynan (11:47) were eighth and 15th.

Open race

After joining track for the first time in the spring, Hinsdale Central junior Griffin Gartner had a challenging introduction to cross country in August.

”I remember the first day (of practice), I did six miles with Alex Lambert and I was dying,” Gartner said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to get through this season,’ but over training and just working with the team of really nice boys, it’s been great. I love it.”

Just like during the track season, Gartner has been improving exponentially. On Saturday, Oct. 5, he enjoyed his finest race so far as he took a team-best seventh in the open race at the Locktoberfest Invitational at Dellwood Park by covering the tough 3.1 miles in 17:43.

Junior Nick Tandle finished 12th (17:48) to also earn a top-15 medal.

”It was a rough course, but I battled through it and just hung in there, I guess,” Gartner said. “I just told myself I’ll just do the best I can. I didn’t think (17:43) was possible, but I guess I did it.”

No team scores were kept on the open level. The Red Devils’ other finishers in the race were Jack Griffin (19th, 18:02), Sean O’Flaherty (23rd, 18:07), Max Maydanchik (72nd, 19:11), Joe Griffin (75th, 19:13), Stefan Rosas (97th, 19:32), Patrick Drew (104th, 19:38) and Alex Lambert (144th, 20:10).

”I think (Gartner is) really starting to like cross country and starting to see that he can have some success,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said.

”He ran tough today. I was happy about that. And so did Nick. Nick’s been plugging along. He hasn’t jumped out in workouts or anything, but he looks good. He’s making progress.”

Although Tandle is a team returnee, this also was the first time he competed at Dellwood. Based on results from the Red Devils’ previous dual meet before last year’s invite, Tandle was not high enough among the top times to make the lineup. When he got his chance Saturday, Tandle was among many Red Devils expecting to compete for individual honors.

Last year, Jack Griffin earned a medal by taking 14th in 18:03 and graduated Dylan Poling was 16th (18:06), missing the last medal by a second.

”We knew they were good, but we normally train with Jack Griffin so it was a little more confidence going into the race,” Tandle said.

"(Our coaches) told us to go out there faster because they said that we would try to place in the top 15. We just had to execute and I think we did that pretty well.”

Jack Griffin missed another medal Saturday by 14 seconds. Lambert, another returnee from last year’s open race, improved upon taking 84th in 19:41.

By the end of the track season, Gartner emerged as a solid 400 and 800-meter runner for the Red Devils on the sophomore level. A former football player, Gartner said he was persuaded to try cross country to help his track conditioning.

Gartner’s cross country progress is impressive, especially considering his first offseason didn’t go as well as planned.

”He came out for the summer (training) and only ran like a week and then had an (iliotibial) band thing and we didn’t see him the rest of the summer,” Westphal said.

Meanwhile, Tandle made the most of his offseason and feels as though he’s a much stronger runner.

”This season is much more consistent, more miles in the summer and more racing (experience) so I’m very happy with my season so far,” Tandle said.

”I wish I pushed myself a little harder (Saturday). Once we got to the top of the hills, I just kind of started stalling out. But I think that come conference, I’ll probably be running JV again so I think I’ll be able to be up with a couple of the guys who are up there too.”

Senior T.J. Caveney and his Hinsdale Central boys cross country teammates had a bumpy bus ride to the program’s biggest dual meet in years.

As they prepared to compete against No. 1-rated and defending Class 3A state champion York Thursday, Oct. 3, the Red Devils found out that senior Billy Magnesen, their top runner, would continue to sit out and recover from an iliotibial (IT) band injury.

When they arrived at East End Park in Elmhurst, the Red Devils were alerted that the varsity race would be held first, rather than after the sophomore-level race as usual.

”That was the theme of that race, kind of. A lot of things got thrown at us with the race getting moved first,” Caveney said. “We just found out right when we got there. We had to adjust.”

This year, the Red Devils have adjusted quickly to being regarded as one of the top teams in the state. Last week, they were ranked No. 2 to the Dukes in all three weekly state polls.

Although the final score was disappointing, the effort certainly was not. The Red Devils hung tough but were defeated 23-32 in the showdown for first in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division dual standings.

”We knew that it was going to be a tough race, and we were all mentally prepared,” senior Kevin Huang said. “Obviously, we didn’t win, but with Billy out, all of us raced really well. Our goal coming into the race was having our fifth guy ahead of their fifth guy and we accomplished that.”

Huang took third on the 2.85-mile course (14:09) to York’s Alex Bashgawi (14:00) and Nathan Mroz (14:06).

Freshman Blake Evertsen was fifth (14:15), just behind York’s Matt Plowman (14:12). The Dukes’ Kyle Mattes was sixth (14:24).

With a strong final push, the Red Devils’ Emmett Scully (14:40), Caveney (14:41) and Matt McBrien (14:46) finished ahead of York’s Jon May (14:49), who made a big surge at the 2-mile mark. Alex Domiano (11th, 14:57) was the only other runner to break 15:00.

Huang ran like a frontrunner, challenging for the lead. Evertsen joined him in the top three past the first mile, just ahead of York’s lead pack.

Bashgawi, 27th at state last year, took the lead for good just before the two-mile mark. Huang and Evertsen, were passed by Mroz and Plowman, respectively, down the stretch.

”(We had asked them), ‘Who’s going to step up? How are you going to respond going up against a great team and not having your usual top runner there?’ ” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said.

”They did a nice job and responded. (Besides Huang) our No. 2 through 6, I thought, stepped up for us and that was nice to see.”

This was reported to be the first time the state’s No. 1 and 2-ranked boys teams met in a dual meet within one day of exactly 40 years – Oct. 4, 1973.

When the teams met in their dual last year, along with Lyons Township, the Red Devils had a rough day but bounced back for a strong third-place showing at Lockport’s Locktoberfest Invite at Dellwood Park.

With much higher expectations this season, the Red Devils may have left East End Park Thursday with similar emotions if not for the final surge by Scully, Caveney and McBrien past a struggling May in the last 300.

Without that move by the trio, the Red Devils would have lost 20-35.

“(May) slowed down a lot. (The race) changed a lot in the last 300,” Caveney said. ”The goal was to actually just get as many guys as we could in front of York’s fifth guy so we were happy about that.

”We (also) were happy because we know with Billy we would have won or come close to winning. It shows that we’ve progressed a lot as a program, but it’s nothing special because we know we’re supposed to be able to do that right now.”

With such high goals for Magnesen and the team, his sitting out from competing for another week became an easier decision for Westphal.

Magnesen began experiencing pain after his last competition against LT Sept. 19 and began to cross train. At the beginning of last week, Westphal said Magnesen probably would not race against York, but then Magnesen received mid-week clearance from his physical therapist he probably could race without repercussions “if he really wanted.” It was roughly the two-week wait until returning as initially planned.

”I went into Thursday thinking I was going to run and Coach Westphal told me 10th period, actually during the school day, that he was not going to let me go,” Magnesen said Saturday.

”I really wanted to run Thursday. That was too bad, but it was probably for the best, looking back. I hadn’t run a hard workout in like a week. Maybe things wouldn’t have gone so well. It’s been tough, seeing all of these guys running and just wanting to be out there with them. I’m excited to get back to it.”

”I really wanted to run Thursday. That was too bad, but it was probably for the best, looking back. I hadn’t run a hard workout in like a week. Maybe things wouldn’t have gone so well. It’s been tough, seeing all of these guys running and just wanting to be out there with them. I’m excited to get back to it.”

The overall Silver title is a 50-50 combination of regular-season dual standings and those at the Silver Meet Oct. 19. The Red Devils could still share the overall conference title if they win their last dual against Downers North Oct. 10 at Proviso West and win the Silver Meet.

Still, the state meet is the ultimate prize. Westphal kept that foremost in his thoughts in the tough decision to hold out Magnesen from the dual.

”We’ve got to be smart and sensitive to where (our injured guys) are at right now, instead of getting greedy,” Westphal said early last week. “I know I would be kicking myself in a month and say, ‘Why didn’t I give it another three days or four (to aid recovery)?’ ”

Such was the case again Saturday, when the Red Devils returned to Locktoberfest. With the treacherous 3.1-mile/5,000-meter course of Dellwood Park, Magnesen was kept out again, as well as Evertsen, although both came and did workouts at the site.

