Ben Casey Qualifies For The IHSA 3A State Meet

The IHSA 3A Schaumburg Sectional at Busse Woods is always an extremely competitive meet and this year the individual battle was the strongest ever.   With nationally ranked runners leading the way, the race got out fast!   Senior Ben Casey was at the front of the chase pack after a group of 5 runners started to pull away from the field early on.   Casey stayed focused and responded to moves and made some of his own as he battled a pack of great runners including several All-State runners from last season.   As he came down the final stretch he had a strong kick to take 8th place in 15:17.74 just 3 seconds out of 5th place.   This earned him a trip to the IHSA 3A State Cross Country Meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria!   After a few off races in a row it was thrilling to see Ben run such an outstanding race.   He showed tremendous poise and toughness on that course against such good competition.    

Junior Brett Davidson knew that he would have to have the race of his life to qualify for the State Meet.   He went out there and put it all on the line and raced his heart out.   He put himself in good position from the beginning, but just could not stay up where he was hoping to be.   It was one of, if not the toughest year to make it out as an individual as the last qualifier was in 11th place!   Davidson made his coaches and teammates proud as he battled to a 22nd place finish in 15:43.92.   This makes him the 10th returner for next fall, but I would not bet against him to finish even better then that.   He is extremely motivated and hard working.   This disappointment has only motivated him more to not only work even harder, but to also train smarter and listen to his body so he can stay healthy and reach his lofty goals.

The team race did not go as well as we had hoped.   The rest of the pack was just too far back.   The coaches were proud of how each man battled out there.  Sophomore Jonathan Rosenfeld was able to bounce back and have a solid race with his trademark strong finish.   Senior Andrew Huddleston also had a strong finish and battled the entire race.   He always gives everything he has on race day.  Freshmen Nate Amster had a great season and earned some good experiences by running on varsity this season.   Senior Eddie Herz got the team out well but just was not able to hold on.   His intensity combined with his sense of humor helped shape this team all season.  Senior Dylan Kahn was not able to have the race he hoped for, but his passion for the sport and his caring attitude for his teammates make him an incredible leader and our team better for it.  

For all of the guys returning next year, they know that they need to be motivated more then ever to be ALL-IN!   The question is what will they do over the next 365 days to make it happen???

Now the team will support Ben as he goes to Peoria to try and become the 4th All-State runner for HP in the last 5 years!