Barrington High School Cross Country

Don't Forget, we missed qualifying for State by One Point . . .

10/31 - IHSA Schaumburg Sectional

Photo by Tom Root

Team Places 7th

In what was a heartbreaking day for the program, our guys missed qualifying for the State Championship by one point. Palatine won the meet (64 points) followed by Prospect (97 points) and Cary Grove was third (124). That's where it got interesting. Fremd ran a great race without Senior standout Andy Mack and placed fourth with 173 points. Schaumburg and Lake Zurich tied for fifth at 174 points and we finished just out of the pack at 175 points. It was a great race and some very deserving teams are representing our area. Palatine and Prospect are trophy contenders. Cary Grove has a strong team and a great individual in Phil Fairleigh. Fremd overcame some late season bad luck with flu and injury to qualify as a very deserving team. We had previously beaten Schaumburg twice but they are always ready when it counts the most. Lake Zurich has now established themselves as a program to be reckoned with. All the teams are very deserving and should be congratulated.

Peterson Qualifies Individually

The bright spot for our team was that Erik Peterson (#243, third from left) qualified as an individual as a sophomore. This is a great accomplishment for Erik. Although I know he would prefer to have his team with him, he recognizes the great opportunity he has and will be ready to go on Saturday.

Where Do We Go From Here?

We can spend the off season thinking about the million ways we could have scored one point better, we can beat ourselves up over missing state by such a close margin, or we can use this as motivation to get even better. We always say we want to be one of the best programs in the state and this should show us that we are right there. We are so close, now is the time to rededicate ourselves and learn from past mistakes. Overall, we had a great season and I couldn't be more proud of our team. This group is dedicated and hard working and deserving of the success they acheived. There is a very bright future for this team should we chose to go after it. Remember, the only thing we can control at this point is how we move forward. Where do we go from here?

10/17 - MSL Conference Championship

3rd Across the Board

Saturday was the day we have been looking forward to all year. Each year we make it our number one goal to have our best day as a program on Conference Championship Saturday and this year we met our goal. We placed third on all three levels behind perennial powerhouses Palatine and Prospect. These two programs are at the top every year and they again had too much fire power for us to overcome. We run in the toughest conference in the state of Illinois and I wouldn't have it any other way. Palatine and Prospect are ranked 4th and 5th in state so every week we get to measure ourselves against the best the state has to offer.

Varsity Results

In the varsity race our guys were aggressive from the start. Coming down the hill on the first loop, 800 meters in, Peterson, Cogswell, and Dockery were all in the top five. I have to admit I was a little worried at this point as I knew it was a long race and I've seen aggressive teams in the past fade in mile 2 and 3. They settled in and came through the mile comfortably in the top ten. Peterson held on to finish 4th (15:43) in the surprise race of the day. We all knew he could do well but top 5 in the MSL as a sophomore is territory reserved for the all-time greats. Cogswell continued to improve after a few bad races and finished 12th (16:01). Dockery paid a price for the early move and finished 20th (16:10). All-conference is a great honor and I know Dockers has a better race in him. Wojo, Foley and Eiring followed but further back than I had hoped at that point. They were running in the 40s at the mile. Our plan was to move up during the second mile and Nolan moved from 49th at the mile to finish 28th overall (16:25), just missing all-conference honors. Karl moved as well going from 48th at the mile to 35th at the finish (16:36). Foley faded badly from 51st to 62nd (17:19) and didn't look comfortable the entire race. Graves (17:10, 56th) ran well again and he is starting to put together a streak of fine races. After returning from injury he has pieced together the first two miles and now we can work on finishing for a complete race.

Frosh/Soph Results

In the frosh/soph race, the 'Young Ryans' led the way again as Ryan Sarkar (8th, 17:06), Ryan Burgoon (9th, 17:06), and Ryan Skelly (18th, 17:24) all finished in the top 20. Sarkar had his best race of the year and got stronger as the race went on. As other runners were fading and looking tired, Ryan seemed to gain energy with each stride. Ryan Burgoon and Ryan Skelly were the 1st and 4th best freshman in the conference showing that our program has a promising future. Behind the big three, Mark Gensburg (22nd, 17:28), Kevin Eiring (42nd, 18:08), Kevin Gordon (43rd, 18:10), and Mike Rappleye (55th, 18:28) rounded out the top 7. These guys continue to improve every week. Still, we need to close that gap between 3 and 4 to score well in the future. Other runners of note, Phil Quarfoot ran the race of his life (58th, 18:31) and for a while looked like he would finish in the top 25. He was aggressive from the start and put it all out there on a big day. Kerry Frank, Ryan Sobb, Henry Wilson, Ron Gierlach, and Ted Staros continue to improve each week. Every year, someone who was not a top runner as a freshman makes great improvements in the off-season and surprises everyone next year. I have great expectations for all of our young runners.

