A Great Day to be a Titan

On Saturday, September 26th, the Titans raced the Glenbrook North Spartans. The Spartans hosted the meet. In the end, Glenbrook South prevailed on all four levels, sweeping the meet. Not to mention, 56 runners had season bests or all-time bests. It was a fantastic fourth meet, and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season. 

At 8:30 am, the Freshmen lined up for the first race of the day. Geoff Maddalozzo (11:07) and Andy Ordway (11:17) took out the race in an early leading, battling all the way with GBN’s John Ihrke. Going through the first mile, Geoff took a wrong turn, and Ihrke passed him. Geoff closed the gap with 400 meters left in the race, but Ihrke took the cake. As a team, the freshmen ran incredibly well. Matt Barney (11:54) and Jefferson Wei (11:54) finished together in 4th and 5th to complement the 2nd and 3rd place finishes up ahead. Jack Qualkenbush (11:58) rounded out the Top 5 in 11:58, putting 5 of our freshmen under 12:00 for the 2 Mile. Nearly every freshman ran a personal best, and many of them by well over a minute. This was a very strong showing for an even strong freshman class. The final score was 20-35.

The gun for the Varsity race went off at 9:00 am. Brian Hiltebrand (JR) and Mrugesh Thakor (SR) led the Titan pack, battling it out with GBN’s Nick Ihrke. In the end, Brian prevailed over Ihrke, finishing in 15:44 to Ihrke’s 15:46. With a huge personal best, Mrugesh followed closely behind at 15:48. Michael Jerva (JR) finished in 4th with a fantastic time of 16:19. Jayson Stamm (JR) dropped a stellar time of 16:33 with a 6th place finish. Closely behind him, Matthew Finkel (SR) and Cody Slutzky (SR) came through the line together at 16:37 and 16:38 respectively. Preston Davidson (SR) closed out the Top 7 with a time of 16:55. With a 53 second 1-5 spread, the Titans bested the Spartans 21-37.

Half an hour later, JV took to the line and ran another fantastic race. Gabriel Cole (SR) led the group, finishing in 2nd with a time of 18:18. He was followed by Matthew Penne (JR, 3rd), who finished in 18:24. Isaac Abraham(JR) finished in 5th at 18:43. Jacob Baim (JR) and Ethan Hernandez (JR) closed out the Top 5 in 6th and 7th, bringing the Titans yet another victory of 23-36. 

In the last race of the day, the Sophomore team ran a strong race. Running alone for much of the race, Sully Richards led the Titans with a 2nd place finish and a time of 17:54. Behind him, a strong pack ran the entirety of the race together. After coming through the first two miles in a pack of 5, the Titans had a fast race to the finish in the last 200 meters of the race. Sanjeev Gorla outkicked James Hiltebrand 19:22 to 19:23. Right behind them, John Tirpak overtook Jack Olson in another tight race. In all the sophomores beat the Spartans 24-33. 

Saturday was a good day to be a Titan. As the season winds down, we’re excited to see how our last few meets go. The Titans will race the Niles West Wolves next Saturday at home. See you then!

Glenbrook North High School

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Photographer(s): Preston Davidson, Dane Branstrom, James Hiltebrand

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