”(Evertsen is) just a little fatigued, a little back tightness,” Westphal said. “Especially on a course like (Dellwood), it’s just not worth taking that risk and (rather) getting ready for the last quarter of the season. And he’s still a freshman. We just want to be smart and patient.”

At his last invite race Sept. 14 at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, Magnesen took second and Huang and Evertsen were fifth and seventh as the Red Devils not only won the First to the Finish Invite but did so with 60 points, 123 points ahead of second-place Buffalo Grove.

The victory put the Red Devils on the map statewide, even earning one No. 1 poll ranking. York, the pre-season No. 1, then competed for the first time Sept. 19 and won the larger Richard Spring Invite Sept. 21 at Detweiller Park 82-147 over O’Fallon, last year’s state runners-up and the pre-season No. 2.

At Locktoberfest, Huang once again ran great, taking second (15:53) to Downers Grove senior Zach Smith (15:42) on the 3.1-mile/5,000-meter course.

Smith, who also won Locktoberfest last year in 15:37, was eighth at state in 2012. Third-place Plainfield South senior Dan Lathrop (15:58) was 28th at state and last year’s Locktoberfest runner-up in 15:54.

”Right about at 1,000 or 800 to go, (assistant coach Noah) Lawrence yelled at me, ‘Kevin, you can get second right now,’ ” Huang said. “I saw there was just a pack in front of me. I zoomed up there and then just raced down the downhill. The last downhill, only 400 left, I knew I probably had the best kick out of the whole crowd so I just went for it.”

Caveney also earned medalist honors by taking 13th (16:24), followed by McBrien (29th, 16:39), Scully (43rd, 16:52), Domiano (46th, 16:54), junior Josh Feldman (88th, 17:28), Aria Darbandi (110th, 17:49) and Matt Tobia (167th, 18:44).

Despite not being at full strength, the Red Devils expressed at least a little disappointment that they didn’t win, finishing second (133 points) to LT (115) but one point ahead of third-place Neuqua Valley.

Among other Silver teams, state-ranked Downers North (205) was sixth without its No. 3 and 4 runners, and Glenbard West (217) was seventh.

”I know in Peoria, even without Billy and Kevin (figured into the final results), we still would have won. These are pretty much the same teams so there’s not really an excuse for that,” Caveney said.

Huang disposed of bad memories of last year’s Locktoberfest. He not only finished well back for him, but was 26th (16:35), one place and two seconds from the last individual medal.

”That was like the worse race I had in my life,” Huang said.

Huang put himself up among the leaders Saturday. He was eighth at the mile and still within contact of the frontrunners. Smith took command of the race soon afterwards with a huge surge. Junior teammate Ryan Clevenger followed Smith and moved into second.

Huang moved into contention for a top-five finish but found an extra gear to pass Lathrop, Dixon senior Simon Thorpe (16:02), 21st at 2A state last year, and Oswego junior Peter Johnsrud (16:03), 17th at last year’s 3A Marist Sectional. Clevenger was sixth (16:05).

”Kevin ran well. I think the other guys struggled a little bit,” Westphal said. “I think we didn’t respond today as we would have hoped so we’ll regroup and keep rolling.”

Caveney also made significant gains from 2012, when he was 48th (16:55) as the team’s No. 5 finisher. Saturday was just further proof of Caveney’s quest to be a consistently stronger No. 3-to-5 team finisher.

”This year is a lot different for me. I’m a lot more confident in my training,” Caveney said. “I feel like as a senior I have a different responsibility to the team to perform and just be a leader.”

One bright spot in Magnesen’s absence has been how Huang has elevated his performances. He’s pretty much had to train and compete independently yet has further proven himself to also be of all-state caliber.

”It’s definitely made me have to step up. I realize I can’t just rely on him all of the time,” Huang said. “I’ve definitely gained a lot of mental toughness, especially during those hard workouts, just running them by myself. I can’t wait until he’s back, though.”

Magnesen smiled and also complimented Huang’s recent races. It only fuels his fire to return to see what will happen when Magnesen, and the Red Devils, are at full strength.

Magnesen said he is optimistic he will compete against Downers North.

”It’s good that he’s stepped up, but I’m ready to get back and ready to show everyone how good we really are as a team,” Magnesen said. “I don’t think we’ve shown it the past few days. We’ve run well, obviously, but we haven’t gotten the results we’ve wanted. I’m excited to see how it’s going to play out.”

GLENBARD WEST/OPRF meet recap - By Bill Stone

Sophomore race

Sophomore Nathan Hill had spent his first Hinsdale Central boys cross country season training daily on a stationary bike, trying to recover from shin splints.

On Monday last week, assistant coach Noah Lawrence gave Hill the long awaited good news that he could begin adding running workouts, along with a big surprise.

“He initially told me one day on and one day off this week. Then Tuesday he came to me and he was like, ‘How about you bike today, tomorrow you do a light jog and then Thursday you race?’ ” Hill said.

“I’m like, ‘I’m racing already?’ I was so happy to hear that. It’s four days back and I’m racing. That was really exciting.”

Hill made the most of his opportunity in the Red Devils’ sophomore race Thursday, Sept. 26, against host Glenbard West with Oak Park-River Forest. He ended up being the Red Devils’ No. 4 runner and a critical piece in their 27-28 dual victory over OPRF. Hinsdale Central also beat Glenbard West 23-32.

The Red Devils’ Chris Brenk won the 2.92-mile race in 15:46.2, his second victory in as many sophomore conference duals, at Camera Park in Glendale Heights.

Andrew Irvine (15:57.5) and Yuji Cusick (15:59.1) were third and fourth.

Hill (12th, 17:10.1) and Jake Chin (15th, 17:37.8) finished well ahead of OPRF’s No. 6-7 finishers (18:19.3 and 18:23.8). Ben Anderson (18:02.1) and Graham Reid (18:24.9) were 17th and 20th.

“Cardio-wise, I was out of shape as I expected, but overall it just feels really good to run again, and without pain. It’s just wonderful,” Hill said.

“It felt so good to run again. Listening to all of the state talk and me wanting to be a part of it but not really feeling it because I’m stuck downstairs (in the fitness center) riding the bike all of the time just doesn’t really feel right. Now that I’m back running, I’m just really happy to be a part of the team.”

The real drama came after the race. Brenk said the team tried to get the team results, but when they saw a copy, the part with the Hinsdale Central-OPRF score was not there.

The Red Devils found out that they pulled out the one-point victory from Lawrence during the post-race meeting.

“We thought that we probably had lost against OPRF, but just then we saw that we beat them by one point. That was great. That was a fun moment,” Brenk said.

“Nathan did a really good job. Being his first race back, he’s just really masterly talented. He had an injury for a while, but it just shows how much potential he has in coming years.”

Hill tried track during the spring and enjoyed moderate success. He played for the soccer program as a freshman but was persuaded by several track teammates to continue his running fortunes.

“I said I think I have a better shot of going to state in a cross country meet than soccer, even though they’re doing really well this season,” Hill said.

“Nathan’s very talented. There’s no question about that,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. “Over the summer, he did a little too much too soon, and he’s growing, so the combination resulted in some very sore shins.

“We said, ‘Let’s use this Thursday meet to go out as a tempo run. You’re not in the shape you want to be in, but at least you’ll get the experience and maybe it will get you over the hump to say OK, I’m ready to get some consistent training in.’ He’s a talented kid.”

Hill said the training mistake he did occurred as several of the top Red Devils went on a training retreat to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in mid-August. While he did not make the trip, Hill increased his mileage on his own to try and replicate those workouts.

“When I tried to push the mileage and jump up a huge mileage, that’s when I inflamed the shins and that’s when it really hurt,” Hill said. “This Monday, I took five days off in a row and that did the trick for me, just having some time to rest. It just healed. I’ve been taking Advil and anti-inflammatories and all of these muscle things to help and now I feel good.”

