2025 XC Conference Rundown: Tuesday Conference Edition

Conference week is upon us and Illinois Running News will be writing previews for the top conference meets in the State this week. Check us out every day this week to read about your favorite conference meet!

Apollo Conference

Key Boys Teams: Mahomet-Seymour, Taylorville

Key Boys Individuals: Liam Bettis (Taylorville), Henry McMurry (Mahomet-Seymour), Augustus Gaudio (Mahomet-Seymour), 

Key Girls Teams: Mahomet-Seymour, Mt. Zion, Taylorville

Key Girls Individuals: Elayna Harker (Taylorville), Emily Anand (Mahomet Seymour), Avery Sommer (Mt. Zion)

Outlook: The Apollo Conference Championships are shaping up to be a great team showdown between two solid 2A programs. Mahomet Seymour came away from the Gene Jones invite with a narrow win, they will be looking to improve upon their team performance from last week. The one positive the Bulldogs secured was bringing Adam Smigielski up to the big leagues, he is now running around the duo of Augustus Gaudio and Henry McMurry. With their extreme depth behind their top 3, they’ll be hard to beat in this matchup. Taylorville will be the team to challenge them, but they will need an A+ day in order to take down MS. They have a surefire single digit scorer in Liam Bettis, but after that, they’ll need to see a big day from Logan Halligan in order to pull off the upset. Individually, Bettis should get the win with ease. He has run in the low 14:20s several times this season and he’s going to walk this conference like a dog. On the girls side, Mahomet Seymour should wipe the floor with the rest of the teams. They are a top ten team in 2A and they stand virtually unchallenged here. Individually, it’ll be Elayna Harker of Taylorville leading Emily Anand of Mahomet Seymour. Harker ran an incredible 17:19 at the Delavan Invite (which was a 2.96 course but still a solid time). Her 3 mile PR of 17:40 is the fastest in the field by a decent margin and she should get the win here. Anand is coming out of Gene Jones feeling very good, after dropping a 17:40 on a tough 2.94 miler. She should be in connection with Harker for the better half of the race, but she will need to dig deep and find a new level in order to capture a win. 

NTC Conference

Key Boys Teams: Toledo (Cumberland), Effingham (St. Anthony), 

Key Boys Individuals: Trevor Crutcher (Dietrich), Cameron Roedl (Toledo [Cumberland]),

Key Girls Teams: St. Anthony

Key Girls Individuals: Isabella Keller (Effingham [St. Anthony]), Aubrey Denning (Effingham [St. Anthony])

Outlook: Two of the best athletes in Illinois will be racing for their conference title here. Isabella Keller and Aubrey Denning of St. Anthony went 1 and 2 at the Spartan Classic for massive PRs of 15:51 and 16:22 respectively. They will look to repeat that result here at NTC, and there is pretty much nobody stopping them. With such a strong lowstick, St. Anthony is also expected to take a big team win. On the boys side, it’ll be a close battle between Cumberland and St. Anthony. Cumberland has a pair of brothers up front that give them a slight edge over St. Anthony, with Cameron Roedl and Colby Roedl. However, St. Anthony has them beat at three, four and five. The only issue is that St. Anthony only has 5 guys on their team, so if just one of them has a bad race, Cumberland scoops up the title. Individually, it’ll be Trevor Crutcher of Dietrich, who just moved back into the top 25 last week with a good performance at the Cork Classic. The only way he loses is if Cameron Roedl decides that he wants to repeat his PR of 15:11 from the Spartan Classic and take down his rival. Roedl popped that insane mark, but has been floating around the 15:40s ever since. We know he has the speed in him, the question is whether it will come out or not. 

Little Illini Conference

Key Boys Teams: Olney (Richland County), Paris

Key Boys Individuals: Quaid Berger (Olney [Richland County]), Judah Dicks (Olney [Richland County]), Harrison Hays (Paris), 

Key Girls Teams: Marshall, Olney (Richland County)

Key Girls Individuals: Molly Farrell (Marshall), Madeline Fox (Marshall), Grace Thompson (Marshall)

Outlook: On the boys side sophomore standout Quiad Berger of Olney will be the favorite, his sophomore season has been outstanding putting up some top times, his 3 mile pr of 14:34 is the fastest time on the field. Other runners to watch are Judah Dicks of Olney and Harrison Hays of Paris. Teamwise, Olney is the favorite as Berger and Dicks will propel them to a victory. On the girls side Molly Farrell of Marshall is the favorite to win this race, her teammates Madeline Fox and Grace Thompson will be right behind her for 2 and 3. Marshall looks to have the win secured as it should be an easy 1-2-3 for them with Farrell, Fox, and Thompson.