Girls-
Equivalent to the individual dominance of Anna Sophia Keller this season, there seems to be a team dominance that has been going on for four straight years of the Decatur (St. Teresa) Bulldogs. It appeared as though there would be a couple of challengers to finally end the team monopoly, but alas, both a combination of remarkable athletic improvement on the part of the St. Teresa program and health issues of other teams have once again set the team economies of scale in the Bulldogs’ favor. Thankfully (for those who love suspense), the third place trophy, and arguably the second place trophy (but somewhat less so), are more or less up for grabs, as there are many teams at this point of the season with fairly close talent who can all potentially leave Detweiller with a trophy.
1) Decatur (St. Teresa)
“I think this year's race is going to be amazing. One of the most talented group of freshmen I have ever seen,” remarks St. Teresa’s coach, Todd Vohland, analyzing the playing field at state. He goes on to say that “Rochester will be tough to beat and if Monticello has Maddie Tutich back they will be in the hunt as well. I believe every sectional winning team along with Monticello, St. Joe-Ogden and Tolono Unity will be in the trophy race, and there is sure to be someone I am leaving out.” What he is leaving out (and humbly so) is his own team, of course, which has improved phenomenally considering that they lost a fair amount of their top runners from last year. At their own sectional, six of the seven runners went under 19 minutes, and their top five all finished in the top 15 places in that race, which of course means that any one of their top five runners has the potential to go all-state, and their top runner, Rachel Devereux has a distinctly great chance of scoring only three points in team scoring this Saturday (if that). This is all to say that the defending champs are looking very secure to continue their three year dynasty and earn a fourpeat victory at Detweiller.
2) Rochester
It was a couple months ago that the Lady Rockets appeared to be low on fuel, struggling in the Metro-East debut in the heat. Now in the late season with a lack of hot weather, this team is bringing the heat on as they finished triumphed the Elmwood sectional with a solid 69 points (under half of what any other team scored that race). Where the team is struggling a bit in, however, is keeping their fifth runner up with the rest of the crew. If they can get their fifth runner up, and their front runner, Taylor Bartolozzi, can run in the front of the chase pack, they possibly might string enough low points together to beat St. Teresa.
3) St. Joseph-Ogden
With the varsity five all in the 19:30’s, and front runner Alyssa Pridemore very possibly looking to earn all-state honors, a trophy is looking very realistic for the Lady Spartans. While they do not look like they could surprise St. Teresa or Rochester, one never knows (that is why it is fun to watch the race, after all!). The main question for this team is if it can play the pack game better than the other teams the hunt for a trophy.
4) Chicago (Latin)
The dominant team of their area as the Lisle Sectional victor, Latin awaits a challenge to see if they can earn themselves a trophy this year…not by any means that they are not up to it. While much their team is rather young and freshmen laiden, they are led by all-state veteran, Victoria Bianco, of all people, who has sure enough led the young Romans by example. As aforementioned, with the individual front runners looking to be at similar levels, the team to earn the third place trophy is the one that runs the better pack. Hopefully their 20:26-21:13 split in the Lisle 5k course translates to fast times this weekend over at Detweiller.
5) Tolono (Unity)
This is yet another team with noteworthy potential to trophy at Detweiller, especially if one notices that at sectionals their top four runners overall outperformed the top four St. Joseph-Ogden runners. As annoying as it is to point out, the race factors in the fifth runner, who finished considerably behind the rest and is chiefly what accounted for finishing 16 points behind St. Joe. This gap will only hurt them more at state, but that is not to say that it cannot be fixed, for in 1A Illinois cross country, anything is possible!
6) Eureka
“I cannot be more proud of how our girls ran at the Elmwood Sectional. They wanted very badly to win their own Regional on their home course, and with it coming down to the 6th runner tie breaker and losing by 2 points, it lit a fire in them. They realized their potential and got their ticket to State.” These are the words of the Hornets’ coach David Tapp, reflecting on how they performed at Sectionals. In terms of their chances at trophying, while a young team, Eureka is definitely not to be underestimated. Front runner Quincy McSweeney, for instance, is starting to go a little out of the pack and hold her own against some of the top competitors. More of this is what is needed for them to finish in a top three spot.
7) Monticello
Sometimes, not just the mental pressure of training like a championship team hurts, but the physical pressure, too. This is what the Sages have experienced throughout much of the season, and it is a pretty big factor as to why they haven’t been able to continue the dominance that they have displayed early in the season against even Decatur (St. Teresa). Nevertheless, with how well their talent that still remains has performed in the course of the early season, they may still be able to trophy, even without that strong of a fifth runner. Emily Foley and
Hannah Houska, for instance, both have the potential to finish with all-state honors. And if their top 4 can stay below 19 on top of that (as done in the early season), they still might be able to pull the trophy off even without an ideal fifth runner.
8) Downs (Tri-Valley)
“I really believe the girls are peaking at the right time,” states Coach Todd Schneider. “They really had a good week before sectionals preparation wise.” And it showed in the Elmwood sectionals as they placed third place overall only ten points behind Eureka. A significant part of their team success comes from front runner, Jess Clarke, who is very likely to be an all-state factor next week to help the Vikings place well at state. Whether they earn a trophy or not, one thing is for sure: “We are confident that we can continue the improvement one more week,” Schneider notes.
9) Kewanee (Wethersfield)
A team that seemed to pick the right time to perform well, emerging as the Oregon sectional team champions. The Flying Geese have the advantage of having both solid front runner, Kirstie Ramsey, and a 50 second spanning 1-5 pack.