Brenk felt great about his race as well. At first, he was concerned that he would have to race against OPRF lower-level standout Irwin Loud, whose times were comparable. Brenk later found out that Loud was a freshman and ran in that race instead.

“When I found that out, I decided to try and get myself ahead of everybody,” Brenk said.

Brenk still received a challenge from OPRF sophomore Jack Monaghan (15:56.2), who stayed with Brenk for most of the race before outkicking Irvine for third.

“I knew that (Monaghan) was behind me because I could very well in the corner of my eye see a shadow,” Brenk said. “At mile two, I think I put myself in a good spot and I started feeling a lot better and getting into it. In mile three, I knew that he caught up a little bit, but I think from the beginning I was pretty much in control.”

Freshman race

Hinsdale Central freshman John Bynan was excited to be within range of teammate Ethan Planson during the team’s race with host Glenbard West and Oak Park-River Forest.

Assistant coach Noah Lawrence informed Bynan that he also was within range of three Glenbard West runners.

“When we were running, coach was yelling at us, ‘If you guys pass them up, we’re going to beat them,’ so (it was) motivation,” Bynan said.

With about a mile left, Bynan passed the three Hilltoppers. And so did Andrew Denos, contributing to the Red Devils’ 24-31 victory in their dual meet at Camera Park in Glendale Heights. The Red Devils lost to OPRF 18-39.

While Ryan Doorhy (3rd, 11:09) and Planson (9th, 11:49) continued to be the team’s top two finishers, Bynan (10th, 12:18), Denos (11th, 12:23) closed the gap, and Luke Northey was 15th (12:41.).

“We hadn’t really won a race yet so we talked about beating Glenbard West, and OPRF was really good,” Bynan said. “(Lawrence) wanted me to get out a little bit faster from the gate so that’s what I did. I was pretty close to Ethan. Then he kind of got away from me.”

Bynan’s improved effort also had a positive effect on Denos.

“My goal was to stay with him because (Lawrence) was telling us to pass those three (Glenbard West) guys,” Denos said. “I was far behind John in the beginning of the year and I caught up to him this race. I feel like I’ve improved a lot, that’s pretty much it. I was slowing down in the second mile of other races.”

In their high-school debuts at the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational Sept. 7, Bynan (12:05.96) and Denos (12:20.41) were 73rd and 80th in the 1.93-mile freshman race.

“At the beginning of the season I was a good minute and a half in front of (Denos),” Bynan said. “Usually he would start off in the front of me in races and then I would pass him about a mile in. He’s getting more endurance now.”

VARSITY

Hinsdale Central senior Kevin Huang spent most of last cross country season playing catch-up in races as he gradually recovered from a pre-season illness.

”Mainly my goal was to stick with Ryan Somerfield and Billy Magnesen as long as I could. I kind of anticipated myself dying at the end of the race,” Huang said. “I could just feel myself getting stronger and stronger and getting farther into the races before I would eventually die. I just wanted to test myself every day, every meet. The same thing with workouts as well. It definitely paid off for me at sectionals and state.”

This season, Huang is a true frontrunner, and he intends to stay there. He proved that once again Thursday as the Red Devils defeated host Glenbard West and Oak Park-River Forest in West Suburban Conference Silver Division dual action at Camera Park in Glendale Heights.

Huang won the 2.92-mile race in 14:48.9 with freshman Blake Evertsen a close second in 15:02.2 and senior T.J. Caveney third in 15:06.7.

The Red Devils competed without senior Billy Magnesen, their No. 1 runner, who was rested to deal with an iliotibial band (IT) issue.

”It was probably my first (cross country race) victory since sophomore year actually,” Huang said. “It was a good feeling to win, obviously. I knew it was either going to come down to me or Blake at the end so I kept on charging and it worked out well.”

The 1-2-3 finish guaranteed a Red Devils’ dual sweep. They beat Glenbard West 20-36 and OPRF 17-42 to move to 3-0 in Silver duals. Glenbard West beat OPRF 27-37.

”Kevin looked (great). As compared to last Thursday (against Lyons Township Sept. 19), he looked like he could have run a minute faster,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said.

The Red Devils’ Matt McBrien (15:14.5) and Emmett Scully (15:23.4) were seventh and ninth. Alex Domiano (15:51.8) and Josh Feldman (16:04.8) were 13th and 15th, followed by Aria Darbandi (16;10.2), Jack Griffin (16;16.1), Nick Tandle (16:27.1) and Austin Kleber (16:33.3) and Matt Tobia (16:38.7) in 17th through 21st.

Caveney finished just in front of the other teams’ No. 1 finishers, OPRF senior Pierce Sheehan (4th, 15:08.9) and Glenbard West junior Paul Christian (5th, 15:10.5).

”Our team strategy was to have a giant pack around whoever went out with us (from Glenbard West or OPRF), go with them the first two miles and once we hit two miles, we would just start gunning it,” Huang said. “I was just feeling really relaxed the first two miles and just went hard for the last 100 and it worked out pretty well.”

The Camera Park course consists of going around the perimeter of the park three times before coming into the finish. Evertsen, off to a great start as a freshman, might have contended for his first victory in a varsity race if not for losing track of the laps.

”Being the freshman that I am, I kind of messed it up. Finishing the second lap, I thought we were going into the kick and I started getting more intense and running faster and Kevin told me there was a lap to go,” Evertsen said. “That just really messed with my mind and I kind of dropped back. I tried to stay with him, but the energy wasn’t really there but I’m happy with my performance.”

The Red Devils have a big week with a Silver dual meet with No. 1-rated York Thursday followed by Lockport’s Locktoberfest Invitational at Dellwood Park Saturday. They very well could compete with Magnesen in one, if not both, races.

”It’s a real strong possibility and I’m OK with that,” Westphal said. “We’re down our best guy, but to me, the dual meet, while it’s important, is not as important as the sectional and state meet, where that’s what you really remember most. I understand as a coach you just have to manage it and be smart about it and not do anything that would compromise his success at the end of the season, and the team’s.”

Magnesen and Huang were the team’s top two finishers at state last year in 32nd and 46th place, respectively.

As Magnesen begins cross-training to return as soon as possible, Huang is among those examples that training setbacks can be overcome.

”Really I could only say sectionals or state was when I felt like I could start finishing the race stronger. At state, I guess, I just peaked at the right time,” Huang said.

DOWNERS GROVE SOUTH INVITATIONAL - Meet Recap by Bill Stone

OPEN RACE

Looking through last year’s official results, junior Matt Tobia is listed as the Hinsdale Central boys cross country team’s top finisher in the frosh-soph race at the Downers Grove South’s Kevin Keogh Mustang Run.

Actually, that was Nick Tandle finishing 17th. Tobia wasn’t even there.

”I was doing a workout at Waterfall Glen,” Tobia said.

At Saturday’s Keogh Run, Tobia actually was there competing.

He and the Red Devils were easy to find.

Tobia won the open race and the Red Devils placed four among the top eight en route to easily capturing the team title with 34 points.

Tobia covered the 3.0 miles in 16:47.8, a new personal-record time, for a comfortable victory margin over Waubonsie Valley junior Will Gnesda (17:00.7).

Hinsdale Central senior Jack Griffin was third (17:04.9) and juniors Alex Lambert (17:48.7) and Max Maydanchik (17:58.2) were sixth and eighth. Stefan Rosas (18:25.1), Patrick Drew (18:28.4) and Garret Schmidt (18:30.2) and Joe Griffin (18:30.2) were 16th, 18th, 19th and 20th, and Brendan Krupp (33rd, 19:25.0) and Zach Wilder (39th, 19:35.1) also broke 20:00.

The Red Devils won easily over Bolingbrook (82 points) and Downers South (84). Schmidt finished ahead of both teams’ No. 4 finisher.

Tobia won the frosh-soph West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet indoor track title in the 1,600-meter run last March. This marked his first victory in a cross country race.

”That was cool because first in a cross country race is different than a track race. In track, you’re still on the track but with cross country, it’s wide open,” Tobia said. “I thought I’d be up there, between me and Jack.”

The four Red Devils who finished among the top 10 earned medals. For Lambert, it was his first medal for any high-school cross country or track race.

