Date: Saturday November 9th, 2024
Location: Detweiller Park; Peoria, IL
Girls Race: 11:00am
Boys Race: 12:00pm
Boys Teams: Chicago (Payton), Chicago (Latin), Morton, Maple Park (Kaneland), Dixon, Mahomet-Seymour, Highland, Normal University, Aurora (Marmion Academy), Marion, Lake Villa (Lakes), Washington, Mt. Vernon, Crystal Lake Central, Lisle (Benet Academy), Metamora, Morris, Chatham-Glenwood, Chicago (St. Ignatius), Bethalto (Civic Memorial), Belvidere North, Herrin, Geneseo, Woodstock, Sycamore, Chicago (DePaul), Burbank (St. Laurence), Chicago (Brother Rice)
Girls Teams: Chicago (St. Ignatius), Chatham-Glenwood, Chicago (DePaul), Rockford (Boylan), Rochester, Washington, Normal University, Crystal Lake South, Crystal Lake Central, Wheaton (St. Francis), Lisle (Benet Academy), Morton, Mundelein (Carmel), Carterville, Arlington Heights (St. Viator), Dunlap, Lake Forest, Morris, Mahomet Seymour, LaGrange Park (Nazareth Academy). West Chicago (Wheaton Academy), Waterloo, Grayslake Central, Joliet (Catholic Academy), Geneseo, Lemont, Oak Park (Fenwick), Champaign (Centennial), Mascoutah
Boys -
The boys team race has gotten interesting with three teams emerging as the favorites to bring home a state trophy and all three having chances of winning the state title. If any of the teams slip up though, there are two teams that can slip in and bring home a trophy. Chicago Payton won their Sectional last week and were short a runner. Gabe Cooper did not run for the Grizzles and has been part of this team's pack all year. Tra'Monti Williams, Declan Slavin, and Steven Jiang will lead this group as potential all-staters. Don't be shocked if Gabe Cooper and Vaughn Collier find their way into that convo as well. This group really broke out at the state meet last year and enter as the favorites, but can really bust out a big race here at state. Their 6th runner, Preston Ellis had a big day at state last year running 15:24, he could very well be under that this year. Don't be surprised if this group scores in the 70 to 80 point range. Chicago Latin beat Payton back in September at the FTTF Invite and has been a strong team all year. They were 2nd to Payton at the Sectional by only 7 points. The Romans had their best race to date at the Sectional, but will need an even bigger race in order to beat Payton this weekend. Micah Weiss and Ben Gibson will both be in the all-stater race this weekend along with Daniel Goodman who will look to bounce back from a rough sectional performance. This group will need to have a 1-5 split of around 35 seconds in order to beat Payton. Morton possibly has the best team performance of the year in the 2A boys classification when they won the Mid-Illini Conference at Detweiller. They had Christian Harris and Boston Beyer under 15:00 and a 1-5 split of 41 seconds. If they replicate that at state then they will stick their name into the state title race. Christian Harris and Boston Beyer will be in the all-state hunt as they lead this team and so will Abe Martin who has been running great as of late. Morton has been trying to win a state title for years now, Could this finally be their year? If any of those teams faulter, expect Kaneland and Dixon to swoop in and potentially snag a trophy. Kaneland had a massive day at the Sectional. They were ranked within the top 3 teams pre-season. They had a 1-5 split of 1:22 at the Sectional, but will need to get that closer to a minute in order to win a trophy. This group has Evan Nosek, Carson Kaiser, and Evan Whildin who will all be racing for an all-state position. Dixon has been a very unique team this season as their top runner has changed multiple times this season. They will need their top 3 of Dean Geiger, Averick Wiseman, and Aaron Conderman to all be on their A game in order to win a trophy. This group had a massive day at the state meet last year with all of their runners having massive breakouts. If they do that again then expect them to bring home a trophy.
