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As the clock ticks down, and the athletes start converging on Detweiller, the excitement builds. With less than 48 hours until the first race starts at the 2007 Illinois State Cross Country Championships, teams are preparing to do their best on the day they have focused on since the summer. State is upon us!
ILRunners.com Boys AAA State Preview
Despite the hideous planning by the IHSA towards sectional assignments this season, the Illinois State Cross Country Championships are shaping up to be one of the best in quite some time. With eight legitimate teams fighting for three state trophies and a big three going for a state individual crown, drama promises to be tossed around on race day.
In the team race, Neuqua Valley enters the meet ranked #2 in the country. Many are speculating whether or not the return of senior leader Jim Riddle will help or hurt the squad, but regardless they enter as the favorite team. IL #2 Naperville North enters as the primary challenger. Losing to Neuqua Valley earlier in the season by a mere ten points, at the Lockport Invitational, North senses that with the perfect race they can beat Neuqua Valley.
While Neuqua Valley and Naperville North enter as the top two favorites, York makes the trip to state coming off of a great sectional performance that some in their camp feel they can greatly improve on. Palatine also rides into Peoria on a wave of momentum after winning their sectional with a great team performance, despite their number three runner spraining his ankle earlier in the week. However, the Pirates have been closely followed by Hersey all season long, nearly losing to the Huskies at regionals. Hersey's dominant front trio can run with anyone, making them incredibly dangerous.
The best performances of the sectional weekend came from St. Charles North and Waubonsie Valley. Many questioned whether these two teams could even make state. Both squads proved the doubters wrong, placing third and fourth at the Schaumburg Sectional, and showing enough fire power either up front or in their pack to make a legit run for a state trophy. Finishing up in fifth at Schaumburg, Wheaton North underperformed according to nearly everyone in the state. While their top runner finished where he was projected to, their strong pack eroded, leaving much to be desired this coming weekend.
While eight teams have a shot at a trophy, the majority of fans believe three athletes have a shot at an individual win. Chris Derrick (Sr., Neuqua Valley), Kevin Havel (Sr., Hersey) and Tom Achtein (Sr., York) each proved throughout the season that they are a definite contender to win. Derrick took another step towards being a Foot Locker Nationals favorite this season, taking down no less than a half dozen course records and beating Mike Fout of Indiana (ranked top five in the Midwest) by over twenty seconds.
Havel and Achtein showed steady progress throughout the season, with a classic match up between the two occurring at the Palatine Invitational, where Achtein charged up the final 200 meters, breaking Havel in the process for the win. However, Achtein beat Havel last year at the Palatine Invitational, with Havel coming back and beating Achtein at state. Will history repeat itself? Can one or both of these stellar athletes beat Derrick? State Meet Weekend is finally here. Let the fun begin!
Top Teams (Alphabetical Order)
Hersey - The Huskies top eleven ranking in the Illinois Cross Country Coaches Poll lasted all season. From the start of the fall season, Hersey's top three dominance has shown. With senior front man Kevin Havel leading the way, the squad has a very low point up front to work with. After Havel, senior Bill Wisser and junior Erik Stanton both have the talent to finish in the top fifteen, perhaps the top ten. Their threesome up front can easily compete with any other teams' top three. However, that is where the Huskies falter a bit. Matt Cwiok (So.) continues to improve each week it seems, running stronger and stronger, showing amazing speed at the end of the race, however, their fifth runner is a spot yet solidified. Senior Mike Tisza, senior Eric Johansen or junior Ben Zielke, one of those three needs to step up their game a few notches if they hope to trophy.
Naperville North - Three weeks ago Naperville North lost to Wheaton North at their conference championships. Some thought this would bring the demise of Naperville North, but it only seemed to spark their team passion. Since then, the squad has seemed primed to upset IL #1 Neuqua Valley. Using a strong top tandem of junior Kyle Gibson and senior John Newman, North is set up top with two potential top 12 finishers. Behind those two, sophomore Tyler Jerman and junior David McWilliams showed a lot of strength at sectionals, both running great races. Since Jerman's return a few weeks back from injury, he has steadily been gaining form. If he takes one more step this Saturday, look for the Huskies to be nearly identical in team score with Neuqua through three runners. The key to a North victory lies in their fifth man. A 24 second gap occurred last weekend between their 4-5 runners. If this happens again at state, not only will the team lose the team title, but may also lose a trophy. Most of the top squads have a strong 1-3 combination, so fourth and fifth runners have more impact this year than in years past.
