DGN finishes second at state meet

Downers Grove North senior Zack Smith already was on his way a historic boys cross country career after finishing eighth at the 2012 Class 3A state meet.

What happened at his fourth and final appearance at the state meet Saturday, Nov. 9, at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, was beyond his wildest dreams.

The Trojans enjoyed their greatest day in boys cross country history as they finished a program-best second for just their third top-three trophy ever -- a moment for the ages Smith was grateful to share with his teammates.
 
”I hope I felt a legacy of hard work, leadership, encouraging these guys,” Smith said. “I hope that people remember me as a guy that worked his tail off, cared a lot about his teammates and helped to get them to a better place as well and was really all about the team.”  

Smith went out on a personal high as well as he finished third in 14:23 – an all-time Downers North best on the 3.0-mile course.

Junior Ryan Clevenger also finished seventh in 14:38 to earn his first all-state honors for a top-25 finish. Senior Marc Mathy was 34th (15:08), six seconds from 25th, followed by seniors Jeremy Craven (68th, 15:24) and Jared Spilky (77th, 15:29) and juniors Zac Christensen (114th, 15:41) and Jack Diamond (184th, 16:16).Team alternates were seniors Anthony Iacovetti and Sam Ronan, juniors Joe Carter and Bruce Tamlin and freshman Alec Danner.

The Trojans are coached by head coach John Sipple and assistants Jill Blondell, Eric Buhot and Justin Ashton.

The Trojans (144 points) finished 13 points ahead of third-place O’Fallon (157) in their first state team trip since 2010. Hinsdale Central (99) won its first state title in program history.

Smith, who was eighth at state in 2012 (14:33), becomes only the sixth Downers North runner to achieve a program-best two all-state finishes and the third with both in the top 10.

”I think the best part about it is making the team history with the team getting second. What’s more important to me, definitely, is to say we’re the best team in school history, more than to have the fastest individual time in school history on Detweiller,” Smith said.

”I think every one of us here has left a legacy. We worked hard. I think that’s something I’ll always remember about this team. We didn’t come in here necessarily with all of the talent in the world. We got to where we are because of hard work. I think that’s something that is really cool about this team.”

Downers North surpassed the third-place finishes in 2000 under former long-time head coach Will Kupisch and 1949 as Downers Grove High School in just the fourth year of the state meet. The Trojans were 18th in 2010 (421 points), Kupisch’s last season as head coach, and had not finished among the top 10 since taking seventh in 2004.

While Smith competed at state four times, the past two years as an individual qualifier, none of the other Trojans previously had raced at state.

”It was a great experience all over the place. The guys got the job done,” Sipple said. “They performed really well and that’s what you’re looking for at the state meet. Fortunately it kind of came together for us at the right time.

”I think (our runners) had the same kind of outlook that I did. We said if things go great and go our way, we could win, and if things don’t, at worst we’ll be sixth or seventh. If things are normal and nobody does something extreme, we could be third or fourth. I told them we were extremely confident where they were at. I was very matter of fact with them and sensing the same things. Things were going to go great and things were going to be a lot of fun.”

After the race, the Trojans knew they had run well but weren’t sure about their place. The wait made things even more anxious as official standings were not posted until about an hour later.

All day, final results were backed up significantly after a power outage during the 1A competition. Officials compared each finish based on computer chips in the runners’ shoes with a video of the finish and the bright sun of a beautiful autumn day also made reading the runners’ bib numbers difficult.

”We talked to the coaches and we kind of got the sense that they thought we got the second or third spot, but they didn’t want to say we did because if we didn’t, then we’d all be disappointed,” Smith said. 

Senior Jack Ronan told Spilky that he saw on Twitter that the Trojans officially were second, but Spilky still couldn’t believe him. The official results finally were posted on a board near the end of the finish area of the course.

While just about everyone was nearby awaiting the verdict, Smith and Clevenger already had been called to the other end of the park. They stood behind the awards staging area awaiting their medals as individual all-staters. The team awards followed.

”Suddenly, I saw our team run to the back (of the stage) and say we got second. It felt good. It felt great, actually,” Clevenger said. “Every time I look at the results, it just feels like, ‘Whoa, we’re up there.’ It’s just crazy to see our name. We’re second. We’re second place on the results at the state meet and it’s pretty sweet.”

