2025 Palatine "Meet of Champions" Preview

Key Boys Teams: 3A - #2 Plainfield North, #3 Plainfield South, #6 Lake Zurich, #7 Arlington Heights (Hersey), #9 Elmhurst (York), #11 Palatine (Fremd), #13 Naperville (Neuqua Valley), #14 Edwardsville, #16 Downers Grove South, #17 Libertyville; 2A - #1 Dixon, #6 Vernon Hills, #9 Crystal Lake Central, #23 Washington, #24 Crystal Lake (Prairie Ridge); MO - #4 St. Louis University; KY - #3 St. Xavier; Barrington, Winnetka (New Trier), Oak Park-River Forest, Oswego East, Palatine, Beavercreek [OH]

Key Girls Teams: 3A - #1 Mt. Prospect (Prospect), #2 Barrington, #3 Arlington Heights (Hersey), #4 Elmhurst (York), #7 Lake Zurich, #8 Plainfield North, #20 Edwardsville, #25 Wheaton Warrenville South; 2A - #1 Wheaton (St. Francis), #6 Crystal Lake (Prairie Ridge), #7 Washington, #10 Grayslake Central, #14 Cary-Grove; Winnetka (New Trier), Oak Park-River Forest, Beavercreek [OH], Assumption [KY]

Key Boys Individuals: 3A - #2 Cameron Libby (Sr., Lake Zurich), #3 Thomas Czerwinski (Sr., Plainfield North), #4 Conrad Saner (Jr., Downers Grove South), #5 Karanveer Patil (So., Lake Zurich), #6 Jesse Gudauskas (Jr., Naperville [Neuqua Valley]), #16 Aidan Connors (Sr., Plainfield North), #17 Luke Marshall (Jr., Lake Zurich), #20 Alex Krieg (Sr., Palatine), #21 Grayson Meek (So., Naperville [Neuqua Valley]), #22 Jack Jennings (Jr., Palatine [Fremd]); 2A - #6 Jameson Tenopir (Sr., Cary-Grove), #9 Averick Wiseman (Jr., Dixon), #15 Ben Gorsage (Jr., Washington), #16 Amana Omale (Sr., Crystal Lake Central), #17 Adan Cordova (Sr., Grayslake Central), #18 Dean Geiger (Jr., Dixon); KY - #10 Nick Sanders (Sr., St. Xavier [KY]), #25 Sam Schweickhardt (Sr., St. Xavier [KY]); MO - #17 Jackson Miller (Jr., St. Louis University [MO]); John Clinton (Sr., Downers Grove South), Mateus Salomao (Sr., Arlington Heights [Hersey]), Dylan Buturusis (Jr., Plainfield South), Patrick Hill (So., Elmhurst [York]), Carter Olsen (Sr., Elmhurst [York]), Alex Batsala (Jr., Plainfield South), Austin Cory (Sr., Plainfield South), David Moore (Jr., Palatine [Fremd]), Kellan Hernandez (Jr., Plainfield South), Dominic Frigo (Jr., Plainfield North), James O’Sullivan (Sr., Palatine), Nicholas Ahleim (Sr., St. Louis University [MO]), Hendrix Fyvie (Sr., St. Louis University)

Key Girls Individuals: 3A - #1 Mia Sirois (Jr., Barrington), #5 Karlin Janowski (So., Elmhurst [York]), #9 Marlie Czarniewski (Jr., Plainfield North), #10 Meg Peterson (Sr., Mt. Prospect [Prospect]), #12 Graceleen Mabry (Fr., Arlington Heights [Hersey]), #13 Chloe Wettstein (Fr., Lake Zurich), #14 Angelica Hil (Jr., Barrington), #18 Victoria Tarara (So., Barrington), 2A - #1 Emaline Foster (So., Crystal Lake [Prairie Ridge]), #5 Elena Mamminga (Jr., Wheaton [St. Francis]), #6 Margaret Andrzejewski (Sr., Wheaton [St. Francis]), #11 Francesca Mora (So., Chicago [Latin]), #14 Erin Hinsdale (Jr., Wheaton [St. Francis]); Adelaide Galla (Fr., Mt. Prospect [Prospect]), Celia Blaylock (Jr., Lake Zurich), Alexandra Kopacz (Jr., Arlington Heights [Hersey]), Brooklyn Stocking (Fr., Mt. Prospect [Prospect]), Alexa Izenstark (Jr., Arlington Heights [Hersey]), Sophia Galiano-Sanchez (Sr., Elmhurst [York])

