FVC Cross Country Meet: Prairie Ridge boys, Huntley girls grab team titles

ELGIN – Prairie Ridge’s Will Gelon tried something different against Huntley’s Tommy Nitz, his friendly rival and Sunday training partner.

With 2 miles to go in Saturday’s Fox Valley Conference Cross Country Meet, Gelon surged hard and gained a sizeable gap on Nitz.

For a while, it looked like Gelon’s strategy had paid off, but Nitz had enough left to overtake Gelon in the last 800 meters and repeat as boys individual champion.

Nitz won in 15:19 at Elgin’s Plato Park and Depot, with Gelon (15:29.35) in second place, Jacobs’ Max Sudrzynski (15:34.41) in third and Cary-Grove’s Jameson Tenopir (15:36.82) in fourth.

Gelon led the Wolves to their first FVC team title since 2012 with 68 points, edging out defending champion Jacobs by four points.

McHenry’s Danielle Jensen continued her standout senior season with the girls individual championship in 17:50.73. Crystal Lake Central’s Hadley Ferrero 18:24.07 was second and Huntley freshman Haley Rahman (18:25.62) was third and Central freshman Skyler Ferrero (18:42.78) was fourth.

Huntley repeated as girls team champ with 44 points, followed by Crystal Lake Central (67) and Crystal Lake South (71).

Nitz wondered if he would repeat after Gelon took off and pushed his lead to about 50 meters.

“I was scared, for sure. He had a big gap. I just kept on pushing,” Nitz said. “He’s a great runner and I’m just happy I caught him. He had a great race, too. He went for it and I respect that. It’s always a battle with Will.”

The two often get together for training runs on Sundays.

“I knew it was kind of between me and Tommy going into it,” Gelon said. “I’ve never tried just going from 2 miles out against him and he ends up getting me again. But I went for it with 2 miles to go just to see what would happen. It worked out for about 2 1/2 miles, but he got me with about 800 to go.”

Gelon got consolation in leading his team to the championship. The Wolves had Evan Gilleland (12th), Gerrit Dam (17th), Kevin DeGroot (18th) and Eddy Klimkowski (19th) rounding out their scoring runners.

Prairie Ridge coach Judd Shutt credited his runners, with six seniors back from a Class 2A state-qualifying team, for their work over the last year.

“Let’s work at this and make this one of our markers that leads to a great postseason run,” Shutt said. “Jacobs is a phenomenal team. Their top three are exceptional. We knew coming in it was going to be points.

“The talk was, ‘As a senior, with 800 meters to go, are you willing to be a little bit tougher and pass one more guy and believe that you can be the difference maker?’ Evidently we had a couple of guys who believed that.”

Jensen, who recently committed to NCAA Division I High Point (N.C.), has won all but two invitational races this season. She finished third at First to the Finish in Peoria and second in a 2-mile race under lights. She won the McHenry County Meet, Peoria Central Invitational (on the state meet course at Detweiller Park) and now the FVC title.

Jensen embraced the less-than-ideal conditions, with low 50-degree temperatures and wind on a soggy course.

“It was awesome. It was really fun. I enjoyed the weather, it just made the experience that much more fun,” she said. “This is the heart of cross country, I love it.

“I’m really grateful (for this season). It’s really nice, there’s been some great competition. It’s really nice to have Hadley here with me, she was pushing me throughout. I thought she was right behind me, but she was a little farther back, but she helped me early in the race.”

McHenry coach Kevin Horst said Jensen, a four-time All-FVC runner, joins Erin Boland and Katie Birn as former Warriors to win the girls FVC title.

“Danielle is in a great spot right now,” Horst said. “She’s super confident in the races, she’s not overdoing it in the training. She’s running with a veteran mindset. She knows how to do it. I thought it might be closer than that, she really gapped it.”

Hadley Ferrero, a junior, was thrilled to be back and feeling strong after battling patella tendinitis. She was FVC champ as a freshman and runner-up to Prairie Ridge’s Rachel Soukup last season.

Ferrero missed some meets this season, but looked closer to her old form on Saturday.

“I’m in a lot better spot than I was at the beginning of the season,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’m 100% back, it’s a work in progress, but it’s pretty good.

