Lukas Verzbicas No. 1 in Nation!

Lukas Verzbicas, the phenomenal 16-year-old sophomore at Sandbug High School in Orland Park, made it two national championships this fall by handily winning the Foot Locker Cross-Country title on Saturday in San Diego. The Lithuanian native can run. He won it by 15 seconds! That is quite an accomplishment to say the least. As you might have read in stories in the Sun-Times and Tribune, he thinks not running the Nike Nationals might have helped, and the rain during the race, which made "Illinois conditions" sure didn't hurt. Lukas, who also won the national duathlon title earlier this fall, is someone to watch. That is for absolute sure. Special kudos go to Martin Grady of Fenwick (Oak Park) who was 13th overall at Foot Locker, earning All-American honors. He also was 20th at Nike Nationals the week before, coming in out in that Oregon race as the first Illinois runner. Hey guys, ever tried cross-country ski racing? I'm 90 percent kidding, but not completely!