Neuqua Valley - Ranked #1 in Illinois and #2 in the country (according to MileSplit.us), Neuqua Valley enters Saturday's state meet as the heavy favorite. While running without number two runner Jim Riddle for much of the season, Neuqua still tallied up wins across the board, including a ten point win over IL #2 Naperville North at the Lockport Invitational. Senior Chris Derrick is chasing the individual title, and should provide a low point for his team up top. Junior Danny Pawola and sophomore Aaron Beattie both have the potential to finish top ten, with Pawola being ranked right up near the top five or six runners. The key to the squad is Jim Riddle and how they react to Riddle's addition in the line-up. While Riddle's reinstatement in the varsity line-up may provide an extra boost of energy, if Neuqua does what they have executed all year, they are nearly unbeatable. If Riddle can somehow come back and finish all-state, while being their third or fourth runner, Neuqua is unbeatable.
Palatine - Quietly and confidently, the Pirates have kept coming as the season continues on. Running one of their most successful seasons in school history, if not the best, Palatine has shown they will contend for a team trophy at state. Beating York at the Palatine Invitational and losing to Naperville North by a mere four points at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational, Palatine continues to show promise. Senior captains Mat Smoody and Kevin O'Brien lead the way, each having the potential to finish in the top ten. O'Brien's monster race at sectionals sparks this team, while a healthy Chano Bernardo (So.) will help the squad as well. A big finish from one of their 4-7 runners is the key to success for the team. If one or two of their packed up back four can finish strong in the final 800m, look for Palatine to be in good shape to bring home another state trophy.
St. Charles North - The deadly top three coming from the North Stars can be beat by few teams. Senior Chris DeSilva, Scott Speare and Mike Strasser all have what it takes to be all-state. The past few years this school shows up big at state, and many expect them to do this once again. DeSilva has the talent to finish in the top five at state on a good day, while Speare and Strasser can both finish in the top 15. In order for the team to trophy however, they need to close the 39 second gap that split their 3-4 runners at the Schaumburg Sectional. If they can cut that split in half, or even by ten seconds, the team's shot at earning a trophy increases dramatically.
Waubonsie Valley - Last year Waubonsie Valley came on like gangbusters at the end of the year, finishing in an incredible fifth place. With nearly that entire squad returning from last year, expectations were high early on in the season. However, a few key injuries slowed the teams progress towards a trophy, but the past few weeks have shown steady improvement, as the team looks for one last push. Led by senior twins Mark and David Schmaucher and junior Emmett Lorenz, Waubonsie should be looking to pack it up, much like last year.
Wheaton North - Running with a tight pack, senior experience and a lot of confidence exemplified the Wheaton North style in 2007. However, those examples fell apart at the Schaumburg Sectional last weekend. Usually keying off of front man Chase Kadlec, the rest of the team ran close behind in a very tight split. While the split from 2-5 still hovered around 20 seconds, the problem was Kadlec finished 22 seconds up on second place runner Graham Farnsworth. The pack left too much room to make up at the end, nearly missing a spot to state. You can bet the near make woke the senior laden squad up.
York - How funny it is to find the Dukes in this position once again. Earlier in the season many discounted York from being a legitimate title contender. However, Mr. Newton has once again worked his magic, transforming this team into a contender. Led by senior front man Tom Achtein and junior Steve Sulkin, York has perhaps the best 1-2 combination in the state. However, it takes more than two runners to win a trophy. Junior Jordan Herbert has come from nowhere the past few weeks, working his way up to become York's third runner. Do not discount Herbert from pushing all-state. The key to victory for the Dukes come from two runners. Sophomore Adam Cecil and senior Mark Talbot are the two runners. Cecil sat out much of the early part of the season with an injury, finally able to compete. If he takes another step towards where he is capable of running that helps this team a bit. Talbot however is the man of the hour. Running as their third runner for much of the season, he has faded the past couple weeks, finishing way back at sectionals as their seventh man. If Talbot runs where he is capable of, look out!
Top Individuals (Alphabetical Order)
Tom Achtein (Sr., York) - Few talk about it, but Tom Achtein ranks as one of the best York runners in history. The young man placed 17 as a sophomore at state and eighth last year, all the while improving his track times. While he has flow under the radar a bit over the past few seasons, the soft spoken senior is one of the toughest competitors seen in Illinois in quite a while, and will make a run at a state individual title.