10/13 - Alumni Update

Coach Root breaks 3 hours in the Chicago Marathon

Tom Root (Class of '04) ran the Chicago marathon in a personal best 2:56 on Sunday. We've all seen Coach Root training, was there any doubt he would do well? Congratulations Tom, and thanks for reminding our young runners to set and acheive goals. Hard work does pay off!

Dan Quarfoot thrives at Ohio University

Ohio University Article

Here is an alumni update on Dan Quarfoot (Class of '08) who is performing well at Ohio Universtiy. Dan (on the right) has become his school's number one runner as a sophomore. Check out the article in the above attachment. Way to go Dan!

10/10 - Wheeling Invite

Wheeling serves as final tune-up before Conference

Varsity Results

Since the MSL went to a five week dual meet schedule we have looked forward to the Wheeling Invite as our last meet before the state series. We like to use this meet to put together what we think will be our varsity line-up in the Conference Championship and see how things go. The plan is to start putting it all together for a run at the State meet in November. That's the plan anyway. With Cogswell taking the SAT and Peterson and Eiring out for precautionary reasons we needed some others to step up and fill some big shoes. They were up to the challenge finishing 5th in what proved to be a tough competition. Lake Zurich was back to early season form and won the meet with 71 points. Top AA ranked, Belvidere North was second and Buffalo Grove stepped up to grab third proving once again that no MSL school can be underestimated. Buffalo Grove is well coached and hungry and we can't assume anything next week.

Kyle Dockery (15:31) had his best race of the year and led our team with a 5th place finish. This is our highest individual finisher ever at this meet and the fastest time recorded since we started racing here in 2007. Behind Dockery, our pack was together but a little too far back. Nolan and Foley ran together again finishing close (28th, 16:12 & 36th, 16:19). Ryan Graves proved his early season injuries are behind him as he ran just off Foley the entire race finishing a strong 44th (16:28). Eric Schneider continued to prove he is more than a half miler as he rounded out our top 5 with a 16:38 (56th). We had a 2-5 split of 26 seconds which is strong but, again, we are too far back to make noise at the highest level. Its time for us to get aggressive and put our best race together. Our pack has been our strength all year but we need to move the entire group up if we are going to be successful this week. It seems like each week one or two runners steps up and has a big race and we will need everyone to do this if we are going to meet our goals.

Open Runners Finish 4th

Open Results

At each big invite, the open race is something I really look forward to. The open race represents everything that is great about cross country. These guys don't get a lot of publicity but they work hard every day to get better and make our team better. The open race gives us a chance to show our program's depth and numbers. This group ran hard and finished 4th in what was a tough race. Ryan Tsiao led the way with a 12th place finish (17:03). Ryan led for a good portion of the early race showing a bold and aggressive running style. Behind Ryan, the pack mentality proved strong again. Andrew Watson (27th), Ricardo Hernandez (31st), Grant VanderVoort (37th), Jordan Wills (38th), and Kevin Crall (41st) all finished within 20 seconds of each other. These guys train together everyday and its great to see them find each other and work as a team even in a big crowd.

10/1 - Palatine & Schaumburg Triangular

Varsity ties for 2nd in Western Division

Full Results

We made it one of our goals at the beginning of the year to contend for a Division Championship. In past years we have placed less emphasis on winning dual meets in favor of training but this year we wanted to compete every time out. Our guys took this goal seriously and going into our last MSL meet we were in position that with a victory over both Palatine and Schaumburg we would tie for the Division Championship as each team would have one loss. In the end, Palatine proved to be too much (Loss 15-47) as they took control of the team race with a strong pack. Bollman and Chano continued their top end running and Laskowske, Larson, and Gregorio continue to close the gap. Palatine is running well as usual and have once again outperformed their early season rankings. Cogswell needs to run with Bollman and Chano and our next group will have to move up if we are going to improve against this very strong team.

