Downers North dominates Twilight team races as Philip Cupial wins boys race; Sandwich’s Sunny Weber wins girls

NAPERVILLE – Across many boys and girls cross country team rankings in Illinois, Downers Grove North can be found atop the lists.

In a loaded field at the Twilight XC Invite at Naperville North on Oct. 9, the Trojans showed everyone why.

Led by a 1-2 finish from junior Philip Cupial and Grant Schroeder in the boys race and a 19-second spread of their top five in the girls race, the Trojans walked away from the meet with both team trophies.

Boys race

Cupial and Schroeder made their big move for the win entering the Naperville North track for the final 400 meters after running in a six pack for most of the race. Cupial said after the race that having that pack really helped maintain the fast pace.

“There were multiple times where I was swallowed up and taken back in by the pack and it really just woke me up,” Cupial said. “It really gave me that confidence for that last 800 to use everything I could.”

Cupial finished with a personal-best time of 14:24.09 to break the course record.

Schroeder took second in 14:25.54.

The Trojans scored 45 points with all of their top five finishing in the top 20.

Behind the Trojans – both the duo and the team – was Plainfield North, which was led by a 3-4 finish from junior Thomas Czerwinski (14:27.86) and Quinn Davis (14:31.78) to a 55-point performance in the team standings.

“It was so great to finish third and fourth with Quinn,” Czerwinski said. “We’re feeling really confident right now and we’re just trying to get these meets in now so we can carry them on to bigger and better things.”

Right behind the Plainfield North duo was Batavia senior Francesco Benelli, who broke his personal-best time by 30 seconds in running a 14:32.55. The senior, who helped the Bulldogs to a third-place team finish with 136 points, said he was hoping to stick with the top 10 through the first mile and felt really comfortable in his first race under the 15-minute mark.

“It felt really similar to the 2-mile race during track because it was a similar group of guys and we were all grouped together,” Benelli said. “And I had that same feeling where I felt confident that when it came to the finish I’d be able to be in the mix.”

Girls race

While the boys race came down to the wire, the girls race was decided by the halfway point.

After sticking with the lead group for the first part of the race, Sandwich junior Sunny Weber made a huge surge in the final part to finish in 16:27.87 for the individual title.

Weber, who finished with a 20-second advantage over Minooka senior and second-place finisher Maya Ledesma, said that after making her big move she wasn’t sure how much of a lead she really had heading into the final stretch.

“I was honestly pretty scared that she was closer behind me, so I may have looked behind me a few times,” said Weber, who was Sandwich’s lone racer in the event. “I didn’t really realize what the gap was until after the race, so I’m really happy with that.”

Behind the top two was a tight-knit race for third place with Batavia sophomore Avery Hacker ultimately taking third in 17:04.21 after passing Plainfield North junior Tessa Russo (fourth, 17:06.35) and Naperville North junior Rianna Tandon (fifth, 17:08.57).

“I was just so excited crossing the line,” said Hacker, who broke her personal-best time by 17 seconds. “Racing like this where it’s dark outside, the vibes are just so good, and I had a lot of adrenaline heading into that last lap around the track and I felt like it carried me through.”

Hacker led the Bulldogs to a second-place finish in the team standings with 95 points, finishing six points ahead of third-place Minooka and eight points ahead of Naperville North, which finished fourth.

Downers Grove North scored 58 points to take the team title. The Trojans were led by McKenzie Willard, who finished eighth in 17:22.21. Downers Grove North managed to get the rest of its top five in only 19 seconds after Willard to put all of its team in the top 18 finishers.

Trojans coach Tim McDonald said he wanted his team to be a little conservative in the race, but felt like the runners held their ground well in the win.

“When we came through the mile, we had 115 points and we worked during the second mile and got it down to 55 points,” McDonald said. “They did a great job moving together and holding their place. It’s that time of year where the weather is getting cooler and we’ll just keep getting better and better.”