2025 Indoor Conference Previews: Thursday Edition

Conference week is upon us and our first major day of conference action is set to happen today! Each day we will preview what each conference will look like that are happening on that day.

DuPage Valley Girls Conference

The DuPage Valley Girls Conference is one of the few meets on Thursday that kick off our conference weekend. There will be contenders here that will try and challenge the favorites Naperville North. Lily Baibak will lead the charge for Waubonsie Valley at this meet. She will be fresh in a highly competitive 1600m field. Naperville Central has much more depth than Waubonsie does and could potentially challenge for the win if things go right. They have points that they will score among multiple events, but Lola Satre-Morales will be the teams big point getter. She is entered in the 4x800m, 800m, 400m, and 4x400m. She could realistically score between 36-40 points in those four events. She will need to manage her event load wisely. Neuqua Valley poses the greatest threat to the Huskies. The jumps duo of Gabi Karvelis and Olivia Dalson will look to go 1-2 in both Long Jump & Triple Jump and potentially win some other events as well. Those two will generate a bulk of the Wildcats points. Speaking of 1-2, that's what you can expect out of Kamila Szczepanik and Sophia Cabrere in the Pole Vault for the Wildcats. They also have distance runner Elizabeth Hall who will be one of the top names in the 3200m and 1600m. It's hard to see anyone beating the powerhouse that is Naperville North. They have two depths and are led by their distance trio of Emma Berres, Rianna Tandon, and Shania Tandon who will score major points in the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m. They have solid sprinters, relays, and field events as well that will score major points for them at this meet. Berres is scheduled to run the 800m and 1600m double while the Tandon’s are both in the 3200m. 

CSL-North Girls Conference

The Central Suburban League features a number of strong teams and strong athletes. The girls meet for both north and south will run on Thursday, the boys will run on Friday. Precious Akinsanya of Maine West is the front runner for the girls sprints. She is seeded in both the 50 and the 200, she will look to snare wins in both. She ran 25.02 for IL #5 in the 200 last week at the James J. Garvey Invite and her season best in the 50 meter dash is a 6.39. Both of these times have her seeded well above the competition, she will be well out of their league. She is also seeded to compete in the triple jump where she will be met by Carrisa Uy of Niles West. Uy and Akinsanya have identical PRs, both have hit 37’ 5.25”. Uy’s season best is 36’ 10.25”, so Akinsanya has a slight advantage over her, but they are very close and it’s really anyone’s game. Uy will also take her considerable talents to high jump and long jump, where she will find a much easier path to victory. She leads both fields by spacious margins, she will likely win both high jump and long jump. If she can snag the triple jump title, she has a shot at a triple crown. Uy will be a big contributor to Niles West and might be what hands them the team title. Niles West will also produce a good result in the 400 with Lena Shultz. Shultz has run a PR 400 this year in 1:00.79 and is seeded first in that event. She will be met by Ashley Gaba of Maine East who is right behind her with a 1:01.62. Gaba will be doubling back from an 800, so it’ll be interesting to see these two match up in her second event of the day. She will likely take home the win in the 800 without too much effort, her PR and season best of 2:19.49 puts her a tier above the rest of the field. I think she has the potential to grab the win in both the 800 and 400, but she will need to dig deep while on tired legs in order to beat Shultz

CSL-South Girls Conference

The CSL-South is one of the few conferences that operate on a 150m track as they compete at Glenbrook South. This will be a two team race between New Trier and Maine South. Sophia Abraham will try to lead Glenbrook South to a top three position. She is entered in the 50m, 4x200m, and 200m and could win each one. Looking at the Trevians, they are led by the duo of Emilia Smith and Josie Cahill. Smith could score 40 points here for her squad. She is one of the best jumpers in the state and can walk away with the 50m and 4x400m titles. Cahill is currently only entered in the 1600m, but will lock horns with Sofia Arcuri of Maine South. Arcuri will also be fresh for the 1600m which will make this an extremely competitive race. The Red Hawks also have a great amount of depth which is how they will be able to win a team conference championship. 

NSC Girls Conference

If you travel even farther north of Glenbrook South, you will find the NSC brimming with talent. On the sprints side, Kendall Flournoy of Lake Zurich leads the way in both the 60 and the 200. She has had a great indoor season, her bests are 7.82 and 25.42 so far. She has company in the 60 from the Libertyville duo of Lillian Causemaker and Isabelle Karl-Garcia. Both are seeded under 8 seconds, they could maybe upset Flournoy. She will be competing with her own teammate. Sydney Lappin, in the 200. I would plan on her winning both events, but anything could happen. Lake Zurich also has distance demon, Polina Krupsky, who will score huge points for them. She will be running the 800 and the 1600, she is seeded first in both. Her and her teammates, Celia Blaylock and Avery Muhr, will look to go 1-2 in both events. If Krupsky runs tactical in the 800, I don’t see why she can’t take home two wins tonight. Moving to field, Lake Zurich will dominate there as well. They have 2 representatives in the shot put who will put up great points. Makayla Boone of Libertyville is the favorite with a season best of 36’ 11.5”, but Arisa Bisofa of Lake Zurich did throw in the 40s in middle school. Bisofa has thrown a season best of 33’ 7.5”, her PR stands from 7th grade at 41’ 5.25”. I think it’s more likely that she is around her season best, but anything can happen. Kendall Flournoy will come back from her sprints to compete in long jump and triple jump. Her long jump season best sits far ahead of anyone else in the field, I would expect another win here. Anna Iwuagwu of Warren Township will be ahead of Flournoy in the triple, she has a PR of 36 feet and her season best is right on that. Flournoy would have to extend her PR by almost 2 feet to get the win, but crazier things have happened. As you can maybe tell, Lake Zurich is the heavy team favorite at the NSC, they will score good in almost every event. The bears are planning on domination, I would be surprised if they don’t walk away with the team title.

SSC Red Boys Conference

The South Suburban Conference will run in 2 divisions, the red division will run on Thursday. Shepard will look to take home the team title here, they have several ways to score points. Kenyatta Hope of Evergreen Park is the fastest short sprinter here, he has season bests of 7.20 and 23.46. He will look to take home both the 60 and the 200 title, but he will be met by Zion Coles of Shepard has a 55 PR of 6.64 and could challenge Hope for the 60 title. Santiago Chavez of Burbank Reavis will dominate the distance events. He ran a great 3200 at Batavia last Friday where he set his PR of 9:26. His 1600 PR sits at 4:27 and whatever he chooses to run, he will likely win. Jason Crowe of Shepard is going to dominate the shot put. His season best of 52 feet is 10 feet ahead of second, don’t expect him to lose. Dorwyn Kippers of Shepard will win the triple in a similar fashion. His triple jump season best is 44’ 10” which blows everyone else out of the water, he will win spaciously as well.