ETHS Runners Take First Step On Postseason Path

The Illinois High School Association sent Evanston’s runners on a different path to a possible trip to the state finals this season.

So far, so good.

Three Wildkit boys --- Henry O’Malley, Jack Kleinschmit and Sam Froum --- scored top 20 finishes as individuals and will be joined at the sectional by a full squad of ETHS girls following regional competition Saturday at Oak Park-River Forest.

Up against unfamiliar --- and some might say tougher --- competition in a bid to keep their seasons alive, Evanston rose to the occasion for the most part and took a successful first step.

Close didn’t count for the boys team, which fell two points shy of moving the entire team on to the Class 3A Lake Park Sectional next Saturday and placed 7th overall in the 13-team field. The girls, meanwhile, claimed the final qualifying team berth with a 6th place effort.

Host Oak Park dominated the boys competition at Schiller Woods, totaling 60 points to cruise past qualifiers York (88), Chicago Mather (114), Glenbard West (115) and Lane Tech (120).

Central Suburban League South division rival Maine South edged Evanston 142-144 for the final spot.

“I just have to take my hat off to Maine South and to their coaching staff,” sighed Evanston head coach Donald Michelin Jr. “On paper coming in, I thought we’d be anywhere from 2nd to 6th. But somehow they got their guys --- especially their No. 3, 4 and 5 guys --- to really run up to their capabilities. And Lane Tech ran great, too. Those other teams really stepped up to the challenge.

“Our guys did to the letter the times we wanted from them on paper. I was proud of all of them. We were missing two guys (Arber Bombaci and Patrick Tu) with injuries but I’m pretty proud of the times we ran. We’ll have to run even faster at the sectional.”

On a 3-mile course that featured one steep hill near the start, O’Malley churned out a 16th place finish in 15 minutes, 36.86 seconds. Kleinschmit was close behind, 18th in 15:41.01, and Froum placed 20th in 15:44.39.

Next best for the Wildkits were juniors Emmitt Wilson, 37th in 16:08.12, and Eli Coustan, 53rd in 16:50.86.

O’Malley hasn’t always been the leader of the Evanston pack this fall, a dynamic that hasn’t bothered his head coach much. Michelin Jr. prefers the pack approach to the sport and doesn’t really mind if a frontrunner doesn’t emerge.

On the other hand, he’s urged O’Malley to run from the front ever since early in 2023.

“He’s been fluctuating between the No. 1 and No. 4 spots in the pack,” the coach explained. “Jack (Kleinschmit) has been our MVP most of the year but the guys in that pack are really so equal.

“Henry was uncomfortable running from the front early in the season --- for some reason, he wasn’t attacking the race --- and I encouraged him to go back to that strategy. We needed him to set a faster tone for the rest of the guys. It was good to see him have the stamina to stay up there Saturday for all 3 miles.

“All 3 of our guys have experience running in the postseason and they’ll have to pull from that experience at the sectional. They all have what it takes to qualify for State, but it will take their best effort. We haven’t run times in the mid-15s since the Warren Invitational (second week of the season) and we’re looking to peak next Saturday.”

On the girls side, injuries and illness kept Evanston’s lineup in a state of flux right up until race time, according to head coach Beth Arey. A courageous effort by No. 2 runner Rory Malia, who ran with her injured knee in a brace, and senior Isabel Rosenberg’s career best performance combined to deliver another week of competition against the elite runners in the state for ETHS.

York (17 points), Glenbard West (86), Maine South (90), Oak Park (94) and Lane Tech (146) claimed the first 5 team spots. Evanston’s total of 147 easily outpaced the next best team, Chicago Taft at 209.

Junior Stella Davis scored an 8th place finish, timed in 17:59.97, and the Kits also counted Malia (22nd in 19:05.90), junior Sammy Schuneman (31st in 19:31.21), sophomore Sam Caldwell (40th in 20:16.67) and Rosenberg (46th in 20:56.24).

Malia, a sophomore, was a profile in courage after developing a knee issue similar to the one endured by Arey back in her days as a high school runner. “Rory was really the wild card coming in,” Arey declared. “I didn’t even know after seeing her work out if she’d be able to finish the race. She wasn’t able to have a full-on practice all week, and I had to pull her out of practice a couple of times because she was limping.

“Rory’s worked so hard and she wants it so badly. She’s going to do some cross training in the pool this week (with boys track coach Don Michelin Sr.) and we’ll see how much that helps.”

Evanston’s usual No. 5 finisher, Sophia Hinton, was sidelined by an illness. That just gave Rosenberg a chance to shine in what could have been the last race of her high school career.

“She had a personal best, a season best, a career best time, whatever you want to call it,” Arey said. “She really stepped up and did everything she could do. And I think Sam Caldwell is back on track now, too. She was sick a couple of weeks ago but now she feels more like herself again.”

Davis finished 30 seconds behind the winner, Margaret Owens of York, but that was partly by design. Arey didn’t want the talented junior to risk not qualifying as an individual in case the Kits didn’t make it out as a team.

She’ll take the reins off for the sectional run.

“We made a point all week of telling Stella not to try to lead in that race,” said Arey. “She’s done that in just about every race this year, but we knew York’s talent. She needed to make sure she was one of the top 5 individuals (if ETHS fell short) and I was afraid if she went out too fast, she might not be able to hang on.

“She did great Saturday. She was right where we needed her to be.”