|
Conference Champions
2000
L-R: Mike
Canino, Greg Wittendorf, Dave Walczak, Jeff Goode, Coach Dickerson, Evan
Roberts, Matt Bailey, Nick Dunn, Coach Vandersteen
Our first conference championship occurred during the 2000
season. The meet was held at LeRoy
Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles. We had five guys place in the top 15 to earn
all-conference honors and had all seven men place in the top 20. The day was sunny and boasted 70 degree
temperatures. This meet was the
highlight of the season, for we just missed qualifying for State by finishing
a close 6th at the Sectional meet. St. Charles East was the dominant program in the
conference and for the ‘new guys on the block’ to win this meet was a huge
breakthrough for us.
2003
L-R (front) Kevin Pojman, Dan Box, Joe Bergelin
(back) Ryan Miller, Rick Burke, Nick Dunn, Geoff
Houtman
Our 2nd conference championship occurred on Waubonsie Valley’s home course. Led by the determination of our
co-captains, Nick Dunn and Dan Box, we were able to hold off Waubonsie Valley to avenge an earlier season
dual meet loss on this same course.
Nick made a surge around 1.3 miles to break the pack and held off WV’s
Durrell Williams to win the individual title.
Geoff Houtman squeezed out a 3rd while almost getting DQ’d for flailing
his arms at the finish. Senior Rick
Burke and junior Joe Bergelin showed they could be counted upon to be our 4th
and 5th men.
2006
|
2000 Team Standings
|
Neuqua Valley
|
40
|
|
St. Charles East
|
48
|
|
Waubonsie Valley
|
62
|
|
Lake
Park
|
90
|
|
Bartlett
|
147
|
|
East
Aurora
|
173
|
|
DeKalb
|
191
|
|
Larkin
|
246
|
|
Elgin
|
253
|
2000 NV Results
|
Jeff Goode
|
15:22
|
2nd
|
|
Evan Roberts
|
15:34
|
6th
|
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Matt Bailey
|
15:42
|
8th
|
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Greg Wittendorf
|
15:50
|
10th
|
|
Mike Canino
|
16:01
|
14th
|
|
Nick Dunn
|
16:11
|
18th
|
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Dave Walczak
|
16:15
|
19th
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2003 Team Standings
|
Neuqua Valley
|
38
|
|
Waubonsie Valley
|
52
|
|
Lake
Park
|
87
|
|
Bartlett
|
|
100
|
|
St. Charles North
|
125
|
|
St. Charles East
|
155
|
|
Elgin
|
|
208
|
|
Streamwood
|
221
|
|
Elgin Larkin
|
258
|
|
DeKalb
|
|
274
|
|
East
Aurora
|
297
|
2003 NV Results
|
Nick Dunn
|
15:39
|
1st
|
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Geoff Houtman
|
15:50
|
3rd
|
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Dan Box
|
16:00
|
7th
|
|
Rick Burke
|
16:16
|
11th
|
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Joe Bergelin
|
16:25
|
16th
|
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Ryan Miller
|
16:30
|
18th
|
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Kevin Pojman
|
16:46
|
27th
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2006 Team Standings
|
Neuqua Valley
|
49
|
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Waubonsie Valley
|
49
|
|
St. Charles North
|
60
|
|
East Aurora
|
144
|
|
Lake Park
|
150
|
|
St. Charles East
|
170
|
|
Elgin
|
180
|
|
Streamwood
|
196
|
|
Bartlett
|
223
|
|
Elgin Larkin
|
262
|
|
South Elgin
|
NS
|
2006 NV Results
|
|
Before this meet began, I told the top seven that every
place would count, and it did! Chris
Derrick and Jimmy Riddle placed 1st and 2nd with no challenge from
anyone. Danny Pawola, Mike Ruff, and
Brian Morenus all stepped in front of a competitor at the finish line to
enable us to win our 3rd conference title in a nail-biter. We tied with WV, but our 6th man, Brian
Morenus, was less than a second ahead of WV’s 6th man. The meet was hosted by Elgin High School
at Lordes Park.
