Palatine senior Brian Leonard has had an outstanding xc campaign so far in the early going
Key Boys Teams: #4 Hinsdale Central, #5 Lake Zurich, #7 Arlington Heights (Hersey), #10 Prospect, #13 Palatine, #17 Elmhurst (York), #18 Winnetka (New Trier), #21 Wilmette (Loyola Academy), #22 Mundelein, #24 Oak Park-River Forest; 2A- #3 Grayslake Central, #10 Crystal Lake Central, #11 Crystal Lake (Prairie Ridge), #12 Vernon Hills; Brentwood Academy (Tennessee), St. Louis University, St. Xavier (Louisville, KY)
Meet record: Jack Driggs (York) 14:33
Opening thoughts-
Just like last year the first weekend of the Autumn Equinox promises to be pleasant with temperatures in the upper 70s and lower 80s at its peak and sunny. These conditions for most athletes are idea and it should make for fast times because the quality of the field will dictate that. A nice handful of the state's top teams and individuals will converge on the Deer Grove East Forest Preserve.
A new team winner could emerge victorious on Saturday-
Last year's winner York surprised the favorite Hinsdale Central 88-97. The Dukes used a team approach behind Charlie Kern's sixth place finish that combined with a 31 seconds. That was then. This is now. It appears at least on paper entering this big time meet that Lake Zurich has an opportunity to win its first Meet of Champions title. Blake Evertsen will lead the way for his Red Devils.
Lake Zurich is more than senior Matt Pereira. They also have senior twins Brian and Kyle Griffith. They make up the state's top trio. Brian won the Richard Spring title last weekend in 14:36. More than three runners are Bears though. The #4 runner junior Pat Burns is coming along well and he will make things difficult for teams fighting for supremacy.
St. Xavier of Louisville are not strangers of Palatine Invite. They placed second to York in 2013. Junior Patrick Schaefer leads a close knit crew than won the Trinity Invite over perennial power Carmel, IN. The Tigers ran 28 seconds for their scoring split.
The MSL will have a strong presence here with host Palatine, Prospect, and Hersey among the top entrants. All three teams are ranked in the top 15 in the state. Palatine is rising back after finishing 9th last weekend in Peoria. Brian Leonard is a senior back in the fold and leading his team after missing a good chunk of last season with an injury. Hersey took 4th last weekend in Peoria on the strength of a strong pack that ran under 45 seconds. Jacob Krupa leads the way as a senior for the Huskies. Prospect will enter this weekend with an opportunity to make a big statement. So far this season the Knights have not run full throttle.
The individual race will be huge-
We could see the fastest if not most exciting race of the season. Grayslake Central as a team is still under construction. But Jack Aho is not. The standout senior is undefeated but racing at so-called half speed. Aho has yet to have that season statement race. It appears as though he is running enough to win. That will change on Saturday. The rise of Brian Griffith will certainly put a charge in the race pace. Chicago Jones senior Jeremy Adams ran 14:58 in less than idea conditions at the Lake Park Invite several weeks ago. He is an emerging runner who will challenge Whitney Young's Clayton Mendez in a few weeks for the CPL title. In the meantime he will get his sword sharpened along with Leonard, Evertsen, and possibly senior Irwin Loud of Oak Park-River Forest.