IESA 4A State Preview

Date: October 19th, 2024

Location: Maxwell Park; Normal, IL

Time Schedule:

9:15am - 1A Girls

10:00am - 1A Boys

10:45pm - 2A Girls

11:30pm - 2A Boys

12:15pm - 3A Girls

1:00pm - 3A Boys

1:45pm - 4A Girls

2:30pm - 4A Boys

Boys Teams: Buffalo Grove (Cooper), Barrington (Prairie), Barrington (Station), Arlington Heights (Thomas), Wilmette, Arlington Heights (South), Bourbonnais, Frankfort (Hickory Creek), Downers Grove (Herrick), Woodridge (Jefferson), Homer Glen (Homer), Joliet (Gompers), Lake in the Hills (Marlowe), Batavia (Rotolo), McHenry (Parkland), Belvidere Central, Sycamore, Moline (Wilson), Morton, Normal (Chiddix), Champaign (Franklin), Edwardsville (Liberty), Quincy, Edwardsville (Lincoln)

Girls Teams: Barrington (Prairie), Gurnee (Woodland), Vernon Hills (Hawthorn North), Arlington Heights (Thomas), Mt. Prospect (Lincoln), Arlington Heights (South), Lemont (Old Quarry), Frankfort (Hickory Creek), Bourbonnais, Minooka, Yorkville, Shorewood (Troy), Batavia (Rotolo), Burlington Central, Crystal Lake (Beardsley), Belvidere Central, Sycamore, DeKalb (Huntley), Mahomet-Seymour, Morton, Normal (Kingsley), Edwardsville (Lincoln), O'Fallon (Fulton), St. Jacob (Triad)

Girls -

This looks to be a three way battle between Arlington Heights Thomas , Mt. Prospect Lincoln, and Batavia Rotolo for the 4A State Title. Arlington Heights Thomas comes into the state meet after a major win at the Sectional over Lincoln. They probably had the best team performance at the Sectional round. Adelaide Galla and Madeline Serur were both under 12:00, Clara Vincent ran 12:05, and Lucy Blandford ran 12:16. All four runners will be in the conversation to be all-staters this weekend. The key for this group will be keeping their 5th runner within 40 seconds of their 4th runner. Mt. Prospect Lincoln started off the season in a great way as they won the Prairie Stampede Invite against Arlington Heights Thomas. They had a good day at the Sectional as well as they only lost to Thomas by 2 points. They had a great 1-5 split at the Sectional which will bode well for them in a bigger field like at state. They are led by Juliana Mihalopoulos, Ashley Skelton, and Brooklyn Stocking who could be all-staters this weekend. Batavia Rotolo won their Sectional with a score of 47 points. They have one loss on the year which was to Thomas at the Fox Trot Invite when they tied at 45 points and lost on the 6th runner tiebreaker. At the Sectional they had a 1-5 split of 1:00. They are led by Sam Deane and Eme Helfer who both will be all-state contenders. Belvidere Central had the most dominating performance at the Sectional where they scored 17 points. The best part of it is that they were without #3 runner Brisa Avila at that meet. This group is led by Lilly Binger who will be one of the top runners in this race. The key to this team bringing home a trophy will be them keeping their 1-5 split to under 45 seconds. Minooka has had a long history over the past decade plus on the girls side as they have brought home multiple trophies and been a powerhouse in the state. They didn't have their best performance at the Sectional, but still got the win. They have had a total of 6 runners break 12:55 this year and will be led by Chelsei Heyob and Addy Vahl in this race who will both be contending for an all-state position. Don't count this group out of piecing it together at the state meet. Edwardsville Lincoln looked great at the sectional as they won with a score of 34 points. They had a 1-5 split of only 26 seconds at the Sectional. They are led by Audrey Floyd and Abby Godard lead this squad and will be potential all-staters this weekend. If they can replicate that performance they had at Sectional then you could see this group walk away from Maxwell Park with a state trophy.

Individually this will be a great field with a lot of athletes being able to take home the win. Lorelei Hulsing of Bloomington comes in with the best resume in the field. She won her Sectional this past week in 12:16 and has ran 11:46 on the year so far. The only 4A competitor that she has lost to this year has been Chelsi Heyob. She was 66th at the state meet last year, but can leave a lasting legacy here at Maxwell Park. Chelsi Heyob of Minooka as mentioned is the only 4A competitor to beat Hulsing this year and that happened at the Dunlap Invite in late September where she ran 12:33 for 2.1 miles which converts to sub 12:00. She was 2nd at her Sectional to Chloe Crim of Shorewood Troy at the Sectional, Crim will be a key name to watch in this race as well. If Heyob runs the same way she ran at Dunlap then she could walk away with a state title. Adelaide Galla and Madeline Serur of Arlington Heights Thomas are the best 1-2 punch in the classification. Both were under 12:00 at their Sectional to finish 1-2. Both have been interchangeable this year. Expect them to be in the mix for the individual title. Lilly Binger of Belvidere Central has had an amazing year up to this point and comes into this race hot after her first sub 12:00 performance. She hasn't lost this season and could be a wildcard in this race. Juliana Mihalopoulos of Mt. Prospect Lincoln took 66th at the state meet last year and will majorly improve off that performance this year. She was 3rd at Sectionals behind the Thomas teammates Serur and Galla. She will be in the top pack of this race. Maia Lancaster of Crystal Lake Beardsley was 53rd at the state meet last year. She is going to be much higher up in the results this year. She looked great at the Sectional winning in 12:01. Sam Deane of Batavia Rotolo has been consistently getting better week after week. She was 2nd behind behind Lancaster at the Sectional. Teagan O'Neill of Gurnee Woodland is the top returner from the state meet last year where she was 8th place. She is undefeated so far this season and has a lot of intrugue surrounding her. She will be fighting for the win here.