To add to the drama, the officials had to confer with one another at
the awards ceremony before announcing us as conference champions. The top 3 teams went on to finish 2nd, 5th,
and 9th at the IHSA State Meet.
2007
This meet may go
down in history as being the greatest team race ever run by us. We went 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, and 13 without our
number 2 runner, Jimmy Riddle. This
was done vs. two teams who would later finish 4th and 6th at the State meet. Chris Derrick smashed the course record
running 13:57. The meet was held at
Lake Park and their course typically runs about 5 seconds slower than
Detweiller. It was a perfect day to
run with temperatures in the low 50’s and no wind. We took the a.m. off the day before for the
first time this season and that little bit of rest worked wonders. Our JV and F/S squads also finished 1, 2,
3, in each of their races and we easily won all three team titles. It was this race that we began to realize
we had a chance to win the State championship without Jimmy.
2008
We ran the 2008 conference meet at Sunrise Park in
Bartlett. It was a sunny day with
temperatures in the high 40’s. We
managed to win all three levels again and had the individual champion in each
race. We ran without Aaron Beattie,
our number 2 guy, due to IT problems.
We managed to finish 1, 3, 4 in the varsity race. Danny Pawola was the individual champion,
winning by 20 seconds. St. Charles
North was ranked 6th in the State at the time and had some very good
runners. Because we won the
conference title for the third time in a row, we got to keep the trophy.
|
|
Chris
Derrick
|
1st
|
14:47.6
|
Junior
|
|
Jimmy
Riddle
|
2nd
|
15:02.6
|
Junior
|
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Josh
Budnik
|
13th
|
15:49.1
|
Junior
|
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Mike
Ruff
|
15th
|
15:55.2
|
Junior
|
|
Danny
Pawola
|
18th
|
15:58.9
|
Sophomore
|
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Brian
Morenus
|
25th
|
16:15.7
|
Sophomore
|
|
Kevin
Grady
|
28th
|
16:22.8
|
Junior
|
|
2007 Team
Neuqua
Valley
|
26
|
|
|
|
Waubonsie
Valley
|
59
|
|
|
|
St.
Charles North
|
61
|
|
|
|
Lake
Park
|
112
|
|
|
|
East
Aurora
|
144
|
|
|
|
St.
Charles East
|
164
|
|
|
|
Elgin
|
211
|
|
|
|
Streamwood
|
218
|
|
|
|
Bartlett
|
219
|
|
|
|
Larkin
|
290
|
|
|
|
South
Elgin
|
322
|
|
|
|
2007 NV
|
|
|
|
|
Chris
Derrick
|
1st
|
13:57
|
Senior
|
|
Danny
Pawola
|
2nd
|
14:36
|
Junior
|
|
Aaron
Beattie
|
3rd
|
14:37
|
Sophomore
|
|
Bryan
Winek
|
8th
|
14:59
|
Junior
|
|
Kevin
Grady
|
12th
|
15:16
|
Senior
|
|
Josh
Budnik
|
13th
|
15:18
|
Senior
|
|
Connor
Shields
|
30th
|
15:58
|
Junior
|
|
2008 Team
Neuqua
Valley
|
29
|
|
|
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St.
Charles North
|
45
|
|
|
|
Lake
Park
|
78
|
|
|
|
Waubonsie
Valley
|
89
|
|
|
|
St.
Charles East
|
165
|
|
|
|
Bartlett
|
171
|
|
|
|
Elgin
|
194
|
|
|
|
East
Aurora
|
220
|
|
|
|
Streamwood
|
225
|
|
|
|
South
Elgin
|
312
|
|
|
|
Larkin
|
360
|
|
|
|
2008 NV
|
|
|
|
|
Danny
Pawola
|
1st
|
15:04
|
Senior
|
|
Bryan
Winnek
|
3rd
|
15:26
|
Senior
|
|
Brian
Morenus
|
4th
|
15:29
|
Senior
|
|
Luke
Verbus
|
8th
|
15:44
|
Junior
|
|
Connor
Shields
|
13th
|
15:48
|
Senior
|
|
Billy
Klimczak
|
15th
|
15:53
|
Junior
|
|
David
Wing
|
16th
|
16:01
|
Junior
|
|
