Highland Park High School’s Brett Davidson, seen here in the Lake Forest Regional on Oct. 24, placed sixth in the rain-drenched Class 3A Schaumburg Sectional. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
By the time the Class 3A Schaumburg Sectional boys race commenced — 75 minutes after the start of the girls race — every step on the Busse Woods course turned into an adventure.
The rain just kept coming down on Oct. 31.
“It was tough,” admitted Highland Park Brett Davidson. “Every step you took was slick. I did my best. I’ll be ready for next weekend (Class 3A state meet at Peoria’s Detweiller Park).”
Davidson stayed with the leaders most of the way. He eventually fell back with 800 meters left. The senior wound up placing sixth overall in 15:50.86. The winner, Lake Zurich’s Matt Pereira, was clocked in 14:40.47.
“Brett went up against some of the top runners in state today,” said HP head coach Steve Buti. “He’s worked really hard to get to this point.”
Buti was disappointed with HP’s team finish.
“We had been coming along real well,” said the coach, who watched his team finish ninth overall with 236 points. “This was not what we were hoping for.”
“I thought we (as a team) might make some noise here,” said Davidson.
The other scorers were Nate Amster (42nd), Jose Reyes (53rd), Charlie Skurie (65th) and Alec Glazier (70).
Meanwhile, in the girls race, HP’s Charlotte Nawor was the tough-luck kid at the Schaumburg Sectional. The senior standout, who earned Class 3A all-state honors last November (21st place), had a mishap 300 meters into the race.
“She turned her ankle at the turn,” said HP head coach Andy Butler. “A lot of runners would have stopped right there. But she wanted to finish and help the team.”
And she did. Nawor completed the task in 20:36, which placed her fifth on the team (84th) behind Kaitlyn Twadell (61st), Robin Israel (71st), Rachel Powers (73rd) and Marni Pine (74th). The Giants placed 14th in the team standings.