OLYMPIA FIELDS | The weather couldn't have been nicer for Saturday's Jimmy Daniels Invititational, but some runners just prefer the cold.
Bloom Twp.'s Joaquin Silva finished in 15th place and teammate Stephan Riley finished in 17th in the boys race to help the Blazing Trojan boys to a fifth-place team finish. Silva finished with a time of 17:01 and Riley finished in 17:03.
"When we got to the wall," Silva said, "and we couldn't run any more, I just picked it up like coach said. Stop thinking as much as I'm breathing, and I just went with the advice from coach."
The Andrew boys finished in first place with 49 points as junior Mike Keller won with a time of 15:48.
"It's like a little competition within the team," Riley said after the race. "It's to get everybody motivated to run harder. We just wanted to get out to the second mile and then attack."
The weather was sunny with highs in the low 80s, but many runners just find that the cold weather helps with their runs and times. In the girls race, T.F. South's Patty Stellfox finished 26th (20:55). South sophomore Jessica Fierce took 49th (22:36).
"It was good weather. It's a pretty easy course," Stellfox said. "I think we're better when it's colder. It wasn't too hot but it was hotter than usual."
Marian Catholic's Ellen Quinn finished in 33rd with a time of 21:37. Marist won the girls competition while behind Maggie O'Loughlin, who checked in first with a time of 19:05.
"I came in first for our school," Quinn said. "Last weekend, I came in sixth and didn't even enter in to the scoring. It was a big accomplishment for me personally."
Bloom's Monica Chavolla finished in 45th with a time of 22:12.
"I think I did good but if I would have pushed myself, I would have done better," Chavolla said. "I prefer it to be cooler because then I have less things to worry about."
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