The pressure was on for a team that finished 6th at the state meet a year ago.
The New Trier boys varsity cross country team finished strong at its biggest meet to date Sept. 13 at historic Detweiller Park in Peoria.
The Trevians responded to high expectations with a 4th place finish in a field of 49 teams, and each runner in the varsity race set an individual best for 3 miles.
According to trevianxc.com, Senior Josh Rosenkranz led the team with a time of 14:50, followed by junior Jack Litowitz clocking in at 15:05. Senior Austin Santacruz, senior Nick Merrill, junior Ted Oh, senior Josh Greenberg, and junior Josh Derrick posted times of 15:18, 15:35, 15:36, 15:18, and 15:55, respectively.
It was a good showing for a Trevians team that will look to build on this performance as the season goes on.
Despite injuries to senior standouts Charlie Pearlman, Tarek Afifi, Om Kanwar and Luke Duros, head coach Dave Wisner believes that, at full health, he has a team that can eclipse the finish of last year’s squad.
“It’s going to take some time, but I think we’re a better team,” said Wisner.
Key to any success will be Josh Rosenkranz. The senior distance runner has recently proved himself to be one of the premier talents in the state of Illinois. His performance in the Trevians’ intrasquad meet lived up to expectations, as he finished in the two-mile race with a time of 10:01, 11 seconds faster than the next finisher, according to trevianxc.com.
“I’ve been staying healthy, and getting sleep,” said Rosenkranz. “Every year we lose people and then people step up. Last year the group was very hard-working, so we’ve been trying to emulate that.”
Rozenkranz has the support of teammates and coaches as well.
“[Rosenkranz’s] improvement in the last year has been phenomenal,” said Wisner. “From where he was as a sophomore, to what he accomplished last year, and now he’s almost gone to a whole other level, so I think Josh’s expectations are going to be all-state this year and I think that’s very realistic. Given the type of training he’s done and the way he’s raced, he’s been fantastic.”
“Josh Rosenkranz is leading the pack as our star runner this season. He’s going to do big things,” said senior captain Charlie Goldberg.
Also impressing at the intrasquad meet were senior Austin Santacruz, junior Ted Oh, senior Nick Merrill, and senior Charlie Maher, clocking in with two-mile times of 10:12, 10:22, 10:23, 10:31, respectively.
“Nick Merrill is a guy that I think is worth mentioning just because he’s come so far,” said Wisner. “He’s had a lot of back injuries from when he played soccer and last December his lung collapsed. And he’s one of our top varsity runners this year. What he’s been able to do has just been amazing,” said Wisner.
And, while Merrill has fully recovered from a slew of injuries, some of his teammates continue their healing processes. Pearlman, who also acts as a captain for the team, underwent hip surgery in the spring of 2014 and has just recently began upping his mileage during workouts.
According to Rosenkranz, prospects are bright if Pearlman, Duros, and other runners regain their health.
“If we can get everyone into consistently running well and doing good workouts, I think it’ll all come together pretty nicely,” said Rosenkranz.
The Trevians will need a fully healthy roster to overcome quality competition. According to Rosenkranz, York, Sandburg, Neuqua Valley, and Hinsdale Central (last year’s state champion) all pose a threat to state championship hopes.
According to Goldberg, at the state meet Nov. 8 in Peoria (when the team is allowed to bring 12 runners instead of the usual 7), only one result will be satisfactory.
Goldberg said, “Our goal is a state championship.”