Downers Grove North’s pack too much in winning the 3A team title

Photo: Danny Kilrea approaching the finish line winning the 3A Boys Race (Laura Duffy photo)

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

Peoria – There are times that we want things to happen and yet the circumstances around us do not cooperate. Fans came to Detweiller Park Saturday afternoon hoping to see a state record threatened. A soft course, due to rain in the area over the past week, made it slower. Nevertheless, it did not bother Lyons Township’s Danny Kilrea, who controlled the race throughout to win an elusive state title.

It was supposed to be a dual between Kilrea and Sandburg’s Dylan Jacobs who were the top two runners in the state all year. It did not materialize as Jacobs was still recovering from an illness that he came down with earlier in the week.

“To be honest, I did not think he would able to run today on Wednesday,” Sandburg coach John O’Malley said as Jacobs and the team ran on the course Friday afternoon. “It was just that serious. He has progressed. We will just see what he will be able to do tomorrow.”

Kilrea learned his lesson the week before at the Hinsdale Central Sectional in letting Jacobs get ahead early never to recover. In this race, the two runners were together at 800 meters, slowly pulling away from the rest of the pack. By the time the two got to the first mile in 4:34, Kilrea had a close lead with Jacobs just a couple steps behind. The Sandburg senior was efforting just a little bit.

It showed as Kilrea took control of the race going through 1.5 miles in 6:55 and 9:18 at 2-miles. Whitney Young’s Clayton Mendez had been patient the first mile of the race but had moved up to catch Jacobs as the two were 12 seconds behind Kilrea.

The Lyons Township senior continued to push on the final loop of the course now looking for the win with the record of 13:50.6 out of reach. The second-place finish from last year was still in his mind as he approached the finish line. That memory was erased as he crossed the line arms in the air running 14:07 for the win.

“I have been working for this moment ever since November 5, 2016. The state championship has been on my mind. It is great that my dream has finally come true,” said Kilrea. “I threw time out the window. The course felt good yesterday. This morning after the rain and five races, I knew it was going to be a competition kind of race. I knew that Dylan wasn’t racing like himself at the mile when he wasn’t up there with me. I knew something was different today, but I just rolled with it.”

Clayton Mendez finished strong to end his regular season placing second (14:22). Tommy Brady of Maine South worked his way towards the front as the race progressed giving him a third-place finish (14:29) four seconds ahead of Neuqua Valley’s Zach Kinne who finished fourth. The surprise of the race was the finish of Niles North’s Conor Perreault. The senior had finished eighth the week before at the Lake Park Sectional. On this day, a personal best of 14:33 and a fifth-place finish were his.

Dylan Jacobs had faded in the final mile. His heart and inner-strength pushed him the final 400-meters as he passed four runners to finish sixth overall. He refused to use being under the weather as an excuse.

“I was a little bit under the weather this week, but I still came out here with the same goals,” Jacobs said. “He started pushing it at 1.5 miles. My legs really did not feel that good. You deal with it and live and learn from that situation. I was proud of how I did and how my teammates did.”

Downers Grove North executed their race plan just as they had all season and it resulted with the first state team championship in the program’s history. The Trojans had four all state runners along with 5 in the first 27 to capture the 3A title with 73 points.

“This feeling is unbelievable. It’s incredible,” Downers Grove North coach John Sipple said. “I am so proud of the kids. They ran super tough.”

“We did not think of the pressure of having the target on our backs,” Miles Christensen said. “It was just a three-mile race and we just had to get it done.”

They did in a big way especially with the pack running that they have exhibited throughout the season. Senior Jacob Ridderhoff led team being the first runner across placing eighth and running 14:36. Then came the pack that was only separated by nine seconds between the four runners. Nick Chudzik led the group in 19th. Then it was Miles Christensen who was two seconds back in 21st with Jack Roberts just one place behind. Sam McCool just missed all-state finishing 27th overall, but his time of 14:53 makes him one of the fastest fifth runners ever. Their team time of 73:46 is the eight fastest ever for a team in the state meet tying them with Neuqua Valley’s state championship team of 2007. That’s impressive considering how soft the course was on this day.

“This win is a win for everyone that is supporting us. It was so awesome to see how many people came out today,” Jacob Ridderhoff said. “It was so much easier to know that there was so many people that had our back out on the course including the teammates that were running and our teammates that were not running.”

DuPage Valley Conference rivals, for at least this season, Neuqua Valley and Wheaton-Warrenville South finished second and third separated by only seven points. The 149 points by the Wildcats were paced by Zach Kinne’s fourth-place finish and a 23 second split between their second through fifth runners. Ryan Kennedy led the pack placing 33rd followed by Danny Winek (39th), Michael Madiol (56th), and Alex Johnson (71st).

Wheaton-Warrenville South earned their first trophy in the program’s history scoring 156 points in third. Sophomore William Hauenstein earned all-state honors by finishing 13th to lead his team. Sean and Scott Maison were next finishing 32nd and 45th. Jacob Kluckhohn was the team’s fourth runner by placing 47th. John Keys was the team’s fifth runner as he placed 82nd. The Tigers will be the team to watch in 2018 as six of their top seven from this race return.

The next four teams that finished were all from the ultra-tough West Suburban Conference-Silver Division. This is the toughest conference in the nation considering you have five of the top seven teams in the state including the 3A team champion and the 3A individual champion. Hinsdale Central was 12 points out of a trophy placing 168 points. Lyons Township (191 points), York (206 points), and Glenbard West (223 points) followed.

Other IHSA State Meet Recaps – 1A Boys | 2A Boys