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Schools

O'Gara Leads GBS into Cross Country Postseason

Only a couple weeks after coming up from the sophomore level, O'Gara has become the Titans' No. 1 runner.

Boys Cross Country: Glenbrook South coach Kurt Hasenstein knew David O’Gara was a varsity-level runner. He just didn’t realize that the sophomore would turn into the Titans’ No. 1 guy right away.

Only a couple weeks after O’Gara was pulled up from the sophomore level, O’Gara has paced the Titans in their past two meets. He placed seventh overall in a CSL South quad meet with New Trier, Evanston and Waukegan, helping lead Glenbrook South to a 2-1 record.

“Did I think he was going to be our number one? No,” Hasenstein said. “But I thought he was going to be up near the top and he’s really done a great job for us.”

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Hasenstein said O’Gara had a very good track season last spring and ran a lot during the summer months leading up to his second high school cross country season.

Yet he’s not the only sophomore that was bumped up to the varsity team. Alex Jackman has settled in as the team’s number-four runner and has provided some depth to a Glenbrook South team seeking to get down state.

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The Titans will get a small preview of that when they head down to Peoria this weekend for their first chance to run on the state championship course this season. While seniors Brad Berg and Sam Stanek have seen the course before, it will provide some familiarity to the younger runners, like O’Gara and Jackman.

“As November approaches, you want kids to get on the course so they know it and aren’t intimidated by the layout,” Hasenstein said. “They have an idea of what to expect with the turns and everything else.”

But in order to get there will have to maneuver its way through one of the state’s toughest postseason paths. The Titans are placed in the same regional as Loyola Academy, New Trier and Niles North with a bevy of other state-ranked teams waiting in the sectional.

“They’re all pretty difficult,” Hasenstein said. “We’re the only regional in the entire state of [Class 3A] with 11 teams, everybody else has either nine or 10 and there are a few with eight.”

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