Dynasty Runners: The Stiglic-Borza Comebacks

John Stiglic Jill Borza

Images By Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune/Edited by Giovanni Alvarado

John Stiglic began his running career since he was halfway through elementary school.

“I ran a 5K and I thought, ‘This is pretty good. I’d like to start running,” Stiglic said.

It was the summer between his fourth and fifth grade year, where now, the Lincoln-Way West junior is known to be among the top elite runners in the Southland. In a comfortable victory, Stiglic ran on Saturday at the Jimmy Daniels Olympian Run Invitational at Rich Central. Within an impressive 16 minutes, Stiglic finished the windy course in just 16 minutes and 24.6 seconds. Bloom’s Robert Garcia came in second with 16:45.3, while Lemont’s Andrew Deushle finished third in just (16:58.8).

“By the lake in the back part, you definitely felt the wind because there’s nothing blocking it,” said Stiglic in an interview with a Chicago Tribune reporter. “It wasn’t too bad the rest of the course.”

Although John Stiglic finished first in the race, his team Lincoln-Way West came in 4th place in the final results against the 20-team field behind the meet champions Palatine, Homewood-Flossmoor, and Lemont.

Being faced by elite competition leading up to the Rich Central meet, Lincoln-Way West began training intensively head-on in the fields. The Warrior’s schedule also included along the way the Lyons Invitational, the Richards Springs Invitational in Peoria, and the Locktoberfest at the known challenging hill-type course at Dellwood Park in Lockport.

“The team has gone back and forth,” Stiglic said about the season so far. “We’ll see how postseason goes.”

But John Stiglic wasn’t the only one to make a comeback in his running career. Two weeks ago, Marist junior Jill Borza overcame 90-degree heat to win the Tinley Park Invitational Champion Division race. On Saturday, Borza won yet again 1st place in the girl’s race at the Rich Central Invitational to lead the RedHawks to another team title.

“The mentality was to go out as team for the first mile, so we all went out really hard together,” Borza said.

Marist top five was able to make it to the top 10, with Borza coming in first at 19:27, Cece Light coming in second again at 19:41, Collen Murphy at fourth arriving at the finish at 19:54, Amanda Tracy coming seventh in 20:01, and Lindsey Richter finishing ninth in 20:14.

“I definitely feel all the miles put in over the summer helped me a lot this season,” Borza said. “Now that we started tapering for sectionals and state, we’ll really get to see a payoff.”

Marist’s next meet challenge will be in the East Suburban Catholic meet on Saturday in Arlington Heights. Benet edged Marist by a point last year for the conference title, Borza says this is her year to make a strong comeback.

“That hurt a little bit, but we’re going to come back strong this year,” Borza said.

Lincoln-Way Central and West will race on Saturday in the SouthWest Suburban Red meet, located at Turtlehead Lake. Lincoln-Way West’s Mitchell, Taylor, and Stiglic were the top three finishers last year. It will be expected to be a great match-up and to prove whose dynasty comeback will be most remembered.