The Riverside-Brookfield High School boys cross country team won another invitational Oct. 1 behind further pack progress.
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 9 in Class 2A by ILXCTF.com, captured Lisle’s Mane Event invite over No. 5 Glenbard South.
Juniors Cooper Marrs (15 minutes, 50.9 seconds for 5,000 meters) and Jack O’Brien (16:09.5) took third and fourth. Sophomore Brady Noonan (10th, 16:34.0), junior Brennan Lester (12th, 16:45.6) and senior Zack Gaynor (15th, 16:53.4) also were top 15, followed by juniors Evan McMullen (41st, 17:55.7) and Hayden Marrs (64th, 18:28.8).
RBHS previously won the First to the Finish Invite Class 2A race Sept. 10 in Peoria and the RBHS Invite on Sept. 17. With the continued progress of Noonan and Lester, the Bulldogs dropped their No. 1-5 split to 55 seconds and 2-5 split to 36 seconds Saturday from 2:03 and 1:22 in Peoria.
In the girls race, RBHS senior Bryce Pacourek (19:24.6) took second to Larkin’s Heather Durrant (18:40.40) and Gianna Gelb was sixth (20:06.0).
The No. 27-ranked Bulldogs were third (103 points) with other finishers Lily Kocourek (28th, 21:27.4), Jojo Rodriguez (36th, 21:45.4), Maria Dalton (44th, 22:08.0), Mia Wagner (63rd, 22:53.5) and Maiana Nelson (67th, 23:10.5).
Boys soccer
The RBHS boys soccer team dominated in beating Chicago Christian 9-0 on Sept. 27 and Westmont 8-1 on Sept. 29.
Senior Hunter Ferguson had four goals against Chicago Christian and now has 18 goals and 11 assists this season for the Bulldogs (8-8, 4-1 in Metro Suburban Blue).
“He’s a very big part in our offense, in our scheme,” RBHS coach Ivek Halic said. “He does very well with holding the ball, kind of being our point player.”
Diego Villegas also scored twice, both assisted by Manny Tovar (5 goals, 7 assists), and Gabe Wiginton had a goal and assist. Ari Noel Juarez Martinez and Hickey also scored and Max Swicionis, Tomas Kunickas, Massimo Franceschina, Eric Ruiz, Noah Berendt and Josef Guerrero had assists. Guerrero has been promoted from the junior varsity.
The Westmont victory marked the Bulldogs’ fourth shutout. Wiginton and Ferguson both scored twice, Swicionis and Xavier Salamanca (5 goals, 4 assists) had a goal and assist and Ferguson and Villegas had two assists. Kunickas and Berendt also scored, and Liam Kaiser and Tovar had assists.
Girls volleyball
The Bulldogs won the third of their last five matches 25-13, 25-14 at St. Edward on Sept. 27.
Sophia Cozzone (5 aces), Elise Verdin (7 kills, 12 digs), Annabel Krueger (5 kills, 10 assists), Kira Conroy (13 digs) and freshman Claire Cameron (15 assists) fueled RBHS (7-15), which had 28 kills with eight errors.
“I would say the biggest difference this year is the team’s motivation to get better. Our team bond is pretty strong, and it helps so much on the court,” Conroy said.
“We’ve been focusing on a lot of things, such as picking up tips and having a strong offense. Pressure serving is something we’re focusing on as well, because we want to be the strongest serving team in the conference. We want to focus on one game at a time, but every game we’ve been playing better so I’m very excited for regionals.”
Girls tennis
The Bulldogs compete at the Metro Suburban Conference Tournament Oct. 7 in Elmhurst.
Sophomore Harriet Juister and senior Lara Huns won No. 1 doubles at the RBHS Invite on Sept. 24.
