DGN at Minooka Invite story (varsity)

Downers Grove North junior Bradley Wilcoxen's introduction to the top-seven varsity lineup Saturday, Sept. 20, needed to be a solo effort.

Wilcoxen competed for the Trojans at Minooka's Flight Classic, which combines the results of seven flight races to determine team scores.

Wilcoxen, running in place of senior Bruce Tam Lin, was fired up to try his best in the No. 6 flight.

"It did (motivate me) and it also got me nervous," Wilcoxen said. "I knew that Bruce was missing. I knew that he was going to run like 16:00 so I didn't know how I was going to be in there and I didn't want to jeopardize the meet for the team."

Wilcoxen not only ran 16:30 for the 3.0 miles but finished third in his flight to help the Trojans place third as a team.

Senior Ryan Clevenger was second in the No. 1 (top) flight (15:01) to Yorkville senior Jack Hoffert (14:55), third at last year’s Class 2A state meet behind two seniors. Senior Zac Christensen was second at the No. 3 flight (16:05) to Yorkville junior Trevor Wills (15:55), 65th at 2A state in 2013.

Sophomore Alec Danner, fourth at the No. 2 flight (15:55) with the Trojans’ second-fastest time, and senior Joe Carter, third at the No. 5 flight (16:25), also earned individual medals with top-five flight finishes. Senior Jack Diamond (16:40 at No. 4) and junior Robby Prescott (17:21 at No. 7) were sixth and 11th, respectively.

The Trojans entered the meet ranked No. 9 in 3A by MileSplit Illinois and No. 10 by DyeStat Illinois.

Downers North (31 points) only was beaten by No. 3 Neuqua Valley (12) and defending Class 2A state champion and top-ranked Yorkville (13). Whitney Young (37) and Hoffman Estates (41) were fourth and fifth.

"It's an interesting format. Everybody's got a chance to win or stick their noses up there in the top five and get a medal," Downers North coach John Sipple said. "It's interesting because it de-emphasizes the impact of Ryan on our team (score). It makes it look closer for other teams to us, but it also makes us look farther away from Neuqua than it really is."

Usually only the top five finishers count toward the team score but all seven runners counted Saturday – and counted equally.

Wilcoxen's performance in just his second season of cross country has him hoping to break 16:00 soon. He was edged at the finish for second Saturday by Yorkville Thor Hester, the Foxes’ No. 7 state finisher last year (181st).

"I feel like I've been progressing well and I hope that I can keep progressing," Wilcoxen said. "It was a little nervewracking (Saturday). I got really nervous, but it was really good. I felt good to get the experience in."

The Trojans have three returnees from their 2013 second-place state lineup and state alternates Danner and Carter have proven to be strong front runners, but a little more depth certainly would help.

Joe Carter in the front pack.

Sipple is hopeful that Saturday’s race could help Wilcoxen put himself in that conversation.

"The race of the day for sure. That could be a defining moment in his running career, honestly, where he's taking that next step to the varsity level," Sipple said of Wilcoxen. "You start getting down to 16:30, now you start talking about being really competitive up at the varsity level and pulling into that top-seven spot. It's nice to see him compete really well and finish as well as he did. He finished really strong and closed really well the whole way. Hopefully that'll be his springboard to keep getting better."

The Trojans dealt with warm, muggy conditions that gradually grew by the No. 5 flight. The course also was a bit moist from rain Friday.

The biggest challenge was bouncing back after competing two days earlier against defending Class 3A state champion Hinsdale Central at Greene Valley Forest Preserve, and the varsity then going on a 10-minute tempo afterward. The Red Devils won the dual 23-34.

"We really trained through the meet. We didn't lay off a lot at all for (Minooka),” Sipple said. “It was a big week for us. By the time we got to Saturday, we were feeling it so it's no surprise talking with the guys (saying), 'I didn't feel good that day.' We were battling, but I liked seeing the competition and they're showing some heart. Performing when you're not feeling your best is real important."

Clevenger and Christensen may have won their flights if more rested, but they nearly did anyways.

Clevenger finished second to Hoffert by six seconds after winning Thursday's dual meet in 15:31 for 3.0 miles.

Clevenger just in front of Yorkvilles Jack Hoffert in the first mile.

"I think I could have raced better (Saturday) because a 15:30 double to 15:00 required effort. It's a 15:30 for 3.0 miles but it's still a tough workout, especially with the 10-minute tempo that Sipple put us through (Thursday),” Clevenger said. “It's like our first ever race/workout combo and that was a little tough to deal with, but I believe I could have run faster if I didn't do that, but there's nothing you can do about it now. It's just keep grinding forward to November.

