September 16, 2001
BY TINA AKOURIS STAFF REPORTER
Fenton senior Carlos Mendoza may have been a bit paranoid, but he knew someone was gaining on him as he sprinted toward the chute Saturday at the Warren Cross-Country Invitational in Gurnee.
After looking over his shoulder, he knew he was right. But Mendoza held off Evanston senior Jasen Toussaint by a second, winning in 15:29 to Toussaint's 15:30. Mendoza's teammate Andy Sbertoli was third in 15:31.
Crystal Lake Central won the team title with 40 points, and Fenton was second with 52. Evanston placed third with 91 points.
Sbertoli and Mendoza wanted to slow down the pace, then try to pull away from the pack in the last half-mile for a 1-2 finish. But the race was running slow to begin with, and Toussaint didn't fade from the front. He was able to outkick Sbertoli with about 200 meters to go.
"I was looking over my shoulder to see if [Sbertoli] was going to finish behind me," Mendoza said. "I was surprised, but it wasn't a fast race. I could see why [Toussaint] was right behind us. He stuck with us, and he was the only one who did."
Toussaint credits his improved endurance to the 750 miles of training he did over the summer and his participation at a camp at the University of Illinois.
"That's the most [mileage] I've done throughout high school," Toussaint said. "I'm an 800 [meter] runner and I have a sprinter's-type kick, but I may not have the most endurance. I knew about [Mendoza and Sbertoli] and I knew Fenton had the best 1-2 punch in the state. But I didn't know if I'd be able to beat them."
Crystal Lake sophomore Jacqui Aubert won the girls race in 14:59 and used cheering fans to estimate how far ahead she was of Denisse Valladeres of Hersey, who was second in 15:15.
"I could hear people cheering and when I could hear more, I thought I had to hurry," Aubert said.
*Glenbard South senior Micah VanDenend ran in his first cross-country race in nearly a year after recovering from a stress fracture in his left leg and made quite a debut as he won the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational at Detweiller Park. VanDenend finished in 14:29 and helped the Raiders to the team title with 77 points. Sandburg finished second in the team standings with 181 points, and Oak Park was third with 189.