GIANTS WIN 3RD STRAIGHT CSL NORTH VARSITY XC CHAMPIONSHIP!

The 2024 Central Suburban League Invite was hosted by Deerfield High School. Their course is ideal for fast times and the meet provides great competition resulting in an outstanding meet. Highland Park was focused and ready to perform well in all 4 boys races. 

The first boys race was the freshmen 2 mile race. The Giants were able to navigate the early and crowded first turn to put themselves in good position as a team. Tristan Perkes worked his way up in the race with an impressive last mile and final kick. He ran an impressive personal best of 11:13.25 for the two mile race and was the CSL North Champion! Caleb Haggarty also ran very well and was in a sprint finish for the next 2 CSL North individual spots. Haggarty ran a personal best 11:26.95 to take 3rd place in the CSL North. Shea Jackson ran well as he was racing to try to break 12 minutes. He just missed with his best time of 12:03.25 to take 12th place in the CSL North. 

Charlie Szot broke 13 minutes for the first time with a great race to take 18th place in 12:20.61. This is over a 1 minute improvement for his 2 mile time. Giancarlo Aguirre raced well despite rolling his ankle in PE earlier in the week. Aguirre raced to a 22nd place finish in 12:43.89. The next 2 HP runners were also both trying to break 13 minutes for the first time. Theo Hanold ran a nearly 1 minute best time with a 12:47.63 while Chase Temple was not far behind in 12:54.61. Jace Bennett had never broken 14 minutes for 2 miles before this meet. He was able to run 13:10.81 to come close to even breaking 13 minutes. Manuel Jauregui recently strained a calf muscle but still raced for his teammates. He showed real toughness and gutted out a solid 13:38.90 for the 2 mile course. Liam Hsu had his best start of a race this season. He got into good position and battled throughout the race to run a huge personal best by over 1 minute. He finished with a time of 14:02.48. 

The freshmen got the meet started off great for HP. With 54 points, they won the CSL North just 6 points ahead of Niles West. The freshmen victory gives great hope for a future full of success for the HP program. Each of the HP freshmen ran their 2 mile race at a faster pace than their timed mile in August! Their performance really set the tone for the remainder of the day for the Giants. 

The next race was the varsity 3 mile championship race. The Giants were looking for their 3rd consecutive CSL North Championship. Dylan Dominguez (Sr.) and Lucas Hoobler (Jr.) got out well. Henry Gamson (Jr.) and Brian Hatoum (Sr.) got stuck further back with a solid start by Usiel Rodriguez (Sr.). Josh Brown (Jr.) and Truman Evans (Jr.) were a bit behind Rodriguez. As the race progressed through the mile, Dominguez started to pull away from his teammates a little while Gamson moved up with Hoobler. Hatoum started to fade back as he struggled a bit in his first race of the season coming off of injury. Rodriguez was having a great race and was in good position for the team. Brown and Evans stayed fairly close to each other through the middle portion of the race. 

Dominguez was unable to hold his position during the second half of the race as being sick caught up to him. Hoobler and Gamson got into a great rhythm together and moved past Dominguez and had their sights set on the Vernon Hills number 1 runner. They got by him and sprinted to the finish in personal best times of 15:15.66 for Hoobler and 15:16.60 for Gamson. The duo finished in 2nd and 3rd for the CSL North. Dominguez battled tough despite not feeling great and out-kicked a Niles West runner to take 6th in the CSL North with a time of 15:32.02. Next in for the Giants was Usiel Rodriguez with a massive personal best of 16:00.70. Rodriguez finished in 12th place as he out-kicked a Vernon Hills runner and earned All-Conference along with Hoobler, Gamson, and Dominguez. 

Hatoum bounced back with a strong last mile and out-kicked a Niles North runner to finish in 18th place. He ran a 16:21.12 for his first race back, but knows he will have much better races in the State Series. Josh Brown had his best race of his career with his first sub 17 of the season and a personal best of 16:41.42. Truman Evans broke 17 minutes for the first time in his career with a time of 16:58.94. 

This was not the perfect team race, but the Giants gave it all they had and fought for every point. The team ended up winning the CSL North for the 3rd year in a row with 39 points. They were only 7 points ahead of Vernon Hills. HP ended up 3rd overall behind New Trier and Evanston. It was exciting to win the CSL North again, but the team will now need to focus on the State Series and try to get better each week. 

The sophomore 3 mile race was next up. Makena Duggan and Gabriel Jackson got out well for the HP sophomores with Joaquin Martinez not too far behind. Duggan was able to pull away and run a more than 30 second personal best. He finished in 3rd place for the CSL North with a time of 17:30.35 after not even breaking 20 minutes last year. Martinez moved up and ran a nearly 1 minute personal best. He ran 17:56.31 to finish in 6th place for the CSL North, also never even breaking 20 minutes in 2023. Not far behind Martinez in 7th place was Jackson with a personal best time of 18:05.19. He too never broke 20 minutes last season. 

Vasco Leite had not even broken 20 minutes for 3 miles this season and ran a huge personal best time of 18:53.17! Madden Cohen raced in his first race since coming back from injury. He ran a gutsy 19:02.22 for 3 miles which is over 1 minute better than his best time in 2023. Nate Goldberg also ran a personal best as he crossed the line in 19:10.29. This was his first time under 20 minutes this season for 3 miles.

The sophomores took 2nd place in the CSL North behind Niles West. They lost by just 10 points. Despite a small number of sophomores, they performed well and will look to continue to contribute to the team’s success in future years.  

The final race of the day was the JV boys 3 mile race. HP did well with numerous personal best times, including several Giants breaking 18 minutes for the first time. 

The JV were led by Logan Liu (Jr.), running his best race of the season. He finished in 7th place for the CSL North, running 17:11.80. The next HP finisher was Spencer Pedraza (Jr.). He had a fantastic breakthrough race to break 18 minutes for the first time. He ran 17:26.02 compared to his previous best time of 18:33.00 this season and 19:57.13 last year. His fast time earned him 9th place. The next 3 HP runners worked together throughout the race and all season long to get under 18 minutes for 3 miles. Lowell Redmond (Jr.) crossed the line in 17:40.95 while Luke Byrnes (Sr.) finished in 17:48.80 and Quentin Kelley (Sr.) was right behind him in 17:49.08. They finished in 10th, 11th, and 12th places for the CSl North. It was a thrill to see all of these hard working HP runners get under that 18 minute barrier at their final meet. The top 5 HP runners finished with only a time gap of 38 seconds!

Theo Soifer (Fr.) was the only freshman in the JV race. Despite being sick, he ran the 3 mile race for an opportunity to break into the team’s top 7. Unfortunately, after missing significant time and training due to the illness, Soifer did not have his best race. He battled tough and still ran 18:10.62. This will be an experience that will motivate to achieve bigger and better things in his running career moving forward. Joey Naftzger (Jr.) ran his best time covering the 3 mile course in 19:19.14 after also being under the weather recently. Dylan Stiller (Jr.) just missed breaking 20 minutes for 3 miles. He raced to a personal best 20:07.72. 

Despite many great races run by the HP runners, the Giants took 2nd place behind a very strong Vernon Hills team. Many of these HP runners will be returning next year to contribute to the team's success. It will take a fierce commitment to the training (winter running, track & field, and summer running). 

The CSL Invite overall was a wonderful meet for the Giants. This included two team championships and two runner up finishes. Also, almost all of those that raced for HP ran personal best times. Some of those improvements were by significant amounts. The top 14 will now focus on the State Series while the rest of the team will have the opportunity to run a final timed mile before taking some time off to rest and recover both physically and mentally.