Chicago Public League Sports Blog

Pictures Now - Cross Country Sectionals at Niles West

Photo Album

Sam Redmond (sr) of Whitney Young in the class AAA boys race. Whitney Young boys finished 15th - one place ahead of a depleted city runner up team Mather.

Maddy Sopena (sr) of Lane Tech in the girls class AAA race. Lane girls finished 14th.

New Trier sophomore Allie Crimmins. New Trier was the team of the meet finishing first in girls AAA and the boys came within 5 points of #1 state ranked York.

Patrick Santino (jr) of St. Ignatius. St. Ignatius took the 5th and final qualifying spot. Part of a great day for the Jesuits. Loyola Academy - which many wrote off this year after graduating so many from last year - finished 4th and finishing only 12 points away from powerhouse Oak Park. St. Ignatius, a CPS rival in many sports because they are in the city, was happy to qualify for state. At the starting line, I overheard a St. Ignatius runner asking his coach what box they would be at. The coach said the box number -" right next to York and Oak Park". After he said that I looked at the St. Ignatius runner and yelled he yelled "YEAAAAAHHHH!"

School Spirit and Superheroes

In a display of school spirit and Halloween, superheroes and school colors were in full display at the Niles West Cross Country Sectionals.

Lane Tech's Stephanie Werner proudly shows her school colors. (Werner photo)

Spidermen from Oak Forest


A Super parent

The Notre Dame Green Man. Get this, this glow worm was in the race and this picture was taken 6 minutes before race time. You gotta love that Notre Dame team spirit.

Lane's male cheerleaders Bart, George, and Tony carry Carina Coss (Lane's #1 girl).(Carina Coss photo)

2nd Round CPS Football Playoff Pairings Will be Released as soon as I get them

Look for 2nd round city playoff pairings to be announced most likely later tonight or tomorrow.

Morgan Park, Simeon, and Robeson are still playing in the state playoffs and only get pushed back into the city playoffs if they lose an early state playoff game. Chicago Conference teams are not eligible for the city playoffs.

The Chicago Public League and the Chicago Catholic League are the only two conferences that have been given authority to play after state playoff losses. This is so the teams can continue the Prep Bowl tradition where the Public League champion plays the Catholic League champion.

Teams that will play a 2nd round playoff game later this week or get a bye
Hubbard
Curie
Dunbar
Orr
Harper

Background
First round city playoff results, Thursday games
First round city playoff results, Friday games

 

Still alive after the first round

Simeon
Simeon pounded St. Ignatius 47-0. Who said the blowouts would stop once the state playoffs begin? Simeon was up 34-0 at the half. After the game St. Ignatius coach called Simeon "They're the best I've seen in the Public League and I've been around 27 years," St. Ignatius coach Pat Jennings said. Simeon plays Schaumburg next. This is the first major test for Simeon since week 3 game against Morgan Park. Much much more on this game in future posts.

Robeson
Destroyed poor Dusable 52-0. Both schools are from the south side, but after that there is no comparison. Robeson has a chance to avenge the Hubbard loss to Cary Grove, as Robeson plays Cary-Grove in the next round. However, that game is at Cary Grove. More on this game coming in a future post.

Morgan Park
40-0 over Fenton! Morgan Park came into the game as the favorite but I did not expect a running clock.  Junior running back Brandon Peppers said "Our goal is to win the state championship". Peppers feels Simeon and Morgan Park can both win state. But, I guarantee you their next opponent Prarie Ridge will not be as easy as the Fenton game. Prairie Ridge is the Fox Valley conference champions and has an impressive 9-1 record. Prairie Ridge's only loss came to undefeated Crystal Lake South. Not only that, this game will be an away game for Morgan Park. They will travel to Crystal Lake. Prairie Ridge was a state semi-finalist a year ago.

 

 

CPS State Sectional View

Story of the day is Jones's big 2nd place finish and Kenwood grabbing the 5th and final state qualifying spot. In this picture Tim Warren of Jones (left) and Kenwood's James Terrell.

First, Let me say that I am proud of the CPS overall for their display of sportsmanship and gamesmanship.  I felt like all of the competing teams and virtually most of the individuals (girls and boys) gave a valiant effort on the course.
 
Whitney Girls rebounded well from their 2nd place showing in the city championship to finish 8th overall in the 3A championship.  They should be commended for that.  Congrats to Eden Alemu (Mather), and Jamie Hershfang (Payton), and her teammate Molly Lawrence for qualifying in the state championship.
 
As for my team Lane Tech (boys),  I was initially disappointed in our effort, but after second review I realized that the young men performed fairly well.  Of course, I thought we could have been a little better but overall I am proud of them.  We finished 10th in the toughest state sectional in the state. I truly believe all 5 qualifying teams will place in the top 15 next week.  Congrats to them all.  David Timlin has come a long way since being the 3rd best runner on the frosh-soph team to the #1 spot.  In fact, after last year there was very little direction in looking ahead.  I feel we have the parts to move a step forward for 2011.  We have 5 starters returning and they will get better through track season. 
 
