In the girl's race, the clear favorite to take home the gold in the individual race is Katrina Schlenker of Batavia. Schlenker has been a monster for her freshman campaign, notching wins over some of the best competitors in Illinois in recent weeks. She most recently took 2nd place at the Naperville Twilight Invite to one of the nations best, Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West. Schlenker looked great and wasn't that far off the multiple time All-American as she was only 18 seconds behind her with an impressive time for the conditions in 16:53. Schlenker showed she is on an All-American level this year as she beat Naperville North's Alex Morris, who was a key figure for the Huskies at Nike Cross Nationals last December. Schlenker looks like she can run a 16:20 some point this year. At the Naperville Twilight Invite, Schlenker suffered her first regular-season loss on the year, but again to one of the nations best. She won't win by a ton here as she seems to slow down the pass when alone. Expect Schlenker to battle with another girl until the finish.
Schlenker will try and help her team win a conference championship as they have a good chance this year. At Naperville Twilight, the Bulldogs took 8th place but were a runner short as they didn't have returning All-State runner Mia Gianfrancesco. Gianfrancesco came into the season without racing in about nine months as she competes in soccer for the spring season instead of competing in track. She hasn't lost a step with great performances throughout the year. If the Bulldogs want to win they need to have Gianfrancesco running and cut down the split between their #4 runner, Jenna Schifferer, and #5 runner, Erin O'Brien.
The girl who most likely will be with Schlenker during the race is Alice Abbott of St. Charles East. Abbott has had a breakout sophomore campaign. She has lost two races this year and they were both to Katelynne Hart. She may challenge Schlenker for the win as the two have yet to face each other this year.
Sam Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South leads her team into the conference weekend as they are the favorite to take home the first-ever DuKane Conference girls team title. Poglitsch has had a pretty quiet season up to this point after having a notable freshman campaign. She came into the year a top-five talent in the state and has moved down a bit, but she is still one of the states best. She has had great performances all year long but will need to have the race of her life if she wants to take home the individual title. She has suffered a defeat against Schlenker and Abbott whenever they do battle with the Tigers sophomore. Poglitsch had a good performance at Naperville Twilight taking fifth place, but she is probably not that happy to lose to Schlenker.
The Tigers of Wheaton-Warrenville South have a decent amount of wiggle room here besides the Batavia looking to be very close to taking them to the limit. Laurel Moneysmith has been the MVP for the Lady Tigers this season as she improved leaps and bounds during the summer. She went from running an 18:04 at the state meet last year to now running 17:34. She will try to contest for a top five spot. The Tigers need to lower the split between their #4 and their #5 runners to about 10 seconds. The Tigers do have some weaknesses like with their #4 and #5, they need to fix that this week before they head into the state series.