Casey Takes 2nd At Hinsdale Hornet/Red Devil Invite

The Giants came into the very competitive Hinsdale Hornet/Red Devil Invite looking to see how HPHS Cross Country measures up against some of the top programs in the state. As a team we saw that we have guys that can compete against the very best with at least one runner in the top 5 at each of the levels that were contested at this meet (freshmen, sophomore, and varsity). We also saw that we must improve our scoring depth if we are going to reach our team goals this season.

Sophomore Race- 3 miles:

The team finished in 9th place behind a strong race from Jonathan Rosenfeld. Rosenfeld got out with the lead pack and found himself in 13th place as the runners went into the second loop of the perimeter. By the time he got to about 800 to go he had moved into the top 5 and was able to have a strong finish to get 4th place (16:22.8) just 10 seconds behind first place. The next runner in for HP was Josh Drummond running well and getting 39th (17:28.9). Matthew Casey had a solid race and the strongest last 400 of the sophomores to take 49th (17:50.7). The top 5 for HP were rounded out by Charlie Skurie (67th, 18:11.7), who has shown a lot of improvement this season, and Harrison Freeman in his first race of the season (81st, 18:30.8).

Varsity Race- 3 miles:

Senior Ben Casey and junior Brett Davidson got out well with the lead pack. As they came past the creek the first time, Davidson was leading the race with a pack, including Casey, right behind him. As they went past the 2 mile mark, 3 runners started to break away that consisted Brown from Palatine,  Horn from Nequa Valley and Casey.  After the final time going through the creek the top 2 were pulling away from Casey, but he refused to let them get too far away. In the final 400 he flew by Horn and tried to close on Brown, as he finished just 6 seconds behind the leader in 15:01.63. Davidson faded back after his strong start, but still ran a really solid race finishing in 18th place with a time of 15:32.74. As he fine tunes his race plan, look for him to be back up with the leaders of most races he is in. After our top two we once again had too big of a gap. The team knows that this is where we need a group of guys to close that gap. Senior Andrew Huddleston was the next HP finisher running to 65th place in 16:30.32 after missing the last race due to injury. Next in was junior Joe Pinsky (107th, 17:12.58) who ran a gutsy race. Rounding out the top 5 for the Giants was senior Evan Lissoos (119th, 17:27.62) who also did not race in the previous meet due to injury. The team finished in 8th place just behind conference rival Niles North.

Freshmen Race- 1.93 miles:

We knew we had a quality freshmen group and were anxious to see what they could do against the quality field at Hinsdale. Fitz Laurie and Nate Amster executed their race plans very well. As they went with the lead pack through the mile both Laurie and Amster worked to stay in the top 5. As they came into the final 400 and into the home stretch, Laurie moved into second place but got passed by another runner just before the line to finish in 3rd place (10:09.64). Amster had a nice burst down the final stretch to finish in 5th place (10:14.55). The teams next two runners were Alec Glazier (23rd, 10:50.62) and Alex Frank (34th, 11:05.24). This was Glazier's first race and he ran with great poise to earn a medal finishing top 25. That is an outstanding accomplishment in such a competitive race. Glazier, along with Frank are showing that they have the potential to be a crucial part of a great freshmen class if they all stick together and work hard over the four years of their high school running careers. Next in for the Giants was Sam Falberg who had a breakthrough race (113th, 12:17.89) and was followed by Danny Friedman who has been running well too (133rd 12:41.42). The freshmen finished in 5th place as a team, just 9 points out of 3rd place!  This freshmen group has incredible promise if each of them are willing to make the commitment to be ALL IN.