We faired better against Schaumburg (Win 26-30). Pat Lesiewicz ran the fourth fastest time ever on the home course (15:12) to lead Schaumburg. Behind him both Peterson and Cogswell bested their second man while Dockery, Eiring, and Wojo raced well to get 5 in before their 4th. Our pack was a little stronger than theirs today but we will have to be even better in a big invite. Lesiewicz top finishes will be magnified in a bigger race when that low number becomes very significant.

Overall our varsity ran very well. The surprise of the day is that first time varsity runner, sophomore Erik Peterson (16:07), was our number one and ran the 10th fastest time in Bronco history. Cogswell finished off his home course career in fine fashion with a workmanlike 16:11. Chris has been carrying a lot of the load this season and his legs looked to be a little tired. Dockery (16:28), Eiring (16:29), Nolan (16:32) and Foley (16:45)had good days as well, all making the sub17:00 performance list. The split for our team 1-5 was 25 seconds and this is our best all year. Also of note, freshman Ryan Skelly made his varsity debut and showed little fear as he ran 16:49 and made our top 7. He is now 34th among Broncos all-time. Check out the updated list of both the Best times ever at Beese, and the Barrington sub-17 minute performers.

Frosh/Soph Loses Close Battle

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later, but our Frosh/Soph team dropped a competitive race (Palatine 23 - Barrington 34 & Schaumburg 21 - Barrington 34). When I say it was bound to happen, I'm not saying I expected it, but we have been pulling guys up all year and our young group fought today without 4 top runners. Peterson, Skelly, and Wojo all ran the varsity race and Conrad was nursing an injury. Still, the group ran hard and showed no let down. One bright spot was Ryan Burgoon who set a new team freshman record on the home course. The course set up may have shaved a little off the first turn, but even with an adjusted time, Ryan still comes in as the fastest freshman ever on the home coure. Freshman Top Times

9/26 - Palatine Invite

Varsity 10th, Sophomores 1st!

Full Results

Saturday was a great day for our program. We looked strong on all levels in a very deep and always competitive invite. The Palatine Invite is one of the most anticipated competitions of the year and is often called the mini-state meet because of the level of competition. Our day started will as the freshman, led by Kevin Gordon finished 11th place. We pulled Skelly, Burgoon, and Eiring up for this race so some new guys had a chance to step up and they did not disappoint. Kevin ran the course in 14:26 to finish 46th, and was followed closely by Mike Rappleye (14:38). Joe Schmidt (15:18), Kerry Frank (15:20), and Tom Kudla (15:28) showed that they are understanding the pack mentality as they worked together to move up throughout the race to round out the scoring. Palatine Invite Comparison

The sophomore raced proved to be one of the best of the day. Our program has only won the sophomore race at the Palatine Invite one other time and we thought we might have a chance this year. Erik Peterson won the overall race with a strong 15:32 for the three mile course. The Ryans, freshmen Ryan Skelly (15:53) and Ryan Burgoon (16:14) ran very strong races to finish in the top 20. Ryan Sarkar and Mark Gensburg continue to improve and pushed at the finish to get 5 runners in the top 30. This frosh/soph team is showing that they can be very good. With the exception of the flu bug hitting us at Wauconda, this group has now had the overall champion and has been the team champion in every race they have entered. Check out the Palatine Invite comparison which shows that this year's team has the best performance ever for our sophomore group.

The varsity group surprised many by relying on our strong pack to sneak up and grab a top 10 finish. Kyle Dockery stepped up big time with a 32nd place finish and a time of 15:06. Cogswell was right behind him at 15:08). Like clockwork, Nolan, Eiring, and Foley ran as a pack and finished very close together with only 5 seconds separating the three runners. If we are to have any success in the state series, this pack mentality will be crucial. Ryan Graves continued his comeback from an earlier injury and was our 6th man at 16:23 and Eric Schneider is starting to figure out the 3 mile distance and made top 7 at 16:36. Eric had a great year in the 800 meters in track as a sophomore and has found that cross country will make him even stronger. Palatine Invite Comparison

Led by a strong 28th place finish by Danile Durband our JV team finished 12th. Tim McAuliff bounced back from a tough day at Hoffman to finish 59th. Again, pack running was the theme for the day as Ricardo Hernandez (73), Billy Raseman (84), and Andrew Watson (86) finished close together to round out the scoring.

