Hinsdale Central's boys cross country team finished fourth in Class 3A at the IHSA state finals Saturday, Nov. 7, at Detweiller Park in Peoria.
The Red Devils scored 174 points, placing behind trophy winners Elmhurst York (141), Winnetka New Trier (155) and St. Charles North (160), according to results published by the Peoria Journal Star. The top three teams in each race earned state trophies. The top 25 runners in each race were named all-state.
Three Hinsdale Central seniors cracked the all-state list.
Johnny Krueger led the Red Devils with a 14th-place finish in 14:31.2. Henry Miller was right behind him in 15th at 14:32.1. Elliot Kotleba rounded out the trio in 19th place, clocking 14:33.7. All three runners finished within 2.5 seconds of each other.
The fourth-place result is a jump from last season, when the boys finished 13th at state, according to a preseason preview in The Hinsdalean. Head coach Jim Westphal pointed to senior experience heading into the season.
"We've got a lot of seniors who as juniors got some pretty invaluable varsity experience," Westphal said in the August preview. "There's good team chemistry, and I think we have a little bit of depth to help us perform well."
The Hinsdale Central girls also competed at state in Class 3A but did not finish among the top 10 teams. No Red Devils runners appeared in the top 25 individual results. The girls finished seventh at state last season under head coach Mark McCabe.
Villa Park Willowbrook junior Legend Alka also turned in a strong showing for a local runner, placing 12th in the boys Class 3A race with a time of 14:28.6.
Santiago Chavez of Burbank Reavis won the boys Class 3A individual title in 14:04.8. Arlington Heights Hersey won the girls Class 3A team championship with 126 points.
Krueger, Miller and Kotleba all close their senior campaigns as all-staters after leading the Red Devils from 13th to fourth in the Class 3A team standings.
