Class 3A Boys State Championship Cross Country Preview Raymond Lewis Nov 07, 2014

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. 

Class 3A Girls State Championship Cross Country Preview Tony Jones Nov 07, 2014

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

Class 2A Girls State Cross Country Championship Tony Jones Nov 06, 2014

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.

Class A Boys State Cross Country Championship Preview Alex Goodlad Nov 06, 2014

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.

Class A Girls State Cross Country Championship Preview Alex Goodlad Nov 06, 2014

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.