St. Peter 7/8th Grade Cross Country Conference Champions

Four meets, four wins and a conference championship tell the story of St. Peter’s 7th and 8th grade 2014 cross country season. Led by eighth grader Will Klaus the team wrapped up their conference season with a win at the championship meet Wednesday evening at Wheeler Park in Geneva. Second place St. Catherine was no pushover, scoring 54 points to St. Peter’s 39. But in the end the St. Peter team ran to win, making the 8th grader’s final meet at their home field even more special.

Klaus held onto third place for nearly the entire race, a place he had gotten used to as the season progressed. With 100 meters to go and the competitors passing behind a grove of evergreens, he made his move. Ten seconds later the runners emerged from the trees with Klaus in a commanding lead. The third place runner from St. Patrick had neither the time or energy to counter the move and Klaus crossed the finish line in elation realizing he was the All Conference runner-up. It was a brilliant strategy that will long be remembered.

Behind Klaus the rest of the tight knit team ran close together as usual and completed their season long journey with a win. Other All Conference champions include Megan Cahill (2nd place), Isabelle Koester (8th place), Joe Mullaghy (4th place), Ben Okolita (8th place) and Aaron Beck (9th place). Dating back to before the 2006 season, the 7/8th grade team has never relinquished their conference champion status.

While there were many individual success stories, the 5/6th grade team placed 3rd for the first time this season. Perennial winner St. Patrick was crowned conference champion for the first time in many years with an impressive score of 28 points. St. Charles Borromeo placed second with 66 points followed by St. Peter in a close third with 72 points. With team leader Landon O’Donoghue sidelined with an injury, Ben Robertson led the way for the Rockets with an All Conference 8th place finish. Other All Conference individual champions included Mary Tork (3rd place), Emily Robertson (7th place), Greta Prange (10th place) and John Paul Koester (10th place). Overall it was a great effort by the 5/6th grade team following an impressive season that brought them within 15 points of St. Patrick at one time.

This Saturday the St. Peter Rockets are in action at the 30 team Fred Martin Invitational at Melas Park in Mount Prospect. There they will compete against a mix of small parochial schools as well as some larger middle schools with a goal of placing in the top ten. Next Saturday the team will test their skills at their 14 team IESA Sectional at Lakewood Forest Preserve in Wauconda. Two conference teams, St. Mary of Sycamore and St. Charles Borromeo of Hampshire are also in St. Peter’s sectional.