Team Improves At Hornet-Red Devil Invite

The Giants took 9^th place in the varsity race at the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invite.  They finished ahead of conference rivals Niles North and Deerfield and were just 7 points out of 7^th place.  This invite included several of the top teams in the state along with many top individuals in the state.  The team was led by senior Brett Davidson’s courageous race, finishing in 6^th place with a 3 mile personal best time of 15:11.2.  After he finished the race we learned that going through the creek the first time around he got spiked and received a large deep cut.   Then, just before the 2 mile mark he got bumped by another runner and fell.   He immediately got back up and worked his way back to the lead pack that he was with before he fell.   In the final sprint, Davidson was able to pass one runner and close on the next pack of runners.   He was just 6 seconds out of 2^nd place.

The team’s solid finish was helped by a strong pack race as the next 6 runners for HP finished within 10 seconds of each other.   If this pack can move up, they can become a team with a real chance to make it to the State Meet. 

The pack included junior Jonathan Rosenfeld (61^st, 16:24.3-this was a better race for him, but he knows he has much better races ahead of him this season), junior Charlie Skurie (67^th, 16:30.6-his hard work this summer has been paying off as he had another very strong race), junior Matthew Casey (68^th, 16:31.0-did not have a great training month in August, so his race was a nice surprise boost for the team), sophomore Nate Amster (71^st, 16:31.5-stepped up his mileage this summer and has been racing well…look for a big break through race soon), sophomore Alec Glazier (77^th, 16:33.8-another sophomore that had a breakthrough summer of training and was the one that really helped the pack get moving as he led them through about two miles), and junior Ben Bloom (80^th, 16:34.8-strong race, but still learning how to race 3 miles…had a fast finish to pull himself back near the pack).   The next two runners in for the team have showed big improvement this year and will be looking to battle for a top seven spot as the season progresses.  They were junior Juan Estela (17:00.3) and senior Alejandro Gutierrez (17:16.5).  

In the freshmen race the Giants took 10^th place, once again ahead of Deerfield and Niles North.   Jose Reyes led the team as he took 3^rd place for the 1.93 mile race in 10:00.4.  He had an outstanding final kick to pass a runner and was just 10 seconds behind first place.  The freshmen are also looking to close the gap on their number one runner.  The top five were rounded out by: Richard Heller (74^th, 11:45.4), Chris Cizek (76^th, 11:46.0), Aidan Rosenbloom (106^th, 12:09.9), and Jack Schulman (114^th, 12:16.7).   Also, breaking 13 minutes was Andrew Biondi (12:56.4).  The future looks bright for this group of freshmen if they are willing to make the commitment and work hard during their 4 years of being high school distance runners!