Yorkville Middle School's cross country team has participated in the Troy Invite every year since the team was formed in 2008. The invite used to be the biggest in the country until they had to limit the number of runners each team was allowed. It took Yorkville until 2011 to first win a trophy at the invite, and last year was the first year the team won first place in a race. This past Saturday there were over 30 teams participating in the Troy Invite including some of the top cross country teams in the Chicago area and it was the first year Yorkville won a trophy in all four races the team participated in.
The 8th grade boys team took fourth place behind Batavia Rotolo, Buffalo Grove Cooper, and Algonquin Heineman. The team was led by Zack Price's medal-winning 11th-place finish (the top 25 receive medals at the Troy Invite) with a 2-mile time of 11:18, which was only two seconds away from a team record for the Troy Invite. Zack was followed by Patrick Black (27th, 11:33), Chase Dexter (42nd, 11:56), Rio Lara (46th, 12:04), Matt Cox (55th, 12:12), Cole Johnson (81st, 12:50), and Ben Summers (97th, 13:00) in the top 7 for the team.
The 8th grade girls team took home third place behind Batavia Rotolo and Algonquin Heineman. Maggie Klemm (16th, 12:35) and Kimberly Batdorf (21st, 12:41) led the way with their medal performances. They were followed by Lindsay Harrison (27th, 13:14), Tayla Van Leeve (38th, 13:31), Emily Berge (48th, 13:37), Nicole Loquercio (56th, 13:47), and Kaylee Deutsch (62nd, 13:52) who rounded out the top 7.
The 7th grade teams both saw incredible success at Troy. The 7th grade girls won the first place trophy, which was the first time a 7th grade Yorkville team had placed first at the Troy Invite. The team beat Batavia Rotolo 130 to 133 (the lowest score wins in cross country) to earn first and were led by three medal winners in Olivia Borowiak (8th, 12:41), Colleen O'Connor (9th, 12:49), and Ashley Rossolillo (20th, 13:08). The rest of the top 7 were Roni Bruck (44th, 13:43), Dani Evans (49th, 13:50), Hanna Zeinstra (60th, 14:05), and Victoria Crawford (61st, 14:06).
The 7th grade boys also earned first place by defeating Geneva South 128 to 154. The team had an incredibly strong pack led by Alex Loos who set a team record with a time of 11:51 to finish as the team's only medal winner in 13th place. Even though Alex was the only medal winner the rest of the team was close behind him. Alex was followed by Jake Carlson (28th, 12:19), Zack Nauman (29th, 12:20), Justin Herron (36th, 12:30), Hunter Benesh (41st, 12:32), Cole Bruck (51st, 12:42), and Bryan Corrigan (70th, 13:00).
Below is a list of all the runners from the Troy Invite who set personal records:
- Alex Loos (new team record) 11:51
- Ashley Rossolillo 13:08
- Bryan Corrigan 13:00
- Chase Dexter 11:56
- Cole Bruck 12:42
- Dani Evans 13:50
- Emily Berge 13:37
- Emily Schmidt 14:29
- Hannah Zienstra 14:05
- Hunter Benesh 12:32
- Jake Carlson 12:19
- Jake Holter 13:54
- Jimmy Eberhart 13:25
- Justin Herron 12:30
- Katie Straznickas 14:40
- Kaylee Deutsch 13:52
- Kimberly Batdorf12:41
- Lindsay Harrison 13:14
- Maddy Brusak 13:56
- Matt Cox 12:12
- Nicole Loquercio 13:47
- Patrick Black 11:33
- Rio Lara 12:04
- Roni Bruck 13:43
- Savanna Farren 14:30
- Victoria Crawford 14:06
- Zack Nauman 12:20
- Zack Price 11:18
