IHSA Cross Country State Meet: McHenry’s Danielle Jensen, Huntley’s Tommy Nitz earn All-State honors

McHenry senior Danielle Jensen did not go out to race with the lead pack of the Class 3A girls race at Saturday’s IHSA Cross Country State Meet, but she ended up there.

Jensen steadily worked her way up in the race and finished fifth at Peoria’s Detweiller Park in 17:04.58. It was the highest state finish for a McHenry girls runner since Erin Boland won the 1990 Class AA state championship.

“It was amazing. I’m so excited,” Jensen said. “I’m really happy with it.

“I usually am a little more conservative and don’t want to end up dying. I stuck back a little bit and not get boxed in and passed people from there.”

Jensen, the Fox Valley Conference champion, finished sixth at the Hoffman Estates Sectional last week and is a Class 3A All-Stater for back-to-back seasons.

Other local runners to grab All-State honors (top 25) were Crystal Lake Central’s Hadley Ferrero in (21st in 2A girls), Huntley’s Tommy Nitz in Class 3A (21st in 3A boys), Prairie Ridge’s Will Gelon (11th in 2A boys) and Woodstock’s Ishan Patel (12th in 2A boys).

Jensen, who will run at NCAA Division I High Point (N.C.), was excited as she approached the final stretch and could see Barrington’s Scout Storms, the 3A state champion.

“I felt really good leading up to it,” Jensen said. “The last mile I was tired, but it’s always like that. It was crazy seeing first place ahead of me. I wanted to keep my place.”

Warriors coach Kevin Horst called Jensen’s finish unbelievable.

“She ran a super race, from the beginning, it was perfect,” Horst said. “She let some girls go ahead and caught them later. She was probably in about 20th place at the first mile and fourth with a quarter of a mile to go.”

Huntley freshman Haley Rahman took 45th in the 3A girls race and led the Red Raiders to 14th as a team.

In Class 2A girls, Ferrero got her second All-State finish. She took fourth as a freshman in 2021 and missed last year’s race with a leg injury. The Tigers finished 12th as a team. Prairie Ridge’s Olivia McPherson was 67th and Central’s Skyler Ferrero, Hadley’s freshman sister, was 68th.

Crystal Lake South’s Liv Pinta took 31st and led the Gators to eighth place as a team. South’s Collette Bacidore was 70th and Abby Machesky was 72nd.

In the Class 1A girls race, Richmond-Burton’s Alexia Spatz finished 56th.

Nitz, a junior who won the FVC title, earned his first All-State honor with a scalding finish in 14:42.48.

“My teammates told me I was 27th on the last hill,” Nitz said. “I passed six guys in less than the last 400 meters. I had that adrenaline. It’s great. I wanted to end my season on a high note like that.”

Jacobs’ Matt Andreano was 53rd and Andrew Beyer was 60th in 3A, while McHenry’s Nick Schmitz was 64th.

In the Class 2A boys race, Gelon (14:59.31) and Patel (14:59.98) both cracked 15:00. Both had battled sickness in the week before state, but managed to repeat as All-State runners.

Gelon passed 15 runners in the last 600 meters to edge his friend at the finish line.

“I said, ‘I am the master of my fate and the captain of my soul,’ " Gelon said. “I just remember thinking this was the last race of my high school career and to lay it all out there. Put everything out there.

“I saw Ishan was hurting, that was my guy. When I got within a stride of him, he kicked a little bit harder.”

Woodstock finished 10th as a team with 306 and Prairie Ridge was 11th with 312. The teams are especially close since Prairie Ridge coach Judd Shutt’s sons Cohen and Ellery run at Woodstock.

“That was kind of fitting that Will and Ishan finish their careers together like that,” Judd Shutt said.

Woodstock’s Aryan Patel, Ishan’s twin, took 43rd. Prairie Ridge’s Gerrit Dam took 30th and Evan Gilleland was 61st.

“I got out hard and tried to fight to stay in the top pack through miles 1 and 2,” Ishan Patel said. “I came off a sickness through sectional and really felt it toward Mile 3, but finished All-State. I’m looking forward to the future and track.”