For Griffin, the finish was all too familiar. Last year, he was the second among six top-10 Red Devils in the open race and fourth overall behind two seniors.

The only Red Devil among last year’s medalists who also competed Saturday, Griffin ran just .1 faster than 2012.

Naperville Central senior John Ashley, second in last year’s JV race, four seconds ahead of Griffin, was 15th in the varsity race Saturday (16:30.4) to help the Redhawks win the team title.

In his race, Griffin said he went out with several runners from another team, but then they dropped back after two miles.

”As far as my time, I wasn’t too happy with it, but I was at the front of the pack so I can’t complain. I tried my best to stay up with them,” Griffin said.

”I would have felt a little better (breaking 17:00). It was good to see the team perform well. Even without our top guys we were able to pull out the JV win, which was cool.”

In a race he actually did run in 2012, Tobia posted a respectable 17:01.45 for 15th in the frosh-soph race at the season-opening Hornet-Red Devil Invitational. That was his previous best time until Saturday.

”I finally got a PR. (But) it took a year,” Tobia said. “(This race) was decent. I kind of always like to do better.”

Griffin is optimistic about having a better senior season as well. While Griffin currently is running comparable times to 2012, he feels that his stronger training base has him in a much better place for races to come.

”I’m only a few seconds faster than last year but with the summer training and winter training I had, I’m hoping to drop time significantly,” Griffin said.

“Towards the end of (last) season, I was kind of getting faster times, but now I’m here at the beginning of the season so hopefully I can improve from here, kind of build off the foundation of the summer running.”

FROSH-SOPH RACE

As a freshman, Hinsdale Central sophomore Yuji Cusick tried indoor track and really liked it.

In fact, Cusick stuck around for the outdoor season, even though he had the opportunity to play for the tennis team.

”I felt like I was doing pretty well in track so I decided to quit tennis and do running instead,” Cusick said. “I haven’t regretted that decision.”

Cusick continued his running through the summer and now he’s reaping the rewards in his first cross country season.

On Saturday, Sept. 21, he was the Red Devils’ top finisher in the frosh-soph race at Downers Grove South’s Kevin Keogh Mustang Run at O’Brien Park. After a week of illness, he pulled out eighth (16:53.9) to earn a top-10 medal, less than one second ahead of the ninth-place finisher.

”It’s been really enjoyable,” Cusick said. “The team’s great and so far the races have been going well so I’m excited to see how the future is for the rest of the team.”

Sophomore Jacob Chin (24th, 17:31.6) also placed among the top 25, followed by Ethan Planson (42nd, 18:08.2), Graham Reid (56th, 18:46.9), Vincent Stein (67th, 19:07.7), John Bynan (69th, 19:09.9) and Ben Schneiders (71st, 19:11.6). Andrew Denos (87th, 19:47.9) and Luke Northey (94th, 19:56.1) also broke 20:00.

The Red Devils (155 points) finished fifth, just three points ahead of Waubonsie Valley. Champion Naperville Central (25 points) put five in the top nine and its top seven among the top 14.

Cusick felt that he competed well, although he wasn’t at his best. He sat out Thursday’s conference dual with Lyons Township because of illness.

Although Cusick wasn’t a top contender as he wanted, he still managed to pass two runners at the end to move up from 10th. Cusick was 4.8 seconds ahead of the 11th-place finisher.

“I was pretty determined to run. I had to skip practice Friday, but I still felt like if I had the rest, I could come back and race well,” Cusick said.

”I was feeling a little bit sick still. I didn’t go out with the front pack so that was a mistake but I still didn’t let anyone pass me.”

This is Cusick’s first time ever running cross country. A middle-distance runner in track, his initiation was the 3.0-mile frosh-soph race at the season-opening Hornet-Red Devil Invite, where he finished 15th in 16:39.84.

”The first time I raced, I didn’t plan it that well. I went out a little too fast so I regretted it,” Cusick said. “I was around 14 seconds slower (Saturday). At the 2.0-mile mark, I was only a couple of seconds slower than the Hornet-Red Devil, but then I really didn’t feel well in the last mile.”

Recap of LT Dual Meet - by Bill Stone

Even when they’re not competing, the Hinsdale Central boys cross country runners are reaching new heights this season.

On Tuesday, they received their first-ever No. 1 weekly ranking from DyeStat Illinois among the Class 3A boys. Three days earlier, the Red Devils won the First to the Finish Invitational 3A title for the first time at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, site of the state meet Nov. 9.

“It’s cool, but it’s something that, in the end, doesn’t mean all that much right now. It’s nice and all, it’s nice to get recognition but the real rankings that matter are on Nov. 9,” senior all-state candidate Billy Magnesen said.

“It’s great to win (that invite). It felt great, but you have to put it behind you. You have to move on with the season. You’ve got just keep pushing forward always. It’s really important to keep our eyes on the prize, which is state. This is just another step along the way.”

The present, and especially the past, continue to play backseat to the future. The Red Devils continued that mindset Thursday even after a convincing 20-37 victory over rival Lyons Township in their West Suburban Conference Silver Division dual season opener at Katherine Legge Memorial Park.

Magnesen (15:20) and freshman Blake Evertsen (15:30) took first and second on the 3.0-mile course while the Red Devils placed five of the top seven finishers in the race.

Kevin Huang (15:53) was third, and TJ Caveney (16:12) and Emmett Scully (16:17), whose shoe was punctured during the race, were sixth and seventh. Matt McBrien (16:32) and Alex Domiano (16:39) were 10th and 11th, and strong races from Austin Kleber (16:47) and Jack Griffin (16:53) earned 14th and 15th.

The Red Devils moved up from No. 3 in the previous DyeStat Illinois 3A rankings, passing last year’s top two state finishers, defending champion York and O’Fallon. In this week’s other polls, the Red Devils are No. 2 behind York according to the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association voters and No. 3 behind top-ranked O’Fallon and York on MileSplit Illinois.

“We take pride in that (No. 1 ranking), but at the same time we realize we have so much ahead of us,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. “It sounds so cliché, but really (being ranked No. 1) doesn’t mean a thing until Nov. 9. Any high ranking is a compliment to your program, the hard work that you’ve done and your showing to this point.”

The Red Devils began the season on an emotional high, winning their season-opening home Hornet-Red Devil Invite Sept. 7 for the first time since 1992. They won the First to the Finish Invite by a whopping 123 points over second-place Buffalo Grove. LT was seventh (272).

By contrast, the Silver meet with LT and York one week later in the season was the low point of 2012. The Red Devils had their worst race of the season and were trounced by both teams.

“I remember walking away from that meet and just remember (assistant coach Noah Lawrence) and I were like, ‘What happened?’ but we also knew how good those two teams were,” Westphal said. “That, to me, solidified those guys as top-three teams, no question about it. But I thought we responded well (two days later at Lockport’s Locktoberfest Invite).”

The Dukes did go on to win another state title and the Lions captured third in state. The Red Devils were 12th with Magnesen, Huang, Caveney and Domiano in their lineup.

While that LT-York triangular was just 50 weeks ago on the calendar, it truly seems miles away now.

“We don’t really think about (that race) too much. We’re trying not to compare this season to previous years because we think this team is so much different and we have so much more potential,” Caveney said.

“We try to remember that it doesn’t really matter what happens now. What matters is we keep getting good training in so we’re ready for the state meet because that’s the day that actually matters.”

Once again, the Red Devils tried to set the tone for the race early with six among the top seven by the half-mile mark.

LT’s Henry Hostettler (15:41), who dropped out of the race in Peoria, and James Ryan (16:00) finished third and fifth. The Lions’ No. 5 finisher was five seconds behind Domiano and just three ahead of Kleber, who had his best performance so far.

“The strategy was to go out fast, not worry about what LT did, and have three guys ahead of LT’s No. 1 runner by the 800 (meter) mark and then just keep a good pack at the front,” Caveney said.

“We’re obviously happy with the victory, but we still think we didn’t run our best today and they didn’t run their best today. The heat was a factor (as well), but we’re happy overall.”