9/19 - Peoria Invite & Argo Invite

Full Results

On Saturday the top 7 traveled down to Peoria to take on the best in the state on the state championship course. Every year we make this trip to get a chance to run at legendary Detweiller Park so that we can get a "dress rehearsal" for the State Championship in November. The team showed up ready to race and had a great day. Chris Cogswell put himself in the conversation for all-state with a fast 15:09 (20th place) performance. He blazed through the mile at 4:46 and 2 miles under 10 minutes. This may seem fast but we will all have to be there to be successful at state.

Even more encouraging, our split for the top 5 was under 90 seconds. This isn't where we want to be (our goal for conference is under 60 seconds) but it was a definite step forward. Nolan (158th, 16:30) had a strong race and continues to close the gap. Behind Cogswell, the "Big 3" of Eiring, Foley, and Dockery locked up and finished close. Dockery (51st) ran 15:37 and Eiring (78th) ran 15:52 both held on to finish under 16 minutes. Foley paid a price for an aggressive first mile and faded to 128th (16:13). In their first trip to Peoria, Mangan (200th, 16:51) and Durband (178th, 16:40) got a taste of big meet varsity experience and will use it to motivate them as the season moves forward. As a team, the 19th place finish was disappointing but Coach Stec pointed out that if each runner runs less than 10 seconds faster, we are knocking on the door of the top 10. It reinforces something we always believe, every runner counts and every second makes a difference. Look at the small improvement needed for a big difference in the score:

If:
Cogswell is 9 seconds faster-5pts
Dockery 7 secs-10 pts
Eiring 7 secs-14 pts
Foley 10 secs-20 pts
Nolan 10 secs-20 pts

"If" is a very dangerous word, but we are close to where we want to be. Keep working and know that there is the smallest margin for error when you are competing at the highest level. I wouldn't have it any other way!

JV runs hard & Frosh/Soph Impressive in Argo Victory

Frosh/Soph Results

The frosh/soph team was impressive again in a big team win at the Argo invite. The same formula worked as the team went out conservative while many other runners burned out charging up the big hill. We used the woods to move up and take control. By the time we crossed the line we had 5 in the top 20 and 7 in the top 35. Erik Perterson again led the way with an individual victory and a new course record time of 11:06 for the 2 mile course. Ryan Skelly finished strong and came in 3rd at 11:18. Burgoon, Gensburg, and Sarkar rounded out the scoring with another close pack. This frosh/soph team is challenging the best this program has ever seen and approach practice and competition the right way. They are a very coachable group, they have a team first attitude, and love competing against the best. I'm excited to see what the future holds for this group.

Varsity Results

With the top 7 at Peoria, this year's Dave Brady Invite was a chance for the rest of our top 12 and the JV group to show off the depth of our program. Tim McAuliff led the way with a 48th place finish and a good time of 17:16. This was a new course layout at Bullfrog Lake so it is impossible to compare to previous years. But with Tim as our 8th man, the likelihood that at full strength we would have had 8 guys in the top 50 is a strong showing at Argo. Behind Tim, Ryan Graves continued his come back from injury by placing 50th with a 17:20 time. Ryan has a lot of momentum and is getting more fit every week. I expect him to crack the top 7 very soon. Ryan's abilty to come back from a layoff is largely due to his work over the summer. Josh Nordman (57th), Ricardo Hernandez (70th), and Ryan Tsiao (73rd) ran a nice pack strategy to round out the scoring and a 9th place finish.

9/11 - Baby Grace Arrives!

On September 11, at 7:40 pm, baby Grace introduced herself to the world. It was a long day for mom and baby but she is well worth the wait. Grace was 7lbs. 11 oz. and 21 inches long. I would like to thank Coach Stec, Coach Medansky, Coach Weisenburger, and Coach Root for their support in my week off and for keeping everything going at the high level we have come to demand from ourselves.

9/8 - Fremd Dual Meet

Varsity loses 19-38

Last night we went against Fremd and it was not our best day as a program. Fremd showed that they are prepared for a big yeart and Saturday's win at the Crystal Lake South Invite was no fluke. They have a strong and deep team that came to race and handed us a 19-38 defeat at the varsity level. Cogswell battled with Fremd's top two and ended up second to Mack in an exciting race and a very fast 16:00 time. Our pack went out aggressive but Fremd had the same strategy and executed it much better. Eiring (16:31) , Dockery (16:43), and Foley (16:44) dualed with Fremd's 3-7 and faded a bit as the race wore on to finish 7, 8 & 10. Nolan (17:02) continues to impress and improve as the sophomore was a solid 5th man for us once again. Behind the front five is where it got ugly as Fremd put 10 guys on our 6th man. We pride ourselves on our depth but when we don't show up to race we are less effective.

