By Eric Hofmann

Mother Nature played her tricks, but the athletes treated everyone with exciting races on Halloween in Hinsdale.  Like the other sectionals around Illinois, the Class 3A meet at Katherine Legge Park was contested in a steady pour of rain.  Distinguishing it from other venues, though, is its famous (or infamous, depending on point of view) creek crossing. 

Kicking off the day’s competition, the girls’ race saw one of the more tightly packed fields of the season.  Hinsdale Central established a presence with four runners in the lead pack.  The leaders passed the one mile point in just under six minutes.  Soon after came the first of two creek crossings.  Heavy rain brought the water level higher than Hinsdale Central head coach Mark McCabe has ever seen it on his home course in his time coaching.  Even many the top runners struggled here, tripping and falling in the water.  Hinsdale’s Annie Zaher cut both knees, though pressed on to a second place finish.  Zaher’s performance comes after missing most of the season due to injury.  A former state champion at 1600m, she is back as part of a strong front group for the Red Devils. 

That group is led by sectional champion Reilly Revord.  Revord has put together a string of successful races as the season comes to its peak, the sectional win following a regional victory and second place to Lindsey Payne, one of the state’s best, in the West Suburban Silver Conference.  Hinsdale’s winning team score of sixty-five points was sealed by Grace McCabe (fourth), Mackie Stevens (twelfth), and Molly Caveney (forty-sixth).  Hinsdale Central was matched up against Lyons Township for the third consecutive week, with the Lyons coming in ahead at conference, but Hinsdale prevailing at the regional, and then by a bigger margin this weekend.  Lyons was led by their front runner Sarah Barcelona in third place, breaking up the Hinsdale trio.  Their team score came as close as can be with Lockport – tying with eighty-four points.  The Porters won the tie breaker thanks to their sixth runner Jorie Beaumont finishing thirty-third.  Downers Grove South and Benet Academy of Lisle rounded out the state qualifying teams.

The boys’ race generated just as much excitement.  Featuring three teams ranked in the Class 3A top five by Dyestat, this was the premier sectional in Illinois.  Sandburg continued their dominant season with a comfortable team win.  The Dyestat national number one ranked team had the individual champion in Sean Torpy and their seventh man in thirty-third.  The pace was aggressive from the gun, and the lead pack ran 4:47 for the first mile.  Torpy ended up the sole sub-fifteen minute finisher on the three mile course.  Sandburg took the strategy of getting out hard to avoid traffic in the competitive field. 

Despite the conditions, Sandburg’s fans came out in full support, complete with two flag bearers and a bucket drum crew.  Hinsdale Central came away with second in a narrow spread with Lyons.  Hinsdale’s forty-four second split from their front man Blake Evertsen to their final scorer was key, compared to the one minute seventeen second split between Lyons’s top five.  Evertsen was disappointed in his individual third place finish, but pleased with the team result and feels they are headed in the right direction going into the state meet.  Lyons, in third place, competed against Sandburg several times this season, but the gap in the team scores has widened in the later meets.  Danny Kilrea led the team in 15:02 for second place and looks to be one to watch in the state championship.  Alec Danner (Downers Grove North) and Dan Santino (Saint Ignatius) ran successfully to top five finishes, and the two Downers Grove schools – South and North – punched their tickets to State as teams.

In all, the top five ranked teams in this sectional on both the girls and boys sides were the ones to advance.  Things went according to expectations individually as well, though deep fields and high quality competition meant the Hinsdale sectional met expectations as one of the strongest in the state.

Video: Creek Crossing in Boys Race