Palatine Pack Advances Entire Team to USATF Regional
When Coach Soto and I started the Palatine Pack TFCC club, we thought long and hard about our values. We never liked youth clubs that required too much time, caused too much stress on kids and families, required too much travel, or cost too much money. We decided that we would focus on three key values: fun, fundamentals, and community. We never wanted to push exclusively for elite results. Our philosophy has always been that kids who have fun, learn the fundamentals, and care about their team will end up producing elite results. Values and culture come first. Achievement comes second. Results are available here.
Above: Proud how our kids earned a ton of hardware through their positive attitudes, team work, and competitive spirits.
We thought that our first ever USATF Illinois State meet was a great success because our athletes and families demonstrated our values. We focus in practice each day on telling a positive story about what we are doing. Our goal is to empower kids to break mental and physical barriers. It is easy when running a painful race to feel sorry for oneself or bemoan the conditions. Instead, we all brought positive attitudes. None of the coaches heard anyone complaining (except about the one gross bathroom). We also wanted all athletes to focus on running together, encouraging each other, and knowing their teammates. We have 84 kids in this session, and we challenge them each day to know each other’s names. It was empowering to see so many kids running together and showing team work.
Our positivity and team work were the keys to our success. It was certainly a cold and windy day in Oswego, and I knew it would require our first-timers to be brave and put themselves out there in tough conditions. For some of our kids, it was their first ever big race. Thankfully, we have a nice mix of veteran athletes and newcomers, and we passed our first test together with flying colors. All four of our eligible teams - 11-12 boys and girls, 13-14 boys and girls - advanced to next week’s USATF Regional, which will once again be contested in Oswego with athletes from Illinois and Indiana competing.
We had three individual race champions on the day along with three team champions. Congratulations to Lucas Da Costa (9-10 boys), Karanveer Patil (11-12 boys), Jack Jennings (13-14 boys), and the 11-12 boys, 13-14 girls, and 13-14 boys on their wins. They ran the 9-10 and 11-12 races together as they were both 3000 meters so it was hard for Lucas to tell that he was winning, but congrats to him! Karanveer has been sick this past week, but pushed through and ran rhythmically to win the 3000 meter race in 10:41. Jack had a brilliant race, running early on with David Moore and Luke Marshall before deciding to go after the leader. Jack ran him down with great intensity to win in 13:12 for the 4000 meter race. I learned afterward that the early leader, Liam Bettis, had been 3rd in the IESA state meet. Good to see Jack regain some confidence after he was disappointed with his IESA State race.
Above: Jacob Hinojosa en route to a 3rd place finish in the boys 11-12 race.
In the team races, we were simply dominant. For our 11-12 boys, Karanveer led nine boys into the top 10. Jacob Hinojosa was 3rd overall and showed his potential. He runs smoothly and is highly competitive. Behind him, we got a great team race from Jakob Samuels, Patrick Garrett, and Evan Salgado. All three worked together throughout before Jakob pulled slightly ahead. He ran a really inspiring race, tossing his hat and gloves off before getting down to business in the final straightaway. Patrick and Evan are also strong competitors who are learning they can be stronger together. Emilio Palmer is an incredibly talented athlete. He broke 6:00 in the mile last summer, and he ran intensely through the middle of the race to move up to 7th. Right after him, we got some of our best teamwork of the day from Nivrith Ramanan and Bryan Sydor. Nivrith looked really smooth in his new bright orange spikes, and I could not be prouder of Bryan. He is one of the most improved members of our club and used an intense sprint finish to move into 9th in the final straightaway.
Above: Jacob Kemp did amazing in his first 3000 meter cross country race.
