Estrada Wins Regionals, Team Advances To Sectionals

The 2013 Libertyville Regional was deep this year with several very talented teams looking to qualify to the Schaumburg Sectional.   The Giants were able to get very strong performances from our top three runners to help us advance.   

Senior Angel Estrada looked very comfortable throughout the race just waiting to make his move.   With just over 400 meters to go and a pack of 6 runners together, it was Stevenson's Sam Oh that made the first move.   Estrada covered the move and just before the final turn he pushed past a determined Oh and stayed in front to beat him by .42 seconds.  Estrada's winning time was 15:39.8 as he closed in a 64.8!   Next up for HP was junior Ben Casey who had a nice race to finish in 10th place with a time of 16:18.34.   Casey will have to have an even better overall race and much stronger finish at Sectionals to try and get himself to finish in the top 15.  Sophomore Brett Davidson continues to impress with another strong race finishing in 13th place with a time of 16:30.51.   He is also looking to close better in that final 400 at Sectionals.   Senior Jeremy Bloom was further back then the team was hoping for, but was able to move up and have another fast finish to get 37th place in 17:04.19.    Senior Griffin Bojan had an off race, but battled throughout to get 48th place in 17:23.60.    Junior Andrew Huddleston got out well in the first mile but faded a bit in the second and third mile to finish in 52nd place (17:43.96).   Freshmen Jonathan Rosenfeld was a last minute addition to the line-up as senior James Rector was not able to race due to a knee injury.   Rosenfeld battled tough out there to finish in 56th place (18:10.14).   

A time trial was run after the varsity races for any team members to run in.   This gave several of the boys an opportunity to break back into the top 7 and race at Sectionals.   Junior Dylan Kahn ran a focused and hard fought race to get himself back in the top 7 with a time of 17:37.0.   Junior Evan Lissoos was coming on strong during the second half of the race and especially in the final mile, but it was not enough as his time was less then 2 seconds slower then Huddleston's.    We are sure this will light a fire under Lissoos and any of the other guys that return next season and were not able to get into the top 7.   It takes a great deal of hard work and commitment to earn one of those spots!   

The varsity team finished in 4th place with 109 points. The Giants were just 16 points out of 2nd place. Each guy on the team knows that they will need to have their best race at Sectionals for the team to have a shot at going back to the State Meet this season. This week the details must be taken care of more then ever! Each guy has to focus on what they need to improve on to take advantage of this amazing opportunity to compete for a chance to qualify for the IHSA State Cross Country Meet!