When Magnesen won the Hornet-Red Devil Invite, it was his first cross country invite title ever. On Thursday, he won his first cross country dual meet, just like graduated Ryan Somerfield accomplished last year.

“Last year, we would always pack it up for the first two miles (in duals),” Magnesen said. “Ryan and Kevin (Huang) are both faster than I am in shorter distances so they could beat me in the last mile when they hadn’t been going all out. That’s OK, though.”

Sophomores

With his first individual cross country race victory seemingly in hand early, Hinsdale Central’s Chris Brenk still wanted more out of his sophomore race Thursday against Lyons Township.

“I don’t really think much when I’m running. I just zone out completely,” Brenk said. “By about a mile, I just decided to make it more of a mental workout for me because one of the things I need to work on, I think, is running alone.”

Brenk (16:26) and sophomore Andrew Irvine (16:56) were a dominant 1-2 in the 3.0-mile race at Katherine Legge Memorial Park, but the Red Devils still lost their West Suburban Conference Silver Division dual opener to the Lions 25-34.

LT had seven of the next eight finishers with only the Red Devils’ Jake Chin (8th, 18:37) infiltrating the pack. Graham Reid was 11th (19:27) and Vince Stein (20:01) and Peter Ren (20:44) were 13th and 14th, followed by Scott McLaughlin (19th, 21:47) and John Rutkauskas (22nd, 22:01) rounding out their top seven. Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said the sophomore lineup was not at full strength.

Brenk said he could only remember winning a high-school race once, the 1,600-meter run during an indoor track dual meet as a freshman.

Even by the half mile, Brenk and Irvine were well on their way to establishing themselves as the frontrunners. The challenge became sustaining their races with good times.

“To keep that pace was pretty difficult for me, but I think I had a good race.” Brenk said. “We went into the race thinking to be in the lead pack, but within the first 400 meters Andrew and I were ahead and we just decided to go with it and it was just great.”

Irvine spent most of his race running solo since he finished 36 seconds ahead of LT’s No. 1 runner.

“Since last year I’ve been working on building a mileage base through the summer and winter and getting faster through the season,” Irvine said. “It’s my second best time for the KLM 3.0-mile (to 16:28) but I think I can do a little bit better with more competition.”

Brenk and Irvine also were coming off their first taste of competition at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, the annual site of the state meet. They were part of the Red Devils’ 10-runner entry in the varsity race at the First to the Finish Invite Sept. 14.

Brenk was 50th (15:32.88), just two places and less than a second behind junior teammate Alex Domiano, and Irvine was 147th (16:10.52).

“It was amazing. I went to state to watch last year and being there, watching it was one things but just being a part of it was a whole different thing,” Brenk said. “It’s just so great to be all together with a bunch of runners with the same ambitions and goals as you.”

As a dress rehearsal for the state meet Nov. 9 at Detweiller, the Red Devils left for Peoria on Friday and stayed overnight.

“It was a good experience. It was a lot of fun to get some time with the team in the hotel and it was a great course,” Irvine said. “I’m feeling good right now. (My goal is) keep improving, go to state in the top 10 or 12 guys.”

Freshmen

Hinsdale Central’s Ryan Doorhy already wanted to win his first high-school dual meet Thursday against rival Lyons Township.

When Doorhy looked over his shoulder early in the race, an LT runner was right next to him. It was his second cousin, Vincent Zona.

“I just ran like he was behind me every second,” Doorhy said. “I just tried to push it really hard. I wanted to beat him.”

Doorhy did just that, covering the 1.93 miles at Katherine Legge Memorial Park in 10:05 for a 17-second victory over Zona.

LT, however, pulled out the dual victory 20-41. LT’s Graham Kutchek (10:23) finished one second behind Zona, and the Lions also had the next four finishers over the following 30 seconds.

Hinsdale Central’s Ethan Planson (11:03) and Ben Schneiders (11:12) were eighth and ninth. John Bynan (11:36) and Andrew Denos (11:47) were 12th and 17th, and Luke Northey (20th, 12:09) and Mike Chadwell (26th, 12:37) were their No. 6-7 finishers.

Chadwell emerged from a pack with four other Red Devils in the latter part of the race to pass an LT runner just before at the chute.

Doorhy was used to race victories as an eighth-grader for Westview Hills Middle School. On Thursday, he easily beat his 10:34.55 on KLM Sept. 7 for the season-opening Hornet-Red Devil Invite. He was a team-best seventh in the freshman race.

“I thought (this victory) meant more because it’s at the high-school level. Those races were fun, but with this, you’ve got to get down to business,” Doorhy said. “I thought it was a good time. I really improved from my last time here.”

After the race, Hinsdale Central assistant coach Noah Lawrence emphasized to the freshmen the monster strides that they can make within this season, even race to race.

Planson made a significant jump from his 11:37.94 at the Hornet-Red Devil for 52nd place.

“I thought I was going to be right around the same time (Thursday), if anything. I was really surprised. Maybe (I can finish) high 10:00s next time,” Planson said.

“I’ve been trying to work hard. I felt better just coming into the race. Starting off, I think I got a good kick. I stuck where I wanted to with the kid in front of me, just kept there and tried to pass him at the end.”

FIRST TO THE FINISH INVITE

Recap by Bill Stone

As senior Kevin Huang and his Hinsdale Central boys cross country team prepared for the First to the Finish Invitational Saturday at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, there was a sneaky feeling this year that they were being watched.

“We were the favorites for, I think, the first time ever,” Huang said.

“We knew that other teams were gunning for us, but we wanted to show the state that we truly do belong at the top echelon in the state, and I think we proved it.”

While the state meet Nov. 9 at Detweiller still is a few weeks away, the Red Devils made quite a statement. Senior Billy Magnesen, Huang and freshman Blake Evertsen finished among the top seven, and the Red Devils dominated the field to win easily with 60 points. Buffalo Grove (183 points) was second with a total more three times greater and conference rival Downers Grove North (192) was third despite missing its No. 3 runner.

Magnesen was the top finisher from Illinois and finished second overall to Fishers (Ind.) senior Calvin Kraft in a close battle to the finish 14:36.22 to 14:36.86.

Huang (14:50.63) and Evertsen (14:56.82) were fifth and seventh, senior Emmett Scully was 15th (15:11.59), senior TJ Caveney (15:22.51) and junior Matt McBrien (15:24.92) were 31st and 35th and junior Alex Domiano (15:32.35) and sophomore Chris Brenk (15:32.88) were 48th and 50th. Teams were allowed as many as 10 entries.

It was perhaps the greatest collective Hinsdale Central performance ever at Detweiller.

“We’ve never had anything close to three guys under 15:00 before. I’m really excited to see what we can do this season,” Magnesen said.

“I’ve never imagined being a favorite in one of these meets before. It’s awesome, kind of. But when people are chasing you, you know that the pressure’s on, but I think we responded well with all of the eyes of the state on us. Hopefully, beating (Lyons Township) and DGN and all of these great teams, people are going to start looking at us and that we’re definitely legitimate contenders for state this year.”

The Red Devils shot up to No. 3 in the state rankings after winning their season-opening home Hornet-Red Devil Invite for the first time since 1992.

They were the highest-rated team to compete in Saturday’s race hosted by Peoria High School. No. 1-2 O’Fallon and York, the defending state champion, compete Sept. 21 at Detweiller in Peoria Notre Dame’s Richard Spring Invite.

Six other teams earned at least one top-15 ranking from the three state polls. Neuqua Valley, the most consistently highest-rated team among the rest of the field, ended up sixth (246).

In this week’s two released Class 3A state poll, the Red Devils are rated No. 1 by DyeStat Illinois and No. 2 by the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association.

“We just have to take that type of performance and plug it into the state meet and we’re in good shape. (But that’s) wishful thinking,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. “There’s no comparison (to our past races at Detweiller). It was perfect conditions but they all raced well. To each man, I want to say they all ran a personal record.

“We said (to our runners) you might have a few more eyes on you, just given how you performed last week, but that doesn’t change the process. We talk about the process of training hard and doing the right things and the product will take care of itself. And these are teams we’ve run against time and time again so it’s really nothing new, especially to the older guys. It’s just about perspective.”

