CSL Success!

The Highland Park team came into the CSL Championship Invite with high expectations in all of the races.   The team was extremely focused and ready to compete.   The result was an impressive overall team performance.   

The first boys race of the day was the freshmen two mile race.   This was a great opportunity for our freshmen to see how far they have come since they first started training with the team.   The focus was to get out well and try to put as many runners as we could in the top 14.   Richard Heller has emerged as the top runner of this group of freshmen since freshmen standout Jose Reyes has been running varsity almost the entire season.   Heller got out well and was able to gap himself from the next CSL North runner fairly early in the race.   He battled very well against some of the top runners in the CSL South as he finished in 11:10.57.   This was about 33 seconds ahead of the next runner from the North Division and was 8th place overall.   The next two finishers for HP made great improvement throughout the season due to their hard work.   Aidan Rosenbloom and Jack Schulman pushed each other throughout the race and finished in 5th and 6th for the North Division.   They were both able to break 12 minutes finishing in 11:54.13 and 11:54.31.    Sam Kachergius was competing in his first race of the season and stepped up big for the team.   He was with Rosenbloom and Schulman through the mile, but was unable to stay with them during the second mile.   He still finished in a gutsy 12:14.84 to take 9th place in the division.   The next duo to finish for the Giants worked well together during the race and finished in 11th and 13th.  Jack Casey and Chris Cizek ran 12:20.23 and 12:23.01.    Andrew Biondi started with the team at the beginning of the summer and worked very hard from day one.   He showed tremendous commitment and improved by leaps and bounds this season.   He ran his best race at the CSL Invite as he finished in 13:08.22 to take 19th.   He was followed by David Halfin (24th, 13:26.45), Noah Canel (with a strong finish took 28th, 13:44.8), Ben Keller (29th, 13:4786), Kevin Cunniff (38th, 15:04.89), and Adam Kalman (42nd, 16:24.61).   The team won the CSL North with 31 points!   Second place was Deerfield with 64 points.   This group of freshmen has a very bright future if they are all willing to make the commitment to train through the winter, compete on the track & field team, and train with their teammates over the summer each year through senior year.   There is No Limit to what these talented hard working freshmen are capable of doing.   

The next boys race was the much anticipated Varsity Race.   After the disappointing varsity team race last year, the boys were looking to respond with a big performance.    The team got out well and executed their race plan.   Senior Brett Davidson was with a large lead pack through the mile before he took the lead to start to string it out.   By the next mile it was just Davidson, Barr from Niles North and Derrick from New Trier.  After Barr took the lead for a little while, Davidson took it back with a little more then 400 to go.   Down the final stretch Barr just got by Davidson in the final strides.   It was a disappointing loss for Davidson, but the way the finish played out will only motivate him to be even better the next time they meet.   Their times were the two fastest times ever run on the Glenbrook South course...14:46.53 and 14:47.03.    With Davidson doing his job as the team's front runner, it was now up to the pack to execute their race plan.   It was once again freshmen Jose Reyes that took charge of the pack and pulled them out to their best start of the season.   Reyes continues to show tremendous mental toughness as he battled all the way to the finish to take 6th place in the CSL North and run an incredible 15:31.53 for 3 miles!    He has established himself as one of the top freshmen in the State and continues to show improvement each meet.   Next in was junior Charlie Skurie running his best race of the season with a very strong final mile to take 8th place in 15:36.79.   Sophomore Alec Glazier ran his best race as well, taking 9th in 15:43.44.   Both Skurie and Glazier have improved by enormous amounts due to all of the hard work and mileage they put in over the summer.   They are such a wonderful example of what a runner can accomplish in just one year if they make the commitment.   The team had two more All-Conference runners.   Junior Jonathan Rosenfeld finished strong to take 12th in 15:51.71 while teammate, sophomore Nate Amster, was 13th in 15:56.06.   These two did not have their best races, but look for them to bounce back at Regionals.   They have very high expectations for themselves and each put in a tremendous amount of work this summer to be the best runner they can be.   Even when guys on this team are having off days, they still battle and give their best because they know that they have teammates counting on them.   Sophomore Fitz Laurie took 15th place in 16:04.42 just one place away and less then 7 seconds from the final All-Conference spot.   His race showed his courage as it was only his 3rd race this season due to injury.   With limited training he still put himself out there to get with the pack early and help push his teammates.   His current training level prevented him from holding on with the pack, but Laurie keeps getting better with every race.   The team won the CSL North Division with 37 points.  Niles North was second with 62 points.   The Giants had 6 All-Conference.   The team finished 2nd overall behind New Trier.   This was another confidence boost for the team as they head into the State Series.   If they stay focused, work hard, and take care of the details these next few weeks, success will continue for the Giants!

CSL Varsity Race Video

The Sophomore race only had one competitor for the team due to 3 sophomores running varsity and some injuries to others.   Danny Friedman has been working hard and was looking for a break through race.   He got out with his fastest start ever through the mile and moved well through out the race.   He passed a few runners from Maine West as the race progressed and ended up in 9th place for the CSL North.   He was able to get under 18 minutes running 17:53.47 for 3 miles.

The final race of the day was JV.   Junior Matthew Casey was not intimidated by the large New Trier pack and went right to the lead through the first mile.   He battled with the New Trier runners throughout the race to take 7th overall and 1st for the North Division in 16:07.09.  He missed getting back into the top seven by less then 3 seconds.   He showed how tough of a runner he is in this race.   Next in was junior Juan Estela taking 2nd in 16:28.56.   This was a great race for Estela.  Having his passion out there on the course makes us a better team.   Junior Ben Bloom took 3rd in 16:35.92 after being out for a while with a hamstring injury.   He was hoping for a better race, but showed that he will be a threat to earn back his top 7 spot at the time trial at Regionals.   Seniors Joe Pinsky and Alejandro Gutierrez were 5th and 6th in 16:41.15 and 16:42.57.   These two seniors have been such tremendous leaders for the program.   It will be great to see them get another shot at a top 7 spot at the Regional time trial.   Four more runners from Highland Park were award winners in this race.   Junior Hayden Schott (10th, 17:11.53), senior Daniel Arias (11th, 17:15.01), junior Josh Drummond (12th, 17:15.82), and junior David Heller (13th, 17:22.5).   This was a dominating performance as the team had 9 in the top 13!  Other finishers included seniors Jason Fox (17:50.9) and Max Zavell (18:19.04), juniors Ian Goldberg (18:28.94), Matthew Drummond (18:40.37), Robert McLaughlin (19:56.34), and Gustavo Diaz (20:18.39).    The JV won the team race with 17 points!!!!   Second place was Deerfield with 56 points!  

What a day for the Giants!   Three CSL North Team Championships, CSL North Freshmen Individual Champion, and 22 total award winners!   This is not only exciting for this season, but with what the team returns....the future looks very bright for the program.   The question is, how many of the returning guys are going to be ALL IN?   There truly is NO LIMIT as to how good Highland Park can be in the future.   Now it is time to focus on these next few week to see how good this team will be!   GO GIANTS!!!