UPDATED Story: DGN vs. York/Lyons Township

Senior Anthony Iacovetti and his Downers Grove North boys cross country teammates didn’t act like a depleted varsity lineup.

The state-ranked Trojans were down even more runners than expected as they approached their West Suburban Conference Silver Division home triangular with state-rated York and Lyons Township Thursday, Sept. 26.

They still were determined to compete, especially Iacovetti.

“I was just focused unlike a lot of the other races,” Iacovetti said.

The final scores may not indicate it, but the Trojans could hold their heads up high with the effort they gave despite losing to No. 1-ranked York 25-34 and LT 26-33 at Greene Valley Forest Preserve.

Senior Zack Smith (14:56 for 3.0 miles) and junior Ryan Clevenger (14:58) raced to first and second ahead of a pack of four Dukes, Iacovetti also one of the races of the day. He finished 20th overall as the team’s No. 7 finisher and ran 16:34  – a personal record by 20 seconds.

“I’ve really been motivating myself all week for that race, York versus LT, and was feeling great. Part of it was York and LT and I knew this year we had a shot at them after we beat LT in the Minooka Invite (Sept. 21),” Iacovetti said.

“I had a pretty big PR. I was expecting it earlier in the season, but they talk about there’s no such thing as a perfect race, and a lot of my races were far from perfect. I just thought this was finally a PR I’ve been expecting for a while because I’ve been putting in the work all summer.”

Senior Marc Mathy was the Trojans’ No. 3 finisher (12th, 15:49) with juniors Zac Christensen (24th, 16:18), Jack Diamond (25th, 16:21) and Joe Carter (28th, 16:31) just ahead of Iacovetti. Andrew Adams (16:35), Sam Ronan (16:48) and Jack Michka (16:59) were 31st, 35th and 39th.

Downers North remains rated among the top 10 in all three weekly state polls, and are rated as high as No. 5 by MileSplit Illinois.

“We were competitive so it was OK. We didn’t have very good races, but we raced at least so it was fine,” Downers North coach John Sipple said. “We needed a little checkup so hopefully these guys will take that, put a little chip on their shoulder here and kind of go with it.”

Already going into the race knowing they were minus Jeremy Craven and Jared Spilky to rest injuries, the Trojans took another blow when junior and usual No. 6 runner Bruce Tamlin was sidelined by a strange occurrence of food poisoning that occurred that afternoon during school.

“He ate it and he’s like, ‘Aww,’ and he looked at the package and it was expired. And Bruce has been running so well. Who knows? He could have been our No. 4 or 5 guy,” Sipple said.

“It was just like, ‘Oh, OK, now another guy (out), but you’ve got to run with who you’ve got on the line. The thing is, plugging those guys in (to the results), we would have fared really, really well.”

York is the defending Class 3A state champion and ranked No. 1 in all three polls. The Dukes looked impressive again Saturday in winning the Palatine Invitational. LT, third at state last year, joined the Trojans in the top 10 of only one poll, DyeStat Illinois, but actually is one spot ahead (No. 9 to No. 10).

The Trojans, LT and No. 2-ranked Hinsdale Central all will compete at Lockport’s Locktoberfest Invitational Saturday, Oct. 5, at Dellwood Park. Hinsdale Central and York race in their Silver dual Thursday, Oct. 3.

“It’s definitely not an ideal way to race such good teams like that. We knew we were still going to go out there and battle and we were all going to run to the best of our abilities and see if we could pull it out,” Smith said.
“A lot of guys ran well. We did come up just a little bit short, but I think we’re happy with how we ran. I don’t think anyone walked away from it saying, ‘I ran awful.’ We all know at the end of the year, when we get everyone healthy, we’re going to be able to compete with those teams, hopefully beat them.”

Smith and Clevenger were shadowed by a pack of four runners for two-thirds of the race, running 5:05 at the mile and 9:58 after two.

With the Dukes securing third through sixth place and the two dual victories, they let the Trojans go and ended up running 15:14 and 15:15, comfortably ahead of a pack of LT’s first four runners from 15:22 to 15:32.

“At that point (2 miles), Ryan and I decided to make another move there and they kind of just let us go at that point. They didn’t go with us,” Smith said. “They had another race (at Palatine Saturday) so they might have just been trying to save their legs a little bit for that.

“To some degree, they let us have it that last mile, but still it was a good race. I think Ryan and I were still happy with how we ran and I think a lot of the guys on the team were happy with how they ran.”

