LT Sports Roundup: XC Girls 11th, Boys 15th at States; Football and Swimming Roll On

The Lyons Township girls cross country team finished 11th (274 points) at the Class 3A state meet Saturday at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

Senior Alex Daemicke was 32nd (17:40) on the 3.0-mile course, followed by senior Lisa Gordon (47th, 17:54), junior Haley Prokaski (57th, 18:02), sophomore Lexy Rudofski (101st, 18:32) and juniors Randie Speir (128th, 18:48), Mary Clare Flaherty (138th, 18:53) and Rachel Walsh (176th, 19:17). Of the six girls who previously competed at state, five ran their fastest times or had their highest finishes. 

The Lions, making their 13th straight state appearance, improved upon taking 17th last year. They were just four points shy of 10th-place Palatine and eight shy of ninth-place Lake Park. 

“We had a very, very successful season,” said first-year LT coach Stetson Steele, a former assistant. “Could we have run better at state? Absolutely. But Alex ran great, probably the race of her life.”

Daemicke improved upon her 2010 state finish by 78 places and 44 seconds. She was shy of the last individual all-state spot by just seven places and 12 seconds. 

Daemicke, Gordon and Prokaski, battling a hip injury, tried to run together for the first two miles.

“I think all three followed that plan but Alex followed that tremendously,” Steele said. “My only grief for her was I wish she would have been all-state. We talked about her being the rock of the team. Without fail, she’d always have a good race for us.”

Speir competed at state for the third time and Daemicke, Gordon, Prokaski, Flaherty and Walsh their second. Gordon and Flaherty last ran at state in 2009. 

Gordon especially was motivated to run well Saturday. Because of injuries, Gordon sat out last year’s postseason and was a last-minute state scratch in 2008. She was a team-best 46th in 2009, 28 seconds slower than Saturday’s race.

“With half a mile to go, she said she was feeling great and moving. When I saw her a little later, she had tightened up,” Steele said. “She went for it. She’s been the leader of our team all year. Being a leader, frontrunner is not always easy and she gave it a valiant effort.”

State alternates were senior Juliet Lusson, Tessa Saibert and Kim Sipek, sophomore Katie Heniz and freshman Katie Hamor. A three-time state competitor, Lusson was sidelined by a stress fracture. Saibert competed at sectionals. 

Boys cross country

A young Lyons Township boys cross country lineup capped a great season of progress by finishing 15th (374 points) at the Class 3A state meet Saturday at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

The Lions were making their fourth straight state appearance and 12th over the last 13 seasons. But Grant Smith was the lone senior in Saturday’s lineup, and junior Michael Matusiak was the lone returnee from last year’s state lineup that finished ninth after the Lions were fifth the previous two.

Sophomore Ed McCarter was 57th (15:19) on the 3.0-mile course, followed by Matusiak (91st, 15:32), sophomore Dan Lupano (103rd, 15:35), juniors Jonathan Dombro (119th, 15:43) and Ryan Speir (131st,  15:46), Smith (140th, 15:51) and sophomore James Ryan (144th, 15:54).

“I think this group definitely came a long way this season. I think we’re hungry for a little bit more success,” LT coach Mike Danner said. 

“I think really their main goal that we talked about early in the year was just qualify for state. I think we should have, or I should have, maybe raised those expectations. After we finished the state meet, I felt and the kids felt that we definitley could have done a lot better and finished a little higher. Coming into the season, we were unranked. We exceeded everybody else’s expectations, but at the end we were still hungry to meet our own expectations.”

Matusiak was the team’s frontrunner most of the season and 90th at state in 2010(15:19) as the team’s No. 3 finisher. McCarter, usually was the team’s No. 2 finisher, was back up front Saturday after being the No. 7 finisher at the Lockport Sectional. 

“(McCarter) went out there, trying to make it happen,” Danner said. “It’s amazing what a little motivation will do for you. He wanted to redeem himself.” 

By contrast, Ryan, the team’s No. 2 finisher at Lockport, had a state nightmare when he fell during the congested infamous first turn and scraped his knee and back.

“He looked like he had run through a briar patch or something. Chalk that one up to experience,” Danner said.

State alternates were seniors Ben Groya and Mark Lefevour and juniors Mike Accettura, Liam Callahan and Zach Carlson. Groya, Lefevour, Callahan and Carlson competed at regionals.

Football

The Lyons Township football team will try for the first state playoff semifinal berth in program history Saturday.

The Lions (7-4) visit undefeated Loyola Academy (11-0) at noon in the Class 8A quarterfinals in Wilmette.

For the third straight playoff round, the Lions, the No. 13 seed in their half of the bracket, are the lower seed. They made dramatic rallies to defeat No. 5 Glenbrook South 34-31 in overtime Saturday and No. 4 Bartlett 45-42 Oct. 29.

The playoff victories have continued LT scoring at least 24 points in all but one victory this season.

This is LT’s fourth state playoff appearance in the quarterfinals. Last year, the Lions won two playoff games for the first time in one season before losing in the quarterfinals to Mt. Carmel. The 1978 and 1983 teams also reached the quarterfinals, when each playoff class only had 16-team brackets.

By contrast, the No. 1-seeded Ramblers have continued their great defense. They have shut out both playoff opponents (Dunbar 29-0 and Evanston 35-0) and have allowed just 84 points the entire season. Opponents haven’t scored more than 13 points in a game other than Loyola’s 41-24 victory over 5A quarterfinalist Montini Sept. 3.  

Loyola has been eliminated in the playoffs by eventual 8A state champion Maine South the last three years, the past two years in the semifinals and in the second round of 2008 before then rolling to the Prep Bowl title. Maine South, the other undefeated team in this year’s bracket, was upset 24-22 Saturday by No. 7 Stevenson (9-2), which LT defeated 24-19 in the Aug. 26 season opener.

Stevenson or No. 11 Glenbard North (8-3) await in the semifinals. If the Lions advance, they would play host to either opponent.

Girls swimming and diving

The Lyons Township girls swimming and diving team will play host to the LT Sectional Saturday at the south campus with diving at 9 a.m. and swimming starting at 1 p.m.

Sectional champions automatically advance to state as well as entries that achieve state-qualifying standards at the meet. The 16 highest remaining diving scores among non-sectional champions also advance at-large.

Other teams at the sectional are Hinsdale Central, Hinsdale South, Downers Grove South, Riverside-Brookfield, Proviso West, Reavis, Stagg, Argo, Mother McAuley, Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park, Richards, Kennedy and Lindblom.