The Trojans had a 46-point margin on fourth-place LT but since the start of three classes in 2007, their 144 points was the second-highest total for a 3A runner-up. O’Fallon’s top-five finishers were 1-11-26-55-117 overall, led by senior Patrick Perrier winning in 14:21, one second ahead of McHenry junior Jesse Reiser and two ahead of Smith.

O’Fallon was second at state the past two years. While Downers North also had two all-staters, one of the biggest keys to holding off the Panthers was Mathy’s strong race – just five seconds behind their No. 3 finisher – by cutting 36 seconds off his Detweiller time when the Trojans competed there Sept. 14 at the First to the Finish Invite (72nd, 15:44).

Just three weeks earlier, Mathy finished 21st at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet Oct. 19. At state, Mathy beat 11 of the 19 runners who had beat him at the Silver Meet and competed Saturday and all but one York finisher.

”I would say, yeah, probably my best race ever,” Mathy said. “I just tried to hang on as best I could and then by the last mile I was hurting, but I realized at least I had a shot of placing pretty high so it was worth it. Mostly, it was just (believing), ‘My legs are a little tired right now but I’ve got to keep on keeping on, keep passing.’

”I think (a team trophy) was on everybody’s mind. We just went into the race knowing if it’s not us, then who? It could be anybody, given how open the standings were, so we might as well take the opportunity and run with it so to speak.”

What made the Trojans’ performance perhaps even sweeter was that hardly anybody saw it coming except them. They had finished 11th at the 2012 Marist Sectional, 104 points from fifth-place Hinsdale Central from the sectional’s last team berth, and despite an encouraging track season, Smith was the only non-senior distance runner to qualify for that state meet in May.

They also spent most of this cross country season competing without Spilky and Craven, who didn’t compete from the Aug. 29 opener until he won the junior varsity race at the Silver Meet. In the three final weekly state polls released after conference meets or regionals, they were ranked No. 10 by DyeStat Illinois and No. 11 by MileSplit Illinois and the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Downers North finally had its full lineup intact at the Hinsdale Central Sectional Nov. 2. The Trojans (78 points) were a strong second to the Red Devils (52) after also being runners-up at the Lyons Township Regional Oct. 26 (35 to 47). At the Silver Meet, the Trojans (71) once again were behind Hinsdale Central (50) and third to York (38).

”We kind of flew under the radar in the postseason because we were second, second, second,” Spilky said. “People thought that they were stronger than us, but we were really getting second to the best team in the state. And we kept getting better and better and other teams were either staying the same or getting worse. We kind of just peaked at the right time, the perfect time.”

The Trojans weren’t alone among WSC Silver schools. It was a banner day for the conference with the Red Devils also earning a state trophy and LT (190) and York (196) taking fourth and fifth.

York was the defending 2012 state champion and was rated No. 1 by all three weekly state polls throughout the season after its first race Sept. 19 before suffering its first loss at the Lake Park Sectional 79-95 to New Trier, which was sixth at state (215).

This was the first time the Trojans finished higher at state than the Dukes, who have won 28 state titles, since 1949. The Trojans had the first top-two state finish by a Silver team other than York since LT tied for second in 2003. Hinsdale Central is the conference’s first state champion other than York since Proviso West in 1964. LT also was third at state in 2012.

”I guess we were just excited to have a conference meet at the state meet and said, ‘O’Fallon, that’s OK. You can come, too,’ ” Sipple said with a laugh. “It just goes to show the West Suburban Silver is no joke. The conference is second to none when it comes to cross country and track. I would say that the competition within the conference does help push the kids, helps motivate them.”

After most teams already had left the awards ceremony at the park, the Trojans gave the entire celebrating Hinsdale Central group a traditional “Hip, hip hooray,” cheer. The teams then shook hands and offered each other congratulations.

The Red Devils had three all-staters after never previously having more than one in any previous race. Even without the ninth-place finish from their No. 1 runner, senior Billy Magnesen (14:41), they still would have won.

"(Hinsdale Central) helped propel us to our finish and we couldn’t be more proud of them and their coaching staff. They’re a great group of kids to compete against,” Sipple said. “If we were going to lose to anybody at the state meet, it was Hinsdale Central and (longtime coaches Jim Westphal, Noah Lawrence and Jim Kupres).”

Smith and Clevenger proved themselves again as the state’s the top 1-2 combination after sweeping first and second the previous three postseason races.

By taking third, Smith equaled the Trojans’ highest individual state finish by Dave Larson in 1956, which also are their only top-five finishes. Larson also was sixth at state in 1957, and Eduardo Borjon was sixth for the 2000 trophy team and ninth in 2001.

