Team Outlook:
Tuscola boys join Unity girls and Downers Grove North boys as wire-to-wire #1 ranked teams on the MileSplit weekly top 25 rankings. After First to the Finish Invitational, the dialogue around Tuscola was, can they chase after the title of the all-time best lower-class team?
A few other squads came to mind at Unity in 2015 and Eureka in 1999. Tuscola finished 1-4 at First to the Finish- stalwarts seniors Jackson Barrett and Josiah Hortin led Will Foltz and sophomore Blake McLeese to times 15:01 or faster. Although junior Xander Neamtu was 40 seconds back in 18th, that was still plenty easy for the Warriors to win with 27 points, with second-place Eureka over 150 points behind. Hortin and Barrett have continued to pace the Warriors from the front, but an injury to McLeese means the Warriors' front group must now withstand two gaps back to their final scorers. First-year runner junior David Hornaday was their fifth at sectionals and is still looking for a sub-17:00 time at Detweiller.
This vulnerability has opened the door now for Benton, who has been a perennial top-three team in the rankings but now may be in the state's best form. At their home sectional, senior star Gavin Genisio led all five scorers to all-sectional (1, 3, 5, 7, 9). Junior Gabriel McLain has continued to be the formidable #2. Still, junior Cole Buchanan has also emerged as a potential all-stater, and his stick will be mainly imported as Tuscola will also have three all-staters, most likely. The team title looks to develop into a waiting game for Tuscola, who will complete the first three-fifths of their scoring before anyone else but look to their final two runners (Neamtu and another) to finish before Benton's pack outweighs Tuscola's front runners.
The field makes for a pretty wide-open race for the third-place trophy, potentially higher if Tuscola or Benton aren't buttoned up during Saturday's 10:00a race. First, take the trio of schools that finished at the front of the Elmwood Sectional pack. Eureka and Peoria Notre Dame have traded blows over the last two weeks, with Notre Dame winning the regional and Eureka winning the sectional. Elmwood joined that fray at the sectional, finishing second, with Eureka and Elmwood having faced off plenty of times during the year. Seniors Andrew Perry and Carson Lehman lead Eureka's pack. Seniors Joe Ehrhart and Andrew Elward are pillars for Notre Dame, but the upcoming star is freshman Max Kirby, the team's first runner at sectionals and conference, where he finished fourth. Elmwood's pack can produce five under 16:00 and is led by an individual title contender in senior Isaiah Hill.
Northridge Prep dominated the Kankakee McNamara Sectional, putting four on the all-sectional team. Senior John Kipp won the individual title, and senior Brady Kataoka was less than ten seconds behind in third. They had squeaked their way into the top 10 late in the season, but a dominating performance at the Beacon Academy regional meant Northridge is again running best at the right time.
Some other teams to watch:
Aurora Central Catholic - The Charger is a relatively young team led by 800 star and Wisconsin commit Patrick Hilby. The early months were the strongest for Central Catholic, especially as freshman Ben Bohr was emerging and sophomore Jack Swiatek was healthy. No Swiatek at sectionals meant that ACC took second behind...
Rockford Christian - It's the postseason, so it's time for Rockford Christian to enter the picture as usual. Can they finish the job and grab a trophy? Senior Weston Forward is a dependable #1, as you can find, and junior Andrew Kurien improving to be on Forward's heels is an excellent development for RC. The pack was spread back at the sectional, but it was still enough to win. There will need a slight improvement from underclassmen sophomores Evan White and Joel White and freshman Blake Lindberg to get Christian into that trophy contention.
Pinckneyville - The Panthers were the only team within shouting distance of Benton at the Benton Sectional. Senior Isaac Teel leads a group that is six deep. There will have to be some improvement from the 4-6 part of the pack to keep Pinckeyville in top-5 contention, but the low sticks they have from Teel and improving sophomore Landan Bowman raise the ceiling.
St. Joseph-Ogden - Illinois Prairie Conference champions and runner-up to Tuscola by only 15 points at the St. Teresa sectional. Senior Carson Maroon has been the front guy throughout his senior year (it is appropriate that SJO dons Maroon). Aden Armstrong and Jack Fisher are the best sub-16:00 bets in addition to Maroon, and the Spartans have been tough against the best competition all year.
Individual Outlook -
The first of three individual title defenses will be Gavin Genisio's. The mile specialist during the spring has shown in multiple years that he is adept at getting in the 3-mile mode during the fall. His best three-mile time during the year was a blistering 14:24 on a soft Detweiller course at the Peoria High invite, closing on Dylon Nalley over the last mile. Although he is not the pretty prohibitive favorite, he has space on the field and the margins for some things not to break his way and still allow him to head home, having defended his title.
The first challengers for Genisio may come from the same team as each other-Tuscola seniors Jackson Barrett and Josiah Hortin, both of whom have been team runners helping bring their teammates along to fast times during the year. Barrett and Hortin have alternated between fast, controlled efforts and letting loose. One such meet was the Spartan Classic, where each runner produced sub-14:15 road times to go 1-2 for the second straight year. These two and Will Foltz finished in a controlled 1-3 at sectionals, so what will be the Warrior's approach to attack Genisio?
Isaiah Hill is a notable wild card here. He hasn't been unbeatable this year but has looked his best lately, especially with a sub-15:00 run at his home course. Hill burst onto the scene during track, showing off his range in the 800 and 1600. Such events are Genisio's strengths, so perhaps Hill is the best equipped to challenge the Tennessee commit.
Isaac Teel from Pinckneyville was last year's runner-up, so therefore is the top returner outside of Genisio. Teel has won six of the ten races he has raced this year and has never finished worse than second. He spent ten seconds behind Genisio at Benton, so Teel deserves to be considered in the mix as well.
Other returning all-staters are Genisio's teammates Gabriel McLain and Cole Buchanan, St. Teresa's Evan Cook, Hilby, and Forward. Oregon sectional champion Nicolai Martino is on a winning streak right now and is undoubtedly a top-three contender.