Date: October 19th, 2024
Location: Maxwell Park; Normal, IL
Time Schedule:
9:15am - 1A Girls
10:00am - 1A Boys
10:45pm - 2A Girls
11:30pm - 2A Boys
12:15pm - 3A Girls
1:00pm - 3A Boys
1:45pm - 4A Girls
2:30pm - 4A Boys
Boys Teams: Rockford Christian, Arlington Heights (Our Lady of the Wayside), Arlington Heights (St. James), Chicago (St. Matthias), Chicago (St. Andrew), Chicago (St. Clement), Evanston (St. Athanasius), Mt. Prospect (St. Raymond), Lombard (St. Pius X), Lisle (St. Joan of Arc), Mokena (St. Mary), Bourbonnais (St. Paul's), Orland Hills (Bernardin), Brimfield, Peoria (St. Jude), Polo (Aplington), Danville (Schlarman), Effingham (St. Anthony), Sigel (St. Michael's), Champaign (Holy Cross), Champaign (St. Matthew), Normal (Epiphany), Springfield (Christian), Liberty, Jacksonville (Our Saviour)
Girls Teams: Arlington Heights (St. James), Rockford Christian, Fox River Grove, Evanston (St. Athanasius), Chicago (St. Andrew), Chicago (St. Josaphat), Lombard (St. Pius X), Glen Ellyn (St. Petronille), Downers Grove (St. Mary Gostyn), Mokena (St. Mary), Joliet (St. Raymond), Shorewood (Holy Family), Brimfield, Peoria (St. Jude), Cambridge, Effingham (St. Anthony), Sigel (St. Michael's), Rossville-Alvin, Normal (Epiphany), Champaign (St. Matthew), Washington (St. Patrick), Liberty, Franklin, Springfield (Christian)
Girls -
This looks to be a six team race for the trophy hunt in 1A. Brimfield and Arlington Heights St. James look to be main favorites fighting for the state title after the sectionals. Brimfield looked great at the St. Jude Fire Cross Country meet in September but had a few performances leading into the state meet that were not their best. They looked like they turned that around this past weekend. They won the St. Jude Sectional with a score of 28 points. They are led by the duo of Berlyn Schmidgall and Hattie Butterfield up front. They look to be potential all-staters along with Jersey Hoerr. The trio of Maya Zeman, Remi Cahill, and Kenna Zeman had a split of 5 seconds at the sectional. The key for Indians will be finding each other during the race and working through it together. The had a 1-5 split of 46 seconds at Sectionals. St. James is led by one of the best runners in the state with Gianna Suvada leading this group. She will be a top 5 runner in this race. Hannah Long is another potential all-stater for this group. The key for this team for winning the state championship is closing the gap from Caitlin Resac and Sarah Sandoval to their 5th runner Leigh Blandford. They had a 1-5 split of 1:54 at the sectional. That needs to be closed down. They won the St. James Sectional with a score of 37 points. Liberty enters the meet with some great frontrunners. Jackie Lefringhouse, Weslee John, and Kenzie Olbert will all be in the all-state hunt this weekend. This team returns five runners from their team that took 3rd here a year ago. Lefinghouse looks like she could be a potential top 10 runner in this race. The key for this team will be getting their 4 and 5 runners under 14:00. Evanston St. Athanasius had a huge day at the sectional and entered into the trophy talks with a very young team. Their team is made up of a 5th grader, 4 6th graders, and 2 7th graders. The key for this team will be keeping their 1-5 split under 50 seconds if they wish to get a trophy here. Normal Epiphany took 6th place a year ago and return all their runners from that team. They are led by Jiles and Haizley Hilgenbrinck who will both be in the all-state hunt. Their key will be keeping their 3-5 pack under 14:00. We cant forget about the defending state champions St. Pius X who returns 4 runners from that team. Natalia Pesola, Abby Yarusso, and Kate Borho all look to be potentially in the top 15 runners in this race. The key will be how their 4th and 5th runners perform.