”I don’t think in this state that there’s any way you can’t be happy with a third-place finish, especially when your team finishes second,” Smith said.

”I actually just found out about (Larson) this year so he just kind of popped up. It’s kind of cool. There have been so many great runners that have come through this school and to be considered up there as one of the greats, a couple of the fastest times in school history at such a great course like Detweiller is pretty cool for me.”

At state last year, Smith’ 14:33 equaled the Trojans’ fastest Detweiller time set by Luke Ryan taking 10th in 2006. Smith was the third-highest finishing non-senior in the race behind Perrier (3rd, 14:15) and Reiser (6th, 14:33), who barely beat Smith.

Perrier, the favorite heading into Saturday, won the Richard Spring Invite Sept. 21 at Detweiller in 14:24. The previous Saturday, Clevenger (14:44.68) and Smith (14:45.76) were just behind Magnesen (14:36.86) for second through fourth at the First to the Finish Invite behind Calvin Kraft of Fishers, Ind. (14:36.22).

”Going in, we thought Perrier was going to try and run some ridiculous time,” Perrier said. “We just decided we were going to go out there and run our own race and let him do his thing and whatever happened, happened. It worked out pretty nice for me personally.”

Smith and Clevenger were among a pack of eight slightly led by Perrier as he passed the mile in 4:45.

As he did in September, Perrier surged in the triangle and attained breathing room on the pack. Smith and Reiser soon followed to establish themselves in the battle for second. At two miles, Perrier (9:35) led Smith and Reiser by two seconds and fourth-place Dale by five.

Once again down the home stretch, Reiser and Smith had a photo finish at state with Reiser prevailing.

”We were able to push each other and kind of fight back and forth most of the race and I think that really helped me to a faster time. Obviously I would have liked to out kick him at the end, but it was just a great race, a great way to end senior year,” Smith said.

Clevenger was the third highest finishing non-junior and just five seconds from the top five.

”I know he’s going to go out there and break (my Detweiller time) next year so I’ll enjoy my glory while I have it here for a year,” Smith said.

Pulling out a distant fourth at state was Conant junior Zach Dale (14:31), who had beaten Smith by six seconds to win the No. 1 flight at the Minooka Invite Sept. 21. York senior Nathan Mroz and Maine South senior Jack Carpenter were fifth and sixth in 14:33. Eighth-place Palatine junior Graham Brown ran 14:41 to edge Magnesen.

”I like ending the season as the best 1-2 duo. Going into the season, I wanted that to be one of my goals because it would help out the team a lot,” Clevenger said. “Also, it just gets me more well known, I would say, just having (Smith) in front of me.”

Clevenger has climbed a long way to be near the top. At the 2012 sectional, Clevenger was 91st and the team’s No. 7 finisher. He quickly progressed after being diagnosed with anemia during indoor track and went on to have a strong spring.

At state last year, Carpenter was 129th, and Brown was 41st with their team qualifiers. Dale and an injured Mroz also didn’t qualify or compete.

”I was, for the most part, around fifth or fourth and then right after two miles is when (Carpenter) and then Mroz started passing me and then Graham Brown passed me. Then I realized this was enough, I’ve got to stay with them,” Clevenger said.

”I really didn’t know what to expect going into it. I was thinking top 10. It turned out pretty good for me. I was very happy with it, especially the first all-state out of the way so I can just focus on the next.”

Hinsdale Central and LT returned three runners each from their 2012 lineups. York had four but senior Alex Bashgawi, 26th last year, finished 199th after battling a fever. Bashgawi would have had to at least equal his 2012 finish Saturday for the Dukes to have beaten the Trojans.

Most of the Trojans had been to state in recent years as spectators for Smith’s races or to see the 2010 team compete, but it was still a big transition.

”It was a real cool experience to be around that crowd and the energy that was present there, a lot of exuberance,” Mathy said.

”It was very different. There were a lot of people there. Everyone’s watching you, everyone’s watching how you run, just tons of people, I can’t emphasize that enough, just a lot of pressure to do good,” Clevenger said. “It’s just killing you 10 minutes, 15 minutes before the race, just all of the pressure that’s being put on your and you just need to relax and just know that you’re going to do well and just go out there and run.”

The Trojans still had many factors in their favor. This was a senior-dominated lineup that had run numerous races before at Detweiller. There also were little outside expectations to excel.