Our next group of guys has shown so much promise in practice. Joel Aragon ran a sure lifetime best and competed with ferocity. Wyatt Voyles, Evan Pentzien, Maddox Murphy, Cameron Eberle, and Luka Huyser ran a strong pack race and their team work paid off as they all finished in a row. Kyle Mizuuchi, Sebastian Kaczmarski, and Hudson Fowler ran together throughout and really fed off each other’s energy. They were empowered by the fact that Hudson has the best hair on the team! Henry Gusek was with them early on and did well to stay in rhythm and finish strong after the group moved away. I was especially proud of Aidan Neff. He is a strong 400/800 meter runner and is adjusting well to moving up to longer distance racing. Jacob Kemp rounded out our day. I am really proud of him. He just started running and completed the whole race on a cold day. Plus, he has a hand-knitted pumpkin hat, knows a ton about science (same with Sebastian), and tries his best each practice.
Our 9-10 boys didn’t have enough participants to make a full team, but all three ran well. Lucas Da Costa ran 12:40 to win the race while Zack Samuels ran with great connection to his older teammates. He finished just ahead of Kyle, Sebastian, and Hudson as the four of them ran together the entire way. Alex Bourgeois also had a nice race. He handed me his stocking hat during the race to lighten his load and gave a great effort throughout.
Above: Elia Diep and Makenzie Mason hook up throughout the race to help send our 11-12 girls to the USATF Regional meet as a team.
Our 11-12 girls were up against a tough Trailblazers team and placed second. Emma Kelly and Addie Moore hooked up early on and ran together throughout. They spotted the front girls pack a bit too much distance, but they looked smooth running together. I am really proud of Josie Bernard. She told me last week that she has never finished a cross country race without walking. We talked earlier last week about the importance of a “can do” spirit. I heard that she may have stopped for 1-2 strides to walk on Saturday, but one of her teammates encouraged her and she got up and moving again. She finished 13th to earn a medal! Behind her, we were counting on Elia Diep and Makenzie Mason to finish for the team because we only had five girls at this level. They ran together throughout the race with great heart and pushed us over the top into a team qualifying spot. Really proud of how they ran side by side and talked each other through the race.
On the 13-14 level, we dominated both the boys and girls races. Our girls team has been my focus throughout the early club season, and I want to start first with Addie Dietrich. Along with David Moore, she is the only OG Palatine Pack club member left from our very first session, and it has been my goal to surround her with other girls who love to train and compete as much as she does. Consider that mission accomplished! We have been making strides toward training and racing like a true TEAM, and Saturday showed the gains we can make from having a common competitive spirit.
Above (from left): Addie Diederich, Alexa Izenstark, Ellie Garrett (yellow hat), Amalia Scorza, and Nora Eitz prioritize team work early on during their race. In other news, Anne Park is there too but totally obscured by Nora’s entire being.
We asked the girls to sacrifice their individual races early on to run as a unit. That developed into two powerful groups of three - Alexa Isenstark, Nora Eitz, and Addie and then Ellie Garrett, Anne Park, and Amalia Scorza. Alexa took off late in the race and nearly came from behind to win the individual race. She ran 15:55 to place second behind the winner in 15:49. I was proud to see her take a chance on team running. It cost her the individual win, but she contributed much to her team’s spirit. Addie edged out Nora at the finish as they placed 3rd and 4th, and then our next pack came in - Amalia 5th, Anne 6th, and Ellie 7th. Amalia plays basketball for her junior high so hasn’t been able to practice with us much, but we all appreciated her competitive spirit. Ellie is surely the quietest of our top girls, but she ran fiercely early on before tying up a bit late in the race. She was 7th. I left Anne for last because not only did she get 6th, but she was the ringleader of our girls’ post-race TikTok. Fun is a core value even when it is freezing outside!
Our next group of kids are all future Palatine athletes. Jessica Mejia and Annika Rice run for Coach Soto at Winston, and they found each other early. Their teamwork paid off as both finished in the top 15 to earn a medal. Greta Kerr was just after them. She has been battling an illness, but ran with a strong rhythm to finish right behind her future Palatine teammates. I learned earlier this week from Greta that her uncle is former Palatine boys CC captain J.P. Falardeau. If that isn’t cool enough, she also loves to read great books and write which makes the English teacher in me ecstatic. She’s probably the only kid on the club who finds Holden Caulfield annoying, but funny. Allie Lennstrom finished just after Greta, and I loved her race. She was missing Brooke, her normal running partner, but she found her pace early on and grinded through the cold and win to finish strong.
