Cross country: Lockport, Lemont and others shine at 52nd annual Wildcat Invite

PLAINFIELD – Plainfield Central opted for a staggered start to Saturday’s 52nd annual Wildcat Invitational for the boys and girls races.

The idea was to get things wrapped up early in order to beat the afternoon heat.

The heat never ended up being a factor, except for the blazing times posted by the various cross country runners.

The Wildcat Invite brought some of the best cross country programs in the area out Saturday morning, and they were treated to gorgeous sunny weather with temperatures in the 60s for the varsity races. Not what you’d typically expect for the Chicagoland area in early September.

“We always take pride in hosting the Wildcat Invitational,” Plainfield Central coach Jeff Purdom said. “We want to make sure that good athletes can come here, have a great time, run fast and really just celebrate cross country.”

There were plenty of celebrations to be had by a wide range of teams by the time the last runner crossed the finish line.

The boys were up first.

DeKalb’s Jacob Barraza was a lonely man at the front as he took first place with a scorching time of 15:28.57. The Herald-News area was well represented, as its first runner to cross the finish line was the second overall.

Joliet Central sophomore Nathan Gabriel held off a trio of runners on his heels to take runner-up with a time of 15:39.36. After taking a few minutes to catch his wind, Gabriel expressed pride in representing the Steelmen and community so well.

“I was just really, really trying my hardest to get my kick up,” he said. “I wanted to keep those last three people from passing me near the end. ... Right now, I’m feeling great. I think our team is really excited about this season. We’re all just hoping to get better times each time [we run].”

One of the runners Gabriel held off was Lockport’s Jake Cruz, who took fourth place with a time of 15:43.56. The Herald-News area saw two other runners finish in the top ten, both from Plainfield Central. Luke Adair was sixth at 16:00.35 and Ubaldo Rodriguez was seventh at 16:02.22.

Cruz’s time helped Lockport to the best finish of any area school as the Porters finished third with 101 points. Lemont was not far behind them with 112, led by Jacob Czerwiec’s 11th place-time of 16:19.14.

The host Wildcats managed to take sixth place with 136 points while Gabriel led the Steelmen to seventh at 190. Plainfield East managed a top-10 finish as a team with 203 points to tie for eighth alongside Shepard. John Berducido was the Bengal’s lead runner as he took 19th with a time of 16:42.02.

Providence Catholic (276 points, 12th) and Romeoville (362, 13th) rounded out the local teams. The Celtics were led by Kyle Szafranski (25th, 16:58.41) and the Spartans were paced by Danny Alvarez (49th, 17:58.46).

South Elgin finished first as a team with 75 points.

The girls race was a tad closer at the front as Westmont’s Kyla Babb finished first with a time of 17:47.09. However, she had to fight off a tremendous local challenge from Lemont freshman Hannah Farley, who was runner-up at 17:48.94.

“It was a tough race because I had a cramp almost the entire time” Farley said.. “Otherwise I’m feeling pretty good. ... I knew I was going to get done with this race no matter what, so I just had to try my hardest. Pain is temporary so I just kept pushing to the end.”

The area had one other runner in the top ten as Joliet Central’s Madison King took eighth with a time of 18:34.08.

Like the boys race, Lockport was the local team with the best finish. The Porters took fourth with a score of 106. They were led by Sydney Fontaine, who placed 14th with a time of 18:53.64.

Lemont (131) took fifth as a team thanks in large part to Farley’s finish.

Plainfield South took 10th with a score of 280. The Cougars were led by Delaney Alsip’s in 55th with a time of 21:17.58. Romeoville was 11th with a score of 285, led by Sophia Flowers, who took 23rd at 19:26.89.

The host Wildcats finished 13th with a 328 and were led by Bridget Kemp’s in 26th. Kemp ran the race in 19:38.80.

Neuqua Valley won the girls race with 47 points.