Viger edges Burns in fast win at the Southwest Prairie Conference

Plainfield South Boys, Minooka Girls dominate in team wins; Soderlind’s first race back from injury gives her Girls conference title

By Michael Newman [email protected]

Channahon, Ill – The Boys Varsity race at Friday’s Southwest Prairie Conference Meet came down to the final 400-meters of the race. Oliver Burns of Plainfield North is more comfortable in coming from behind to win. Camyn Viger of Plainfield South will like to push the pace when necessary.

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On this day on the Channahon Park course, the roles were reversed.

Burns took the lead just before the mile as he led Viger, Parker Nold of Oswego East, Zachary Balzer of Minooka, and Brady Nelson of Oswego through a 4:50 opening mile. Burns was the task master on this day as he tried to break the rest of the pack. The rest of the runners started to drop back. Viger went along with the ride staying close to his cross-town rival. Burns continued to make surges. Viger responded to the moves staying close to Burns.

Viger took the lead in the final 400-meters of the race. He thought he pulled away from Burns. The Plainfield North runner refused to give.

“I definitely did not think I would be pushing the pace. I am usually a come from behind guy,” Burns said. “I did not want to lead. We (Burns and Viger) did not want the runners to catch us. So, we continued to push each other.”

Viger dug down for one more burst of speed to keep the lead. Burns ran out of real estate as the blue timing mats reached Viger first before Burns could get to them.

“My plan today was just to stay with the top guys and outkick them,” said Viger. “It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. He (Burns) was really aggressive pacing today. The race was awesome.”

“I did not think I would get him. There were so many people cheering me on,” added Burns. “I knew there were more guys behind me. I just had to pick it up. I thought maybe I had enough to catch him. I did not but it is all right.”

The result on this dry course and temperatures gave Viger the win running 14:45.3. He became the third fastest runner on this course that has seen some great all-state runners test the grounds. Lukas Verzbicas ran 14:35 in 2010. Matt Withrow ran 14:42 in 2002. Both went on to win Foot Locker National Championships.

Burns was just a second back running 14:46.2 to finish second. His time is now tied for fourth all-time on this course. Four runners were under 15-minutes in this race. Running under that standard is something to talk about. Zachary Balzer of Minooka set a new school record on this course timed at 14:51.4. Parker Nold ran 14:56.7 to finish fourth.

Plainfield South showed why they are the top team in the state and ranked #6 nationally by DyeStat.com. The Cougars put their next four runners behind Viger in the top eight to win with only 27 points. BJ Sorg was the team’s second runner timed at 15:02. Ethan Reynoso (15:07) and Dylan Maloney (15:08) were within a second of each other finishing sixth and seventh. Owen O’Shea crossed the line in 15:24 and eight overall as the team’s fifth runner. The team’s top five split was 39 seconds. The split from Sorg to O’Shea was only 22 seconds.

“I don’t have to worry about what my teammates will do behind me,” added Viger. “They just go out there and run while taking care of business.”

#8 Plainfield North finished second behind Burns and Owen Stahl finishing ninth. The Tigers placed 5 runners in the top 21 with a 60 second split. Their split from two to five was only 20 seconds. #24 Yorkville finished third (112 points) behind the 14th place finish from Ben Whaley. West Aurora finished fourth (115 points) led by Sean Heetland finishing 11th.

Audra Soderlind of Oswego suffered a foot injury at the end of September that forced her to miss a meet at Niles West and then last week missing the Naperville Twilight Invitational. Her training has been minimal devoted to cross training and keeping herself in shape.

You could not tell that the Oswego senior had just started running in the last couple of days. Soderlind pulled away from the field just after the first mile to win the conference title with a 17:54.3 time.

“I started running last Monday with some short 3-mile runs. It was still hurting after that,” Soderlind said after the race. “My coach (Alicia Rafferty) told me to push the second mile and see who would go with me. The foot definitely felt good as I was finishing.”

#10 Minooka took control of this race in the first mile and never gave that up. The Indians placed three runners in the top five to easily win the conference title with 35 points. Gabriella McCollom finished 10 seconds behind Soderlind in running 18:04 to finish second. Maya Ledesma was three seconds behind her teammate in third. Gabrielle Kics was the team’s third runner placing fifth. Caprice Rodely (9th) and Taya Gummerson (16th) rounded out Minooka’s top five. The split on that group was 62 seconds.

#15 Oswego East finished second (72 points) led by a top 10 finish from Morgan Dick (7th). #20 Yorkville finished third (79 points) behind top 10 finishes from Sophia Keeler (6th) and Katie Melzer (8th). #16 Oswego finished fourth (108 points) led by the win from Soderlind and the fourth-place finish from Kelly Wong. Plainfield North (125 points) rounded out the top five led by Elsie Czarniewski finishing tenth.