Iacovetti was especially happy, even though he went into the race disappointed after hearing about Tamlin’s absence.

“I thought I would run with him, but I ended up stick with Andrew Adams for a lot of the race and then I finished right behind Joe Carter,” Iacovetti said. “I was concerned that an LT guy (30th) was going to pass me right at the end, and I finished in front.”  

Iacovetti’s previous personal best from last season also came on the home Greene Valley course in an Oct. 4 triangular with LT and Oak Park-River Forest. He was 37th in 16:54.

“It’s surprising. A lot of people PR at places like Detweiller (in Peoria) or St. Charles, but mine have always been at Greene Valley because we have races there later in the season. I’m just as experienced as the rest of the guys. It just takes me a little while to get my mindset into racing strategy,” Iacovetti said.

“At the beginning of the season, I was thinking, ‘Am I ever going to PR because I just haven’t had the right day?’ I finally did get that PR so it really did boost my confidence. I’m going into this weekend with a very positive outlook."

Freshman race

Downers Grove North freshmen Alec Danner and Collin Leger needed to be close as teammates last season.

They were the only eighth-grade boys runners for their team at St. Joan of Arc.

”We’ve had a lot of history together,” Danner said. “We were pretty competitive back in middle school. It’s kind of cool that I get to run with him in high school and continue it.”

This fall, they’re integral parts of the Trojans’ freshman lineup, and they have a lot more help.

On Sept. 26, Danner won the freshman race and Leger was the team’s No. 3 finisher in their West Suburban Conference Silver Division home duals with York and Lyons Township at Greene Valley Forest Preserve. The Trojans lost to both teams 20-43.

Danner covered the 2.0 miles in 11:07 to win by two seconds over York’s Liam Hill.

Tristan Jahn (12:15) and Leger (12:25) were 20th and 25th with Don Knapp (35th, 12:43), Devin Johnson (50th, 13:20), Zachary Goliszewski (51st, 13:23) and Drew Murphy (63rd, 14:38) rounding out the top seven.

”We were teammates all four years (starting in fifth grade),” Leger said of Danner. “It’s always nice to see how good he’s doing because he’s gotten a lot better. He was really good in eighth grade but now he’s just amazing. I think it’s really the coaches. He’s been working really hard and that’s what made him so good now.”

”For eighth grade boys, it was just us two racing,” Danner said. “I just like this a lot better because I have pretty much of a family here in comparison to last year, where there was just two (of us).”

Danner spent most of his race battling York, and then specifically May. On Saturday, Sept. 28, May finished sixth in the freshman race at the Palatine Invitational (13:27.6 for 2.5 miles).

In the dual race, Danner took the early lead and then fell back as far as fifth before being up front the rest of the way for a battle with May until the end. The Dukes also had the next two finishers and put six among the top eight.

”(York’s May and I) were just kind of fluctuating during that last mile, who was in first and who was in second,” Danner said. “He was in first for a bit, but then I got the better of him on the last 400. I just kicked it and managed to get the win so I was pretty happy.

”(May) was a good, strong opponent. He got the better of me a lot, but then I managed to just get ahead of him at the end. I liked racing him. It was really competitive.”

This also was a big race for Leger, who beat his previous best for 2.0 miles by 15 seconds. His race also narrowed the gap between him and Jahn, usually the team’s No. 2 finisher, to 10 seconds.

”I thought I was just really motivated to beat York and do well against them because they’re our rivals,” Leger said. “I always have to bring my best when I’m facing them because they’re such a good team.”

Leger’s season goals include breaking 18:00, running well at the conference meet Oct. 19 and finishing ahead of Jahn at one of the meets.

During their days at St. Joan of Arc, Leger said his best race was the conference meet in seventh grade. He was 15th overall and finished ahead of Danner.

”It was my only time (doing that). That was probably my best (race),” Leger said.

Danner continues to feel stronger as well. Back on Aug. 29, Danner also was the freshman team’s top finisher in the season opener at Greene Valley and ran 17:35 for 3.0 miles.

”I feel like I have (improved since eighth grade),” Danner said. “I guess, according to some people, I have improved quite a bit, but I do feel stronger, though, through my runs because I did the whole summer training program and then I’ve been running this whole season. It’s gotten me a lot better since last year.”

Sophomore race

The Trojans had just three entries in the sophomore race and did not field a full team.
Nick Torres (18:39) and Ryan Cantlin (18:51) were 21st and 23rd, and Rocco Manzo (20:05) was 35th.

-- by Bill Stone