Girls runners keep progress in meets
HUNTLEY — Four top 11 finishes led the Huntley girls cross country team to a runner-up place finish at the Schaumburg Invite meet Sept. 23.
Minooka, whom the Red Raiders battled in the previous week’s meet, narrowly edged Huntley, 54-55 for the team title.
“We had our girls team get into ultimately a dual meet with Minooka,” Huntley coach Matt Kaplan said. “Our girls did a nice job getting four in the top 11 finishers. Haley Rahman did a great job in the last mile closing out her race getting fourth overall.”
The boys placed two runners among the top competitors.
“On the boys side we had a rough meet with two varsity boys not finishing the race,” Kaplan said. “Tommy Nitz and Zach Zuzzio finished in the top 10 to lead the team.”
For the girls second place effort, freshman Rahman ran a 19:12.05 time. Senior Ava Allison clocked a 19:32.20 for sixth; sophomore Cori Klivinger ended in 19:53.90 for ninth and freshman Morgan Sauber rounded out the top 11 in 11th at 20:02.05. Aspen Maldonado, a sophomore, concluded in 25th place at 20:50.49.
For the boys, Nitz, a junior, finished third with a 16:04.88 race and senior Zuzzio ended sixth with a 16:23.75 time. The boys finished fifth in team standings with a 158 score.
Coach Kaplan described the progress the teams are making.
“As we continue through the season both groups continue to make the necessary improvements week to week,” Kaplan said. “The boys team is still young with four of the seven runners being freshmen or sophomores. There continues to be growing pains but they are working hard everyday. The girls keep on getting better racing performances each week.”
The girls squad is defending Fox Valley Conference champs and will look to defend their title Oct. 14. Nitz is the defending boys league champ.
Upcoming meets
Huntley runs at the IHSA State Finals cross country course at Detweiller Park in Peoria Sept. 30. HHS will host its lone home meet when Burlington Central and McHenry battle the Red Raiders Oct. 3.
