Wildcat Invitational Recap

Getting to run on our home course always bring something special. Saturday, the Wildcats had that chance at the 53^rd Annual Wildcat International. The conditions were perfect, the weather was great, the course was immaculate, and the vibes were high.

The first race of the day features two runners and both ran very strong races. Nessa Rodriguez led the way in her first race of the year. Kylie DeFano followed with strong run and a season best time.

The frosh/soph boys were next. A tight pack of 3 led the way with Emerson Raino and Jimmy Gutmann both having break out races with nearly 1 minute PRs, both earning medals. Joey DesGarennes also joined in the fun with a medal winning performance. Noah Deluna ran a season best time. Brayden Lane and Sebastian Fuglestad rounded out the scoring as they both ran lifetime PRs. Blake Miller and Cole Novotny also got in on the PR action and have reached a new level with their racing.

The varsity girls were next on the morning. Brooke Rochacz took a big swing in her race plan and it paid off in a big way, finishing 10^th overall, in a PR time, earning a medal and running the 2^nd fastest time a Wildcat has run on this course. Poppy Hohman stepped up as a 2 runner with a PR and earning Runner of the Week in the process. Sam Norville followed in with a PR. Ashlynn Sabatini continues her sparkling season with another PR. Aalyiah Banda rounded out the race with a PR as well.

The varsity boys were led by medal winner, Spencer Kazak, who ran a PR in the process. Dom Barrios just dipped under his lifetime PR to be the 2^nd Wildcat in. Aiden Churchill continued his amazing fall, with another negative split PR performance. Guilan Salas also ran a strong PR to finish up the race for the Wildcats.

The open boys were led by medal winners Will Carter and Colton Schoutteet who both ran lifetime PRs. Colton dropped nearly 5 minutes from his race on Tuesday! Richard Rogers was next in, with a big PR. Joseph Santa Cruz continues with big improvement, running a lifetime PR. Antoni Wiechec has made huge leaps this summer, in July he broke 10 for the first time in the mile, Saturday he ran 24:17 for 3 miles! Santiago Zavala ran a 5:00 PR as the next Wildcat to finish. Matthew Hansen continues to push himself and get better as he improved over 2 minutes from Tuesday. Luke Jensen had an epic race as the next to finish with nearly a 2 minute PR as well. Chris Coria got in on the PR action, with a nice drop in time from Tuesday as well. Vlad Montes finished up the PRs for the Wildcats with over a 2 minute PR from Tuesday!

The team is back in action on Saturday at the Joliet Steelman Invitational.

Fun with stats: 21 athletes improved from Tuesday (City Championship) to Saturday (Wildcat Invitational) here are those numbers. 

City to Wildcat Improvement