Romano, Prenzler pace Tigers to third-place sectional finish, Redbirds, Warriors also compete

Oct 31, 2016 10:20 AM Oct 31, 2016 10:58 AM

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EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville’s boys cross country team scored 100 points Saturday afternoon to place third in the IHSA Class 3A Edwardsville Sectional meet at SIU-Edwardsville's course and advance as a team for next weekend's IHSA state meet at Detweiler Park in Peoria.

Minooka swept both the boys and girls team championships on the day Granite City was 14th on the boys’ side with 355 points; the Redbirds were 15th on the boys side at 364 points. The Warriors' Andrew O'Keefe advanced to the state meet as an individual with a 14th-place finish, the only GCHS and area runner to do so (the top five teams and top seven individuals on non-qualifying teams moved into the state meet).

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The Tigers' Franky Romano led the way with a fourth-place finish at 16:13.86, with Roland Prenzler right behind in 15th at 16:36.38 as the Tigers reached the state meet after missing out of last year's meet.

“Having kids like that who are just phenomenal and having them race with me and push me really helps me,” Romano said of his finish, “mentally push myself more and physically push me.”

“I was on the hill (on the back of the course) and a lot of guys fell back; they didn't know how to do it (attack the hill),” Prenzler said.

“I felt Franky would be able to get into the top five,” Tigers' head coach George Patrylak said. “He had a solid race. If you look at the Franky from the beginning of the year who was finishing about that place in the regular invitationals to now, he's running with much more confidence; he ran well.

“Roland ran well, just a little bit off of his split has been with Franky the last few weeks; Jack (Pifer) had a solid race for us as a freshman. We had an OK day, 13 points out of first; it's bittersweet. I'm sure we're one of the only teams in the state where, if you look at our roster – a junior, four sophomores and two freshmen and a third-place finish and a state qualifier – you can't complain; it shows you what we're going to look forward to in the future. I'm happy for the boys, but hopefully they realize how close they were and how good of a team they are.”

Andrew O'Keefe's reaching of the state meet pleased Skirball, but his brother Will missing out on the meet as a senior made the day what Skirball called “bittersweet”.

“In two years as a freshman and sophomore, it's the second time he's been able to qualify,” Skirball said. “The whole race, he was in the top 20 and that was a huge thing for him. He's got huge confidence and he's got the perfect mixture where he's got a lot of confidence, but he remains humble the entire time. He doesn't fear anyone, but respects his competition.

“He's just a great kid and very deserving; he puts in all the work, all the little things and he's just an amazing talent; no one deserves it more than him to go back to the state meet.”

While Andrew's reaching of the state meet was great, Skirball would have loved to see Will O'Keefe (who finished 49th in 17:18.40, just missing reaching the state meet as an individual) make it as well. “It's bittersweet, and I know Andrew feels the same way,” Skirball said. “Will O'Keefe's a great runner; the fact that he just missed (reaching the state meet) does not diminish that one bit. The story is still to be told for Will; he had some rough patches throughout the fall, but that's going to translate into success, and he'll be back, whether that manifests in the spring when he runs track or down the line when he races in college or somewhere in life, there's an important lesson that he's going to take from this.

“He's remained very humble and very supportive of his brother and that's an awesome thing to see.”

Evan Rathgeb led the Redbirds on the day with a 40th-place finish in 17:10.31, followed by Arie Macias (72nd in 17:51.73), Kelvin Cummings (79th in 18:01.07), Cassius Havis (92nd in 18:18.20) and Sam Gentelin (110th in 18:47.07). For the Warriors outside the O'Keefes, Leo Nikonowicz was 99th in 18:27.93; Kariem Ali was 112th in 18:59.25; and Aiden Sampson was 114th in 19:03.91.

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Minooka's Soren Knudsen took the individual title with a time of 15:48.21.

Edwardsville's Jack Pifer and Dan Powell. (Photo by Dan Brannan)

BOYS TEAM RESULTS

Minooka (89), O'Fallon (96), Edwardsville (103), New Lenox Lincoln-Way East (111), Yorkville (129), Yorkville (165), Frankfort Lincoln-Way West (187), New Lenox Lincoln-Way Central (194), East Moline United (236), Joliet Central (254), Pekin (324), Moline (330), Tinley Park Andrew (343), Granite City (355), Alton (364), Belleville East (403), Homewood-Flossmore (404), Belleville West (511); Chicago Heights Bloom, Bradley-Bourbonnaise, Collinsville, Normal Community, Quincy, Rock Island and Lansing Thornton Fractional South ran individuals

TOP TEN

Soren Knudsen, Minooka (15:48.21); Evan Mitchell, New Lenox Lincoln-Way East (16:07.34); Noah Heady, New Lenox Lincoln-Way East (16:09.52); Franky Romano, Edwardsville (16:13.86); Lenny Bauman, Bradley-Bourbonnais (16:14.17); Christopher Conrad, O'Fallon (16:17.81); Dalton Martin, East Moline United (16:18.68); Joey Black, O'Fallon (16:25.96); Scott Platek, New Lenox Lincoln-Way East (16:27.98); Brett Gardner, New Lenox Lincoln-Way East (16:29.82)

INDIVIDUAL STATE QUALIFIERS

Evan Mitchell, New Lenox Lincoln-Way East (16:07.34); Lenny Bauman, Bradley-Bourbonnais (16:14.17); Dalton Martin, East Moline United (16:18.68); Tyler Dunn, Normal West (16:31.32); John Stiglic, Frankfort Lincoln-Way West (16:31.11); Andrew O'Keefe, Granite City (16:34.05); Ryan Taylor, Frankfort Lincoln-Way West (16:48.41)

AREA RUNNERS

EDWARDSVILLE: Franky Romano, fourth (16:13.86); Roland Prenzler, 15^th (16:36.38); Jack Pfifer, 19^th (19:47.33); Dan Powell, 24^th (16:53.79); Max Hartmann, 45^th (17:05.01); Zach Walters, 54^th (17:32.38); Todd Baxter, 94^th (18:23.62)

GRANITE CITY: Andrew O'Keefe, 14^th (16:34.05); Will O'Keefe 49^th (17:18.40); Leo Nikonowicz, 99^th (18”27.93); Kariem Ali, 112^th (18:59.25); Aiden Sampton, 114 (19:03;01); Tyler Tindall, 133^rd (20:17.10); Donald James, 138^th (22:16.23)

ALTON: Evan Rathgeb, 40^th (17:01.31); Arie Macias, 72^nd (17:51.53); Kelvin Cummings, 79^th (18:01.07); Cassius Havis, 92^nd (18:18.20); Sam Gentelin, 110^th (18:47.07; Zak Wilson, 120^th (19:16.41); Ben Lewis 132^nd (20:07.11)Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.