Cross country: Sandwich freshman Sunny Weber, ACC’s Patrick Hilby race to Morris Early Bird Invite titles

MORRIS – For Sandwich’s Sunny Weber and Aurora Central Catholic’s Patrick Hilby, the thought of running in a high school cross country event wasn’t even on the radar a year ago.

Weber, because she still was in eighth grade at Sandwich Middle School and for Hilby he chose to play football last fall for the Chargers as a sophomore.

Both shocked the 16-team field at Wednesday’s 13th Annual Morris Early Bird Invite with convincing victories. Freshman Weber, in just her first prep event, led from start to finish to capture the girls race with a sparkling time of 19 minutes and 3 seconds for a convincing title by more than six seconds.

Hilby’s huge kick during the last half-mile made him boys champion by a whopping 20.8 seconds.

Morris won the girls team title while Sycamore captured the overall boys crown.

Weber started off quick and never looked back, creating a solid pace that eventually bested Pontiac sophomore and runner-up Jaden Lucas (19:09.6).

“I’ve practiced a lot coming into high school and I knew I could do well in my first year,” Weber said. “In junior high I got 12th place as a sixth grader but I never thought I could do this in my first year so I’m pretty proud.”

Lucas tried her best to keep up with Weber, but she never could catch her down the stretch.

“My mentality was not to let much space get in between us but when I tried to make a move on her she just kept me away,” Lucas said. “She got me by about 20 yards but it was an improvement over last year when I finished fifth.”

After Weber and Lucas third through 10th came Seneca sophomore Evelyn O’Connor (19:25.3), ACC senior Isabella Orozco (19:40.8), Seneca senior Ashley Alsvig (19:41.1), Chicago Christian senior Anna Enderle (19:54.7), the Morris duo of senior Joy Dudley (20:00.8) and sophomore Malensi Martin (20:05.9) along with Chicago Christian freshman Kihra Moes (20:52.7) and Wilmington senior Chloe Proffitt (20:56.3).

The Morris girls captured the team title besting Chicago Christian 71 to 78 as Dudley and Martin as well as sophomore Danica Martin (10th, 21:10.3) and sophomore Leah Ortiz (22nd, 22:12.7) finished off a fine afternoon for the hosts.

It wasn’t until the later stages of the boys race that the junior made his move which was a big one. Trailing fellow Sycamore junior Naif Al Harby (2nd, 16:04.4) most of the way. Hilby kicks things into high gear with an impressive kick throughout crunch time that made him a champion cruising away.

“I didn’t run cross country last year as a sophomore and played football instead,” Hilby said. “So I decided to run this fall and I’m glad I did after today. I stayed on him (Al Harby) and eventually passed him and just kept it going. It was a great feeling to win this.”

Al Harby felt the pressure coming but was happy with his performance despite finishing second.

“I didn’t have much left in the last mile after leading for a lot of the time,” the Sycamore standout said. “But I’m happy because it was my first race of the season and I know I’ll get better moving forward.”

Rounding out the boys first ten were Sycamore senior Ethan Solfisburg (16:07.5), Streator senior Kody Danko (16:16.5), ACC senior Armando Acosta (16:29.6), Sandwich junior Max Cryer (16:30.0), Pontiac junior Aiden Lee (16:47.1), Sandwich senior Wyatt Miller (16:49.5), and Seneca junior Austin Aldridge (16:51.7).

Sycamore hoisted the boys team plaque over second place ACC 52 to 55 behind Al Harby, Solfisburg as well as 1.0) and sophomore Corey Goff (13th, 17:01.6).

Other area bests on the girls side were Ottawa senior Grace Carroll (14th, 21:19.3), Glenbard South junior Lauren Price (16th, 21:22.7), Marquette sophomore Maggie Jewett (19th, 21:45.5), La Salle-Peru junior Anya De La Luz (32nd, 22:39.0), Fieldcrest freshman Macy Gochamour (39th, 23:31.3) and Streator senior Abby Pierce (46th, 24:07.8).

For the boys, Plano junior John Garcia (23rd, 17:55.6) finished well along with Fieldcrest sophomore Caleb Krischel (25th, 18:12.5), L-Points senior Erik Garcia (33rd, 18:54.1) and Ottawa senior Liam Tipple (35th, 19:12,1).