Mike Danner was happy his Lyons Township boys cross country team took first place at Saturday’s Lyons regional, but the coach knows his team needs to run a lot better this weekend if it hopes to qualify for state.

“We didn’t run very well as a team,” Danner said. “We had a few inexperienced guys and they didn’t handle the conditions well.”

LT took first with 40 points, eight in front of Hinsdale Central, but Danner’s biggest concern was the gap between his top five runners. Mike Moore placed second overall with a time of 16:11.65 for the Lions, who also got points from Robbie Kucera (fifth, 16:26.12), Mark Holt (seventh, 16:32.52), Stu Newstat (eighth, 16:33.82) and Mike Kokoris (18th, 17:05.73).

“We need to run as a tighter group,” Danner said. “We need to improve our pack time.”
LT was without Sam Telfer and Robby Keeler. Andrew Allabastro (28th, 17:43.74) and Tim Pollard (30th, 17:52.24) also competed for the Lions.

Benjamin Silver of Downers Grove North won the meet in a time of 16:02.49.

Despite Danner’s disappointment in the pack’s performance, the LT coach said he and his team are confident heading into this weekend’s Lockport sectional.

“We have high expectations,” Danner said. “We expect to do well at sectionals and state.”

LT girls

Sophomore Lisa Gordon earned an individual regional title at the Lyons regional Saturday. Gordon won the meet in a time of 18:42, eight seconds ahead of the next closest finisher.

LT finished first as a team at the regional with 37 points. Downers Grove North was second with 47 points.

Junior Juliet Lusson (19:18) was sixth overall for LT, with senior Eliza Dudley (19:24) right behind her in seventh place. Freshman Randle Spier (19:40) finished 11th for the Lions and junior Carly Rocco (19:40) was 12th.

Freshman MaryClaire Flaherty (15th, 19:57) and senior Kylie Ziolkkowski (31st, 21:21) also competed for the Lions, who advanced to this weekend’s Lockport sectional.