Newer Bulldogs achieve All-UEC cross country honors 

Riverside Brookfield High School freshman girls cross country runner Elia Bursua achieved multiple goals at the Upstate Eight Conference Meet Saturday at Elmwood Park. She had plenty of company.

Junior Bella Limoges, seniors Addie Vaia and Rebecca Dosek and freshman Natalie Moran joined Bursua as All-UEC runners with top 25 finishes. With multiple personal-best times, the Bulldogs also finished second (59 points) to South Elgin (37) in the 13-team field after taking third in their 2024 UEC debut.

“I was really happy for my whole team working so hard during the season and I think we all deserved the award,” Bursua responded. “Being all-conference was a goal of mine. I was really determined to reach my full potential, and I was really happy with the results. I think this was one of the best races of my life and I ran my goal of under 20 minutes.” 

Limoges finished a team-best sixth (18:38.1 for 3.0 miles). Vaia (10th, 19:17.7) also was top 10 and Moran (12th, 18:35.9), Dosek (13th, 19:36.9) and Bursua (18th, 19:52.1) were top 20.

“[All-conference] was a really fun accomplishment because we were able to work together and improve as a team over the season,” Moran said. “This was the best race for me because I got a [personal record] and felt really good during the race. It was also the meet that brought our team together and really helped our spirit because we all had great races.” 

This is the first high school cross country season for Limoges, who previously has competed in track. 

Last year, Vaia and Dosek also were All-UEC by taking ninth and 24th, respectively. Dosek was all-conference at the 2023 Metro Suburban Conference Meet, which Vaia missed as she was also playing volleyball at the time. 

At the boys UEC Meet, RBHS sophomore Huffman earned his first varsity all-conference honors by taking 22nd (16:59.3). Huffman was seventh in last year’s sophomore race. Senior Emmitt Olson (36th, 17:24.6) also was in the top 40 for the eighth-place Bulldogs (184).

At the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet, Lyons Township seniors Mya Coglianese and Tyler Gantt repeated their top-16, all-conference honors Saturday at Proviso West. Both the boys (120) and girls (141) finished sixth. Coglianese was ninth in the girls race (19:11.80 for 3.04 miles) after being 14th in 2024. Junior Amelia Ludden was 29th (20:22.54).

“I felt pretty good. I’m fine with the time and everything and I’m happy with what place I got because I placed better than last year,” Coglianese said. “I’m just waiting for regionals and sectionals.” 

Gantt took 10th (16:07.47 for 3.04 miles) in the boys race after achieving the 16th and last all-conference spot in a breakthrough 2024 race. Sophomore Benjamin Radtke (23rd, 16:51.72), senior Patrick Collins (26th, 16:58.88) and junior Colin Shea (28th, 17:01.51) also were top 30.

“Last year I barely snuck in. This year my goal was to be top 10, top five,” Gantt said. “There were a few times where I was just trying to gain positions, move up. It’s very mental. We did good and we’re getting ready for [regionals].”  

RBHS and LTHS compete Oct. 25 at the Class 3A Lyons Township Regional with hopes of advancing to the Hinsdale Central Sectional Nov. 1.

Boys soccer

In his final home game, senior Logan Wilson had three goals and an assist as RBHS defeated Chicago Noble/Bulls 5-0, Saturday, in the opening round of the Class 2A Timothy Christian Regional.

The Bulldogs (5-12-2), seeded No. 14 in the De La Salle Sectional, played the No. 3 host Trojans in the regional semifinals Tuesday.

Michael Panduro and Ruben Briceno had a goal and assist and Luis Alvarez had two assists. Earning the shutout was the starting defense of Austin Castilla, Liam Wallace, Jacob Gonzalez, Max Kaplan and goalie Eros Valadez.

RBHS finished seventh in the UEC East with an 0-4-2 record and beat East Aurora 1-0 in the UEC crossover round, Oct. 14. Luis Alvarez scored with an assist from Briceno. RBHS lost to the Tomcats 1-0, Sept. 6.

In 3A, Lyons Township (15-4-2) is the No. 2 seed to Morton in the Hinsdale Central Sectional. The Lions played No. 15 Curie in Wednesday’s Downers Grove Regional semifinals with hopes of reaching Saturday’s regional final most likely against No. 6 Downers North (11-12-1), which LTHS defeated 2-1 in overtime Sept. 23.

LTHS girls flag football

Senior center Jax Tamburello and her LTHS girls flag football teammates welcomed the expected challenge from Kenwood in the Hinsdale South Sectional semifinals, Oct. 13.

“The whole season we were a pretty good team. Playing a game where we were up against someone that had skills; it was fun,” Tamburello said.

The Lions, however, couldn’t overcome a frustrating first half and lost 19-0 with all of the points scored in the first half. 

Top-seeded LTHS (17-4) was shut out for the first time after scoring at least 20 points in 14 victories and at least 30 in 10 of those, including 38-7 to beat Reavis for the Hinsdale South Regional title, Oct. 8. 

Against Kenwood (20-5), the Lions got inside the red zone twice in the second half.

“We had a slow start but the second half we settled in and were making some big plays. We just couldn’t get quite to the goal line,” LTHS coach Meghan Hutchens said.

“They were super-fast in rushing. We made the adjustments defensively. Offensively we did as well but we just weren’t quite able to get a touchdown.” 

In the second season of IHSA-sanctioned girls flag football, the Lions again won regionals with a roster of 13 seniors and many returnees. 

Seniors Anna Bigenwald, Char Ebeid, Teya Magajne and Kennedy Campbell, junior Megan Robinson and sophomore Taylor Hoffenberg earned All-WSC Silver honors in the first year of conference play. 

Ebeid had around 400 completions in her second season as the starting quarterback. Bigenwald (18 touchdowns, 135 catches, 11 interceptions), Hoffenberg (12 TDs, 191 combined runs/catches), Robinson (17 interceptions, 71 flag pulls), Magajne (42 flag pulls, 9 interceptions) and Campbell (78 flag pulls, 10 TDs) were among category leaders. 

The Lions also lost to state champion Maine South 8-7 in overtime, Glenbard West 12-7 for the Silver title and Hillcrest 20-13. Third-place Willowbrook beat Hillcrest 20-14 in Friday’s quarterfinals.

“We didn’t finish how we wanted to, but we competed how we wanted to,” Hutchens said.

Tamburello, a Brookfield resident, returns to weightlifting on her own.

“I’d qualify that as a sport. But I miss being on a team. I miss having people by my side,” Tamburello said. “We tried our best to train the younger girls and underclassmen so they can get as much playing time as they can.”