10) Petersburg (PORTA)
Although the Bluejays have dealt with multiple health issues, it appears that they have bounced back from them and are transitioning well to not only advance to state but finish pretty well. “Anna Tamborski and Keely Miller had very good performances on their way back from injury,” explains Coach Jim Brauer, referring to their vital third and fourth runners who keep the team competitive. Let us also not forget their front runners—Maria and Adrienne Brauer—who we look to see both in the chasing pack. Under these conditions, it is
“optimistic but realistic” that the Bluejays could finish in the top twelve.
11) Elmwood-Brimfield
12) Byron
13) Ottawa (Marquette)
14) Carterville
15) Freeburg
16) Urbana (University)
17) Henry (H.-Senachwine)
18) Harvard
19) Kankakee (Mcnamara)
20) Aurora (Central Catholic)
21) Murphysboro
22) Westmont
23) Des Plaines (Willows Academy)
24) Herrin (H.S.)
25) Salem
Top 25 Girls-
The individual race appears to be a very interesting one…but with a rather predictable outcome that could be foreseen from the get-go. Anna Sophia Keller of Effingham (St. Anthony) is of course very likely to dominate and not the finish the race without at least claiming the Class 1A record her own. However, what is always fun to analyze is the so-called “chase pack”, and what is very likely to be seen this weekend is a pack of front runners more dense than what we have historically seen before in Class 1A cross country.
1) Anna Sophia Keller (Fr.) Effingham (St. Anthony)
Going not only undefeated, but unchallenged all season, there is simply no reason why she wouldn’t be ranked here. From the heated 18:08 Edwardsville 5k season opener to her sectional time of 16:45, she appears to be a new sensation of Illinois cross country, especially putting into perspective that she is only a Freshman. The real question is how well she’ll fare at the only one year old IHSA record, 16:02, now and in the future.
2) Kelsey Hildreth (Sr.) Byron
As the other undefeated 1A competitor, it is only fitting that she is ranked here. It is nice to observe a runner that improves with experience. Hildreth is exactly the epidimy of where hard work and determination can take you, having improved by over a minute from state to Woodruff with a 17:23, she has won every meet since by a considerable margin of time, making her seem like the number one candidate to challenge Keller (if there is anyone that can).
3) Annemarie Michael (Fr.) Urbana (University)
Should Keller for some reason come short, it is good to know that there is yet another freshman sensation that can also show up big at state. Going into the preseason, we were sure that she had pretty good potential, but we weren’t sure how quick that potential would be realized…until she took second in Woodruff ahead of even veteran, Rachel Devereux, with time of 17:33 and only persisted with a similar feat at sectionals. While not being the perfectly dominant force that Keller has been this season, she has definitely shown herself worthy of a top 3 pick.
4) Rachel Devereux (Sr.) Decatur (St. Teresa)
A veteran of 1A cross country, Devereux has always been a top contender in 1A cross country before the top three even came to prosper. As the top returner with countless all-state experience, she will doubtless be in the hunt for the individual title. “Rachel hopes to be in that pack and compete with these very gifted runners,” Says St. Teresa coach, Todd Vohland.
5) Maria Braurer (So.) Petersberg (PORTA)
As the reigning champion of the tough Elmwood sectional with a time of 17:55—as well as countless other high invitational marks—nobody can make a top five discussion without any mention of the Braurer twins. Coach Jim Braurer attests that a top five finish is “definitely possible” in the case of Maria.
6) Taylor Bartolozzi (So.) Rochester
As a reliable front runner for the Rockets, which we saw last week as the runner-up of the Elmwood sectional, count on Bartolozzi to make a crack into the top ten, finishing just outside of the top ten last year at Detweiller as a freshman.
7) Victoria Bianco (Sr.) Chicago (Latin)
Containing very well the local competition in the Lisle sectional, as well as holding her own in the Richard Springs classic, it definitely appears that Bianco is ready go out with the chasing pack for a nice finish to end her senior year with a mark.
8) Adrienne Braurer (So.) Petersberg (PORTA)
As implied before, one can never mention Maria Braurer without also bringing up Adrienne. The whole season, she has finished within twenty seconds or less behind her twin sister, in many cases, right up with her. In the very competitive conditions of Detweiller, expect a close gap between the two this coming race.
9) Deanna Deterding (Jr.) Red Bud
Between the great early sectional season, and now a very noteworthy late season as a 19:12 individual victory in one of the tougher 5k courses in Illinois is nothing to scoff at, we see that Deterding has raced how she has needed to in order to be in to top caliber mix this weekend.
10) Jess Clarke (Sr.) Downs Tri-Valley
“Jess's attitude and training has been amazing,” Notes her coach, Todd Schneider. “She put in a 500 mile summer while her health has been 100% all year. She has been improving at the right times, especially lately. Her legs are fresh and would expect to see her best race ever this Saturday.” All of this seems to sum up Clarke’s season well and why one can expect her to crack into the top ten.
11) Haley Miller (Sr.) Tremont
12) Simona Cargnino (Sr.) Olney (East Richland)
13) Lea Viano (Sr.) Carlinville
14) Ryan Block (Fr.) Knoxville
15) Audrey Vandercar (Sr.) Decatur (St. Teresa)
16) Karyn Paisley (Sr.) Macomb
17) Savannah Ames (Sr.) Belleville (Althoff Catholic)
18) Naomi Springer (Sr.) Stanford (Olympia)
19) Cailin Jerger (Sr.) Decatur (St. Teresa)
20) Ericka Hibser (Jr.) Lewistown
21) Alyssa Pridemore (Sr.) St. Joseph-Ogden
22) Kirstie Ramsey (Fr.) Kewanee (Wethersfield)
23) Lauren Evelti (So.) Decatur (St. Teresa)
24) Emily Foley (Sr.) Monticello
25) Cheyenne Moore (Sr.) Winnebago
