The Massive IHSA Sectional Preview

Tony Jones


IHSA 2A Chicago (University) Sectional

Washington Park Chicago, IL
Oct 28, 2017
Boys: #15 Deerfield and #25 Arlington Heights (St. Viator) are the only ranked teams in the field and they should move on to Peoria with ease. Deerfield beat St. Viator by 10 points at the Fenton Regional and that could serve as a reason for both teams to pull up arms. Elmwood Park and Fenton are two other teams coming into the year fighting for spots for state.

Girls: #12 Chicago (Latin) is the team tabbed as the favorite. The Romans were lucky to escape with a victory at the Prosser Regional over #22 Trinity 46-47. They will be better equipt this time around... individually, the talented freshman Marianne Mihas of Latin remains a solid force. She should run away to victory on Saturday.

Venue Records: Washington Park

Meet Records

Virtual Meets

IHSA 2A Decatur (MacArthur) Sectional

Hickory Point Golf Course Decatur, IL
Oct 28, 2017
Boys: #3 Chatham-Glenwood, #5 Springfield, #8 Mascoutah, #12 Danville, #14 Waterloo, #17 Mt. Zion, #24 Troy (Triad)- There is no definitive favorite team in the field you look at regular season and regional results. Chatham tied Springfield at the Jacksonville Regional (32-32) but won the title on a better 6th man by three seconds. It could be just as close again with Mascoutah, Danville, and Waterloo in the field.

Girls: #13 Waterloo, #15 Triad, #16 Springfield, #17 Chatham-Glenwood, #25 Mascoutah- All five ranked teams here should advance to state. However, there is no real favorite. Springfield slipped past CG at regionals by three points. Both teams will factor against Waterloo and Triad... Shanice Garbutt (Sr., Danville) has been lights out this season. She will rematch against Jenna Schwartz (Jr., Waterloo). They raced at the FTTF Invite back in early September. In that race Garbutt came back to finish second. It appears that Garbutt has gotten better overall and may be the best runner in 2A. 

Venue Records: Hickory Point Golf Course

Meet Records

Virtual Meets

IHSA 2A Maple Park (Kaneland) Sectional

Kaneland High School Maple Park, IL
Oct 28, 2017
Boys: #6 Sycamore, #7 Kaneland, #10 Dixon, #11 Belvidere North, #21 Vernon Hills- It should be a good fight for first place amongst this field. Dixon is running their best cross country at the right time and they could be champions. The individual race will overshadow the team aspect. Matthew Richtman (Sr., Kaneland), Jake Gebhardt (Sr., Sterling), and Jack Becker (Sr., Crystal Lake South) at one time this season were all "Premium 10" runners. The state champion is safe to say in this race.

Girls: #2 Beliverdere North, #3 Vernon Hills, #6 Maple Park (Kaneland), #8 Crystal Lake South, #11 Lake Villa (Lakes), Mundelein (Carmel Catholic)- Believe it or not the defending state champion has something to prove. All season it seems as though they have been treated like a regular team even after winning the signature state championship event: 4x800 relay. If the Blue Thunder girls have a bulleyes target in their locker room, it may have darts of Dunlap on it. And especially after a thorough beating by the Eagles early in the season at FTTF, they unfortunately will have to unfortunately wait until November 4th to settle the score. Lurking back from Belvidere North is Vernon Hills. They were in that FTTF slaughterhouse too and have not forgotten it. The Cougars will lead the charge on the strength of Lauren Katz (Sr.) and a tough 2-5 pack. It may not be enough to beat the Blue Thunder, but staying close could be a moral victory heading into Peoria.
The race to the finish line will be lead

Venue Records: Kaneland High School

Meet Records

Virtual Meets

IHSA 2A Normal West Sectional

Maxwell Park Normal, IL
Oct 28, 2017
Boys: #1 Normal (University), #2 Mahomet-Seymour, #9 Metamora, #13 Bloomington, #18 Washington, #19 Normal West, #20 Morton, #22 Peoria Notre Dame, #23 Rock Island Alleman- the state champion will obviously come from the winning team here. Normal U High ran a great race last weekend at the Metamora Regional to beat defending state champion Mahomet-Seymour on a sixth man tie breaker. We could see a flip in the team standings because of a deeper field and Mahomet-Seymour has a better 1-2 punch than Normal U High. 

Girls: #1 Dunlap, #4 Mahomet-Seymour, #5 Normal (University), #9 Washington, #14 Peoria (Notre Dame), #19 Normal West, #23 Canton, - Dunlap is arguably a top 3 team in all of Illinois. Why? They had the second best composite score and time average at the FTTF across all classes. Only 3A Naperville North was better on the Detweiller course that day. The Eagles traveled to the Palatine Invite and dominated the Meet of Champions. Even when scores seem close they are not- that's called controlling the race. Depth allows great teams to run "undercards" and give hungry up and coming runners opportunities to shine. 

Venue Records: Maxwell Park

Meet Records

Virtual Meets

IHSA 2A Wheaton Academy Sectional

Kress Creek Farms West Chicago, IL
Oct 28, 2017
Boys: #4 Riverside-Brookfield, #16 Lansing (Illiana Christian), #20 Hinsdale South- Riverside is for real this year. The school is making a name for itself and they are more than school next to the famed Brookfield Zoo. They should run laps around the competition on Saturday. 

Girls: In contrast to the boys ledger there are no ranked teams in the field. But there are several teams of note such as Lemont and Wheaton Academy. They will battle for the top prize.