York has celebrated its state cross-country championships in style, with runners donning tuxedos for the award ceremony.
After Saturday’s Class 3A finals at Detweiller Park, Chris Derrick and Neuqua Valley dressed for success in a wildly different manner.
In a loud, checked sport coat, sweater and corduroy slacks — all purchased at an Aurora discount shop for $9 — Derrick led the Wildcats to the podium to pick up the trophy for winning the school’s first IHSA cross-country title.
The senior ran with remarkable style as well. Derrick became the first person to break 14 minutes in the state finals since 1977. His winning time of 13 minutes 52 seconds set a record for the 3-mile course now used by the IHSA.
That’s 1.4 seconds slower than the time run in 1972 by Lebanon’s Craig Virgin, who was at Saturday’s meet. But some observers have questioned whether that course was a full 3 miles.
None of this mattered to Derrick.
“This is just us having fun,” the senior said of his team’s thrift-shop wardrobe. “We all went out, we bought it together, under 10 bucks a man. You know what I mean? Maybe it was a little based off York. But it’s just us, being ourselves, having fun.”
Derrick took third in the old Class AA last year but has been unbeatable in 2007. He led this race most of the way but was pushed by Hersey’s Kevin Havel, who finished third.
The Wildcats displayed depth with Danny Pawola eighth, sophomore Aaron Beattie 13th and Kevin Grady 27th.
York’s Tom Achtien was 20 seconds behind Derrick, and teammate Steve Sulkin took fifth. But the runner-up Dukes were not able to add to their streak of five state titles and 26 overall. Palatine finished third.
Beattie, who was moved up to the varsity early in the year after Jim Riddle suffered a stress fracture, said: “I was nervous the week leading up to state, but as soon as the gun went off I didn’t really feel anything. I was way too into the race.”
The new three-class system for the sport paid off for Sycamore, which has an enrollment of 1,184. Derek Campbell’s seventh-place finish led the Spartans to the Class 2A boys title.
Campbell, Peter Grimson (11th), Stefan Hueber (23rd), Matthew Gilmer (26th) and Nick Fagan (49th) gave Sycamore, whose only other IHSA title came in bowling, a 116-point margin over runner-up Chatham Glenwood.
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asutton@tribune.com