"For the situation, I'm pretty happy with where I'm at right now. I've been making a bunch of excuses (for Saturday) but at this point, I've just got to forget about it and focus on my next one."

In many ways, the race outcome for Clevenger mirrored to the First to the Finish Invite Sept. 13 at Peoria's Detweiller Park, annual site of the state meet. Clevenger was stride for stride through most of the first two miles with McHenry's Jesse Reiser, third at 3A state in 2013, before Reiser pulled away and won by 11.9 seconds (14:20.5 to 14:32.4).

This was the first official high-school cross country race between Clevenger and Hoffert, although Clevenger won by six seconds when they finished 1-2 in the high school boys division at the Detweiller at Dark race July 25 on the state course (14:45 to 14:51).

"I wouldn’t really classify (Saturday) as a great race for me. There's nothing special about the time and I believe I could have beat (Hoffert)," Clevenger said.

"I felt in control the whole race until the end when (Hoffert) made his move in the back forest at roughly 2.2 miles. I was going to make a move at 2.5 because they have a little marker there, and I just couldn't. He pulled away a little bit," Clevenger said. "I reeled (Hoffert) in at the end a little bit, but once again, same story as last week, it was a little bit too late. I should have done stuff earlier, moved a little quicker earlier."

Sipple also put the race in perspective. At the 2013 Minooka Invite, Clevenger won the No. 2 flight in a slower 15:07 and went on to take seventh at the 3A state meet.

"On a warm day with Ryan's time, I'm pretty satisfied because I have a pretty good idea between Peoria and this week how that goes into November (for state Nov. 8). As long as things keep moving forward, we'll be where we need to be in November," Sipple said.
"I think we got out of it what we needed. He still performed well when he feels like garbage so it's good. That's what you've got to do, no excuses. You've got to go out and perform on that day."

Christensen also was left with a bittersweet feeling afterwards. While pleased with his overall performance, he led his flight most the way until Wills passed him in the final 800 meters.

"My legs kind of gave out at the end of the race, but I still battled hard. It was definitely one of the harder weeks we had (training), but there's no excuses," Christensen said.

Christensen on the awards stand for the 3rd flight.  A solid second place finish.

The race still added an emotional lift to Christensen’s race at the First to the Finish Invite, where he ran a personal-record 15:21.3 to take 50th place. He carried that over to Saturday with an aggressive outlook that put him up top at the start within the first 800 meters. Christensen was 16 seconds ahead of third-place Neuqua senior Matt Horsley (16:21).

"(Saturday) was definitely a good race for me. I feel like I executed well," Christensen said. "I think it's a big confidence booster for me. It depends on the race really, but I'm not always the one to push it, but this one was one. It was a different course with a lot of difficult bends and opportunities for strategy. It was a place where you could put in different moves and surges and it definitely ended up paying off."

"His race last week in Peoria was kind of like, 'He is a legit dude at the varsity level.' He's taken that next step," Sipple added. "He went out and made it honest (Saturday) and tried to go for it and (Wills) was able to just get him right at the end, but overall I was glad how Zac was aggressive. He dictated a lot of that race. If he holds back, I don't know if that race goes as well."

Wilcoxen also raced with a sense of urgency and learned that he could handle it. If he continues to race for the varsity, Wilcoxen said he realizes that he has to get out strong and compete from the start.

"It's still kind of relatively new to me. I'm still getting used to (varsity)," Wilcoxen said. "One of the things that I have to do more often is stick my nose up there and let them drag you around the course because in track my problem was I wouldn't get up there aggressively with the top group and I'd have to play catch up. That's one of the things I notice more on the varsity level. You've got to get up there and try and stick with them and let them do the work and then make your move at the end."

Against Hinsdale Central, Clevenger (15:31 for 3.0 miles) won by eight seconds over senior Matt McBrien (15:39), the Red Devils’ No. 6 state finisher (60th). Danner (15:47) was fourth, followed by Christensen (8th, 15:58), Carter (10th, 16:21), Diamond (11th, 16:21) and Tam Lin (12th, 16:22), Prescott (19th, 17:14) and senior Jack McGinnis (20th, 17:19).

-- by Bill Stone

More pictures below:

Freshman Sam McCool bringing it home!

Freshman Sam McCool and Tyler Mertes trying to break away.

Brendan Lockerby (fr) look up and race to the finish!

Robby Prescott (jr) zooming through the forest.