Neuqua Valley shown dominating the West Aurora Sectional in 2016
3A boys-
Last year's dominant team Naperville (Neuqua Valley) breezed through the regular season and state series before ultimately settling for a 5th place finish at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon. What will this season bring for the Wildcats who graduated six of their top seven stallions? The lone ranger is rising junior Zach Kinne. Kinne is coming off of a great track season where he placed 5th in the state 3200m final running a big personal best 9:11.48. Kinne will be backed by mate Ryan Kennedy who be a senior. It may also be the first time in a while that we could see the wizardry of head coach Paul Vandersteen and his staff. They are going to need some magic against DGN.
The team to watch will be Downers Grove North. Led by head coach John Sipp, the Trojans finished 2nd in the state and 12th at NXN. Downers North used two front runners followed by an impressive pack to do their damage. Guess what? They only graduate Alec Danner out of their top 7. This probably means they will receive a top 10 national ranking in addition to the pre-season nod. One Trojan runner Matt Moravec just completed a great sophomore season in track when placed 7th in the 3200m at state. His 9:15.36 has to translate into something big later on this fall
It took 14:50 to make the top 25 all-state ring of honor a season ago. In addition, there were 43 runners that broke the magical 15:00 barrier. Three of the top five state finishers return in rising seniors Danny Kilrea (Lyons Twp.), Dylan Jacobs (Sandburg), and Charlie Kern (York). Kilrea and Jacobs are coming off of All-American campaigns and Kern was a national qualifier as a sophomore. The trio along with the likes of an emerging Clayton Mendez (Chicago Whitney Young) should be in the national spotlight this season. Of course depth will be an important factor as hundreds of harriers strive to improve on their previous bests.