Magnesen nearly pulled out the individual victory. He took the lead and held it for most of the lengthy homestretch before Kraft prevailed with 25 meters left.

Magnesen’s time was 16 seconds faster than at the 2012 3A state meet, when he finished a team-best 32nd, seven spots from the final individual all-state medal. The Red Devils were 12th as a team with Huang, Caveney and Domiano also in their lineup.

“I love it here. It’s one of the best courses in all the state for sure,” Magnesen said. “To run here and run a great time, and run against all of this great competition, this course is kind of special. It’s great for our team to have run well and for me to have run well.”

For the early part of the race, Kraft had a slight lead on a pack of Magnesen, Huang and Downers Grove North senior Zack Smith, eighth at state last year, and junior Ryan Clevenger. After the two-mile mark, Magnesen decided to challenge Kraft and took advantage of a downhill incline to pull ahead slightly.

“It’s a little frustrating to not win, but there’s no way I can be disappointed with how I ran today. It was a great race,” Magnesen said.

Huang was the Red Devils’ No. 2 state finisher last year (46th, 15:03), 12 seconds slower than Saturday. He had a more representative performance of his offseason training Saturday after finishing 11th at the Hornet-Red Devil in 15:35.02.

“I just knew something wasn’t right (at my last invite). Maybe it was the heat. I really have no idea,” Huang said. “This week, the coaches told me to just maybe it a few strides out behind Billy instead of being right next to him. At about 800 (meters), the mile, I’m like, ‘Wow, I’m actually feeling a lot better today.’ That’s when I knew I would have a good race.”

Huang’s finish received an added boost when Evertsen, in his varsity debut, came in just six seconds later.

“He came up to me right (in the chute) after I finished. I’m like, ‘What are you doing here?’ ” Huang said. “But it’s great to have such a talented kid on our team and hopefully we can show him the ropes. He’s definitely going to be a great, integral part of the team this year.”

Evertsen was perhaps the biggest highlight of the race. In his high-school debut, the Hinsdale Middle School graduate won the frosh-soph race at the Hornet-Red Devil in 15:54.94 with Brenk second in 15:58.57.

Evertsen had the team’s sixth fastest time overall in the opener on the more challenging Katherine Legge Memorial Park home course, but how would he fare against varsity competition?

“Blake has been training with that front group,” Westphal said. “We knew he was ready to run with that group (in a race), and that’s what we instructed him to do. If you feel good, just keep pushing, and he must have felt pretty good.”

For his Detweiller debut, Evertsen paced off Scully, who was 10th for the varsity last week in 15:32.32. At the halfway point, Evertsen continued to surge forward on his own after exiting the triangle and easily surpassed his pre-race goal of at least finishing among the top 20.

“Coming right into the chute, I just had this big smile on my face. I knew that I had definitely done my part for the team and pushed myself, definitely contributed to a victory,” Evertsen said. “My original goal was to get 15:20 -- that was my season goal. I really thought that was going to be a challenge, but I continue to surprise myself sometimes.”

If the Red Devils have the kind of success at the state meet that they’ve been striving for, it won’t come as a surprise after Saturday’s effort. Like the Hornet-Red Devil Invite, the Red Devils went out hard and maintained, leaving one coach to comment that their team title appeared to be already secure after a mile and a half.

It was just another step to the master plan that went beyond just the confidence of a strong race in Peoria during the regular season. They’ve annually left school early Friday for this invite to have an afternoon workout at Detweiller the day before the race and be able to stay overnight, a near duplicate of the program’s state meet regimen.

“We pretty much do everything exactly like what we’re going to do in November,” Huang said. “We go to the same restaurant (for dinner). We sleep at the same time. We warm up at the same time. We do our shake out in the morning at the same time. It’s pretty much like a dress rehearsal for November.”

Hornet-Red Devil Invitational Meet Recap - By Bill Stone

Hinsdale Central senior Billy Magnesen once again had a breakthrough race Saturday at the season-opening Hornet-Red Devil Invitational at Katherine Legge Memorial Park.

Last year, he surprised everyone, including himself, when he finished 10th to begin a great season that ended with just missing all-state honors at the state meet.

On Saturday, Magnesen not only comfortably won the 3.0-mile race in 14:50.50 on a new course, but he also helped the Red Devil win the 17-team invite on their home course for the first time since 1992, when only nine teams competed.

“It’s a really great feeling to come with a (team) win in a huge meet like this one. We’ve never really come close before,” Magnesen said.

”I’ve never won a cross country race before, not even a dual meet or anything. It was pretty cool to come into the final stretch with all the fans yelling at me. It was a good feeling.”

Magnesen won by nearly 13 seconds over Highland Park senior Angel Estrada (15:03.18), who was 21st in the 2012 race.

With their top-five finishers among the top 20, the Red Devils topped pre-meet favorite New Trier 59-74 with Wheaton Warrenville South (83), Neuqua Valley (88) and Palatine (125) third through fifth.

Senior Emmett Scully also earned a top-10 medal by taking 10th (15:32.32). Senior Kevin Huang (11th, 15:35.02), junior Matt McBrien (18th, 15:50.87) and senior TJ Caveney (19th, 15:50.93) also earned honors for top-25 finishes, followed by juniors Alex Domiano (31st, 16:11.31) and Josh Feldman (36th, 16:16.24).

The Red Devils also enjoyed success in the preceding 3.0-mile sophomore race. Freshman Blake Evertsen (15:54.94) and sophomore Chris Brenk (15:58.57) were first and second and the team finished third.

”It’s a pretty awesome day for Hinsdale Central,” Scully said. “I’ve been here now for four years and we’ve never really even been close here, even had that as a thought, but not today. It actually happened. It just shows that we’ve come such a long way and our goals are valid and we belong in the conversation.”

In pre-season 3A state polls by DyeStat Illinois and MileSplit Illinois, the Red Devils were ranked No. 7 by both and the second-highest rated team at the invite.

New Trier, whose finishers were finished 3-12-15-20-24, was ranked No. 3 in both polls behind last year’s top-two finishing teams, O’Fallon and defending state champion York. Wheaton Warrenville South, Palatine and Neuqua Valley also received top-10 pre-season rankings.

”This meet is what you’ve done over the summer and if you’ve worked hard, and this is a byproduct of a good showing,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said.

“We told the guys to race well, be aggressive and however we fare, we far, and it’s where we’re at on Sept. 7. It’s a nice spot, but we know we’ve got a long way to go and we’ve got to stay healthy and continue to do the right things. To this point, they’ve done the right things so it’s a nice result, which we don’t take for granted.”

Magnesen’s significant improvements from last season and the graduation of a strong senior class made him a pre-race favorite in the eyes of many. Magnesen was the second-highest finishing returnee from the 2012 race behind seventh-place Wheaton Warrenville South senior Nolan McKenna.

”I knew I had a chance. I felt kind of weird all morning actually. I feel like that before a lot of races, I guess, but today I just had a special feeling,” Magnesen said. “I knew that I was going to try and compete and I pulled away with about a less than a mile to go.”

With the new course, the runners go around the perimeter of the park twice like old times but they now start and finish at the north end of the park rather than the south. Rather than the long, straight homestretch of the past, the runners now turn after a group of trees and go straight from the east to west end before looping back for an uphill run to the finish line.

Magnesen, McKenna and Palatine junior Graham Brown were running together during the first half of the race. Brown (4th, 15:08.44) and McKenna (5th, 15:12.06) eventually were passed by Estrada, who passed moved up from fifth in the final straightaway, and New Trier senior Peter Cotsirilos (3rd, 15:06.73), a 2013 state track qualifier who because of various injuries was in his first cross country race since the 2011 Hornet-Red Devil.

Before his final turn, Scully was moving along the finish line extended as Magnesen was about to win.

”I was kicking and I heard (the announcer saying), ‘Magnesen is our leader coming in.’ I was like, ‘Oh crap, let’s go,’ ” Scull said. “I was so happy so it helped me finish. And then I saw him at the end. I could tell during our warmup. I knew he was going to do it.”

While it’s not a perfect comparison to KLM times of the past, even with the new configuration, the rugged challenges of KLM basically remain, although now at different junctures of the race.