The strongest asset was Smith’s talent and ability to share that experience and confidence with his teammates.

”It helps when your top dog is pretty even keel. I think that helps the guys as well because they can ask (Smith) questions,” Sipple said. “It’s different coming from him when he’s giving advice rather than a coach or anyone else. I’d even argue it has more weight because he’s one who has run it. 

”We felt that the pressure was on a lot of other teams to perform. I tried to remind the guys about perspective and enjoying the moment they’re having as they were going through it. You blink and it’s over. I think that kind of kept us grounded. I think it helped us through the postseason by adding pieces and that just provided more confidence.”

Mathy emerged as the Trojans’ steady and consistent No. 3 performer throughout the season and the senior leader for the trail pack that hoped to supplement their two frontrunners. The Silver Meet proved to be the starting point of an outstanding postseason.

“Marc has been, really the last three weeks, just knocking it out every time,” Sipple said. “We’ve been trying to get him to be more aggressive and he finally lashed onto that and has been rocking and rolling. The switch was definitely flipped.”

Mathy figuratively flipped for a second at state. After two miles, Mathy had run a lifetime-best 9:58, but he was determined to ride that momentum to the finish.

”I definitely took it out harder than I ever have before,” Mathy said. “I definitely felt as though I put it out there and laid it on the ground and I think it paid off in the end to keep connection with that upper pack.”

Mathy had the highest state non all-state finish by a Downers North runner since Todd Quednau was 33rd as an individual qualifier in 1998 before taking 11th as a senior in 1999.

”That’s the difference between us being third and second, Marc being up there,” Spilky said. “I think it’s his best race ever.”

”He’s on fire right now,” Smith added. “Jared and Jeremy also stepped up a ton for us, coming back from injuries this year and they ran great, but Marc was definitely the key to it.”

After spending most of their seasons on the sidelines, Craven and Spilky just missed the top 50 by seven and 12 seconds, respectively.

Craven made massive improvements but out of the limelight and usually apart from his teammates. He spent most of his season rehabilitating on the elliptical machine before and after school. While he rarely ran on ground or a track, he began simulating running on a zero-gravity treadmill.

Even having to run a controlled race under Sipple’s orders, Craven still won the Silver JV title. That showed Craven he could perform even better when given the chance to compete full out, even after sitting out the regional to protect minor foot pain.

“He is super fit and I had no question Jeremy could run (well at state). I was very confident in what he could run,” Sipple said. ”He was pounding the cross training on the elliptical like nobody’s business. He was on the elliptical probably three hours a day.”

When he raced at Detweiller in September, Spilky made a mad dash to the finish down the long final straightaway and estimated that he passed at least 20 runners over the final 800 meters to finish 24th in 15:19.07. It was his last race until Oct. 3 as he recovered from a hamstring injury.

Spilky finished at Detweiller in similar fashion Saturday but with a better overall feeling about his race.

”I gave it everything I had, whatever I had left in my legs I gave it,” Spilky said. “I don’t really care about my time. I just care about how we did as a team.”

While he praised Mathy’s contribution towards finishing second, Spilky was just five seconds and 16 places from scoring 13 fewer team points.
 
”The way Jared Spilky finished his race was humungous. Honestly, I’d say he passed 20 guys (down the stretch),” Sipple said. “He finished close to Jeremy and when I was standing at the 2 1/2- mile mark looking for him, and it seemed like an eternity. He closed it down to four, five seconds right behind Jeremy and that was huge. He was probably 15 to 20 seconds behind at that 2 1/2-mile mark. He really closed it down.”

At the state meet, ties are broken with the sixth runner. Had the Trojans and O’Fallon tied for second, the Trojans had the tiebreaker, but barely, with Christensen finishing three places and one second ahead of the Panthers’ No. 6 finisher.

”I love this whole team and we’ve been working so hard all summer and all season really. To get there and work with them and be able to accomplish this is great, just incredible,” Christensen said. “Honestly, I feel like this team is just like a family, sort of like having older brothers on the team really to support us and always be there.” 

Christensen posted his best time Saturday. At the First to the Finish Invite, Christensen ran 15:52.08 for 92nd place but was the team’s No. 5 finisher in Craven’s absence.

”It was good for me to have that experience, just being one of the scorers,” Christensen said. “It was also motivation that Spilky and Craven were working their hardest, even though they were hurt. They’re still out there working and pushing themselves even though they couldn’t race with us. I was going to do it for them. I was going to do it for the team. I was going to push myself for their sake.”

