Kaneland boys second, Baker leads Sycamore girls

LAKE VILLA – Kaneland’s boys cross country team knew it would not repeat as Class 2A state champion since the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out this year’s IHSA Cross Country State Meet.

The next best thing the Knights could do was finish the season, at Saturday’s Class 2A Lakes Sectional Meet, on top.

Kaneland almost pulled it off, but Crystal Lake Central was just a little better. The Tigers finished with 92 points, while Kaneland, led by Isaiah Dallal’s fifth-place finish took second with 100.

Burlington Central (117) was third and Hampshire (120) took fourth, teaming with Central to give the Fox Valley Conference three of the top four teams.

“They ran their hearts out,” Knights coach Chad Clarey said. “You can’t ask for anything more from your kids than to give their best. We had some big surprises and some great endings. We figured it was going to be a tough battle with Crystal Lake Central and we’re grateful we made it a race with them.”

In the girls race, Lakes’ Brooke Stromsland, who will run at NCAA Division I Belmont next year, won the title by 30 seconds. Stromsland finished in 17:22.63, while Grayslake Central’s Bella Domier (17:52.66) and Crystal Lake South’s Bella Gonzalez (17:54.80) were next.

Because of the pandemic, races were flighted to have fewer competitors on the course at one time. The first flight had teams’ No. 6 and 7 runners in one race, with Nos. 3-4-5 in the next race and Nos. 1-2 and individual qualifiers in the last race for each girls and boys.

Kaneland put its five scoring runners among the top 28 places. Parker Malone was 18th, with Christian Phillipps (22nd), Aaron Ludwig (27th) and Logan Cruz (28th) finishing the scoring.

“All three races had positive things out of every spot,” Clarey said. “All seven spots did exactly what they needed to try to do for the day. It’s a credit to them and a credit to their families. They do the contact tracing and you go back to, ‘Can you have seven kids on the line on the day of (races) without any hiccups?’ Anything you squeeze out of today is just a blessing. We weren’t even going to have a sectional and we got a sectional, and we’re very proud of them.”

Sycamore took 10th on the boys side, with Jack Cambier finishing 22nd in 16:32.78 and Nicholas Kocher 23rd in 16:33.06.

On the girls side for the Spartans, Sycamore was 12th. Lily Baker was 30th in 19:40.40.

The Kaneland girls took eighth, with Olivia Franklin leading the team in 19:45.08 to take 34th.