Eagles Begin Fall Campaign with Two Top-Five Team Finishes, Second Place Varsity Finish at Lake Park

The Eagles opened their 2018 season this past weekend with three top five team finishes at the Harvey Braus Invitational, hosted by Lake Park High School in Roselle, Ill.

The varsity team led the way with a runner-up finish, placing second behind #12 state ranked St. Charles East and twelve points ahead of  #6 ranked Huntley.  

Leading the way was senior captain A.J. Fundator and junior Ryan DeSantis who finished eighth and twelfth, in 15:41 and 15:51 respectively.  With all seven runners medaling, junior Anthony Maida and sophomores Aaron Hou and Andy Niser rounded out the top five for the Eagles, while  junior Ian Bacon and senior Michael Villa completed the top seven.  Bacon, who was taken to the emergency room immediately after the race, fought through the final mile to nab a spot in the top twenty-five, while Villa grabbed one of the final medal positions in twenty-ninth.

In the frosh-soph race, sophomore Michael Sommese took charge for Jones finishing in fifth place, while sophomore Luke Benes also enjoyed a breakout race for thirteenth place, in 10:57.  Sophomore Drew Blackledge was the final medalist in twenty-sixth place.  Sophomores Ned Wojcik and Ryan San Juan were the final Eagle scorers, as San Juan improved four minutes from one year to the next at the same meet, stepping up into the crucial fifth spot to secure a fifth place team finish.  

Leading the way for the Eaglets were the duo of Leo Necheles and Alan Menninger, who broth broke the twelve minute barrier in the first ever high school races, while classmates Alexander Papadopoulos and Peter Flynn also flirted with the barrier, clocking 12:10 and 12:19 respectively.  

At the JV level, junior Baito Sarkiss was the lone medalist for the Eagles with a big seventh place finish 16:49.  Junior newcomer Edward DeKoven made his Jones debut in impressive fashion to finish in the number two spot breaking the eighteen minute barrier in his first three mile race, while junior Eric Hinch was the number three runner.  Rounding out the top five at the JV level were juniors Antony Rizk and Colin Greiner, who also contributed to a fifth place finish in the team standings.  

The Eagles will return to action this weekend with a limited roster attending the  Bill Dortch-Harry Carlson Invitational hosted by Libertyville High School at Adler Park.