2026 XC Way Too Early Rankings

The State Meet has passed and the state now starts to look towards NXR and the Track season. This was a great year across the board and before we put a bow on the 2025 season, we want to take a look at the top projected squads in each classification next year. These rankings take into acoount incoming freshman to their squads.

3A Boys

1. Plainfield South

2. Elmhurst (York)

3. St. Charles North

4. Libertyville

5. Downers Grove North

6. Chicago (Lane)

7. Naperville Central

8. Batavia

9. Hinsdale Central

10. Naperville (Neuqua Valley)

11. Wheaton Warrenville South

12. Palatine (Fremd)

13. Arlington Heights (Hersey)

14. Lake Zurich

15. Yorkville

16. Winnetka (New Trier)

17. New Lenox (Lincoln-Way Central)

18. Park Ridge (Maine South)

19. Plainfield North

20. Mt. Prospect (Prospect)

21. Chicago (Whitney Young)

22. Oswego East

23. Orland Park (Sandburg)

24. Frankfort (Lincoln-Way East)

25. Glenview (Glenbrook South)

3A Girls

1. Barrington

2. Arlington Heights (Hersey)

3. Lake Zurich

4. Mt. Prospect (Prospect)

5. Edwardsville

6. Chicago (St. Ignatius)

7. Chicago (Lane)

8. New Lenox (Lincoln-Way Central)

9. Winnetka (New Trier)

10. Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West)

11. Hinsdale Central

12. Minooka

13. Plainfield North

14. St. Charles North

15. South Elgin

16. Batavia

17. Wheaton Warrenville South

18. Chicago (DePaul)

19. Naperville North

20. Frankfort (Lincoln-Way East)

21. Park Ridge (Maine South)

22. Elmhurst (York)

23. Downers Grove South

24. Schaumburg

25. Yorkville

2A Boys

1. Morton

2. Dixon

3. Mahomet-Seymour

4. Peoria (Notre Dame)

5. Aurora Central Catholic

6. Marion

7. Deerfield

8. Washington

9. Crystal Lake Central

10. Glen Ellyn (Glenbard South)

11. Chicago (Latin)

12. Normal University

13. Lombard (Montini)

14. Olney (Richland County)

15. Belvidere North

16. Metamora

17. Chillicothe (Illinois Valley Central)

18. Crystal Lake (Prairie Ridge)

19. Maple Park (Kaneland)

20. Vernon Hills

21. Niles (Northridge Prep)

22. Herrin

23. Darien (Hinsdale South)

24. Springfield

25. Lemont

2A Girls

1. Crystal Lake (Prairie Ridge)

2. Chatham (Glenwood)

3. West Chicago (Wheaton Academy)

4. Peoria (Notre Dame)

5. Springfield (Sacred Heart-Griffin)

6. Arlington Heights (St. Viator)

7. Mahomet-Seymour

8. Deerfield

9. LaGrange Park (Nazareth Academy)

10. Normal University

11. Crystal Lake South

12. Cary-Grove

13. Lake Villa (Lakes)

14. Bloomington

15. Rochester

16. Lemont

17. Morton

18. Rockford (Boylan)

19. Highland

20. Carterville

21. Geneseo

22. Lake Forest

23. Mt. Zion

24. Chicago University

25. Vernon Hills

1A Boys

1. East Dubuque

2. Eureka

3. St. Joseph-Ogden

4. El Paso-Gridley

5. Clinton

6. Monticello

7. Elmwood

8. Toledo (Cumberland)

9. Pinckneyville

10. Downs (Tri-Valley)

11. Murphysboro

12. Rockford Christian

13. Bloomington (Central Catholic)

14. Paris

15. Edwardsville (Metro East Lutheran)

16. Byron

17. Herscher

18. Williamsville

19. Rockford Lutheran

20. Pleasant Plains

21. Elgin (Harvest Christian Academy)

22. Shelbyville

23. Roxana

24. Delavan

25. Sherrard

1A Girls

1. Winnebago

2. Shelbyville

3. Anna-Jonesboro

4. Elmwood

5. El Paso-Gridley

6. St. Joseph-Ogden

7. Effingham (St. Anthony)

8. Eureka

9. Elmhurst (Timothy Christian)

10. Pleasant Plains

11. Clinton

12. Williamsville

13. Manteno

14. Belleville (Althoff Catholic)

15. Urbana University

16. Byron

17. Monticello

18. Roxana

19. Tolono Unity

20. Litchfield

21. Princeton

22. Port Byron (Riverdale)

23. Aledo (Mercer County)

24. Sullivan

25. Genoa-Kingston