The fields are going to remind those in attendance of a mini-state championship
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Girls teams: #1 Naperville North, #2 Downers Grove South, #3 Yorkville, #6 Glenbard West, #7 Batavia, #8 Hinsdale Central, #10 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #11 Minooka, #18 Naperville (Neuqua Valley), #20 Naperville Central, #21 Downers Grove North, #22 Aurora (Metea Valley), Geneva, Plainfield North, Aurora (Waubonsie Valley), Chicago Lane Tech, Palatine
Breakdown:
-For the second year in a row, the top three overall best teams in the state are here. The Huskies, Mustangs, and the Foxes all have an opportunity to walk away with the first-place trophy. After a significant break from competition, it's time for Naperville North to reboot (still w/o pre-season ace junior Campbell Petersen) and get supercharged. Juniors Maggie Gamboa and Audrey Mendrys will lead the charge. They are two low stick runners that are expected to finish deep inside the top 10 and that should cancel out any team's duo threat. But the key to bringing home a victory is compressing the scorers to a pulp. It was 1:32 at the Roy Griak Invite which was one of the reasons why the Huskies suffered in a big loss to Cherry Creek, CO.
If there is a time for Downers Grove South to pounce for the win, it's now. The Mustangs have good momentum after winning easily against the state's top competition and later going to Arizona and taking third in a rudely talented Desert Twilight Invite. Seniors Brenna Cohoon and Erin Reidy are expected to be among the top runners individually. If true to form, they should be inside of the top 10 and the pack less than a minute behind them.
Yorkville has been uncharacteristically lowkey... until last weekend at the Nike Valley Twilight Invitational where they finished third and significantly behind national power Beavercreek. However, the key is health and the Foxes are achieving that on their time table. They were without two of their top five runners in that meet. Junior Helena Kleronomos placed fifth in the night time air to lead her team.
Individually, we could see one of the best in season and away from Detweiller Park in history. Senior superstar Katelynne Hart is coming off of an idle status and ready to roll. She has the meet record of 16:15 and could challenge the 16:00 barrier if her splits are a bit more even prior to the final mile. Let's welcome at-large entrants sophomores Lianna Surtz of Rosary and Ava Parekh of Latin- junior Brooke Stromsland of Lakes is here too!. These young ladies have been outstanding this season and primed to run under 17:00. Wheaton South junior Sam Poglitsch has been among the elite corps all season. She will continue that vibe. Batavia sophomore Katrina Schlenker will compete in the tremendous field.