Event Date: September 1st, 2018
Location: Lake Storey Park; Galesburg (3 mile)
Race times:
9:00 AM - Varsity Girls
9:40 AM - Varsity Boys
10:20 AM - F/S Girls
11:00 AM - F/S Boys
Key Boys Teams: 2A: #7 Metamora, #10 Dixon, #15 Dunlap, #21 Sterling, Peoria Notre Dame, Normal Community West
Key Girls Teams: 2A- #4 Dixon, #10 Dunlap, #15 Peoria Notre Dame, #21 Morton
Scenario:
For such a lowkey meet, the Silver Streaks Invite is full of 2A superstars. Of the 17 teams there, six of them have a top 25 ranking on 2A. Dixon and Peoria Notre Dame get the pleasure of boasting a top team on the girls and boys side.
Last year Dixon won over Metamora 75-83 and it seems as though history will repeat itself again this year. Both have relatively young squads with only a handful of key seniors graduating from each side. While Metamora has the clear favorite junior Adam Gilbreath-Glaub, Dixon has a more consistent top seven spread. Gilbreath-Glaub has his cross-country season cut short last year due to disciplinary issues but ended up winning the 2A 3200 this past spring, so he is one to look out for. Dixon senior Colin Grady is another one on the radar. While Grady finished 10 seconds behind Gilbreath-Glaub last year, I would not count him out just yet. While missing all-star Jacob Gebhardt, Sterling returns the rest of their top six runners, with seniors Mikio Martinez and Isaiah Moorman really looking to be an epic dynamic duo.
Dunlap girls perfect scored this meet last year with an impressive 35-second spread from their 1-5 runners. Despite this, they have lost some key seniors and the sophomore phenom Campbell Petersen, who has transferred to #1 ranked in 3A Naperville North. Dixon is the favorite in this race. The team placed 6th at state last fall, losing only their #4 runner to graduation. Sophomore Paige Stees looks to lead Dixon, as a freshman she ran a blazing 18:16. While she plays soccer in the spring, Stees still lead the team to a 6th place finish at State the past fall. From that 6th place finish, the team only graduated one member of their top 7, so they continue to be a 2A powerhouse on both sides. Lastly, Senior's Josie Brown of Geneseo and Aspen Gordon of Morton look to put their name in the race for first place, both finishing right behind the Dunlap pack last year. All in all this meet will be an excellent preview of things to come as we finally get to the real start of this years cross country season.
