Evergreen Park Cross Country Off and Running

started its cross country season with a tri-meet against rivals Reavis and Oak Lawn last Tuesday at the Elizabeth Conkey Woods. The Mustangs finished second in the boys race and third in the girls race.

Reavis, which has one of the top cross country programs in the South Suburban Conference, won both the boys and girls races.

Juniors Anthony Betts and Anthony Briante led the Evergreen boys team to its second-place finish. Betts and Briante were the only Mustangs to finish in the top five, placing fourth and fifth, respectively. Juniors Justin Briante, Brian Langevin and Chris Murray rounded out the Mustangs’ scoring by finishing in eighth, ninth and 12th place, respectively.

Junior Maggie O’Toole was Evergreen Park’s top girls finisher, crossing the finish line in sixth place. Freshmen Tricia Butera, Emily Radgowski, Amanda Grabowski and sophomore Leeza Campbell were the other top finishers for Evergreen Park.

Girls Volleyball: Evergreen Gains Tourney Experience

With a relatively young team, Evergreen Park was looking forward to last weekend’s West Aurora Invitational to gain some valuable experience. The Mustangs played five matches, going 1-4 to take 10th place.

The Mustangs went 0-3 in the first round of pool play, falling to Bartlett, Plainfield South and West Aurora in two games in each match. But Evergreen Park came back to defeat Streamwood 25-21, 25-14 in its first game of the Copper Pool before losing a tough two-game match to Romeoville, 25-14, 26-24.

Football: Catholic School Rivals Go Punch for Punch          

The Backyard Brawl certainly lived up to the hype as in overtime on Friday night. The Crusaders rushed for 302 yards and overcame a 28-14 deficit.

Brother Rice’s Andrew Walker carried the ball 23 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Ian Woodworth led Marist with 210 yards passing and a rushing touchdown.