Story: DGN at St. Charles East's Leavey Invite

Senior Zack Smith’s final boys cross country season for Downers Grove North already is off to a better start. 

For the first time since he was a freshman, Smith competed at the Trojans’ first major invitational of the season, the St. Charles East Leavey Invitational at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve.

”Not only me but the whole team was looking forward to it all summer. We really wanted to get after it,” Smith said.

The Trojans ran like it. Smith won a tight battle to pull out the individual title, junior Ryan Clevenger was third and the Trojans comfortably won the invite 73-94 over Jacobs with Batavia third with 118 points.

Downers North remains No. 11 in this week’s Class 3A rankings by DyeStat Illinois.

”It’s always good to get off to a good start like we did,” Smith said. “It really builds up momentum for some of the bigger invites. I think it was really a good start to the season for us. We’ve been waiting for it for a long time and we’re happy that we went in and did what we wanted to do.” 

Smith pulled out the 3.0-mile race by just half a second over Wheaton North senior Joseph Emmanuel (15:05.5 to 16:00.0) with Clevenger a close third (15:12.4).

The Trojans’ other finishers were seniors Jared Spilky (12th, 15:49.7) and Marc Mathy (21st, 16:04.0) and juniors Jack Diamond (36th, 16:20.8), and Zac Christensen (37th, 16:21.3) and Joe Carter (77th, 17:37.6).

At last year’s invite, the Trojans were fifth and Smith was among a few Trojans who sat out the race. In 2011, the invite was canceled as a protective measure because of excessive heat. Saturday’s boys open race, the final boys race, was canceled for the same reasons.

Smith and Clevenger were among the frontrunners throughout the race, but Emmanuel held his own. The Trojans tried to pull away after the two-mile mark, but Emmanuel wouldn’t relent. At last year’s state meet, Emmanuel was 145th as the No. 4 finisher for the 21st-place Falcons.

”(Emmanuel) was on my shoulder the entire time, and I couldn’t drop him. He was running well,” Smith said. “I tried to throw surges and he wasn’t going away and then I had one final surge to hold him off,” Smith said. “It was definitely a close race and fun to be a part of and happy that I was the one that ended up .5 of a second in front.

”I was happy with it. I got the win, which was big for me because team wise it’s one point. That’s my goal every race, to contribute one point. I’m happy with how I ran and executed. I was happy to have Ryan with me and the entire time.” 

The Trojans initially didn’t want to take the lead until the 2-mile mark, but they took command earlier when the lead pace was too slow. Clevenger said he was disappointed that he couldn’t contend for the title after being in the thick of the race for 2 1/2 miles.

”When they moved, I sort of fell asleep. I don’t know what happened,” Clevenger said. “At that point, it was like, ‘Oh crap, I just lost them.’ I believe that I could have answered their move. Personally, I think I could have won if I stayed focused and made my own move.”

Still, it was a great improvement for Clevenger, who was 56th in 16:10.1 at the 2012 invite. Jacobs senior Matthew Johnson, who was fourth (15:28.6), and four other of the Eagles’ top-five finishers did not race when Downers North opened the season with a home triangular against Jacobs and Plainfield North Aug. 29.  

Mathy also made a significant jump from being 65th at the invite last year (16:14.9) as the Trojans’ seventh man. Mathy ran about 10 seconds faster than in 2012, and that was with this year’s course supposedly slightly extended to be a true 3.0 miles.

Mathy was among the Trojans who felt a bit more pressure since usual No. 3-4 finisher Jeremy Craven did not compete. The Trojans found out in mid-week, and Carter, who battled an ankle injury early in the week, was promoted to varsity. Craven was 34th and the team’s No. 3 invite finisher last year.

“I’m not sure how the fields compare, but it’s definitely good to see improvements across the board (from the 2012 invite), especially Ryan Clevenger, a full minute (faster) is a serious improvement,” Mathy said. ”I tried to fill Jeremy’s shoes. I finished in what I thought was a pretty good time and good position, and we got the win (as a team). I felt controlled, a word being thrown around. A lot of guys felt controlled. They were definitely giving it their all but they didn’t feel completely exhausted. We still felt like we got the job done, and we’re able to move forward.” 

The Trojans have their sights on qualifying as a team for the Class 3A state meet in Peoria Nov. 9. They get their annual regular-season race at Peoria Saturday in Peoria High School’s First to the Finish Invite. 

”I think this race showed me I can run some pretty fast times and I certainly have the capability of going under 15:00 at Peoria,” Clevenger said. “It showed the fitness the whole team is in also.” 

Last year, the Trojans competed in Peoria at Peoria Notre Dame’s Richard Spring Invitational, which will be held the following week Sept. 21, and will feature the top-two rated teams and last year’s No. 1-2 finishers, O’Fallon and defending state champion York.

The First to the Finish field has six of the state’s top-12 rated teams. Hinsdale Central has moved up to No. 3 after winning its home invitational for the first time since 1992. There’s also No. 6-8 Neuqua Valley, Naperville North and Lyons Township and No. 12 Lincoln-Way Central. Many of those teams also probably will contend with the Trojans for the five state berths at their sectional.  

”It’s a really big one for us,” Smith said. “We’re running the state course, which is huge for the team overall to get the experience and there’s going to be a lot of other good teams there. It’s going to be a good indicator of where we’re at in this portion of the season. We want to go in with the mindset of winning.”

The frosh-soph team was 12th (310 points).

Freshman Alec Danner was sixth (17:03.8), just .1 behind fifth-place Geneva sophomore Steve Creger. Marmion's Charlie Zimmer, one of two freshmen ahead of Danner, won the race by .4 over Waubonsie Valley sophomore Justin Caton (16:20.2 to 16:20.6).

Downers North's other top-seven team finishers were freshman Tristan Jahn (68th, 18:31.8) and sophomore Ryan Cantlin (69th, 18:33.6), freshman Collin Leger (130th, 19:51.1), sophomore Rocco Manzo (172nd, 20:43.2) and freshmen Devin Johnson (178th, 20:50.0) and Zach Goliszewski (198th, 21:29.3).