Waubonsie Valley Boys put five in first nine in team win

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

Aurora – Lianna Surtz of Rosary High School had a sizeable lead abut 30 seconds into the Girls Varsity Race at the Aurora City Championships and never looked back.

Get used to that phrase this year. It will be something that you will see often if you watch this runner in a race. The sophomore went on to run 17:22.3 on the rugged Marmion Academy three-mile course Saturday morning.

“My main goal today was to see what I could do in my first race of the year,” Surtz said. “I was just trying to better my time on this course from last year.” The sophomore ran 17:54.6 on this course a year ago at the Royal Cadet Invitational.

Surtz went through the first mile in 5:28 looking comfortable with a smooth stride. The only runner that was staying in “contact” was Waubonsie Valley’s Ashley Heidenrich who was 15 seconds back at the mile. The rest of the pack was 32 seconds behind.

When Surtz went through two-miles, her lead had grown to 30 seconds over Heidenrich. The Waubonsie Valley senior cut that gap down over the final mile crossing the line in 17:43.6.

“I just wanted to be close to her (Surtz) as possible,” Heidenrich said. “It was great to have her their using her as a target. During most of the race, I was just trying to keep the gap as close as possible.”

Metea Valley won the Girls title placing five runners in the first 12 places to win with 39 points. Rosary, who is ranked #6 in Class 1A in the state, finished second with 63 points. Sophia Sandy led the Metea Valley pack finishing third overall. Their split from first runner Sandy and their fifth runner Jenna Boyle (12th) was 76 seconds.

The way that the Waubonsie Valley Boys team will succeed this fall is by some great pack running. The Warriors, ranked #17 in Class 3A, displayed a pack in the front throughout the Boys Varsity Race scored 25 points by placing five runners in the first nine places scoring 25 points. Marmion Academy, ranked #10 in Class 2A, finished second with 62 points led by top 10 finishes from Alex Carlson (sixth) and Anthony Zangler (ninth).

The story of this race was the scene of green Waubonsie Valley jerseys in the front. West Aurora’s Jackson Morrill joined the pack of Wes Beitler, Jackson Bukala, and Zach Benziger in the lead pack for the final mile. Morrill made a move with 800-meters left in the race to capture the individual win (15:41.7) three seconds ahead of Beitler (15:44.2) with Benziger following one second back then Bukala another four seconds behind.

“Our coach (Kevin Rafferty) just told us today to bring our group together,” Beitler said. “We were kind of reserved for the first half of the race. We were just trying to move up during the race as a group. “

Robert Szivak was the team’s fourth runner placing seventh while Nathan Sheppard was the team’s fifth scorer placing ninth. The top five split for Waubonsie Valley was 56 seconds. If you included Frosh/Soph race winner Aidan Oster who ran 16:16, their team split on five would have only been 32 seconds. 

RESULTS | RACE VIDEOS & INTERVIEWS