While Fremd was impressive in the win, I really think we gave them a lot of help as well. From the minute we got off the bus we did not look ready to race. It's frustrating that the things we did poorly yesterday are the things we can control. Our preparation and attitudes have to be a lot better if we are going to accomplish anything this year. Although yesterday was a down day for our varsity, we have the chance to learn some lessons and move forward.

Frosh-Soph wins again

As bad as the varsity race was, the frosh/soph looked very impressive. With Peterson out sick, Ryan Skelly (14:09) battled alone and came up big with his first ever win. Ryan made a strong move in the last half mile to break a talented young Fremd runner. Behind Skelly, Burgoon (14:42) and Gensburg (14:53) worked well together and moved up at the end to capture 3rd and 4th. Kevin Conrad (15:08) followed with a huge race to capture 6th. Ryan Sarkar (15:17) got out hard and paid for it just a bit but still managed to hold on to be our fifth man and finish out the scoring in an impressive 18-36 win. The entire frosh/soph team keeps improving in practice and in meets and is now 2-0 in the tough MSL.

9/2 - Lake County Invite

We had the Lake County Invite on Wednesday and the varsity got us off to a great start. We finished 2nd this year after two consecutive years of 4th place. A very strong Lake Forest team won this invite for the 3rd year in a row but we were much closer than we have been before (LF - 60; Bar - 67). You can see the full results here. Chris Cogswell led the team with an impressive 2nd place finish (15:52). He was in second from the gun and was outlasted by Henry Mynatt of Lake Forest for the overall win. Mynatt was 12th in the 3200 at the state track meet last year so this is a great measure for Chris. Do we have that low scoring #1 we've been looking for?

Behind Chris we had two strong packs. Dockers, Foley, and Karl packed up nicely and hovered just outside the top 10 for the first two miles. Dockery made a strong move after that to finish 4th overall (16:17). Andrew and Karl battled and finished in the teens. Our second pack was led early by Billy Raseman. Nolan and Pat let the senior take charge but they stayed close. Nolan moved during the second mile and went from 60th at the mile to finish 31st overall. This was great experience for the sophomore who will only get better as he gets more varsity experience. Blly and Pat faded just a little in the last mile but if a runner is going to make a mistake, I love to see aggressive mistakes rather than a timid one. These guys ran great for their first big time invites.

I really believe Lake Forest was within reach but we are going to need a smaller gap between our 4th and 5th runners. This is a great opportunity for several guys to really step up. Situations like this are what great teams thrive on.

What I find most interesting about this meet is how we compare to our teams of the past. The last time we ran this meet on this course was 2007, a team that ended up not only qualifying for state, but finishing a respectable 13th. Here's how we stack up against that team:

3	Matt Barns	5:18	10:30	16:04	2007 Wauconda Invite
4	Matt Barns	5:35	11:05	16:51
2	Chris Cogswell	5:08	10:17	15:52	2007 Lake County Invite

11	Dan Quarfoot	5:11	11:10	16:42	2009 Lake County Invite
10	Dan Quarfoot	5:35	11:20	17:37
4	Kyle Dockery	5:15	10:45	16:17

16	Mike Pfeifer	5:23	11:01	16:51
12	Mike Pfeifer	5:35	11:33	17:45
13	Andrew Foley	5:16	10:51	16:43

24	Micah Koenig	5:23	11:05	17:04
34	Alex Mattioli	5:47	12:06	18:47
17	Karl Eiring	5:15	10:46	16:48

37	Jeff Robinson	5:43	11:23	17:22
37	Kevin McGowan	5:47	12:08	18:58
31	Nolan Wojtowicz	5:46	11:33	17:20

75	Nate Link	5:58	11:56	18:10
47	Jeff Robinson	5:57	12:32	19:14
43	Billy Raseman	5:34	11:31	17:47

90	Will Chan	5:54	12:04	18:24
58	Micah Koenig	5:37	12:05	20:17
49	Pat Mangan	5:45	11:43	17:54

This meet is a great start for us but we have a lot of work to do. Lets keep the great workouts going and continue to show up everyday looking to to get better than the day before.