Molly Mocko of Glen Ellyn St. Petronille enters this race as the clear favorite for the win. She was the 2A State Champion last year running 11:41 as a 6th grader. She is now in the 1A classification. We could see something special in this race from her. Ginna Suvada of Arlington Heights St. James has made a massive step forward this year after taking 44th place last year at the state meet. She is undefeated this year up to this point according to athletic.net. She won the sectional in 12:13. Jane Vaughan of St. Joan of the Arc comes in as the only person in the classification this year that has beat Molly Mocko. She did this at the Windy City XC Challenge back in early September. She has been the second place runner at most major meets this year. She was 7th in this race a year ago. Taylor Short of Lincoln West Lincoln-Broadwell has had an excellent season up to this point. She has ran 12:00 this year for 2 miles and will be looking to break that barrier this weekend. She will be in the mix for a 2nd place finish. She was 18th in 2A last year. Natalia Pesola of St. Pius X was 4th in this race a year ago. Her only losses this season have come at the hands of Molly Mocko. She will be running for another top 5 finish here. Juliet Bing of Grayslake St. Gilbert is top returner from last years race where she was the runner-up. Her season hasn't been what she has expected this year with her most recently taking 3rd place at the sectional. Maybe getting back to the site of her best race last year is what she needs to rekindle that magic. Brynn Bartkus of St. Mary Gostyn who is undefeated up to this point in the season according to Athletic.net. The AAU 3000m all-american is a wildcard in this race. She hasn't ran a crazy fast time yet, but has an excellent pedigree of accolades.
Boys -
Chicago St. Matthias enters the state meet as the overwhelming favorite to bring home the State Title. They are led by top individual Alrik Swan who will be a key boy to watch in the individual race. Nicholas Krebs, Geonathan Mocha, and Tomas Lewis look to be potential all-staters. Benjamin Volmerding rounds out this group as their 5th runner. This team could score under 80 points at the state meet. The rest of the teams will duke it out for the next three trophies. Brimfield on the St. Jude Sectional this past weekend with a score of 43 points. They had a great 1-5 Split of 42 seconds. They are led by Cole Cahill and Daniel Ellen who both are potential all-staters. Their key will be keeping their 5th runner with their 3rd and 4th runners. Chicago St. Andrew hasn't seen Will Shaffer run this year for their squad, but it looks like it hasn't effected them one bit. They are led by Colin Kurk who will be in the mix to be an all-stater. They had a 1-5 split of 43 seconds at the Sectional. They have a great pack of Jacob Fox, Jack Prekop, and Reid Alford. If they can get Jackson Sullivan to stick with that pack a bit a longer they will be in great shape. Champaign Holy Cross looked great through four runners at the Sectional. Braden Ritter leads this team and looks like a potential all-stater. James Linnenburger, John Fletcher, and David Surratt had a great pack and finished within 6 seconds of one another. The issue was it was another 35 seconds until their 5th runner crossed the finish line. Danville Schlarman looked excellent at their home sectional. They were led by Marquan Pinkston who will be fighting for an all-stater position this weekend. They had a 32 second 1-5 split. Champaign St. Matthew snagged a 4th place trophy last year. They return five runners from that team. Max Ahmari and Garrott Smith lead this team and will both be running for all-state positions this weekend. The key for this team will be moving their 5th runner closer to their 3rd and 4th.
Alrik Swan of Chicago St. Matthias and Abram Garcia of Polo Aplington are the co-favorites for the individual state title. Swan is the top returner from last year's race where he took 4th place. He has had an excellent second half to his season that was capped off by a 10:31 performance at sectionals. Garcia did not compete at the state meet last year, but his first appearance at Maxwell Park looks to be a potentially memorable one. He cracked under 11:00 for the first time at Sectionals running 10:59 on a tough Donovan Park course. These two together can potentially challenge the 1A record which is held currently by Emilio Rivera of Mason City Illini Central who ran 10:23 back in 2013. Damian Schulz of Lisle St. Joan of Arc took 44th at state meet last year and this year will look to be in the top 5. He won the sectional this past weekend running 11:20. Jackson Elliott of Springfield Christian has ran 11:15 already this season and had a great 12th place finish at the high caliber Dunlap Invite. He won the Sectional this past weekend running 11:30 for 2 miles. Dylan Weimer of Bourbonnais St. George has looked great over the past two weekends. He ran 11:16 at the Channahon Invite and won the Sectional this past weekend running 11:29.
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