The boys individual race is potentially one of the the most competive races that we have seen in the classification ever. Finn Richards of Benet Academy enters the meet as the favorite. His only loss this year was to Ben Crane and Josiah Narayanan at the Red Devil Invite to kick off the season. He has beat almost every big name runner in the classification this season and it will hard to see him lose this race. He ran 14:22 at the Peoria High School Invite back in early October. He could run in the 14:10s this weekend. Thomas Jochum of Glenbard South has been on a lighting hot run over the last few weeks with some great performances. He was 2nd at the Sectional and only 7 seconds off from Richards. Could he close that gap this weekend? Gabriel Greer of Marion has looked phenominal the last few weeks of the season. He has won his last 3 races. He looks poised to be within the top 3 runners in this race. The last two years the 2A State Title has been won by a Marion runner. Could he potentially surprise some in this race. Evan Nosek of Kaneland has been great this season with only a few losses on the year. He didn't have the best race at conference and regionals, but really bounced back at the Sectional. He looked to be one of the favorites to win the 2A title in early September. He will be in the lead pack until late in the race. Caleb Mathias of Champaign Central was 2nd to Gabe Greer at the Sectional, which was his first loss in almost a month. He won the Big 12 Conference meet at Detweiller in 14:49 in mid October. He will be running for a top 5 position in this race. Gavin O'Connor of Brother Rice had a breakout race at the Peoria High School Invite where he ran 14:42. Ever since he has been running great. He won the Metamora Sectional in 14:35 for 2.94 miles. Cuyler Swanson of Morris has been one of the most consistent runners in the classification. He had a breakout race at the State meet last year when he became the first all-stater in Morris boys history. Ellery Shutt of Woodstock has been on a roll the last few weeks and probably had his best performance of the season at the Sectional where he was 2nd to Evan Nosek in 14:57. The junior has looked great over the last few weeks and will be looking to be a top 5 runner.
Girls -
The girls team race has three teams that have emerged as the favorites to receive trophies with Chicago St. Ignatius and Chatham Glenwood both being the teams with the best chances of coming away with the state title. Over the past few weeks Chicago St. Ignatius has really stepped into the favorites for the State Title. They are led by the duo of Annika Swan and Allison Shutler who both could potentially be within the top 5 runners in the race. Elle Sheaffer and Greta Sheaffer will both be in contention for an all-state finish. The key for this team will be keeping Lizeth Montes and Aurora Steinhofer within 15 seconds of Sheaffers. Chatham Glenwood has been having a down stretch the last few weeks and will be looking to return to form this weekend. The had a great start to the season and are the defending state champions. If they can replicate their perofrmance that they had at the FTTF Invite then this group will be set up to be in contention for the State Title. Ali Londrigan, Ashlyn Chopra, and Ali Broaddus will all be in contention to be an all-stater. Chicago DePaul has surprised a lot of people this season thanks to some big time freshman additions. They were 2nd at the Hinsdale South Sectional behind St. Ignatius and have looked like the consensus #3 team in the state. This group is led by Emily Stecky, Abigail Arseneau, and Abby Radich who will be in all-state contention. This group has had their team with a 1-5 split under 1:00 this season. They will need that in order to secure a 3rd place trophy. If any of those three teams faulters then expect Rockford Boylan to challenge for a trophy. They won their Sectional meet and have had some great performances this season. It will take keeping all their runners to under 19:00 if they wish to win a trophy. They will be led by Reese Kohnle who will be a potential all-stater.
The individual race will be a great battle between two of the best runners in the state regardless of classification. Annika Swan of Chicago St. Ignatius and Sunny Weber of Sandwich are those two tremendous runners that will lock horns. Annika Swan comes into the meet as the top ranked runner in the classification. Her breakout performance was at the Nike XC Town Twilight where she ran 17:16 for 5K. She is the top returner fromt he state meet last year where she was extremely close to winning. Sunny Weber was a state champion this past year on the track where she won the 2A 3200m State Ttitle. Nobody has been able to beat Weber this season. Her upside is really unknown as nobody has really been close to her this season in the final mile of the race. Don't be shocked if it takes 16:10s to win this title. Zoe Carter of Normal University looks to be the favorite to be the 3rd place finisher in this race. She has only lost to Sunny Weber this season and has produced two sub 17:00 performances already this year. She was 5th last year and will be looking to improve on that performance. There will be a few runners battling to be in the top 5 runners. Elena Mamminga of Wheaton St. Francis was 2nd at the Sectional behind Swan. She has had some big performances this season and is much better than her 17:42 PR. Delilah Helenhouse of Benet Academy didn't have her best performances heading into the sectional, but looks to have refound her footing at the Sectional. She was 3rd behind Swan and Mamminga at the Sectional. Allison Shutler of Chicago St. Ignatius was 4th in that Sectional at KLM. She has had a great campaign as a freshman and could cap it off with a top 5 finish. Her PR is 17:18 and will shurely be under that this saturday. Klarke Goranson of Manteno has been on a roll the last few weeks. She has been 3rd the last two weekends behind Weber and Carter. The freshman will be looking to show out in her first state meet and will be challenging 17:00 here. Cameron Crump of Waterloo has been running great ever since the Lakes Sunset Meet where she ran 17:12. She was the Sectional Champion in convincing fashion and looks like she could have a potential breakout race at the state meet and be within the top 5.
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