Oak Forest HS Kicks Off Inaugural Colonel Madden Mad Dash

The Inaugural Colonel Madden Mad-Dash brought the intensity of a high school cross country race to the streets of Oak Forest. The three races, a fundraiser for the OFHS cross country teams, were run on Saturday, October 7th under warm and windy conditions. The community was able to showcase itself along with Oak Forest High School in what proved to be a fantastic event. The City of Oak Forest Officials and Oak Forest Mayor Hank Kuspa were especially helpful in getting this event off the ground. The race’s namesake, Colonel Kevin Madden, is a 1977 graduate of Oak Forest High School who served on the military briefing staffs of Presidents Bush and Obama.

The first race was the high school boys’ race (pictured above) that became a duel between TF North’s Clarke Criddle and Providence’s Kyle Bell who separated themselves from the rest of the pack coming to the two-mile marker. Bell surged ahead as the two entered the Oak Forest High School campus and held off Criddle in the last 300 meters of the race. Bell’s time of 15:42 started the day impressively. In a close battle, Evergreen Park (51) won the team title by placing 4 finishers in the top 10 to edge TF North (52) and Providence (58). In the boys’ Sophomore race, Mike Reif of Oak Forest won with an impressive time of 16:26. The team title went to TF South (53) who needed their 6th runner to break a tie with Oak Forest (53). The Bengals were 2nd and Providence (67) placed 3rd.

The second race of the day belonged to the high school girls. Just as the first race became a duel, the girls’ race became a duel between Oak Forest’s Jaclyn Latocha and Evergreen Park’s Kayley Burke. Latocha made her move with just over a half of a mile to go and cruised to victory in a career-best time of 19:15. Burke though led her team to the team title as Evergreen Park (40) outdistanced Oak Forest (64) and TF North (84). In the girls’ Sophomore race Emma Kulpinski of Providence cruised to the individual title in 19:57. However, Oak Forest (41) edged Providence (42) and TF South (49) for the team title.

The third race of the day belonged to the community. The community highlight was the return to local action of marathon runner Artus Bareikis of Oak Forest, who ran a stunning 14:42 over the 3-mile course to easily win. The winner in the women’s division was Maggie Kucek of Midlothian who ran an impressive 21:55 to earn the championship.

Division winners were:
Girls 10 & under
1 Felicity Naughton Oak Forest IL
2 Mia Earll Oak Forest IL
Boys 10 & under
1 Johnny Kadolph Darien IL
2 Michael Andruch Mokena IL
Girls 11 to 14
1 Isabella Earll Oak Forest IL
2 Brooke Hale Oak Forest IL
Boys 11 to 14
1 Sean O'Brien Oak Forest IL
2 Aidan Morley Oak Forest IL
Female 15 to 19
1 Maria Para
2 Emily Van Sickle
Male 15 to 19
1 Suhayb Froukh Midlothian IL
2 Jesus Barraza Chicago IL
Female 20 to 29
1 Mercedes Reyes Chicago IL
2 Eugenia Munoz Calumet City IL
Male 20 to 29
1 Erik Perez Calumet City IL
2 Jon Foster Fairwater WI
Female 30 to 39
1 Leah Sullivan Oak Forest IL
2 Jane Ryan Joliet IL
Male 30 to 39
1 Steven Bugarin Hammond IN
2 Tim Sullivan Oak Forest IL
Female 40 to 49
1 Eva Manzke Orland Park IL
2 Jill Rygula Oak Forest IL
Male 40 to 49
1 Donnald Hamrin Oak Forest IL
2 Kevin Fisher Crestwood IL
Female 50 to 59
1 Casey Latocha Oak Forest IL
2 Lisa Howe Crestwood IL
Male 50 to 59
1 Daniel Grubb Crestwood IL
2 Jack Krzesinski Oak Forest IL Top
Male 60 and Over
1 Joseph Manzo Oak Forest IL