Magnesen’s winning time beat his 2012 invite performance by more than 40 seconds (15:45.03), which at the time was a great performance.

When the Red Devils placed 12th at the state meet at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, Magnesen was 32nd (14:53), five seconds and seven places from the last individual top-25, all-state spot. In May, Magnesen went on to qualify for the state meet in track in the 3,200-meter run.

Only 10 non-seniors finished ahead of Magnesen, and that included McKenna (30th, 14:51). Brown (15:00) and Estrada (15:02) were 40th and 43rd.

”In a year, he’s dropped that much time, but as we know, (Magnesen) had a great fall, he had a great winter and spring and he worked his tail off this summer,” Westphal said. “He’s doing the right things. He’s got a good frame of mind and a good approach. And the thing that’s nice about Billy is he understands he’s running well, but he’s taking it day by day.”

As a result, Magnesen had the same feeling of a satisfying race at the Hornet-Red Devil as his junior year, but he’s in such a different place now. Last year was a realization of knowing he could compete with the state’s top runners. Saturday further reinforced this season’s high aspirations.

”Last year was a huge race for me. I was never even considered to be one of the top guys on the team really,” Magnesen said. “This year, I have so many expectations for myself and the team that I don’t know if I was surprised that I won. I was more excited that I won, pulling into the last straightaway. I don’t think it was a huge difference from last year, but regardless it was really a lot more to get first than 10th.”

In similar fashion, Scully also took a big step forward from a strong 2012 Hornet-Red Devil, when he placed 28th in 16:06.97 as the team’s No. 3 finisher behind graduated Ryan Somerfield (14th, 15:45.03). Going into the race, Scully said he was aiming for a top-15 finish.

”I was feeling it and I started rolling with a little bit left and got that 10th spot,” Scully said. “(My Hornet-Red Devil) this year is pretty much better. We got the win, too, for the team. It’s definitely more of a satisfactory feeling.”

The Red Devils as a whole looked like a team determined to win from the outset. By the first half mile, they had five among the top 15. They still had six in the top 20 near the halfway point.

”We know after a mile and a half, not much at all changes (place wise) so we said, ‘Be aggressive, put yourself in a nice position and we’ll see how we finish,’ And they held it nicely,” Westphal said. “If you go out hard and fade, fine, because the next time you go out hard, you hang on a little bit longer and then the next time, then you finally execute a good race and put it all together.”

Magnesen, Huang, Caveney and Domiano return from the 2012 state lineup. In his varsity debut, McBrien looked strong after being a frosh-soph frontrunner with Domiano last season.

”It wasn’t that much different, just different people,” McBrien said. “I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. It’s a lot different running varsity, but I just knew it’s still running and I knew I could do it.”

The Red Devils make their regular-season return to Detweiller Park Saturday for Peoria High School’s First to the Finish Invite, and they’ll have to deal with a different perspective.

This time, the Red Devils will be the top-rated team there, according to Tuesday’s DyeStat Illinois poll which elevated them to No. 3. But five more of the top-12 teams will be there, too, with No. 6-8 Neuqua, Naperville North and Lyons Township and No. 11-12 Downers Grove North and Lincoln-Way Central. Many of those teams also probably will contend with the Red Devils for the five state berths at their sectional.

”Our coaches said we need to be humble (about winning the Hornet-Red Devil). It’s very true. We need to not feel like we’re entitled to winning meets now,” Magnesen said. “We still have to go out and earn it, like Peoria, Lockport, and certainly conference and state. It’s great to win a meet, obviously, it’s fun, it’s awesome, but in the end it doesn’t mean a whole lot.”

Sophomores

Hinsdale Central freshman Blake Evertsen was used to big races and big performances running for Hinsdale Middle School.

His high-school debut at the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational felt like an even bigger stager.

”It’s definitely different from middle school (events). There’s more energy, more people, really positive energy,” Evertsen said.

Instead of being intimidated, Evertsen seized the excitement and battled down the stretch to pull out the 3.0-mile frosh-soph race in 15:54.94.

Blake Evertsen (1st, 15:54.94), Chris Brenk (2nd, 15:58.57),

Sophomore Chris Brenk was second (15:58.57) thanks to his strong finish.

The Red Devils (69 points) were third as a team, just one point behind third-place New Trier. Neuqua (37) won with five among the top 13.

”The first mile was definitely slower than I expected. I started out strong, got in the front pack, stayed there,” Evertsen said. “A couple of people got a couple of feet on me every once in a while but then I stayed with them and pushed the pace the last 400.”

Andrew Irvine (11th, 16:29.75) just missed a top-10 medal by 2.59 seconds, but he and Yuji Cusick (15th, 16:39.84) both earned top-25 honors, followed by Jacob Chin (48th, 18:14.29), Ben Anderson (73rd, 19:14.51) and Vincent Stein (76th, 19:21.07).

Evertsen was used to success for HMS. He won all of his cross country races last season, including the conference meet. He then ran a 4:38 mile in track.

”My expectations were pretty high (today). My first race, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. There was a ton more people than I expected. As far as the competition, I was expecting a lot more. The race wasn’t too difficult. It was good, though. I liked it.”

On the new KLM course, the final portion of the race is a loop from the east end of the park to the west back toward the east on an incline to the finish. Neuqua Valley’s Shiva Singh passed Evertsen heading west around the finish line extended, but Evertsen regained the lead for good about 20 meters into the final straightaway.

Brenk worked hard enough to get into third place, but he found another gear to move into second, 1.33 seconds ahead of Singh (15:59.90), with a little help from the sidelines.

”I was probably about five meters behind (Singh). I was just thinking about finishing, but then (assistant coach Noah Lawrence) just screams at me, ‘You can get this guy.’ I just passed him with about 10 meters to go,” Brenk said.

”I think it’s a very good race and a good start for the year. I’m hoping that I can stay fresh for the entire cross country season because last year I got tendonitis about halfway through the season. Our entire team in outdoor track and the entire summer worked real hard and that just helped in the long run for this race.”

Freshman race

Hinsdale Central’s Ryan Doorhy had a nice cross country career at Westview Hills Middle School but earning the seventh-place medal in the 1.93-mile freshman race at the Hornet-Red Devil Invite came as a bit of a surprise.

”My expectations were a little lower. I thought I wouldn’t do that well, but great things happen during races,” Doorhy said.

”I think I just had a good race. The team did really well. I trained a lot in the summer. I think it really paid off.”

Doorhy, who finished seventh (10:34.55), was the top finisher for the Red Devils, who were seventh (170 points).

Jan Erik Naess (20th, 10:54.99) also earned top-25 honors. The Red Devils’ other top-seven finishers were Ben Schneiders (27th, 11:05.01), Ethan Planson (52nd, 11:37.94), John Bynan (73rd, 12:05.96), Andrew Denos (80th, 12:20.41) and Luke Northey (95th, 12:36.90).

Doorhy ran cross country the past three seasons for Westview Hills. His eighth-grade season began with winning his first race at Butler Junior High and ended with competing at the Illinois Elementary School Association state meet in Normal.

”(This invite) was bigger than the state meet. It was a lot of fun, really exciting,” Doorhy said. “I hope that I take from this race that I’m part of a bigger team. I hope to take that I’m moving forward, that I have higher expectations for myself now.”

Season Preview - By Bill Stone (September 5, 2013)

Another season of high expectations for the Hinsdale Central boys cross country team started with a new approach.

On Aug. 14, the first official day of preseason team workouts, more than one dozen Red Devils traveled as a group to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wis., to train and discuss their goals.

”It was a good time for us to finally all talk about what we wanted to do this season,” Hinsdale Central senior Billy Magnesen said. “We’ve all been running. It’s all been there, but we haven’t really talked about it before. It was really good to finally put that on paper so we know exactly what we’re looking for this season.”

Simply put, the Red Devils want to build upon the program’s recent success with their highest team finish ever at the state meet.

Magnesen and senior Kevin Huang, the team’s top two finishers at state, senior TJ Caveney and junior Alex Domiano return from last year’s lineup at state. The Red Devils finished 12th in Class 3A (327 points), 18 points shy of 10th place, in achieving the program’s first state team appearances in three consecutive seasons.

