Illinois Champions Sandburg XC  (Boys) and Kroy (Girls) Claim Regional Team Titles

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Lily Dozier and Kate Cassady Photos

For the second week in a row, sophomore Andrew Hauser ran a breakthrough performance and established himself as one of the best runners in the country. 

The Rock Bridge Cross Club runner made a big move inside the final 1,000 meters to pull away from Hunter Jones, a three-time state champion in Michigan, and Izaiah Steury, the top entrant from Indiana, at the Nike Cross Midwest Regional. 

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Raked by steady winds, Hauser turned on the gas late and won the boys championship race in 15:44.3. Jones, running unattached (Benzie Central MI) was second in 15:48.6 and Steury, also unattached (Angola IN) was third in 15:53.2. 

"I took it as just another race and it's pretty cool," Hauser said. "I've been coming to this meet for a while, like since seventh grade (for) the middle school race, and it's pretty cool to see what I could do in the high school race."

The course ran about 30-45 seconds slower due to the winds and muddy conditions. 

Sandburg XC Club soundly beat Black Robe Running Club in a clash of US Top 10 teams and state champions from Illinois (Sandburg IL) and Indiana (Brebeuf Jesuit IN). 

US#8 Sandburg was seven seconds faster per scoring member than US#6 Black Robe Running and pulled out a 63-84 victory. Team leader Declan Tunney ran 16:07 for seventh overall and fourth in the team scoring. Sandburg's 1-5 split was 29 seconds. 

Black Robe, competing on the same LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course where it won the Indiana state title two weeks earlier, was 24 seconds slower per scorer in the regional race. 

Rachel Forsyth, who won the Michigan Division 1 title a week ago, proved her mettle in the girls championship race. The sophomore for Purple Track Club (Ann Arbor Pioneer MI) was the strongest in the second half of the race and won it in 17:58.5. 

Another sophomore, Addison Knoblauch of The Spartan Project, was a revelation in second place, completing the course faster than she did two weeks ago at the Indiana state meet, and running 18:11.8.

Lily Cridge, the Indiana state champion and a pre-race favorite, was third in 18:14.3. Two weeks earlier, the Indianapolis Bishop Chatard standout traversed the course in 17:32.7. 

Kroy (US#10 York IL) put three runners into the top 10 of the team scoring and rolled to the championship with 49 points. Prospect Running Club (Mt. Prospect IL) was second with 116 points and Columbus Thorn (US#17 Columbus North IN) was third with 124 points. 

Forsyth and her teammtes, running as individuals due to Michigan association rules, would have produced a team score low enough to win the regional team title.