Chris Derrick (Sr., Neuqua Valley) - Derrick's status from good runner to great runner changed last year on this weekend. Taking a surprising third place, Derrick proved that he belonged amongst the best. Then, in the spring, he took one step further, running one of the fastest 3200m runs in the nation, giving Evan Jager a challenge, running 8:54. Derrick this year only took one more step up. He broke at least a half dozen course records this fall, and beat one of the top five ranked individuals in the Midwest by over twenty seconds. Do not be surprised to see something no one has seen in a long, long time from Derrick on Saturday.
Chris DeSilva (Sr., St. Charles North) - DeSilva has shown talent since his freshman year. With his final cross country season finally concluding, DeSilva is showing strong signs of potential greatness, as he finished third overall at the Schaumburg Sectional. DeSilva seems to be coming along at the right time after a slower start to the season. With increased confidence and ever improving results, look for DeSilva to contend for a top five spot.
Rich Eber (Sr., Brother Rice) - Perhaps the most overlooked of every top individual in the state, Eber's been crushing his competition the past few weeks. At the Loyola Lakefront Invitational in late September, Eber beat Wheaton North's Chase Kadlec by 20 seconds. Eber also won the Niles West Sectional by 15 seconds last weekend. While neither race was star-studded with talent, he still decisively beat talented individuals. He is the dark horse of the weekend.
Kyle Gibson (Jr., Naperville North) - The steady leader of the Naperville North team, Gibson's performances all season long have guided this team towards the success they are achieving now. Gibson has finished close to Smoody, Pawola and Troester, each being on our list, at various points this season. His finishing kick seems to get him from time to time, but the gutsy runner shows no fear when competing with all the other top runners. He definitely belongs. Finding his finishing gear at state could propel the junior to a fourth place finish.
Kevin Havel (Sr., Hersey) - When Havel first entered high school, many hailed him as the next Jorge Torres. While Havel's times equal or exceeds what Torres accomplished, the last missing piece on Havel's resume is the state cross country individual title. Since placing fifth as a freshman, the young man has been on a mission to win the top prize. A fifth place, fourth place and second place all lead to one spot...the top spot.
Danny Pawola (Jr., Neuqua Valley) - Early in the season it was fairly apparent that Pawola keyed off of the success of Neuqua's number two runner Jim Riddle. However, when Riddle became injured, Pawola stepped up his game, becoming a very tough second runner, and helped sophomore star Aaron Beattie learn the ropes of varsity competition. While many suspect Riddle to be the "X" factor for Neuqua, keep an eye out for Pawola. His sneaky strength could creep up on some other front runners as the finish line approaches.
Mat Smoody (Sr., Palatine) - Running easy is the name of the game for Smoody. The senior star dominated during the past track season in the 800m run, however the transition to the cross country course does not always translate to similar success. Smoody challenged Kevin Havel at conference and regionals the prior to weeks leading up to sectionals, losing both times, being dropped before the two mile mark. Last week Smoody started with the pack and moved his way up to finish second. The key for Smoody is to put himself in position to best help his team and then kick up the hill at the end, picking off anyone in his line of sight.
Steve Sulkin (Jr., York) - Another York star in the making, Sulkin proved last weekend at the Schaumburg Sectional that placing in the top four at state is not out of the question. The improvements Sulkin made between the Palatine Invitational and the Schaumburg Sectional were impressive. Beating so many top individuals last weekend at sectionals should boost his confidence quite a bit. However, one more step is needed if he hopes to place top five, most of which comes from a big kick. Sulkin keyed off of Achtein at sectionals, and while he may do that again at state, Achtein may be too far ahead for that to work again.
Nathan Troester (Sr., Lincoln-Way East) - Overlooked all season, finally Troester attracts the attention he so rightly deserves. Earlier in the season at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational, he beat Palatine's Mat Smoody and ran only six seconds off of Hersey's Kevin Havel. Last weekend at sectionals, Troester beat Neuqua's Danny Pawola by seven seconds, keeping Chris Derrick in his sights at all times. While few are predicting it, a top five finish is certainly obtainable.
Others to Note: Kyle Engnell (Sr., Lockport Twp.), Tyler Jerman (So., Naperville North), Chase Kadlec (Sr., Wheaton North), Kevin O'Brien (Sr., Palatine), Mark Schmaucher (Sr., Waubonsie Valley), Scott Speare (Sr., St. Charles North), Erik Stanton (Jr., Hersey), Josh Stein (Sr., Marmion) and Bill Wisser (Sr., Hersey).