Some of the teams in this level will have work to do if they want to get in position to be a top 10 candidate or a threat to trophy type squads.
20. Mahomet-Seymour
Head Coach: Kristin Allen
Last year's finish: State- 4th place
Key returners: Brisa McGrath (Sr) Megan Churm (Jr), Madi Balbach (Jr), Olivia Bunting (So), Gretchen Scheele (So)
Tony's thoughts: The Bulldogs on paper have enough to be a solid team this fall. The key question is 'do they have enough to make another run inside the top 10?' That, of course, will have to be answered through summer training and conditioning. The next item is health and maturity. Five of the top seven return and that is a good starting point. Top runner Brisa McGrath proved that she is fit now after running 18:07 in last month's Detweiller at Dark meet. But as a whole, the rest of the troops were far back. While DD is a fun and "non-serious" meet, it is still a little concern that some of the girls were nearly three minutes behind Brisa. Work is still needed to be done.
19. Mascoutah
Head Coach: Darren Latham
Last year's finish: State- 19th place
Key returners: Julia Kapp (Jr), Arianna Climaco (Jr), Naya Busbea (Jr), Madison Krieg (Sr), Bella Dixon (Jr), Kalee Chau (Sr), Elizabeth Byington (Sr)
Tony's thoughts: Assuming that all seven girls returned, this is a team could be really good. The Indians consisted with a scoring split under 45 seconds which proved to be one of the best in the classification. But the problem lies in not having a low stick runner as the 19:32 per girl average proved. Top runner Julia personal best is 18:55. She will need to improve in that category this season in order for the team to be a big-time threat.
Head Coach: Ken Greenfield
Last year's finish: Kaneland Sectional- 7th place
Key returners: Mackenzie Aldridge (Jr), Olivia Beckwith (Sr), Chelsea Greene (So), Emma Heuck (Sr), Emma Murphy (So)
Projected top 7: Five girls mentioned above; others
Newcomers: Addie Frisch (Fr), Elise Gorman (Fr) Lily Worline (Fr)
Coach's thoughts on the team: Our top 5 could be very strong and have had a fantastic summer. After that, it's a toss-up. There are a couple runners in the next 4-5 who I think have the potential to step up and be within striking distance of our top group. We'll need that to happen for me to breathe easier. As it stands, we need everything to go well with our top 5 to reach our potential.
17. Lemont
16. West Chicago (Wheaton Academy)
Head Coach/coaches: Dan Gray; Elyse Dell, Jenny Every
Last year's finish: State- 10th place
Key returners: Rachel Ehrhart (Sr), Irene Ehrhart (So), Victoria Kortz (Sr), Abby Miller (Sr), Kaylie Wolter (Sr)
Newcomers: Teagan Cover (Fr), Maci Cave (Fr), Anna Wolter (Jr)
Coach's thoughts on the team: Rachel Ehrhart returns as the team leader after running with an 18:51 PB at state last year. Irene Ehrhart is also a sub 19:00 performer as well as Abby Miller closing out 2017 with a 19:07 at state. The Irish should have a strong front group leading the charge this season. Kaylie Wolter earned experience in her first year of xc as a junior, and she should be much improved. Teagan Cover has very good footspeed and had strong showings in xc and track as an 8th grader. Victoria Kortz has had her best summer ever and it is looking to claim a varsity spot. Chelsea Sanchez was among our top 7 last year and will continue to seek to improve from a year ago.
14. Washington
12. Chicago (Latin)
Head Coach/coaches: John Neisler, Lester Hampton, Stu Shaver, Jill Burroughs, Abby Rader
Last year's finish: Normal University Sectional- 7th place
Key returners: Emmy Mussey (Sr), Lyndsey Wolters (So), Ella Bittner (So), Mackie Madix (So), Tasha Schuckman (Jr), Mya Kaeb (So)
Projected top 7: Mussey, Wolters, Bittner, Madix, Kaeb; up in the air after that.
Newcomers: Lizzy Zacharias (So) -- from swimming
Coach's thoughts on the team: The girls have had a good summer and are really motivated from a disappointing end to last year's season. We were a very young team last year (still are), with Schuckman injured and graduated senior Riley Madix sick on the day of Sectional. Right now everyone is healthy and is looking forward to another fun year. We're looking to continue our streak of Bloomington- Normal Intercity championships (currently at 8) and win the Central State 8 for the second year in a row (we won last year in our first year in the conference).