“It was great. I love Danielle, she’s so good. It’s kind of like Rachel (Soukup) again. It pushes me a lot more than what I would have done.”

Huntley’s repeat title was remarkable since the Red Raiders graduated Breanna and Brittney Burak and Molly Allen, who were their top three runners for most of four years.

Along with Rahman, Cori Kilvinger (fifth), Ava Allison (ninth), Aspen Maldonado (13th) and Morgan Sauber (14th) were the scoring runners for Huntley.

“Our team did amazing. We all surged up to the front. We were just all running together as best as we could,” Rahman said. “Our team’s really young and we push each other really well. We just make each other better.”

Raiders coach Matt Kaplan saw the potential for his group with freshmen Rahman and Sauber joining the returning runners from last year’s champs.

“The potential has always been there,” Kaplan said. “These girls have been focused all summer and season on what we want to accomplish and one of those team goals was to win the conference meet.”

Fox Valley Conference Meet

Boys Race

At Plato Park and Depot, Elgin

Team standings: 1. Prairie Ridge 68, 2. Jacobs 72, 3. Huntley 100, 4. Crystal Lake Central 109, 5. McHenry 130, 6. Burlington Central 135, 7. Dundee-Crown 192, 8. Hampshire 197, 9. Crystal Lake South 198, 10. Cary-Grove 211.

Top 21 finishers (All-FVC): 1. Tommy Nitz (Hunt) 15:19.00, 2. Will Gelon (PR) 15:29.35, 3. Max Sudrzynski (Jac) 15:34.41, 4. Jameson Tenopir (C-G) 15:36.82, 5. Matt Andreano (Jac) 15:40.28, 6. Andrew Beyer (Jac) 15:41.59, 7. Nick Schmitz (McH) 15:46.14, 8. Aiden Shulfer (CLC) 15:49.58, 9. Zach Zuzzio (Hunt) 16:03.49, 10. Joey Gonzalez (CLS) 16:05.08, 11. Doug Martin (McH) 16:07.90, 12. Evan Gilleland (PR) 16:08.25, 13. Jack Sheets (Hamp) 16:10.63, 15. Ryan Kries (BC) 16:12.03, 16. Jackson Hopkins (CLC) 16:16.39. 17. Gerrit Dam (PR) 16:17.54, 18. Kevin DeGroot (PR) 16:18.28, 19. Eddy Klimkowski (PR) 16:18.93, 20. Nate Peyer (CLC) 16:22.75, 21. Joseph Hillyer (D-C) 16:27.75.

Girls Race

At Plato Park and Depot, Elgin

Team standings: 1. Huntley 44, 2. Crystal Lake Central 67, 3. Crystal Lake South 71, 4. Hampshire 94, 5. Prairie Ridge 147, 6. Jacobs 152, 7. McHenry 176, 8. Cary-Grove 220, 9. Burlington Central 236, 10. Dundee-Crown 258.

Top 21 finishers (All-FVC): 1. Danielle Jensen (McH) 17:50.73, 2. Hadley Ferrero (CLC) 18:24.07, 3. Haley Rahman (Hunt) 18:25.62, 4. Skyler Ferrero (CLC) 18:42.78, 5. Cori Kilvinger (Hunt) 18:43.93, 6. Abby Machesky (CLS) 18:44.99, 7. Olivia Pinta (CLS) 18:45.17, 8. Hudson Szymonik (Hamp) 18:46.20, 9. Ava Allison (Hunt) 18:52.59, 10. Abigail Burke (BC) 18:54.20, 11. Skyler Balzer (McH) 19:02.49, 12. Olivia McPherson (PR) 19:07.50, 13. Aspen Maldonado (Hunt) 19:07.60, 14. Morgan Sauber (Hunt) 19:14.54, 15. Colette Bacidore (CLS) 19:18.37, 16. Emma Macke (CLC) 19:19.40, 17. Brynn Matthaei (CLC) 19:22.63, 18. Bailey Schwartz (Jac) 19:23.35, 19. Cameron Shaw (Hamp) 19:26.10, 20. Victoria Pinta (CLS) 19:31.54, 21. Annabelle Haskins (Hamp) 19:42.60.