In the pre-season state polls, the Red Devils are No. 7 by MileSplit Illinois and also No. 7 by DyeStat Illinois. They open their season with the tradition home Hornet-Red Devil Invitational Saturday at Katherine Legge Memorial Park. The course has been completely refigured with the start and finish lines now at the north end of the course.

”We talk about the more often you get down (to state), whether in track or cross country, the more familiar it becomes. The expectation is to qualify, get down there, always finish in the top 10, and I think this group wants to finish in the top five,” Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said.

“If they continue to stay healthy and improve, I certainly think that’s a realistic goal. What’s neat about that is they know what it takes. In the past couple of years, we’ve had three, four guys who have embraced that and certainly believed in that but I don’t think we’ve had as many like now, 10-to-12, 15, that have embraced that.”

Magnesen and Huang have trained together throughout the summer and should contend for all-state honors by placing among the top 25, but their aim is higher than that. Magnesen (32nd at state) and Huang (46th) were the No. 11 and 17 finishers among non-seniors.

The team talk is similar. The Red Devils have made nine state team appearances in program history dating back to 1955, and four have come in the past five seasons. As Hinsdale Township, the team finished a program-best sixth in 1955. As Hinsdale Central, the Red Devils’ highest finish is eighth in 1997, when the meet was two classes.

Huang, who has run twice at state cross country, made his state debut in track in May and left unsatisfied. He was part of the Red Devils’ 3,200-meter relay team with three seniors that wasn’t able to advance to the state finals after finishing 11th in 2012.

”That’s been my main motivation, to be honest, for the summer so far and for the season. It made me a lot more determined to work harder towards our goal of getting a trophy this year at state (for a top-three team finish),” Huang said. ”That’s definitely been our whole team goal this year, to finally raise that level and crack into that upper echelon of teams in Illinois.”

The discussion of higher expectations actually began during the ride home from the state cross country meet at Peoria’s Detweiller Park. Westphal said as athletes reflected with assistant coach Noah Lawrence, Magnesen began discussions about how to get better, such as morning runs.

”There were some grumblings and he said, ‘We’ll do whatever it takes to get better.’ When you hear that, a kid whose willing to do the mundane day-to-day stuff, which includes getting up early, it was kind of like he became that leder of that mantra, that thought process, and it carried him into the winter and spring, as it did with Kevin, Alex, TJ.”

Besides the state returnees, the group’s frontrunners include seniors Jake Hall and Emmett Scully, junior Matt McBrien and Blake Evertsen, a freshman. Scully was a member of last year’s postseason lineup.

Other younger runners looking to make progress include juniors Josh Feldman, Austin Kleber, Sean O’Flaherty and Matt Tobia and sophomores Andrew Irvine and Chris Brenkm as well as Nathan Hill and Yuji Cusick, both first-year cross country runners from track.

”We’re all doing higher mileage than we’ve ever done before,” Magnesen said. “We have probably 12 guys that can be in our top seven, maybe more. Our team has a lot of strengths, but I think the depth and how well we work together and how well we get along is huge.”

With several runners committed to improve, Westphal wanted to create a team bonding experience and asked other teams’ coaches for input. A three-day, two-night team retreat seemed like a good idea, and UW-Parkside has a cross country course used for the Foot Locker Midwest Regional.

Westphal took runners who had made a strong commitment to offseason training and were healthy enough to fully participate in a rigorous workout schedule. He waited until mid-August so that vacations would not conflict and the period for coaches having no contact with their athletes had passed.

”It gave the guys an opportunity to get some good quality training in and talk about goal setting and expectations so I thought it was a fun experience and one we’ll continue to do,” Westphal said.

Magnesen seemed to burst onto the scene last cross country season, surprising himself and Westphal. Now he’s regarded among the state’s best.

Magnesen hopes to achieve his first all-state honors for a top-25 finish after taking 32nd in 2012 (14:53), seven places and five seconds from the last all-state spot. He then went on to earn his first state appearance in track in the 3,200-meter run.

Only six of last year’s all-staters were underclassmen.

”I definitely feel like I can be top 15, top 10 in state. It’s going to be, obviously, no walk in the park. This is one of the best states in the country,” Magnesen said. “Coming back (with state experience), that’s so important, knowing what to expect. It’s really important to have a team that’s been there before and just how to act.”

Huang hopes to make a performance jump similar to Magnesen’s this season. By taking 46th at state in 15:03, Huang was just 15 seconds from the final all-state spot after being the Red Devils’ No. 6 finisher in 2011 (134th, 15:48)

“It’s been my goal of going all-state,” Huang said. “I’m planning on just sticking with Billy through most of the races and potentially also getting top 15, top 10 in state as well. We’ve pretty much been doing workouts together the entire summer.”

Caveney (126th, 15:33) and Domiano (142nd, 15:40) were the Red Devils’ No. 6 and 7 state finishers. Caveney (13th) and Domiano (16th) were the Red Devils’ No. 1 and 3 finishers at the Lyons Township Regional as they sat out their top five runners and used the race as a time trial to help determine the rest of their sectional lineup.

”(As a senior) I feel like a greater sense of responsibility just to the team and to myself to help us do the best we can do this year, just to be the best I can be,” Caveney said. “We had a good summer of training. (The Kenosha trip) was a huge part of our team building and we’ve gotten together as a group. Now we’re excited about the season and we’re pretty confident about our goals.”

Domiano spent most of last season as a frontrunner on the sophomore level and forming a strong 1-2 punch with McBrien. Domiano sat out sectionals because of a hip injury but rejoined the lineup at state. Domiano then suffered an ankle injury that hampered his training and indoor and outdoor track seasons.

”I never really got back to full strength until the middle of the summer. (But) I’ve been running almost full mileage, maybe 10 miles under the other guys,” Domiano said. “I feel like I’ve matured a lot. I take workouts very seriously. I’ve gotten a lot of consistent training in and I’ve realized how much this team is important and how if we work together we will reach our goals.”

A new season means new opportunities for others. Scully got off to a strong 2012, but Westphal said that Scully felt that he became worn down as the season progressed. At midseason, Hall became hampered by illness. O’Flaherty has been bothered by injuries in the past but is coming off his most consistent training this summer.

Evertsen, a graduate of Hinsdale Middle School, does not have extensive racing experience, but Westphal said he has held his own throughout training. Westphal said Evertsen probably will begin the season competing on the frosh-soph level but could be promoted.

”He really seems to have a passion for running,” Westphal said. “The young man has not yet run a race in high school. But all indications are that he is focused to get better each day. He comes to practice ready to work and he’s ready to go. He’s certainly working hard and he’ll be a great addition.”

The Red Devils will have to work hard to be competitive in the always tough West Suburban Conference Silver Division. At the 2012 state meet, York won another state title, Lyons Township was third and Glenbard West was 13th, seven points behind the Red Devils. All three teams are ranked in both pre-season polls, as well as Downers Grove North, which boasts individual state title contender Zach Smith.

At last year’s Silver Meet, Magnesen (9th) earned all-conference individual honors with a top-16 finish, and Huang was 21st, 9.1 seconds from 16th. Caveney (30th) and Scully (33rd) were the team’s No. 5 and 6 finishers.

In the sophomore race, Domiano and McBrien were 3-4 and Feldman was 14th. In the 2.0-mile freshman race, Andrew Irvine (5th), Michael Gates (7th) and Tyshaun Hamilton (15th) were top-16 finishers. Hamilton, usually the freshman team’s No. 1 runner and named their Most Valuable Performer, moved back to New York after coming from there to the area as a freshman.

The Red Devils hope to minimize their roller-coaster performances of the past. Last year, they struggled at sectionals but pulled out the fifth and final qualifying spot when advancing to state seemed to be fairly certain beforehand.

”I think maintaining a serious attitude throughout the entire season (is a key for us),” Magnesen said. “Sometimes it’s easy to lose focus for a race or a workout, and as long as we’re staying focused, we have our eyes on the prize the entire season, which is getting down to state and getting a trophy, then I think we’ll be fine.”