2000 Season Summary

The 2000 running Raiders went into the season with high expectations because they returned 5 runners from the team that placed 6th in the state. The year started off well with a dual meet win over Glenbard West. The Raiders continued to run strong with a win at the Big Cat Invitational. Although Micah Vandenend won the individual title, he injured himself and would not return for the rest of the season. Vandenend was among the favorites to win the individual state title, and his loss hurt the team. The team continued to train hard without Micah, and they still placed 5th at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational, 2nd at the St. Charles Best Invitational, and 2nd at the St. Charles Regional. Many poor performances combined with the loss of Micah caused the Raiders to place 7th at the Willobrook sectional. Not qualifying for state was very disappointing, but the team still accomplished a great deal. The loss of Micah caused two freshmen (Eric Mactaggart and Kyle Nugent) to run on Varsity and showcase their talents. There was an extremely large and talented freshmen class of runners, and although the Raiders will be young in 2001, they should be competitive in every meet including the state series.

more detailed summary coming soon...

1999 Season Summary

The 1999 cross-country season brought many highs and lows for the Raiders. The team did not just start running on August 16, but most top 7 members trained all summer. The amount of running done by the team took much dedication and hard work. All runners accomplished something this season, as well as had their bad races.

The Raiders went into the district 87 meet with confidence because of the high summer mileage. The team also returned 5 of their top 7 runners from the 1998 sectional qualifying team. They may have been over - confident. There were many poor performances, and the Raiders thought they had lost to Glenbard North for a few minutes after the race. Bobby Albertson collapsed a few meters before the finishing chute, but he got up and finished 14th which gave the Raiders the win. Micah VanDenend led the team with the individual win; Qasim Rashid, Andrew Teague, and Anthony Assad were also in the top 10. The team did not seem as strong as it was cracked up to be.

With Bobby collapsing, he sat out the next meet. The Raiders would miss his speed, but they would run the rest of the season as if they would not have him. The team was determined to show they were at least as good as the 11th ranked team in the state as put by the Chicago Tribune. Instead of running up to their potential, the Raiders choked and finished 5th at Big Cat. There were several bad performances, which could have been due to a lack of summer running. The team was devastated because they were supposed to be a top 10 team in state, and instead they were losing to teams that were weaker than themselves. The team went from finishing 2nd in 1998, to 5th in 1999. Coach Pruess said he was not worried, and he also felt the team could meet their expectations.

The Raiders had an easy time defeating Morris and Minnoka, which always seem to be in the "rebuilding stage." The Raiders placed 8 out of the top 9. 4th place finisher D'Oranzio form Morris was the only runner to break up the Raider's pack. The final scores were GS 17: Morris 46, and GS 15:Minooka 50. The wins brought the teams confidence a little higher.

The next meet was the Notre Dame Invite, which was the same course as the state meet. Lead by award winners Vandenend (3rd) and Qasim Rashid (36th), the Raiders took 7 th out of 40 teams. It was a big jump from last years 22nd place finish, but the team knew there was much room for improvement. Anthony Assad had an extremely strong race, and he rebounded from his poor performance at Big Cat. The running Raiders were starting to runner better, but they still had a long way to go.

Feeling more confident, the Raiders destroyed Batavia and Oswego. The team had a perfect score against both teams. VanDenend, Q. Rashid, Teague, A. Rashid, and Albertson went 1-5 respectively. The team was now 7-0 in dual meets, and 4-0 in the SPC. Ahmad Rashid stepped up from being the teams 6th man to the 4th man. VanDenend was also still undefeated in dual meets.

The Raiders returned to their old home course, Newton Park, for the first time that season. Having their best race of the year, the Raiders took 2nd out of 11 teams, only losing to Downers Grove North. It was a great improvement over last years last place finish, and the best team placing since 1989 when they lost to York. They beat many strong teams such as Naperville North, Naperville Central, and Wheaton North. VanDenend finished second to Teising of NC; Q. Rashid, Teague, Assad, and Albertson rounded off the scoring.

The Raiders hosted the Junior Varsity "Raider Invitational." Awards were given to the top 15 runners of the freshmen, sophomore, and JV races. The course was at Sunset Knoll and was 2.36 miles for all races. Scott Beranich finished 14th with a time of 15:16 in the freshmen race. Roger Hsieh finished 2nd with a time of 13:31, and Rob Hanauer finished 10th with a time of 13:57 in the sophomore race. Jeremy Quill finished 5th with a time of 13:43, and Mike Huntenburg finished 7th with a time of 13:51 in the JV race. Although the teams did not win any race, there were many strong performances.

