PEORIA — Andrew Dobrescu and Michael Sisko have been trading off the front-runner position the last two weekends for Harvest Christian.
“We just push each other to help us get us where we are,” Dobrescu said. “I couldn’t have done it without him.”
Saturday at the Class 1A boys state meet at Detweiller Park, the two upperclassmen were at the core of a history-making moment for the Elgin high school.
“We’re young (as a school),” Harvest Christian coach Steven Bland said. “We’ve been in the IHSA for six years.”
But the meteoric rise of the Lions’ program reached its apex in the fourth consecutive state appearance for Harvest Christian.
The Lions earned their first state title in any sport by edging runner-up Freeburg 107-116.
One week after Sisko was the top runner in the Lions’ sectional win at Oregon, Dobrescu returned the favor as the two athletes were spots apart in springing the victory.
It was not a total surprise, however, as the Lions entered the final day of the season ranked second in Class 1A by DyeStatIl.com.
“I’m excited for a great coach, a great team and the work that we have done,” said Dobrescu, who was 20th in 15 minutes, 29 seconds. “Either way (between Sisko and me), we have a great race, we have a fun race.”
Sisko, who missed the state meet with a hip injury last year, was incredulous.
“It’s hard to believe, honestly,” said Sisko, who was 22nd with the same time as Sisko. “My freshman year, we were 24th (out of 25 teams). My individual performance doesn’t mean as much as to my team pulling together a winning performance. But it is phenomenal for me.”
Peyton Kasper (36th, 15:42) was the third man for Harvest Christian.
“It was a very tough race,” the sophomore said.
The ultimate difference, though, came from Harvest Christian fourth and fifth runners, Mark Davila (55th, 16:00) and Kyler Young (61st, 16:03), who beat their Freeburg counterparts by a combined 16 points.
The Lions’ girls team also had its best state finish, taking 16th with 385 points.
Nygia Pollard duplicated her All-State showing from last year with an even better effort, finishing ninth in 17:53.
“It’s only my junior year, so I think there will be a lot of exciting things for next year,” said Pollard, who improved by one place from last season. “I will be looking forward to that. I tried to go out with the front pack and stick as long as I could.”
The other two local All-State showings came in Class 2A.
Hampshire senior Jacob Oury was ninth in 14:49.
“I had nothing to lose and everything to gain,” said Oury, whose sister Sophia was in the girls field. “I wanted to go out as fast as I could and run as hard as I could for my final race.”
Burlington Central senior Megan Safranski is the first Rocket girl in program history with two top-20 finishes.
“Keeping my mental focus and not letting things distract me is part of racing,” said Safranski, who was eighth in 17:28. “I wanted to get into the top 10, so I made my goal.”
Kevin McGavin is a freelance writer for the Courier-News.
