Girls-
Minooka got off to a great start last year at the Hornet-Devil Invitational (Colin Boyle)
Ranked teams: #1 Minooka, #4 Hinsdale Central, #5 Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West), #6 Winnetka (New Trier), #12 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #16 Naperville (Neuqua Valley), #23 Palatine; 2A- #17 Chicago (Latin)
Saucony Illinois Flo 50 Rankings
The outlook: Little did we know last year that Minooka's surprise victory would be the precursor to the state championship. The Indians were a good team and certainly billed as one to watch, but they were not picked to be winners. The three headed monster known then as Emily Shelton, Ashley Tutt, and Mackenzie Callahan. They finished 2nd, 4th, and 5th enroute to a 72-75 victory over Glenbard West. All three ladies are back and should exhibit the same scenario. Glenbard West could go 1-2 with defending champion Lindsey Payne and newcomer freshman Katelynne Hart. Hart took the junior high ranks by storm with several AAU national titles. In her high school debut at York during the midweek, Hart finished just five seconds behind her state dominant teammate. The weather is expected to be pleasantly nice in the neighborhood of 70 degrees at race time. The meet record of 16:40 could go down.
New Trier returns virtually all of their runners and will be led by seniors Grace Fagan, Caroline Fix, and Molly Schmidt. The Trevians will contend with host Hinsdale Central who are better than last season. Juniors Reilly Revord and Grace McCabe are the front runners. Reilly's freshman sister McKenna comes in as a four star newcomer and may run on the varsity level right away.
Palatine, Neuqua Valley, and Wheaton-Warrenville South will push to be in the top five.
Reaction: "This is going to be a huge early season test," said Minooka head coach Kevin Gummerson. "We basically just need to get a starting point to see how we stack up against the best. We always leave this meet with a pretty good idea of what we need to work on throughout September and October to make sure we are ready for the State Series. The best way to find out is to line up against this impressive group of teams that will be at Katherine Legge on Saturday."