With 400 meters to go in the Class 2A Lakes Sectional on Saturday, Grayslake Central’s Bryan Vale wasn’t sure he’d be able to catch Grayslake North’s Armani Diaz.
“But I started to pick up, and I realized it was achievable,” Vale said. “I just gave it my all because it’s my last race.”
Vale eventually passed Diaz to finish second overall in 15 minutes, 54.6 seconds, one-tenth of a second faster than the time he posted to win the Antioch Regional on the same course one week earlier. Marian Central Catholic’s Peter Walsdorf won in 15:15.93.
Grayslake Central coach James Centella said Vale was unsure of his game plan going into his last race in the Illinois High School Association’s state series. Centella told the junior to stick with the main pack and let the race develop.
“We’ve run this course the last few weeks in a row, and he always had a good last mile,” Centella said. “I had a feeling he was probably going to finish second. It was exciting. I’m happy for him.”
It also was a great race for Diaz, a junior who finished in 15:55.85 to beat his regional time by about 27 seconds. He said that will push him to improve for next season.
“In the last lap, I was staying with everyone,” Diaz said. “Then toward the end, the (last) 400 meters, I was like, ‘I need to pick it up. I need to start sprinting to get up there.’ “
Grayslake Central freshman Trey Sato finished close behind in fifth place with a time of 16:00.56.
Breaking a tie: Junior Igor Mandziuk didn’t score for Vernon Hills, but he made a significant contribution all the same.
Mandziuk, who finished 63rd in 17:10, was the Cougars’ sixth runner and proved to be the tiebreaker between Vernon Hills and Grayslake Central for sixth place in the team standings, best among Lake County schools in the field. Both teams finished with 176 points.
“He had never run cross country before, and at the beginning of the year he was running over 20 (minutes),” Vernon Hills coach Adam Lueken said of Mandziuk. “The fact he was running 17:10 today was phenomenal.”
Crystal Lake Central won the sectional with 92 points.
Vernon Hills was led by senior Ian Joe, whose time of 16:28.91 was good for 19th. Senior Alex Utsis and freshman Charlie Blackmer finished 35th and 38th, respectively, but were separated by just 0.31 amid a rush of runners.
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“Ian had a great run,” Lueken said. “He beat his time last week by quite a bit. Alex got a cramp, and unfortunately you can’t do much about that. … We’ll miss our seniors, but we’ve got a young team otherwise.”
Warren’s Wiley wins as Lake Zurich takes third: Competing in a loaded Class 3A Hoffman Estates Sectional, Lake Zurich relied on its two senior stars one more time.
Behind Warren junior Luke Wiley, a North Suburban Conference rival who won in 15:07.27, Lake Zurich’s Jacob Myers placed second and teammate Jack Gilboy placed eighth as the Bears finished third with 86 points.
New Trier won the team title with 50, and Barrington was second with 72.
Myers ran with Wiley for most of the race, ultimately crossing the finish line in 15:19.05. Gilboy finished in 15:30.86.
“They’ve gone back and forth all season,” Lake Zurich coach JB Hanson said. “I think we’ve faced them four times. Jack’s won two of them, Jake’s won one and now Wiley’s won one. It’s been fun watching these North Suburban runners compete against each other. They’re some of the top kids in the state.”
Highland Park senior Jason Polydoris, who finished 19th in the state last season, placed 10th in 15:33.
Nick Frazier is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.