August 23, 2000
BY TINA AKOURIS STAFF REPORTER
The Donald Sage era at York is over. The most the Dukes' boys cross-country team will see of the former prep legend is an appearance or two at practice before Sage heads off to Stanford at the end of August.
"I've restricted my thinking that the Donald Sage era is over and we have to go back to Square 1," York coach Joe Newton said. "What happened last year will never be repeated. It'll be 50 years before anybody will break the [team] time we ran at state with a 72:32. That was a minute and five seconds faster than any team in history."
The defending state champions, who also scored the lowest point total in state history with 20, will have a new lineup. Newton has seniors Adam Roche, Peter Stasiulis and Jay McGrane returning. Roche finished eighth, Stasiulis 12th and McGrane 73rd at state last season. Roche and Stasiulis are the type of runners who thrive in large invitationals and running under pressure and will need to step up if they are to crack Newton's lineup.
"What's on my mind right now is the state meet," Roche said. "We have a good chance of winning because we have [Stasiulis] and me and McGrane returning. I don't feel I have to live up to Donald Sage because if we can all keep it together, we can be in the top five at state."
The top 10:
1. York: Newton will not rely only on Roche, Stasiulis and McGrane. He can add junior David Kikuchi to the lineup, along with two promising sophomores in Mike Corry and Mike Bourdage. One dark horse who might propel the Dukes later in the season is junior Tim Hobbs, who won the state track title in the 800 meters last spring. Hobbs, who is 6-3, missed last cross-country season with a stress fracture. Newton said the Dukes' main weakness is the absence of a team leader, but he has time to find one. The Dukes' first meet isn't until Sept. 14 against Oak Park and Downers Grove North.
2. Naperville North: Forget the Huskies' 10th-place finish at state last season. Naperville North returns five runners from its 1999 squad: seniors Brian and David Rae and Jeff Levitan and juniors Andre Light and Adam Kendrick. Coach Dave Racey also welcomes freshman Dan Curran.
The difference is a newfound maturity and cohesiveness. Racey's main worry is having runners in the lower part of the lineup step up and score points.
"We do need the other kids to step up in our fourth and fifth spots," Racey said. "But things are going really well right now, and we're faster than we were at this time last year."
3. Schaumburg: The Saxons finished a distant second to York at state last season, but with returning seniors Greg Baker, Pat Rizzo and Preston Tillstrom, they could close the gap. Coach Jim Macnider lost only three of his top 10 runners to graduation. Macnider said Rizzo is his top returnee and should finish in the top 25 at state. Junior twins Matt and Brad Kaplan also rank high.
"Our top five returning runners make us better than last year," Macnider said. "But I have a feeling so is everyone else."
4. Lockport: Seniors Dan Haut, Zac Sartori and Kyle Rago and junior Jake Stout lead the way, but coach Tom Razo needs the rest of his lineup to close the time gap. With all the work Razo's runners did during the summer, Haut and Sartori should not have to carry the load by themselves.
5. Glenbard South: Junior Micah VanDenend raised eyebrows when he finished seventh at the state meet last season, but his teammates might have raised more when they placed sixth. Seniors Andrew Teague, Bob Albertson and Ahmad Rashid provide leadership. Juniors Roger Hsieh and Kevin Kuhlman round out the lineup.
"Micah's a top returner," coach Andy Preuss said. "But [Stagg's] Dan Glaz is back, too, so Micah should be somewhere in that top five."
6. Evanston: Senior William Artope was the Wildkits' highest finisher at the state meet last season, placing 13th. His experience should give his teammates a good example to follow, especially down the stretch.
7. Crystal Lake Central: Senior Matt Legel is pegged to be the team leader, based on his 19th-place finish at state last season. Support comes from senior Chas Bellew and juniors Dave Bell and Zach Fairfield. Coach Bill Eschman knows the juniors are dedicated, but he concedes the Tigers had more depth last season.
"We have to grow on each other and not really [concentrate on] one particular meet this season," Eschman said. "The Palatine Invitational [Sept. 23] is big. We ran really well there last year, but we weren't the same after that because of injuries. We have to go from meet to meet."
8. Downers Grove North: Seniors Mark Baran and Scott Gustafson lead a Mustangs squad that lost top point-getter Todd Quednau to graduation.
9. Wheeling: Coach Mark Saylor doesn't have the luxury of using brothers Erik and Peter Schroll in his lineup this season because they graduated. Senior Frank Velasquez will pick up much of the slack.
10. Naperville Central: There is another Teising in the Redhawks' lineup this season. Junior Adam Teising will take over for older brother Ryan and aim for a top-25 finish.
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THE BEST IN THE AREA
Top returning boys cross-country runners (1999 finish in parentheses):
CLASS AA
Micah VanDenend, Jr., Glenbard South (7); Adam Roche, Sr., York (8); Brian Rae, Sr., Naperville North (9); Dan Haut, Sr., Lockport (10); Peter Stasiulis, Sr., York (12); William Artope, Sr., Evanston (13); Dan Glaz, Sr., Stagg (14); Zac Sartori, Sr., Lockport (15); Matt Legel, Sr., Crystal Lake Central (19); Paul Kulisek, Sr., Woodstock (22); Frank Velasquez, Sr., Wheeling (25); Pat Rizzo, Sr., Schaumburg (28); David Mitchell, Sr., Downers Grove South (31); Carlos Mendoza, Jr., Fenton (32); Greg Baker, Sr., Schaumburg (36); Chris Bosworth, Jr., Lake Park (40); David Rae, Sr., Naperville North (42); Dave Bell, Jr., Crystal Lake Central (49); David Laird, Sr., Sandburg (56); Jason Toussaint, Jr., Evanston (59).
CLASS A
Paul Jellema, Jr., Illiana Christian (3); Shawn Lucas, Jr., St. Edward (8); Henry Norris, Sr., Kaneland (13); Chris Clark, Sr., Kaneland (21); Pat Quinn, Jr., St. Francis (31).