Girls-
Host Palatine should be a strong representation of their invitational (Mike Marasco photo)
Key teams: #6 Barrington, #11 Palatine, #12 LaGrange (Lyons Twp.), #15 Palatine (Fremd), #20 Elmhurst (York), #21 Lincolnshire (Stevenson), #24 Winnetka (New Trier), #25 Mt. Prospect (Prospect); 2A- #1 Dunlap, #3 Vernon Hills, #17 Crystal Lake Central; Louisville (Assumption, KY); Louisville (Male HS)
Meet record: Kaylee Flanagan (Lake Park) 16:49
Mid-season test for 3A/2A powerhouses-
Let's start with Dunlap. This will be the first trip to Chicagoland for the Peoria area for a high powered cross country meet. If you believe in analytics then you have to tab the Eagles as the favorite. According to these statics, they are the top team in Illinois. That's on paper. Let's see what the actual stats say. In Dunlap's win at FTTF, they beat a very good Belvidere North team with ease by cancelling out winner Madison Diercks with a front runner of their own in freshman Campbell Petersen who placed 2nd. She was able to spawn a scoring split of 1:01. Could this be the case against the host Palatine and Barrington?
Barrington has looked very sharp so far this season. The Fillies of course have senior Jocelyn Long as their as ace, but they had a newcomer in Molly Fitzpatrick also step up at FTTF. Long was 5th and the freshman Fitzpatrick took 3rd in the 3A division race. This formable pact will need to get some help from the back end scorers if they hope for a top three trophy. The scoring split was near 2:00 in Peoria.
Palatine may not win their own invite but they have a chance to put some scare into Dunlap. Consider the fact that the Lady Pirates placed third in weekend's Richard Spring Invite. The team was able to rally around freshman Anne Marie Jordan and junior Kate Lechowicz that ultimately produced a solid 51 second scoring split. The future is indeed bright for the Lady Pirates and it will begin on their training ground on Saturday.
Out of towner Assumption HS of Louisville is back and ready to show and prove. The Kentucky distance power house won this meet a few years ago and has a good team in the making. Senior Sarah Michels is expected to lead the charge.
The individual crown may come down to whomever is smartest in the end. It is not certain that last year's winner Kaitlyn Lacy of Louisville Male will be in it. But there is no shortage of top talent like the veteran Long. She could be a winner or could it be Melissa Manetsch of Libertyville? Manetsch could be ready for something big on Saturday. Isabelle Sparreo of Stevenson is racing well again and if you recall she won this race two years ago as a sophomore.