L-W Central, East, North and West Cross-Country Teams Meet in Channahon

Most everyone with any sort of affiliation with girls and boys cross country at any of the four Lincoln-Way high schools were at Channahon Community Park on Tuesday for the Southwest Suburban Conference Preseason Meet.

The meet served as an early-season opportunity for runners to race against other in competition without any pressure, since the meet will mean nothing in the standings.

was the top performing school from District 210 among the girls, barely edging Lincoln-Way East, 107 to 109.

In fact, Lincoln-Way schools finished in third through sixth place. was fifth with a 132 and was sixth with a 179. Sandburg was the top girls team, nipping Lockport 46 to 48.

Natalie Waters paced Lincoln-Way West to third place as she finished in fifth place with a 19:36.8 and Toni Fiore, one of the team captains, took 15th with a 20:16.8.

"Compared to our last race, this one was so much better," Fiore said. "This surface of this course is great. It's not too hilly and I just feel a whole lot better than I did last time."

Lincoln-Way West senior Abby Hedlin, who is also a captain, took 36th with a 21:13.4. She noted how the inexperienced runners on the team already showed growth.

"I think some of the younger ones didn't know what to expect the first time out there," Hedlin said. "This was much better. I know I felt empowered and didn't want to slow down."

received a pair of Top 10 finishes, as Nicole Nepote was sixth (19:43.1) and Kaley McLawhorn claimed 10th (20:05.7).

"I was really happy with how things went," Nepote said. "We kept pushing—the whole team did. And this is a great course, we've been running it since middle school."

McLawhorn, the lone Lincoln-Way East runner to get to state last year, battled a cramp midway through the race but still finished strong.

"It hurt, but I pushed through it," she said.

Abby Madden (20:21.4) and Olivia Beggs (20:55.9) also had notable efforts for the Griffins.

"We think we can make a run to state with our top four," Nepote said. "I know it's just the beginning of the year, but we're working hard now."

Lincoln-Way Central junior Alena Pacheco finished in fourth place, crossing the finish line in 19:32.3.

“It's still very early in the season, but this course is nice and fast, so I was pleased," she said. "I know I can still get my time down."

Lincoln-Way Central was short-handed, as Heidi Killinger, Meghan Killinger and J.J. Robinson all missed the race because of injuries. Mallory Johnson took 17th place with a 20:20.5 for the Knights.

"We're a little banged up and were without three of our top seven," Knights coach Matt Bowden said. "But the girls that ran, they ran admirably, so I thought things went pretty well."

Lincoln-Way North's top runners were Dena Waldier (20:39.8) and Caitlin Broderick (20:41.4), who finished in 24th and 25th place, respectively.

"I thought the girls ran a good race," Phoenix coach Brooke Vesely said. "We're still teaching a lot of the girls what cross country is all about, and we're young. I don't know what it is, but we've got 19 juniors this year."

Lincoln-Way East and West Boys Tie for 2nd Place

Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West tied for second place in the boys competition with a pair of 98s. Lockport claimed first place with an 86.

Lincoln-Way East’s Griffins were without two-time state qualifier Tom Rotondi, but still finished among the top teams. Junior Luke Johnston was 14th with a 17.16.2 to pace the Griffins, followed by Eric Padgett (17.22.5), Ben Hedges (17:34.3) and Alex Gilmore (17.37.1).

"We went out to just have a good first race with our legs fresh," Johnston said. "We felt pretty good today and we feel like we have a good team. This was a nice start for us, even without Tom (Rotondi)."

Mark Pedziwiatr led Lincoln-Way West, taking eighth place with a 16.42.5. Trevor Jablonski (17.26.2), Billy Crimmins (17.41.0) and Chris Hunsaker (17.58.4) also had strong races for the Warriors.

Lincoln Way Central's Dru Rozewicki (16:41.5) led the way for the Knights, taking seventh place, and Nate Stefka was 13th with a 17:07.2.

Still, the Knights were left out of the team standings because they had only four finishers.

"It's early in the season and we've got a lot of young guys," Knights coach John Taylor said. "It was nice for the older guys, like junior captain Dru Rozewicki, and it gave me a chance to see which guys got in their summer miles. Now we'll look forward to hopefully having a great season."

Lincoln-Way North finished in eighth place. Denton Wallace took 16th place with a 17:17.5 and Matt Mugavero was 31st with a time of 17:47.0 to pace the Phoenix.

"They're our two varsity returnees and then we only have seven other returnees," Phoenix coach Tom Gavin said. "I asked our guys to be within 15 to 30 seconds of their PR or their score from the first meet last year. All but two did that, so I couldn't have asked for anything more."