Jesuit kicked off its 2017 season at the Lagoon Valley Classic featuring most of the top teams from around the Section competing on a hilly course under challenging conditions.  The first race was the Freshman boys race.  In a field of 15 teams and 164 runners, the Jesuit freshman team finished in 8th place.  The Jesuit scoring five were Tommy Gee in 20th (13:05), Joe Ryan 22nd (13:08), Michael Gamette 56th, Matthew Jones 57th, and Trey Jacobi in 78th. 

The second boy’s race of the day was the Frosh/Soph division.  This was the largest field of the day with 27 teams and 286 runners competing.  In this race the Marauders, despite only having 6 runners, won the team competition with 85 points to 2nd place Bella Vista’s 109 points.  The Marauder’s relied on pack running with only 18 seconds separating the scoring 5 runners.  Talon Krieger led the way in 11th (12:14), followed closely by Martin Smith 12th(12:16), Eric Huitt 19th (12:24), Caelin Sutch 23rd (12:27), and JT Leach 25th (12:32).  Demetri Petuskey closed things out in 29th (12:43) finishing ahead of every other team’s 5th man to increase the Marauder’s margin of victory.

Next came the Varsity boys race fielding 23 teams and 174 runners.  With top runner Matt Strangio not running, the young Marauder varsity squad had their hands full.  Much like the sophomores, the Marauders were tightly bunched at the finish with only 18 seconds separating the top 5 scorers.  Despite excellent packing, Jesuit (80 points) couldn’t quite overcome Bella Vista who had 3 runners in the top 7, finishing in 2nd to Bella Vista (68 points).  Jesuit was led by juniors Gabe Lovely, competing in his first race, 10th place (11:15), Colin Ryan 14th (11:18), Colin Brannan 19th (11:26), Miles Worthen 20th (11:27), and Senior Jordan Rahe 22nd (11:33).  Juniors Seamus Caslin 30th (11:42) who finished ahead of every other team’s 5th man and Russell Kustic 46th(12:03) rounded out the top 7.

The last race of the day was the JV boy’s race.  Facing off against 17 teams and 216 runners, the Marauder’s showcased their depth to capture the team title with 40 points to 2nd place Bella Vista 57 points, and third place Sheldon also with 57 points.  Junior Antonio Vargas led the way capturing the individual race win with a time of 11:51, leading the race from start to finish.  Senior David Vincent coming back from injury finished 6th (12:32), Junior Anthony Rogado 11th (12:44), Senior Luke Moreno 12th (12:59), Junior Vicente Lamera 13th (13:02) completed the scoring for the Marauders with 6th man Cole Baer 18th place (13:23) finishing ahead of every other team’s 5th man.