The Girls-
Rachel Hickey could walk away as the star of the show in the 800-
Rachel Hickey (Jr., Lasalle-Peru) has been bubbling on the running scene for several years now. She earned her stripes in the longer events like cross country where she earned all-state honors. It is the track where Hickey has excelled the most. After finishing second last year here, Hickey went on to become a state champion. This season she has continued to rise with a victory at the Illinois Top Times last month. The goal is walk away with another big win, but it will not be easy with chief challenger Emily Stegmeier (Sr., Elk Grove). Stegmeier currently has the 3rd best time in the state and looking for more. Both will go out and push the barrier and we all may see a new meet and state best. Avryl Johnson (Jr., Libertyville) has a personal best 2:14.22 from a year ago but has not reached that mark thus far. She has been working on her speed and it is a matter of time before the endurance kicks in. Rebecca Odusola (Sr., Chicago Mather) had a breakout race here last year and has run 2:16.92 indoors. Watch for her along with Abby Fioresi (Sr., Aurora Central Catholic) and Arielle Summitt (Jr., Urbana University) among others to race extremely well.
Emerging stars to contest the 3200-
This event may be the most wide open among the lot. Though there are all-state cross country runners here with the likes of Sarah Barcelona (So., Lyons Twp.), Allison McGrath (Sr., Wheaton-Warrenville)and Danielle Osmon (So., Grant), there are no super stars. But that's ok. Sometimes a good distance race is watching for the next up and coming athlete to be a star. Illinois is known for these things. Osmon has the top seed mark at 10:51 followed by Barcelona. These two should be up from along with McGrath and newcomer Brenna Cohoon (Fr., Downers Grove South) has run 11:02 indoors and she is the grand-daughter of legendary former boys coach Bob Cohoon.
Brooke Wilson is ready to star in the 1600-
Prospect senior Brooke Wilson has been a star for all years of high school. But when she got injured for the first time in her career during the indoor season, it was a slight cause of concern. Wilson is now racing and ready to close out a great career before moving on to the University of South Carolina. With a personal best of 4:59.71, Wilson is poised to run that fast or better. She does not possess the foot speed to sit and kick so expect the pace to be pushed a bit and the first half go out around 2:25. Isabelle Sparreo (Jr., Stevenson) could be the one to push Wilson and possibly upset as well. The cast is solid with Isabelle Christensen (So., Oswego), Sarah Harden (Hersey), and more to make this a memorable event.