Freshmen and Sophomore Teams Each Win CSL North Championships While Varsity Falters

Freshmen:

HP's top 2 freshmen, Brett Davidson and Joe Pinsky, have had high expectiations all season long and have had their eyes on being up top for the North Division at the CSL Invite.  To do that they new they would have to take some chances to try and stay with the other top runners in the CSL (the top 2 from GBN in particular).   So, both Davidson and Pinsky got out fast for the first mile and were ahead of the GBN duo, but behind a runner from Maine West.     During the second half of the 2 mile race, Pinsky fell back a bit while Davidson continued to try to hold off the GBN guys while attempting to chase down the MW runner.   In the end Davidson finished 3rd for the North Division just 5 seconds behind the winner (from MW) in 11:35.44.  Pinsky finished in 5th with a time of 11:51.18.  The rest of the freshmen team ran very well behind them.   Daniel Arias (8th, 12:10.49 ) and Jason Fox (11th, 12:40.96) had strong races to be HP's next two finishers.  Michael Salgado battled hard as he was the team's final scorer finishing in 20th place with a time of 13:26.2.  Max Thompson also had a good race running 14:50.1 to finish in 36th for the North Division.  

With the entire team running well and pushing themselves on a challenging course, they were able to win the CSL North Freshmen Team Championship with 47 points just ahead of Deerfield (51 points).   This is a good sign for things to come for the future of Highland Park Cross Country.   If this group of young men continues to work hard they can do many more great things throughout their high school running careers!

Sophomores:

HP knew that the way they would win this race was the strength of their pack, knowing that Niles North had 2 very good front runners.   Andrew Huddleston got the team out fast as he led the race through the first 400 and led his team through the mile.  After that, it was Brady McDougall who put the chase on the NN top 2.  McDougall ran a super race to finish in 3rd place for the North Divison on the tough 3.1 mile course in a time of 17:33.11.  The next two North Division finishers were Huddleston (17:53.88) and Kevin Merkel (17:57.66).  HP then had another group of runners fighting for positions a little ways back...Zack Goldberg (9th, 18:15.73), Evan Lissoos (10th, 18:17.29), and Dylan Kahn (13th, 18:25.88).   

With 6 runners in the top 13 the Giants won the CSL North Sophomore Team Championship with 29 points ahead of Niles North which had 46 points.  This group of sophomores has had its ups and downs this season but came together when it counted.   Hopefully, the next 2 years for this talented group of sophmores will continue to be successful, but only if they put in the hard work and stay committed and focused!

Open:

The open race gives a last chance for the juniors and seniors not in the top 7 to run for a position in the teams top 12 for the State Series.   Senior Brandon Golant went after one of those spots like a man on a misson.   He got out fast and worked hard to hold on with a time fast enough to earn a spot.   Golant finished in 4th place for the North Divison in a time of 18:01.47 for the 3.1 mile course.   This earned him a top 12 spot for the State Series.   Also earning a spot was junior Jeremy Bloom (6th, 18:05.71.  

Varsity:

This was the first race of the meet and the one the Giants wanted to make a statement with.   Unfourtunately, the statement made was not what we were hoping for.   It showed once again that we are a team that if any of our top 5 do not run well, we will not be successful.  It also poses questions about the ability to perform well under pressure.    If the top 5 just runs what they are capable of running, the team will do well.    The coaching staff and members of the team are confident that that is just what they will do for the State Series!

Our top 3 got into good position as always at the start of the race and our 4 and 5 did ok as well, but by the time they got to the one mile, positions were being lost.   Senior Jonah Hanig had trouble going with the leader (Micah Beller from Niles North) on this day.   He struggled on the 3.1 mile course to finish in 3rd place (15:55.98) for the North Divison as he got passed near the finish by Alex Gold of Deerfield.   As usual, the two most reliable finsihers were junior Angel Estrada (4th, 15:55.94) and senior Emmett Smith (5th, 16:03.56).  Sophomore Ben Casey battled most of the race with the Niles North pack, but finished in 11th (16:31.52) behind their 4th runner.   Senior Luke Nudelman had his worst race of the season finishing in a distant 23rd in 17:11.13.  Nudelman knows that he is capable of so much better and he will bounce back to finish this season with his best races as the team looks to make it to the State Meet!   Junior James Rector had a solid race to finish in 33rd with a time of 17:44.37.

The team finsihed in 2nd place behind Niles North 39-46.  This team has had and continues to have big goals this season.   Despite dissapointment at the CSL Invite, this team has always showed mental toughness and bounced back after down performances.   They will do that again and finish this season out with the 3 best team races they have run all fall!!!   GO GIANTS!