Riverside Brookfield High School senior Aiden O’Brien has lived both sides of close boys cross country results the past two races. On Saturday, O’Brien and freshmen Asher Edmonson were the two Bulldogs who advanced as individuals during the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Regional at Katherine Legge Memorial Park.
“A little bittersweet. We’ve been looking at this all year, trying to get through sectionals (as a team),” O’Brien said.
Meanwhile, the RBHS girls and Lyons Township boys and girls did advance as teams to the Lyons Township Sectional Oct. 31 by finishing among the top six. The RBHS boys finished seventh. The top five individuals not among the advancing teams also qualify. Edmonson (35th, 17:08.2 for 3.0 miles) and O’Brien (41st, 17:30.7) were the second and fourth individuals to advance. Meanwhile, RBHS junior Wilson Leister (43rd, 17:36.8) just missed as the sixth individual, one overall place and 4.6 seconds from the last qualifier.
“(Leister) was close. It’s good to get two people, though,” O’Brien said. “It’s tough but it’s good that a freshman got first place for us. The future of the team’s looking pretty good.”
The LTHS boys (63 points) were third with junior Brennan Monohan (4th, 15:11.1) earning top-five all-regional honors. The Bulldogs (215) finished 60 points behind fifth-place Fenwick. The Lions’ other finishers were juniors Ben Radtke (9th, 15:40.7) and Henry James (15th, 15:59.0), senior Colin Shea (17th, 16:07.2), junior Evan Ruse (18th, 16:09.5), sophomore Luke Borling (28th, 16:38.1) and junior Colin Flynn (31st, 16:48.3).
The Bulldogs’ other four finishers were freshman Ian Durbin (47th, 17:56.6) and seniors Tony Lombardo (49th, 18:09.0), Gavin Duncan (50th, 18:18.3) and Ian Spatzek (58th, 18:57.5)
The Lions are projected to contend for one of the seven team qualifiers at the sectional. Last year, the Lions missed a state meet berth as a team for the first time since 2007.
“We’re at the point where we’re looking for them to kind of make a jump. (Regionals) was a little bit of a jump, a little progress,” LTHS coach Mike Danner said. “Ben and Henry ran really solid for us.”
At the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet also at KLM, Monohan (15:13.0) was all-conference with a top-16 finish. Radtke was 20th for the fifth-place Lions.
“Naperville Twilight definitely went well (5th in 14:45.8 Oct. 7). Conference, I was happy with that result. (Regionals) not too happy,” Monohan said. “I just kind of died on the hill back there at the 2 mile (mark). I’ve just got to grind through that last mile, definitely figure something out.”
At the Upstate Eight Conference East Division boys race, Wilson (24th, 16:37.2) was the lone all-conference runner for the Bulldogs with a top-25 finish.
“We did really well as a team. I didn’t expect to (get a personal record) but I did by four seconds,” Leister said. “It was a great meet. The course was good. I felt really strong.”
O’Brien, meanwhile, was 26th (16:38.6), one place and .6 from the last all-conference spot.
“I was kind of working getting up to (Leister) the whole race because he had a good start,” O’Brien said. “I caught up to him with about 300 meters left. He had a really strong finish. It was really close (for 25th).”
The RBHS girls rode the momentum of five all-conference performances and numerous personal or season bests to finish fourth Saturday (118), one point ahead of Fenwick. Sophomore Elia Bursua (9th, 18:42.5) was top 10, followed by sophomore Natalie Moran (22nd, 19:34.3), junior Elsie Clark (28th, 20:12.2) and Anabel Oleziak (29th, 20:20.4), freshmen Micah Griffin (33rd, 20:41.1) and Clementine Russell (34th, 20:42.8) and junior Evelyn Walsh (38th, 20:54.0).
“I think we all did really well and worked together,” Bursua said. “We’ve had a lot of good training and it’s gotten us very prepared for this meet.”
The Bulldogs lost freshman No. 1 runner Delaney Gidd to injury in midseason. Moran began the season sidelined with an injury and overcame foot problems during Saturday’s race.
“Despite being in pain you wouldn’t have been able to tell. She did fantastic,” said first-year RBHS coach Lisa Voigts-Guzman. “They looked really strong. They were all fighting for each spot. We kind of emphasized it’s so important to pass any competition and they did.”
At the UEC East Meet, Bursua (18:38.0), Moran (11th, 18:58.0), Clark (19:32.8), Olesiak (21st, 19:45.0) and Walsh (24th, 20:09.0) were all-conference. Russell (26th, 20:22.0) was 10.7 seconds from 25th. Bursua and Moran were all-conference again and respectively improved from 18th and 12th in 2025. The Bulldogs once again finished second to South Elgin.
“I’ve shocked myself and proved to myself that I can do hard things (this season),” Bursua said. “I can encourage my teammates and we can all help each other out. I’ve been so happy and excited for everybody on the team.”
A postseason alternate in 2025, Olesiak is among several varsity newcomers also enjoying major strides.
“I was nervous (for regionals) but I tried to keep that team mindset. Knowing I had a strong team behind me made it a lot easier,” Olesiak said.
“(Conference) was one of the best meets and I was really proud. I wasn’t searching for (all-conference) but it was in the back of my head. My goal was just to run for the team.”
The LTHS girls were sixth at regionals (126) with sophomore Naomi O’Hare (16th, 19:16.0), freshman Viktoria Vidakovic (19th, 19:23.2), sophomores Anna Dulyaba (26th, 19:45.7) and Ellinor Lach (32nd, 20:32.5), freshman Kennedy Hartman (36th, 20:49.4), junior Sarah Edell (39th, 20:56.2) and sophomore Fiona O’Hare (43rd, 21:18.6).
At the Silver Meet, Naomi O’Hare (16th, 18:56.4) pulled out the last all-conference spot by 11.0 seconds for the fifth-place Lions. O’Hare improved from 38th in 2025.
“It’s really great. I did not think I was going to have a chance (at all-conference),” Naomi O’Hare said. “My main goal this whole season was to just get sub-19:00 I would be happy, even if I didn’t get all-conference so I’m just happy either way.”
Seniors Juliana Gamboa and Burke Burns, both of Riverside, helped their respective Fenwick lineups. Gamboa was an all-regional fourth in the girls race (18:09.2) for the fifth-place Friars (119). At the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference meet, Gamboa finished second to DePaul’s Emily Stecky (18:01.0 to 18:09.3).
Burns (16th, 16:05.4) was the top regional finisher for the sixth-place boys (155), whose next four finishers were all freshmen. At the Chicago Catholic League Meet, Burns was 12th to earn all-conference honors.
“I haven’t been able to do it (all-conference) in the past three years and I felt great about it,” Burns said. “It’s a good end of my career (achievement).”