IHSA Cross Country State Championship 2014

-Often times we get caught up in the action and the teams at the state championship. Milesplit Illinois has decided to recognize the Top 25 Boys of 3A through the lense of a camera. Our hard working and talented photographers Colin Boyle, Ilona Koziel, and Mark Capapas present to you a collage of the action from their perspective.

Collage of the top 25 all-state girls... images by Colin Boyle, Mark Capapas, and Ilona Koziel

Highlight action and interviews of the flagship championship of the day

-The girls championship was a dandy to say the least. It was a record setting affair for the entire field in terms of aggregate times. Check out the action and more!

Intro with Mr. Basting- the guru of central Illinois track & field; race highlights from all angles of the course; interview with Hoffert twins Jake and Luke

Intro with Mr. Basting- the guru of central Illinois track & field; race highlights from all angles of the course; interview with Hoffert twins Jake and Luke

Intro to the girls race, race highlights, and interviews

Highlight action and interviews of the flagship championship of the day

2A Girls XC State Championship footage filled with race clips, interviews, intros, personality of the meet, and interviews

inside look at the girls 2A cross country state championship. Introduction, interviews, race footage

The girls state xc experience is here

Class A Boys XC Odyssey for your pleasure.

Naperville North girls take down US #11 Glenbard West & US #15 Hinsdale Central. Jesse Reiser 14:11.

It was a record breaking and fun filled day at beautiful Detweiller Park in Peoria, IL... get a quick repeat of what happened

The Hinsdale Central boys wait intensely to hear the announcement the boys 3A champion

Hinsdale Central assistant head coach Noah Lawrence anxiously talks about the possibility of another state title

Check out a snippet of the York High School band performing during the meet

Check out our odyssey into the world of boys class A cross country from the 2014 state championship

Dare to venture inside of the Class A girls state cross country action from Peoria's historic Detweiller Park

Here is your one-stop shop state cross country classification information

State week! Historic Detweiller Park in Peoria has held a special place in my heart ever since I first ran there my sophomore year during the season but I don’t think I’m the only person in Illinois who feels that way. I’ve been to the state meet both as part of a qualifying team and to watch individuals from our school, and it is hard to parallel the excitement and energy at the park. 

Everyone in Detweiller Park will be eyeballing the Hofferts Jake and Luke as soon as they emerge from the scrum....

Every state championship seems to bring out the best in Illinois runners. Could it be that historic Detweiller is the reason? Perhaps it is to an extent, but the real reason has to be better coaching of girls for the three-mile distance. Two seasons ago Madeline Perez of Glenbard West set the all-time record of 16:02. That performance and the other 86 girls who broke 18:00 confirmed the fact that girls can indeed run the same distance as boys with relevance and respect. This year times are fast and we all should see some wonderful team and individual performances on Saturday afternoon

this year's championship is destined to one of the best if not the best since the classification addition in 2007. Yorkville will be going for a four-peat, but it will not be easy as Belvidere North has slowly built themselves from an emerging team into a force to be reckoned with.

Honestly, this seems like any team’s race between the top ten. Are there teams that seem more favorable than others? Definitely yes. But it stands to reason that a lot of the teams here can beat another team on a good day, and conversely get beaten on a bad day. It will come down to the team that is able to peak best, and the rankings reflect the teams (including a really obvious one) that are either known to peak best and/or are teams that have garnered much experience and should prepare themselves to run how they need to in this crucial weekend.

This race is looking to be rather the opposite of last year. As opposed to just a few key players that will outshine the rest, we have much what one would call “parity” going into this state meet. I could honestly see any of the top five teams ranked teams placing this meet in any order, and then any team ranked in the top ten could conceivably outdo a team in the top five. Without further ado, here are the teams to watch.