Class 3A-
[Girls]
Editor's note: Yorkville has been added to girls field per meet management
Key teams: #1 Naperville North, #2 Minooka, #4 Winnetka New Trier, #6 Naperville Central, #7 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #8 Hinsdale Central, #9 Barrington, #10 Batavia, #11 Lockport, #15 Lake Forest, #22 LaGrange Lyons Twp., #23 Downers Grove South, Aurora Metea Valley, Edwardsville, Libertyville
For the second weekend in a row a loaded field is expected to go down among many of the state's titan teams. Top ranked Naperville North should be locked and loaded after demolishing a solid field last weekend in Iowa at the Spartan Invitational. The Huskies will certainly remember two things when entering Detweiller Park on Saturday morning: 1) the thumping at the hands of Hinsdale Central at the 2014 FTTF and; 2) winning the state championship last November. Obviously winning a state title will have a better feeling but for motivational purposes, the thought of losing a cross country invitational has to keep the squad on alert.
Naperville North head man Dan Iverson is the master of being humble. He knows how to keep his girls even kill and up for the moment. But he also knows that he has a loaded squad too. State 3200m state champion senior Judy Pendergast will lead the way. Pendergast won her debut race last weekend in Iowa with ease. As for the rest of the team, the 1-5 split at the Spartan Invite was 2:21. That number on the surface appears to be alarming but in a closer look it was 57 seconds 2-5. Still too high? Well there are options that Iverson can go to like senior Jenny Gibson or pluck someone from the frosh-soph army in the names of Natalie Dunnett or Sophia Bruce. The choices are plentiful.
Minooka will be a strong contender on the strength of the state's top trio: Emily Shelton (So.), Ashley Tutt (Jr.), and Mackenzie Callahan (Jr.). The Indians won last weekend's blockbuster Hinsdale Hornet-Devil Invitational on the strength of the ladies 2,4,5 finishes. This could happen again at Detweiller but the concern will be with the fifth place finisher. She may be up to 2:00 behind. If this is the case again, there will be no way that the Indians can defeat Naperville North.
The supporting cast of teams entered will add tremendous depth and lend a thought to how deep the state of Illinois is on the girls' side. New Trier took a quiet third last weekend at Hinsdale on a strong running effort that saw a 54 second scoring split. If the Trevians can produce a similar image on Saturday they very well could finish in the top 3-4 again. Wheaton-Warrenville South is a team in the making that could be real good. The Tigers will have junior Sara Akins leading the way. Also, there is Naperville Central lurking. The Hawks can no longer be dismissed as the "other" team in Naperville. Junior Alana Austin is a young lady who is developing into a solid runner on the state scene. She took sixth last weekend at Hinsdale. Speaking of Hinsdale, can the Central Red Devilettes rebound after finishing 8th at their invitational? The sophomore pair Reilly Revold and Grace McCabe gave everything they had in finishing 9th and 10th. The back end of the scoring ledger will have to pick up their production on Saturday if they hope to stay in the mix of the elite teams here.
Yorkville has been added to the girls field. This will be a true test for the 4-time defending 2A champs.
[Boys]
3A-
Key teams: #3 LaGrange Lyons Twp., #4 Hinsdale Central, #7 Winnetka New Trier, #8 Chicago Whitney Young, #11 Buffalo Grove, #16 Downers Grove North, #19 McHenry, #22 Naperville Central, #23 Minooka, #25 Glen Ellyn Glenbard West, Naperville North, Chicago (St. Ignatius), Edwardsville, Aurora Marmion Academy, Fishers IN
The finality race of the day should be a real good one as a fleet of teams have an opportunity to make a statement for their programs. The depth of teams listed go beyond being ranked. It could be that someone like St. Ignatius could step up big and surprise a top 10 team and finish high in the standings. It certainly will be fun to watch.
For starters, Lyons Twp. is "for real" as Sandburg head coach John O'Malley said last weekend in his team's incredibly narrow 36-37 victory at the Lyons Invite. Now Lyons and Hinsdale Central will meet for the first of several battles this season. Both schools are from the mighty Western Suburban Conference (Silver Division). On paper each team has two front runners and a strong pack to back their claims. Lyons will strut out junior Vince Zona and senior Connor Madell. The Red Devils will counter with senior junior Blake Evertsen and senior Chris Brenk. Hinsdale Central head man Jim Westphal said "we now know where we stand," in reference to his team's distant second place finish at last weekend's Hinsdale Invite. Really? This could be a deceptive statement in order to get his team to see the bigger picture. The season is still very young after weeks in.
Whitney Young is a team finally in the upperclassmen stage after developing their then young guns over the past three years from scratch. Head Coach Billy Poole-Harris appears to have the ship sailing in the right direction. The key for the Dolphins is to not get caught up in the hype of a top ranking or get stressed out about what they cannot control. Top man sophomore Clayton Mendez is capable of winning the race because he is an aggressive front runner. But in a field of piranhas he and his teammates could be deadly bait. So run smart early on and everything should go smoothly.
Buffalo Grove senior Kevin Salvano missed his invitational debut last weekend because of a college visit to the University of Notre Dame. Salvano will be among the individual candidates as is Zona and Evertsen, but the Bison are a good team collectively. In Salvano's absence last weekend at the Fenton Invite, the troops took second overall to Oak Park-River Forest.
New Trier coach Dave Wisner is excited about his team's prospects this weekend. He thought his team left a lot on the course in last weekend's opener at Hinsdale. Even so the Trevians still finished a solid third place. If the Trevians want to battle for a title, junior Warren Blood will need to step up as the front running leader he is expected to be.
Individually, a great field of runners is expected to produce the state's fastest time. Salvano of course will be the favorite. But don't count out Evertsen or Zona. Also, Dan Santino (Sr., Ignatius) is a strong candidate for top honors.