DGN vs. Oak Park-River Forest story (varsity)

Ryan Clevenger and his fellow Downers Grove North boys cross country team seniors said goodbye to their home course at Greene Valley Forest Preserve Thursday, Oct. 9, with a bittersweet feeling.

“It’s kind of memorable, the fact that we’ve been running there for four years and it’s just kind of the place where it all started,” Clevenger said. “It’s not like a place where we run constantly. It’s more of the fact that we’ve put it on the line for four years on that course.

“Everyone hates the course as much as anything – the loops and turns and ups and downs and all of that stuff. Either way, it’s nice to know you won’t be there anymore but it’s also nice to know that you finished it off right.”

Clevenger nearly also left with a course-record time as he and the Trojans ended with a job well done in defeating Oak Park-River Forest 15-47 in their final West Suburban Conference Silver Division dual.

The meet also was Senior Day for the Trojans, who have 10 seniors on their roster this season.

The Trojans finished 2-4 in Silver duals heading into the Silver Meet Saturday, Oct. 18, at Proviso West, the new location after Elmhurst’s East End Park was deemed too wet for competition. The boys races Saturday are 10:45 a.m. (freshmen), noon (sophomores), 1 p.m. (varsity) and 2 p.m. (junior varsity).

Clevenger covered the 3.0 miles in 14:57 – one second shy of graduated Zack Smith’s 14:56 set Sept. 26, 2013 against York and Lyons Township.

Sophomore Alec Danner (15:28) and seniors Joe Carter (15:30), Zac Christensen (15:57) and Jack Diamond (15:58) swept the next four places. Senior Bruce Tam Lin (16:05) and junior Robby Prescott (16:08) were seventh and ninth.

“I wanted to get our home-course record,” Clevenger said. “I let it get to me for a little bit (that night), but I needed to kind of step back and look at the big picture of things. We wanted to get a good win, especially going into the conference meet.”

Clevenger said he knew his one-mile and two-mile splits but no one alerted him to how close he was to the record as he was finishing.

“I just brought it in,” Clevenger said. “It’s not really that big of a deal. I can just overpass it. It was a good win still individually, a good time on that course.”

Another important effort came from Carter, who in his final home race ran an all-time best by 18 seconds and a Greene Valley personal record by 25 seconds.

Carter’s splits and one and two miles also were personal bests. He finished near Danner, which is where the Trojans have projected him all season long.

“(Greene Valley is) pretty much where we started our whole DGN career. It’s part of us, I guess, and it was great to just finish there and get a PR and it’s satisfying to get a (team) win,” Carter said.

“I think it was pretty much an understood thing (among the seniors) but when we were going through the senior introductions, it pretty much set the tone. (I wanted to) go out with a bang.”

The Trojans won’t be a factor as far as the team title at the Silver Meet, but they still can make a statement. Defending Class 3A state champion and No. 1-rated Hinsdale Central is expected to win its first conference title since 1955, but could get strong competition from top-five rated Lyons Township.

Downers North will see both teams the next three Saturdays at the Hinsdale Central Regional and Marist Sectional before, hopefully, returning to the state meet as a team qualifier. The Trojans need a top-five sectional team finish to advance to the Nov. 8 state meet at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

“I think we can surprise many people. We’ve been training through pretty much every meet. We’ve been tired a little bit going into every meet. We’re going to be tapering down a little bit. We’ll just surprise people and show that we’re contenders to be right up there for a top-eight, top-five team in the state.”

Clevenger is the favorite to win the individual title after being second to Smith at the 2013 Silver Meet and consistently the top individual among conference runners this season.

Clevenger won the key Silver races with Hinsdale Central, LT and York but finished fifth against Glenbard West Oct. 2, eight seconds from first, when the team was gearing up for the Locktoberfest Invite Oct. 4. Glenbard West won that dual 16-45.

“I’ve been a little sour about how we’ve competed during the (duals) so far, especially the tough loss to Glenbard West,” Clevenger said. “I try to look at the fact that we’re going to race (Saturday) and I think we’re going to be good to go.”

Freshmen

Nick Chudzik led a 1-2-3-4 sweep by the Downers Grove North freshmen in its 16-45 victory over Oak Park-River Forest at Greene Valley.

Chudzik won the 2.0-mile race in 11:11, followed closely by Jacob Ridderhoff (11:16), Ryan Birkmeier (11:32) and Reilly Britt (11:35), one second ahead of the Huskies’ top finisher. Brendan Lockerby (11:45) was sixth, also beating an OPRF runner by one second, and Sam McCool (11:57), Tyler Mertes (12:26), Andrew Gallwas (12:36), Krause (12:42) and Chan (12:45) were eighth through 13th.

The freshmen finished 4-2 in Silver duals with losses to Lyons Township and York. They are the first boys race at the Silver Meet Saturday, Oct. 18, at Proviso West at 10:45 a.m.

Sophomores

Oak Park-River Forest took the first three places to clinch a 19-36 victory over the Downers Grove North sophomore team at Greene Valley.

The Trojans’ Tristan Jahn (16:39 for 3.0 miles) and Drew Pyburn (16:53) were fourth and fifth behind the Huskies’ top trio led by Irwin Loud (15:56), whose time would have put him fourth on the varsity level.

Zach Goliszewski (17:07), Don Knapp (17:21) and Colin Leger (18:02) were eighth, ninth and 10th and Spencer Casey (19:08) 12th.

The sophomores finished with a 3-3 record in Silver duals. They will compete at the Silver Meet at noon Saturday, Oct. 18, at Proviso West.

-- by Bill Stone