Whitney Young had a tough day finishing 15th.  I know Coach Billy Poole-Harris was upset at his team's effort, but his cast was experiencing new territory with a new coach and system.  Most of his guys return for next year and they will be a team to watch out for.
 
Mather finished 16th but several key scorers from the city runner-up team were absent.  Congrats to Abe Haji for qualifying for his first state championship.  He ran very well throughout the race.
 
Jones ran very well in the 2A final by finishing 2nd.  Dale Jamison boosted his team's efforts with a second place finish behind Lake View's Oscar Medina.  Jamison was actually leading for a huge chunk before Medina pulled away in the last mile.  Congrats to Medina and Jones.
 
Congrats to Kenwood on a fine effort.  Initially, I thought this team had no chance of qualifying.  They proved me and everyone else wrong.  They had three runners in top 15 and that seemed to boost their charge.  They ran extremely well from 2m on.
 
Also, congrats to Oscar Medina (Lake View), Jeffrey Rector (Roosevelt) and Felix Peralta (Juarez) for qualifying individually. 
 
Tony Jones
 

Saturday 1st Round State Football Playoff Schedule and Results

updated 7:48pm

Final scores will be in Red

CICS Longwood 42 Carver 8
Morgan Park 40 Fenton 0
Sandwhich 49 Harper 14
Marian 51 Julian 14
Tinley Park 31 Orr 6
Cary Grove 28 Hubbard 20
Geneseo 45 Collins 0
Hononegah 50 Taft 7
Loyola 42 Whitney Young 0

Cross Country Sectionals at Niles West High School Thread

Jack Driggs of York on the way to winning the sectional title.

When the Cross Country Sectional Results come in, it will be posted here. Or if anyone has results please comment.

updated 5:49pm

Boys and Girls Class AA Nazareth Sectional Results

Boys and Girls Class AAA Niles West Sectional Results

CPS Individual/TEam Qualifiers
Abe Haji (jr) - Mather boys, class AAA
Aden Alemu (sr) - Mather girls, class AAA
Jones College Prep - boys class AA
Kenwood - boys class AA
Oscar Medina (Lake View), Felix Peralta (Juarez), Jeffrey Rector (Roosevelt) - boys class AA
Jamie Hershfang (Payton), Molly Lawrence (Payton) - girls class AA

Graylake Central 21 - Senn 0 - Halftime Score

Senn Overmatched by Grayslake Central

 
Cody Gillard (sr- RB) and Rashaun Roberts (sr, WR)

I got an indecation Grayslake Central was a serious program when two hours before kickoff carloads of Grayslake Central fans were in the parking lot tailgaiting.

They also showed it on the field, as Grayslake Central completely dominated the first half and led 21-0. I left the game at that point. There was no use watching any longer.

Senn started out the game well by causing nad then recovering a Grayslake fumble on their first posession. Then, when Senn had the ball, running back Cody Gillard ran for about a 20 yard gain. But after that it was all downhill for the Bulldogs. The Grayslake line completely controlled the Senn line as Senn could muster absolutely nothing on offense. Thus, giving Grayslake excellent field position every time they got the ball. The game was played on the Senn side of the field the entire half.

Since Senn is in a Chicago Conference, they do not qualify for the city playoffs after a state playoff loss. Thus, their season is over. Senn will move upto the Illini-conference since they won their Chicago Conference.

Friday Schedule and Scoreboard

Finals Scores Will be Updated in Red when final score comes in. Or if you have score, please comment.

updated 11:59pm

Boys soccer sectional final
Maine West 3 Mather 1

First round state football playoffs
Bartlett 55 Dunbar 14
Homewood Flossmoor 53 Curie 14
Lyons 58 CVS 0
Richards 53 Hyde Park 24
Robeson 52, Dusable 0 (article)
Kaneland 42 King 0
Grayslake (Central) 31 Senn 6  (article)
Vernon Hills 51 Harlan 0
Simeon 47 St. Ignatius 0 - 4th quarter

CPS Elementary School Championship this Saturday at Horner Park

CPS Elementary School City Championship

Horner Park, Chicago, IL
Saturday, October 30, 2010
First Race (5-6th grade) 9:00AM

Girls then Boys.
2nd Race(7-8th grade) 10ish
Girls then Boys.

from a reader:

The cross country city championship rotates between the north and south side. This year it will be located at Horner Park (between Montrose and Irving Park Road on California).

The 5th and 6th Graders run their 1 mile race at 9AM - girls first, then boys. 

Immediately after the 5th/6th race, the 7th and 8th graders run their 1.5 mile race. Also girls then boys.

To my knowledge there is no CPS website that covers the elementary sports (looks like a good opportunity for someone!).

Like the high schools, there are 8 or 9 regionals. The top runners and teams (many schools don't have enough runners to support a team) advance to the two sectional (northside, southside) meets.

Saturday will be the finals combining the top runners and teams from the 2 sectionals.

Unfortunately, I am not too familiar with the southside schools. But here are a few schools that were represented from the northside region:

Bell, Lincoln, Onahan, Whitney Young (7th-8th only), Shields, Peterson, Oriole Park.

Many of these runners continue to run at CPS high schools. Knowing their elementary background could give you a better handle on who should excel as freshmen.