Boys Team Outlook: Weather over the past two weeks has been vastly different, with FTTF weekend reaching over 90 degrees, while Richard Spring weekend saw temperatures in the high 60s. The Palatine “Meet of Champions” will give us our first true look at how teams from across the state stack up against one another. Plainfield North and Plainfield South’s season series is currently tied 1–1. South got the win at the Plainfield City Meet, but North bounced back with a win over the Cougars at the FTTF Invite. This will be their third matchup out of the seven times they are expected to face off throughout the year. The Cougars will need a 1–5 split under 20 seconds to come out on top, while the Tigers will rely on their 3rd, 4th, and 5th runners to stay close to the Cougars' pack. Lake Zurich, who finished third at the Richard Spring Invite, will be looking to secure a big win here. Their top three of Cameron Libby, Karanveer Patil, and Luke Marshall, form a lethal trio that could all finish within the top 10. The key will be where their 4th and 5th runners place. St. Louis University will also be in contention. The Missouri-based team won the Granite City Invite in convincing fashion with a 37-point margin and followed that up with a win at the Forest Park Invite, scoring just 51 points. This squad has the potential to play spoiler and continue their undefeated streak. Hersey looked strong at Richard Spring, finishing 5th without Gabriel Gronski. If they can maintain a 1–5 split under 35 seconds, they have the potential to be a top-3 team here. They’ll need Mateus Salomao to finish within the top 15 to make that happen. Dixon is an intriguing team to watch, having already claimed a win over 3A #8 St. Charles North this season. The top-ranked team in 2A has generated a lot of buzz this year and will be looking to back it up with a top-5 finish. If the Dukes can tighten up their pack, they could place very highly. St. Xavier (KY), Palatine, Fremd, Neuqua Valley, and Edwardsville will all be battling it out for top-10 team finishes as well. York will be again without Patrick Hill here which will hurt their varsity finish. 

Girls Team Outlook: This looks to be an excellent matchup between the top 4 ranked teams in the State, but two of the teams will not be at full strength on the varsity level. Prospect will once again be without the freshmen in the varsity race as they will run in the 2.5-mile fresh/soph race. The Knights still performed excellently at the Richard Spring Invite without them, as they placed 4th overall. Well here Coach Pete Wintermute has decided to run the sophomores down as well. He seems like he is really attempting to hide his weapons after being ranked #1 in the State. Barrington will finally be at full strength with the return of Mia Sirois to the lineup. This group has been running great without Sirois up to this point this season, and we expect the morale to rise with the awaited return of their top dog. Hersey has two big meet wins with their victories at the Red Devil Invite and Richard Spring Invite, and they will be looking to continue their momentum here with another win. If they can keep their pack far enough in front of Barrington’s 4th runner, then they may be able to squeak out a win here. They will need to keep their 1-5 split under 50 seconds from Graceleen Mabry in order to do so. York is another enticing team here after their 2nd place performance at Richard Spring this past weekend, only finishing a few points behind Hersey. The Lady Dukes will be without Molly McGreal here as she is not listed in the entries. This will leave room for someone to step up here. They will need to keep their 1-5 split under 2:00 here for a top 3 finish. Lake Zurich ran very aggressively at the Richard Spring Invite as they had the first 4 runners to the pole. The key for the Bears here will be staying more relaxed at the start and getting Patricia Johnson, Abigail Kocher, and Polina Krupsky into a tighter pack. If they can get that 3-5 split under 10 seconds, then this squad can finish in the top 3 teams here. Plainfield North got a huge win in the heat at the First To The Finish Invite, and we will now get a real good look at how good the Tigers truly are. They won without Tessa Russo accounting into the scoring of Plainfield North’s team, as she was their 6th runner. This team has a lot of upside with young freshmen and some veterans that still haven’t reached their full potential yet. Wheaton St. Francis is the #1 ranked team in the 2A class and will really get an opportunity to show out here. They will be led up front by the trio of Elena Mamminga, Erin Hinsdale, and Margaret Andrzejewski. They could potentially sneak out with a top 5 finish here.

