Rothschild Finishes Third at CSL Meet

Ari Rothschild of Highland Park finished third overall and first in the Central Suburban League (CSL) North conference meet at Niles West Saturday. He finished behind Dave Eckhart of Maine South and Tommy King of New Trier, two boys he has been competing against since his freshman year.

All 12 CSL teams ran together in each age group, but the results were posted by division. Highland Park is in the same division (North) as Maine West, Maine East, Glenbrook North, Deerfield and Niles North. On the varsity level, an overall champion was declared as well.

Rothschild and the two front-runners separated themselves from the pack early, but Rothschild could not change the order once the runners got past the first mile.

"It was a great race,'' Rothschild said. "We didn't do as well as wanted as a team, but I was happy to finish as division champion.

"Tommy finished about 10 seconds ahead of me, but I could see him the whole way,'' he said. "He is one of the best runners in the state, so it was nice to be in contact with him and Dave and see them the whole way. I wasn't able to get up there but it was nice to keep them in my sights."

The Highland Park Giants finished third behind Niles North and Deerfield in the CSL North team competition, with just two points separating them from Deerfield for second place.

In the girls varsity race, the Giants finished third behind Glenbrook North and Deerfield. Sophomore Juliana Hughes was the top finisher, ending up fifth in the division.

"Juliana is always a standout,'' Highland Park girls coach Richenda Petersen said. "She is so aggressive and so intelligent about her racing tactics and strategies."

"I was pushing myself,'' Hughes said. " I wanted to get within the top 10 for the conference."

Petersen said she was pleased with the team's efforts.

"It was pretty exciting,'' Petersen said. "It was nice to see where we stand with Glenbrook North, Glenbrook South, Waukegan and Deerfield because we will see them at regionals."

The Highland Park boys freshman team won the CSL North title, with five runners in the top 14. Angel Estrada won the CSL North race and finished sixth overall.

Brad Mills finished first in the CSL North and seventh overall in the boys junior varsity race with a time of 17:00.26.

The freshman-sophomore girls finished second to the strong Glenbrook North squad. Sam Trapini finished seventh in the North Division to lead the Giants.

Highland Park girls finished fourth in the junior varsity race, led by Jessica Simon in 12th place.

Race results can be found at runnersedgeracetiming.com.