By Michael Newman
Ilprepharrier.wordpress.com

Lockport, Ill. — In the way that the IHSA state series is set up, the majority of the schools advance to the sectional competition. It then comes down to pride in who can win the earlier regional titles.

But there was more than pride on the line for both #2 Neuqua Valley and #12 Plainfield South on Saturday as the gun went off for the boys race in the Lockport Regional at Dellwood Park.

It took the efforts of Neuqua Valley’s 5^th and 6^th men, Mike Whalley and Robbie Hohlman when they finished 16^th and 17^th – to secure a 5-point win for the Wildcats over a hungry Plainfield South team. It was close as the runners were coming into the finish area. In fact through four runners, Plainfield South had a 1-point advantage.

“I am really happy. Our guys ran strong. As you know, this course will beat you up in a hurry,” said Neuqua Valley Coach Paul Vandersteen. “Any time I see our guys finishing strong, I am happy on this course.”

For Plainfield South Coach Jason Crowe, there was a sense of the opportunity that was lost. At the same time, the race gave him something to build on for the next two weeks.

“I am very happy with the guys today. They came out and competed. They were excited for the regional,” said Crowe. “Any time you go up against Neuqua Valley, it just motivates you even more. I know our program has a lot of respect for Coach Vandersteen and his staff and his kids. We came here today with the goal of winning the regional and just came up a little short.”

The individual race was a matter of the little moves that Oswego’s Caleb Beck made throughout the race.  The first mile is fairly flat, which gives runners the false security of going out a little faster than maybe they should be especially with the hills of Dellwood looking them squarely in the face for the next 2000 meters. The pack — led by Beck, Joseph Suarez of Plainfield East, Alekh Meka and Nick Bushelle of Neuqua Valley, Dan Lathrop of Plainfield South, and Peter Johnsrud of Oswego — went through the first mile in a swift 4:50. Beck made the first of his moves making a slight surge going down a hill. Only Lathrop and Suarez were able to stay with him.

The next mile was just a matter of surviving the rolling hills on the course. Beck was willing to take his time and wait for the right moment. That moment came just as they passed the two-mile point that dropped Lathrop. It looked to be a duel between him and Suarez, but in fact the Oswego senior had full control of the race. With 800 meters to go, Beck made his final move up a hill and away from the Plainfield East sophomore. His margin of victory was eight seconds over Suarez and 14 over Lathrop and a charging Bushelle.

“All I wanted to do today was stick with the top guys and give it a good kick,” said Bushelle. “I made a move by Alekh and Lathrop with 500 meters, but Lathrop got me in the last 50.”

Beck has quietly showed that he belongs among the top runners in the state after he ran 14:41 in September in Peoria. He is focused on the one goal.

“I wasn’t really going for time.  I was just focusing myself of putting myself in front of the race for the first mile with the lead pack,” said Beck. “Around the two mile, that is where I wanted to make my move.  Cross country is all about patience. If you just get excited and try to burst out in front of someone, you are going to burn yourself out.”

Watch the full interview with Caleb Beck here

It was about patience in the girls race, but not for the Oswego pair of Kelsey Hjorth and Ashley Golembeski. The two runners broke from the pack about 1000 meters into the race. By the mile, the two had a 15-second lead on the rest of the pack. “We just told Kelsey to run her race today and to have Ashley to try to stay close to her to clear the field,” said Oswego coach Eric Simon. “I was getting a little nervous at the end, but this is a tough course to make an early commitment on.”

Hjorth finally broke away from her teammate after the 2-mile. Her lead began to grow on Golembowski, but not the rest of the pack. A quartet of Lockport runners, led by Bianca Wiedmeyer, and the Neuqua Valley pair of Claire Costelloe and Julia Pena were showing their patience and were beginning to cut the lead.

Hjorth had a good and sizable lead that she would not give up. Her winning time was 19:21, 14 seconds ahead of Golembeski. “I felt them coming on,” Hjorth said. “I knew I had to pick it up at the end of the race.”

Watch the full interview with Kelsey Hjorth here

Lockport relied on a 29-second, 5-runner split, led by the 5^th place finish of Wiemeyer, to hold on for the Girls team race win 38-48 over Neuqua Valley.

“I think we ran really well,” Lockport coach Evon Schlotter said. “We had two kids that really stepped up and they ran a tight pack. Our goal was to find ourselves by the last mile and move as a pack.”