The Crete-Monee Pow-Wow was the next invitational. The race scores the top seven runners of each team, and each runner is run in a different flight. The Raiders finished 10th out of 52 teams, but they should have run better. Each runner of the team came home with an award, weather a trophy, medal, or ribbon. The scoring went Flight 7-20th, Flight 6- 11th, Flight 5-9th, Flight 4-7th, Flight 3-11th, Flight 2-7th, and Flight 1-6th for a total of 74 points. The team lost to Oak Park by only one point.

The Raiders finished off their dual meet season at home. They were missing Bobby Albertson and were facing a tough Geneva team. It would be hard to defeat Geneva and have a perfect dual meet record without Bobby . As it turned out Geneva was missing their top 2 runners, and the meet was also run with 3 other DVC teams. The final scores were GS 21: Geneva 38, and GS 19: Plainfield 42. This was the first time ever the Raiders had a perfect dual meet season. Van Denend was undefeated in dual meets; Q. Rashid, Teague, Hsieh, and Assad rounded off the scoring. Hsieh went from the teams 7th runner to the 4th. The Raiders were pleased with their undefeated dual meet season.

Albertson returned for the St. Charles Best Invite, but Anthony Assad missed the meet. The team finished 5th out of 6 teams. Many of the teams were ranked in state, and the absence of Assad also hurt. The Raiders were only 14 points from 2nd place. VanDenend won the race and set a "temporary " course record of 15:03. That made him the Chicago Tribune Athlete of the week. Q. Rashid (7th) and Teague (17th) also won awards and ran well. Albertson and Quill finished the scoring. Quill had a strong performance and went form the teams 8th runner to the 5th. The teams seemed ready for the SPC meet at Minooka.

The Raiders have been close to winning a conference championship many times, but had lost by a few points each race. The team ended that losing streak by winning the SPC championship. The Raiders dominated the race by placing 5 in the top 10. Micah VanDenend led the team with an individual championship. Qasim Rashid, Andrew Teague, Bobby Albertson, and Tony Assad also earned all-conference honors. Tony became the first Raider runner to earn all-conference honors all 4 years. The Raiders beat second place Geneva by 21 points, and they looked ready for the Regional meet.

The Raiders advanced to the sectional meet for the 13th time with a second place finish at the St.Charles regional. Regional medallist Micah VanDenend led the way with a 2nd place finish. Qasim Rashid, Andrew Teague, Tony Assad, and Bobby Albertson rounded out the scoring. The Raiders were finally running close to their potential and were redeeming themselves for bad performances earlier in the season.

The Raiders finally met their expectations by qualifying for the IHSA State meet for only the 3rd time in school history. The 1993 and 1994 teams were the only other teams to qualify for state. The team placed 2nd in the Wheaton North sectional, only losing to the #1 ranked York Dukes. Sectional Medallist Micah VanDenend ran strong with a 5th place finish. Qasim Rashid, Tony Assad, Andrew Teague, and Bobby Albertson helped lock in the 2nd place finish. The team hoped to finish in the top 10 at state because they were ranked 11th in the last prep top times rankings.

The Raiders finished the 1999 season with a great performance at the state meet. The team finished 6th, and they missed a state trophy by only 16 points. The Raiders boys cross country team had the best finish in school history of ANY sport. Micah VanDenend earned All-State honors with a 7th place finish. His time of 14:37 for three miles is the fastest in school history. Micah is also the number 1 returnee for the 2000 cross country season. Qasim Rashid, Andrew Teague, Bobby Albertson, and Anthony Assad also helped score for the Raiders. The Raiders beat many teams that they had lost to during the season, and most of the teams that had beat the Raiders during the season hadn't even qualified for the state meet! Qasim Rashid and Jeremy Quill finished off their high school cross country careers with personal records. Senior Anthony Assad also ran his best race of the season.

The Raiders had a very successful cross country season, and it was well deserved for their hard work. Although the team did not perform well at the beginning of the season, they stepped up when it counted. When other teams started to drop off and get worse, the Glenbard South raiders continued to improve. With 5 of the top 7 returning and some new tough freshmen (next year), the 2000 cross country team should be even better than this years. With a state trophy in mind, the Raiders will train hard and strive to be the best. The future looks very bright.........

By: Roger Hsieh