Date: September 7th, 2024
Location: Katherine Legge Memorial Park
Time Schedule:
9:00am - Varsity Boys
9:30am - Varsity Girls
10:00am - FR/SO Boys
10:30am - FR/SO Girls
11:00am - Open Boys
11:30am - Open Girls
Boys Teams: 3A- #6 New Trier, #10 Prospect, #11 Palatine, #12 Wheaton Warrenville South, #16 Batavia, #17 Hersey, #20 Naperville Central, #25 Hinsdale Central 2A- #6 Benet Academy, #7 Latin; Deerfield, Evanston, Highland Park, Hinsdale Suth, Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley, Niles North, Oswego East, Bolingbrook, Fenwick, Minooka, Oswego
Girls Teams: 3A- #3 Prospect, #6 Hersey, #8 Minooka, #11 Batavia, #12 Wheaton Warrenville South, #15 Glenbard West, #20 Naperville Central, #23 New Trier, #25 Hinsdale Central, 1A- #4 Latin; Regina, Evanston, Highland Park, Riverside-Brookfield, Metea Valley, Oswego East, Bolingbrook, Downers Grove South, Fenwick, Oswego, Palatine
Note: Race distances have been altered to 2.9 miles and 1.9 miles due to construction at KLM.
Outlook: Weather calls for a great morning of racing tomorrow with high currently only being 64 with the weather at 9am looking like only 56 degrees. Bring a hoodie potentially as it will be a bit nippy to what we are used to. The Red Devil Invite brings us some of the best competition in the state of Illinois to one of its most imfamous courses.
In the girls team race it looks to be a heavyweight matchup between Prospect and Hersey. Prospect returns 4 scorers from last years national qualifying team. Winning state trophies has been the standard at Prospect over the past few seasons on the grass and the track. Expect for Veronica Znajda and Meg Peterson to do their thing and be up in the top finishers. Ireland Wildhart is a returning all-stater and will be another key runner for this group. The thing that we will need to see from the Knights here is development of a 5th runner. Many think Mary Laba could be that runner after a great track season, but only time will tell. If the Knights faulter at all this could be Hersey's race to win. They have pack ran for their first two competitions, but this team has a lot of upside this year. Led by former Knight Mikayla Olsen, the Huskies had an amazing track season with 5 girls at or under 5:20 in the 1600m on their team. Margaretha Grabske was an all-stater last year in cross country. A interesting note from their first meet of the year was Madeline Bialko beating Grabske by 9 seconds. Could she be right with her? Or did she just have a better kick on the day after a controlled race.
The individual race looks to be interesting with a few girls having potential to be top 10 runners in the state this season. If Mia Kotler of latin steps to the line this saturday she looks to be the favorite, but the Romans runner did not compete in the teams first competition of the season. She has struggled with injuries during her high school career, lets hope she is there healthy saturday. Veronica Znajda of Prospect made a hard effort during the state cross country meet last year. So hard that her body didnt respond as well to the move as she thought and ended up DNFing 1k out from the finish after leading shortly before. She had a great track season and is one of the key returners in the classification. Meg Peterson of Prospect has taken a bit to get going early in the season the last two years, but that could change this year. She has raced so close to Znajda in the past that some confuse them for one another when watching them race. Nicole Poglitsch of Wheaton Warrenville South took 7th place at the 3A State Meet last year. She will be a name to watch here. Maya Ledesma of Minooka opened up with two great efforts at Yorkville and Normal West. She can keep this momentum going here with another win after a great track season. Josie Cahill of New Trier could shock the field. Its been a long time since the Trevian girls have had a top runner like Cahill, but they have a rich history of top runners doing well.
In the boys team race, New Trier enters the team favorites coming at the highest ranking position. This squad is led by the favorite in the individual race, Ben Crane. If the Trevians can keep the split between Crane and their 5 managable then it will be hard to see them losing. Prospect enters this year with a lot of intrigue. This group will be able to showcase what they are capable of against a top team in the state like New Trier. They may be without sophomore Landon Samp who was sidelined for some of the summer due to injury. If he is in the race then he only helps this squad. Teams like Palatine, Wheaton Warrenville South, Batavia, and Hersey add quality depth to the field and could potentially have a breakout race to start their seasons.
The individual race isnt much intrigue with Ben Crane of New Trier being the clear favorite. The Trevians top dog had a great track season running sub 9 in the 3200m. He is the defending champ in this race after beating Aden Bandukwala last year. The field around him isn't a bunch of slouches either. Josiah Narayanan of Wheaton Warrenville South finished 12th at the 3A State Meet last year after leading for the first mile. He could challenge Crane early in the race. Alex Krieg and Carter Hayes of Palatine had great track seasons and are key returners for the state. They offer the best 1-2 punch in the field potentially along with Wheaton Warrenville South. Evan Parker of Niles North finished 14th in the state last year, he should be in that top pack during the race. Francesco Benelli of Batavia, Finn Richards of Benet Academy, and Aiden Noel of Wheaton Warrenville South are others to keep an eye out for during the race.
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