Boys Individual Outlook: This individual race includes 19 ranked runners, featuring the #2, #3, #4, #5, and #6 ranked athletes in 3A. We could very well see 10+ runners in the lead pack as they head into the final mile. Cameron Libby of Lake Zurich is the top-ranked runner in the field after his huge win at the Richard Spring Invite, where he ran 14:18. He didn’t pull away until the final quarter-mile of the race. Conrad Saner of Downers Grove South, Karanveer Patil of Lake Zurich, and Jesse Gudauskas of Neuqua Valley were right behind him and were part of that pack at Richard Spring. It was so close that don’t be surprised if one of those names claims victory here. Gudauskas won the prestigious Red Devil Invite earlier this month. Thomas Czerwinski of Plainfield North gave a terrific fight to Philip Cupial at the First To The Finish Invite earlier this month and is expected to be in the mix for the win. The Tigers senior finished 10th at the State Meet last year and 5th as a sophomore, bringing veteran race experience here. Alex Krieg of Palatine is coming off a tough race at the Richard Spring Invite due to sickness. He will be looking to bounce back here on his home course. If Krieg is on his A-game, he can definitely take home the win in his last Palatine Invite. Grayson Meek of Neuqua Valley got a big win at the EIU Showdown at the end of August and was right with Gudauskas and Krieg at the Red Devil Invite. He didn’t have a great performance at the Richard Spring Invite and will be looking to bounce back here with a top-5 finish. Jameson Tenopir of Cary-Grove is a potential wildcard with his great kick. He is the 6th ranked runner in a stacked 2A field and could be a potential top-5 finisher here. Nick Sanders of St. Xavier (KY) will be in the mix as well, ranked #10 in Kentucky. He ran a great race at The Southern Showcase, finishing 14th with a 15:24 5K in a strong national field. Jackson Miller of St. Louis University (MO) was 6th in this race last year and will be looking to bounce back after a tough performance at the Forest Park Invite two weeks ago. Others like Aidan Connors of Plainfield North, Luke Marshall of Lake Zurich, Jack Jennings of Fremd, and Averick Wiseman of Dixon could also potentially finish within the top 10 here.

Girls Individual Outlook: This will be an exciting race as we will finally see Mia Sirois of Barrington running all out for the first time this year. The Barrington star missed a good chunk of training after fracturing her fibula while going down a mountain in Colorado but returned to racing last Tuesday at Fremd, where she easily ran 17:26. She is the all-time state record holder at 15:53.40 and finished 6th at Nike Cross Nationals last year. She will enter this meet as the heavy favorite; we will just have to see what kind of shape she is in at this point in the season. Emaline Foster of Prairie Ridge will be a name to watch. The sophomore is ranked #1 in the 2A classification after her 16:56 win at the First To The Finish Invite. She will be battling for a 2nd place finish here with Karlin Janowski of York. Janowski took 2nd in this race last year running 17:00, and the standout York sophomore will be looking to dip under 17:00 this year. She ran great at the Richard Spring Invite, covering 3 miles in 16:36. Marlie Czarniewski of Plainfield North and Meg Peterson of Prospect will be part of the group trying to hang onto Foster and Janowski as long as possible. Czarniewski was 3rd at the First To The Finish Invite, and Peterson just broke 17:00 this past weekend at the Richard Spring Invite. The race for a top-10 position will be excellent, with Graceleen Mabry of Hersey, Chloe Wettstein of Lake Zurich, Angelica Hil of Barrington, Victoria Tarara of Barrington, Elena Mamminga of St. Francis, Margaret Andrzejewski of St. Francis, Francesca Mora of Latin, and Erin Hinsdale of St. Francis all having the potential for a top-10 finish here.