Boys -

Morton took 6th place last year and that performance looks to have fueled them heading into this season as they have arguably been the best team in the state regardless of classification. They had a 52 second 1-5 split in their win at the Sectional. They are led by Owen Riesberg, Luke Geyer, Milo Kaiser, and Schaeffer Friend who will all be in the race for an all-state position. Riesberg is one the top runners in the classification and provide the low stick that this group needs. Edwardsville Liberty won their Sectional with a score of 44 points in a Sectional that consisted of some pretty good teams. They won with a 1-5 split of 50 seconds and a team makeup much like Morton. Evan Thompson, Conner Osborne, Jack Whiteaker, and Jake Burris will all be in the all-state hunt for this group. If they wish to beat Morton then it will come down to winning the matchups against their runners. Lake in the Hills Marlowe is a wildcard team in this field. They won their Sectional with a score of 39 points as they dominated the field. They have been slowly improving over the year. Their 1-5 split was slightly bigger than Morton and Liberty with it being 55 seconds. For them it will be Joseph Sittler, Luca Meriacre, and Joseph Zawacki racing for all-state positions. Their key will be trying to keep their 1-5 runners as close as possible. Their 2-5 split at Sectionals was 15 seconds, if they can keep that to under 10 at state then they will put their name in the hat for the win. Arlington Heights Thomas will be in the trophy race here after a great win at the Sectional with a score of 64 points. They had a 1-5 split of 14 seconds at the Sectional which will be very beneficial for this group at a meet like the state championship. Kyle Dugan looks to led this team as a potential all-stater. Woodridge Jefferson is much like Thomas with an extremely tight pack that makes up their team. They had a 1-5 split of 22 seconds at the Sectional. They are led by Jackson Scheier and Ben Eliopolis who could be potential all-staters. An interesting note is the last names of their 4 and 5 runners, Cody Sipple and Dom Cupial. There is definitely enough talent on this team for them to make a push at a state trophy. Bourbonnais was our pre-season #1 ranked team in the entire state. They are undefeated this season and most recently just escaped the Sectional with a score of 69 points to win. This group has two great runners in Brayden Domont and Luca Nims who will both be all-staters this weekend. After that though they will need to see some big jumps by their 4th and 5th runners if they wish to walk away with a state trophy again. They are last year's defending champions.

Brayden Domont of Bourbonnais is the top returner from last year's race where he took 7th place overall. This year he looks to be the clear favorite in this race. He has ran 10:04 this year at the Channahon Park Invite and will challenge Karanveer Patil's class record. Then it will be a great race for 2nd through 10th after that with everyone being extremely close. Owen Riesberg of Morton is undefeated this season so far. He has had some big wins throughout the season as well. He is a wildcard in this field, but is likely the favorite to take 2nd. Carter Hollis of Wilmette is another undefeated runner this year. He looked great as he won the Prairie Stampede Invite in early September. He won the Sectional in a new PR of 10:43. Valentin Conejo of Gompers has had a good season overall and has been going back and forth with close rival and future teammate rival Emiliano Vieyra of Shorewood Troy. Conejo beat Vieyra at the Sectional with a mark of 10:55 at Hammel Woods. Both runners will be in the mix for a top 5 finish. Domont's teammate Luca Nims could also be in the top 5 in this race. He was 20th last year and has been 2nd place in every race this year behind his teammate. He could finish 2nd place once again this weekend. Arcangel Trujillo of Buffalo Grove Cooper had a great day at the Fox Trot Invite as he won in 10:48. He followed that up with a win at the Sectional as he ran 11:22 on a tough Adler Park course. Jax Barton of Chatham-Glenwood most impressive race of the year happened at the Dunlap Invite where he took 3d place overall as he ran 11:31 for 2.1 miles. If he can replicate that performance at the state meet then he can find himself within the top 5. Joseph Sittler of Lake in the Hills Marlowe had a big day at the Sectional as he ran 10:53 for the win. He has been improving steadily throughout the season. Expect to hear his name in the mix.