Diamond has had his share of injuries in track and during the summer, but he was able to make it through this season unscathed. Diamond said he was slightly disappointed that he felt tired and didn’t get out as strong as he wanted.

”It was kind of surreal being there first of all. The day before when we got there, it didn’t really hit me that it was real because I’ve been dreaming about it for a long time,” Diamond said. “Actually being there, when we stepped on the line, it all started to hit me and it was amazing. Just so many people, just the energy was so great, and a perfect day for it, too.”

Diamond’s older brother, James, was a member of last year’s sectional lineup and the Trojans’ No. 6 finisher, four seconds ahead of Clevenger. Now a freshman competing for Carthage College (Kenosha, Wis.), James Diamond was at Detweiller Saturday as part of the Big Red’s recruiting efforts.

”Personally, I expected myself to be top seven all year. I was on the cusp last year and I didn’t want to settle for anything less,” Jack Diamond said. “I was just glad that I was able to run every single meet and compete every week. Obviously, being as good as we were for cross country, we’re going to be just as deep for cross country. We’re going to be working off each other a lot. I want to be in the conversation in the 1,600 and the 800.”

Hearing many stories of optimism and motivation from the underclassmen, many similar to ones shared by this year’s senior group in their upcoming years, had Sipple hopeful that this team’s accomplishments can serve as a catalyst and breakthrough in cross country and track. Sipple serves as an assistant coach in track to Buhot.

”I just want the younger guys to soak it up a little bit and enjoy the ride as well because we talked about it all of the time. We’re only as good, essentially, as our slowest guys. Everybody’s got to be pulling and pushing in order to get the guys at the top moving,” Sipple said.

”It’s important that everybody contributes. I just hope they love running, honestly. That’s really what we’re trying, to come here and have fun and love the sport and love the camaraderie and family this sport does build.”

This year’s program has 42 runners with just five sophomores. Perhaps the Trojans will receive a boost of interest from incoming freshmen.

”For middle schools, how could you not want to be a part of this program? I’m not going to be around, but I’m expecting them to get a good amount of freshmen coming up,” Smith said.

”We don’t have too many guys on the team, about 40, and for us to be able to come here against teams with 150, 200 guys and beat them, I think, is pretty impressive. People are going to look at us like we looked at the 2000 team, like that’s the greatest team in school history. That’s how kids 15 years from now are going to look (at it).”

Smith also will be remembered for his accomplishments. He joined 2011 graduate and three-time all-stater Ben Silver as the only Downers North runners to compete in four state meets.

Silver was 17th at state in 2008, 18th in 2009 and a personal-best ninth at state as a senior for the 2010 state meet. A freshman that year, Smith was 159th (15:53) and the team’s No. 4 finisher and then finished 92nd at state as a sophomore (15:33), a time he improved by a minute as a junior en route to third in the 1,600-meter run at the state meet in May.

”I would definitely say Zack is the best runner in North history all-around because Zack’s been all-state in track as well. He holds a bunch of school records in track, cross country as well,” Sipple said.

”Zack is a fantastic leader and he’s very passionate about the sport. He brings a lot there, but also he’s excited about how guys on the team perform that are not just the top guys. If we have freshmen that are running (personal records), he’s all over it and he knows the times. He talked a lot about going downstate as a team and how important that was to him. That’s what he’s been working towards. That speaks volumes to the type of kid he is. He definitely takes more gratitude or pride in his teammates’ accomplishments than his own. We talk about that he’s a humble warrior.”

What made the 2010 team trip so memorable was the Trojans truly were an underdog, even more so than this season. They were not expected to get out of the sectional but it was Kupisch’s last season as head coach and the Trojans rose to the occasion.

This year’s team was glad that Kupisch continues to support the team and program and was on hand for the state festivities.

”It was awesome to see Kup enjoy it because he’s been here after all of these years, and what he’s left, his legacy on the program, even though he’s not the head coach anymore,” Spilky said.

”I think it’s awesome. It’s going to be something that I come back 20 years from now, I’m going to look at that trophy with my name on it and I’m going to be like, ‘Yeah, that’s what I did at Downers Grove North High School.’ I’ll be proud of it. I’m always going to remember it, not matter how old I am. It’s fantastic.”

-- by Bill Stone

The Boys with Molly Huddle - Womens American Record Holder in the 5K