I want to finish talking about the girls by giving a special shout out to Brisa Hernandez. I coached both of Brisa’s older brothers - Chris Perez and Abe Hernandez - at Palatine High School. Both are smart, high character guys, and Brisa is no different. She led our warm-up strides during last Wednesday’s practice, using her voice to take charge. During some of our track reps, she stuck her nose in there with the very best girls in the club. Brisa has been living our values at practice - she is encouraging, positive, and a good leader. She was our last girl out there on course, but the respect she generates was apparent. Joel and Miles both ran way out on the course to cheer her in, and all of the coaches and parents were proud of her pushing through to finish with her best effort.
Switching gears…our 13-14 boys are a juggernaut with reinforcements looming on the horizon. After getting 5th in the USATF National final last year, we figured out recently that all of the scoring members of that team are still eligible to run this year. Look for Alex Krieg, Jack Kelly, and Christopher Quick to jump back in next weekend for the USATF Regional along with newcomer Owen Gottfred. It was imperative that we get it done this week to advance, and our guys obliterated the competition from the gun by running as a TEAM. Jack held back early before taking off to win. David Moore and Luke Marshall chose to stay in rhythm and save their best for next weekend. They finished 3rd and 4th.
Above (from left): If you call your club the Palatine Pack, you better mean it. Bobby Wintermute, Luke Firkin, Miles Serra, Carson Porter, and Gabriel Gronski run like five fingers that end up making a fist. Power in numbers!
The story behind those three was our brilliant pack running. Luke Firkin (6th), Miles Serra (7th), Lukas Samuels (8th), Bobby Wintermute (10th), Carson Porter (11th), and Gabriel Gronski (12th) finished within 14 seconds of each other. Luke is a great negative split racer, and he pushed through his worry about moving up in distance to dominate late in the race. He and Miles have developed quite a bond as racers, and Miles survived a missed flag which he had to go back around to finish right with Luke. Bobby has been a great addition and his energy was high in the group throughout. He got aced out in the kick but was right in the thick of it into the final meters. Same thing with Carson and Gabriel. Like Bryan Sydor, Carson is one of our most improved athletes and serves (dare I say) as one of our best leaders. No coincidence that he is a captain of a great group. Gabriel has been an energetic addition whose efforts in practice have not gone unnoticed. It certainly translated to a strong race.
Above (from left): Great team work between John Levene, Matt Song, Greta Kerr, Mekhi Diep (staring into the camera’s very soul), Noah Young, and Ryan Blumthal.
Matt Song led our next group. Just like his Plum Grove teammate, Bryan Sydor, Matt is one of our most improved athletes. He hasn’t been too confident before in racing longer distances so I was proud that he asserted himself so strongly over the 2.5 mile distance. He was 20th overall. Our next group of Noah Young, Mekhi Diep, and Ryan Blumthal also carried out the pack racing directive . It is much easier to get through a long, cold, windy race with someone you know nearby. Noah and Ryan have added great screwball energy to our group from the first practice on, and Mekhi continues to inspire with his improvement. He may be the most improved person in the entire club. John Levene got stuck in no man’s land a bit, but moved nicely through the race. Like Brisa, he too is a vocal leader on our runs, and we all appreciate his positivity. My last shout out has to go to Anthony Muccianti. This running thing is new to him, and he had to be rather blown away by the distance and the cold weather. I was PROUD that he kept coming at it and finished his first 2.5 mile race.
If you haven’t noticed, the most common sentiment expressed here is PRIDE. Each athlete should be proud of their efforts whether they finished where they wanted or not. It takes guts and bravery to run cross country races. Racing makes kids vulnerable to all kinds of negative emotions. It is our job as coaches, parents, and teammates to tell a positive story about each and every athlete. On a great cross country team, individuals become capable of incredible feats because they are empowered by everyone around them to BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES. Some of our kids are aiming for national titles, some are working to improve, and others just want to finish a race without walking. No matter the goal, we are each other’s spirits. All of the coaches are having a great time, and we can’t wait until next weekend!