Girls Frosh/Soph Outlook: Prospect will likely sweep this race as they have decided to also race their sophomores down here. Adelaide Galla of Prospect will lead the charge for the Knights here after running 17:38 at the Richard Spring Invite in the frosh/soph race. We will have to see how close that she can get to the meet record set by Veronica Znajda of 14:14. After Galla will be the pack of Brooklyn Stocking, Caitlin Resac, Allison Kalkwarf, and Samantha Lobacz who all run either under or close to 18:00 in Peoria. It will be the Knights dominance in this race. Names like Clara Vincent of Hersey, Erin Collins of Prospect, Kaitlin Miazga of Prospect, Ashley Skelton, Josie Petrelis of Hersey, Izzy Yaun of Wheaton Warrenville South, Ashleigh Forbes of Barrington, Cece Babel of Barrington, Sarah Sandoval of Hersey, and McKenna Caroll of Prospect all are other names that could potentially place inside the top 10 in this race. 

Boys Sophomore Outlook: Anthony Garcia of Oswego East has been having a great season so far and will be the favorite here as he aims for the win. He is coming off a victory in the fresh/soph race at the Richard Spring Invite this past weekend. Jacob McKillop of York will challenge him in this race. The freshman is competing here instead of racing his twin in the frosh race. McKillop recently won the York Gary Goss Invite on Monday, running a blazing 9:47, smashing Dan Watcke’s freshman record of 9:58. He could pull off an upset here after Garcia beat him at Richard Spring. George Knott of York will look to stay with McKillop after running 15:43 at Richard Spring. This bodes well for the Dukes in the team competition. Names like Joseph Clifton of Neuqua Valley, Jakub Kranz of Downers Grove South, Kass Kurzynski of Hersey, Gus Singer of Oak Park-River Forest, Luke Firkin of Lake Zurich, Lucien Ind of Loyola Academy, Camden Niemiec of Lake Zurich, Zachary Riske of Lake Zurich, James Lower of York, Logan Capalbo of Plainfield South, and Aidan Sweet of Mundelein are all capable of finishing in the top 10 here.

Boys Freshman Outlook: The freshman race will likely be dominated up front by the Hersey trio of Johan Gonzalez, Santiago Arroyo, and Connor Rugg. Gonzalez is an interesting name, as he splits time between cross country and soccer for the Huskies. He has shown steady improvement throughout his freshman year, recently running 15:39 to take 6th at the Richard Spring Invite. He will look to be under 13:10 here. Arroyo has actually bested his teammate Gonzalez three times this season and could do so again here. He ran 15:56 this past weekend at the Richard Spring Invite. Rugg had a big day there as well, clocking 16:01. Expect all three of these freshmen to be in the top five overall in this race. This will also mark the season debut for Joey McKillop of Fenwick, the twin brother of York standout freshman Jacob McKillop. Joey finished 3rd in 5th grade, 6th in 6th grade, 2nd in 7th grade, and 3rd in 8th grade at the IESA State Meet which is an impressive resume. He ran 10:36 for 2 miles as a 7th grader before a stress fracture hampered his 8th-grade season. If McKillop is ready to go, don’t be surprised if Alex Krieg’s 12:41 meet record gets challenged. Names like Maxwell Overstreet of New Trier, Jake Burris of Edwardsville, Carter Hollis of New Trier, Patrick Garrett of Palatine, Joshua Mulherin of Loyola Academy, Justin Macak of Prospect, Sebastian Kaczmarski of Lake Zurich, Sharvil Morkar of Lake Zurich, Daniel Polston of Crystal Lake Central, and Hakim Elmenshawy of Libertyville are all runners with top-10 potential in this race.