Bartlett
COACH Eric Brechtel
HOME COURSE Sunrise Park, Bartlett
2008 RESULTS 5th in Upstate Eight, 4th at St. Charles North regional
CONFERENCE Upstate Eight
NEXT HOME MEET Saturday at Bartlett Flyin’ Hawk Invite

TOP RETURNERS
Adam Bhrel          sr.
Austin Crawford    sr.
Joe Cotton            sr.
Josafat Gonzalez    jr.
Joey Salatino        so.

PROMISING NEWCOMERS
Dan Guimon         jr.
Kevin Kibler          jr.
Adrian Perez         jr.

OUTLOOK
The graduation losses of Alex Infusino and Tim Rendall will pose a challenge for Brechtel in his first season at the helm, but the Hawks still look to fly high thanks to hard work in the offseason, and a few other factors.

“Our top seven all ran together all summer and have continued training together,” Brechtel said.

The fast times aren’t there yet, but there still are enough races left to cut precious seconds and earn another sectional berth as the team did last year.

“I think they would like to be running a bit faster but I am currently happy with their season so far,” Brechtel said. “I believe this team is capable of way more than they believe.

“If everything goes exactly right, this team could do well at the end of the season. We need to stay healthy and continue to work hard so our improvements will continue.”

The Hawks have so far shown strong pack running, which is always a key to success in the postseason, though there is still some room for improvement.

“Our pack running has been our strength but we really need a guy to step up and be our front runner,” the coach said.

“That, or we need our pack to move up together.”


South Elgin
COACH Kari Turcan
HOME COURSE South Elgin High School; Kenyon Woods Forest Preserve, Barry Road, South Elgin
2008 RESULTS 9th at St. Charles North regional
CONFERENCE Upstate Eight
NEXT MEET Saturday at Bartlett Flyin’ Hawk Invite

TOP RETURNERS
Tim Chung        sr.
Kevin Dineen     sr.
Kevin Gianaris    sr.
Nick Natalizio     jr.
Matt Swanson    jr.
Rich Vient          jr.

PROMISING NEWCOMERS
Nick Basham            so.
Francisco Gonzalez    so.
Nick LaMore              fr.
Trent Sparrow           so.

OUTLOOK
Gianaris was just a few seconds and two places away from becoming South Elgin’s first sectional qualifier last fall, and that close call should provide all the motivation he needs to pull of the feat this season.

He will have plenty of support this season, not only from an experienced senior group that includes Chung and Dineen, but also from a program that swelled from 18 athletes last fall to 33 runners this season.