Date: 11/3/2018
Location: Detweiller Park; Peoria, IL
Course: 3.0 miles
Race Time: 1pm
Awards ceremony: 3pm at the Detweiller Park venue
Weather forecast: It is expected to be the warmest part of the day with temps in the low to mid-50s. It should be a great environment to drop some great times and performances.
Media coverage: Live updates all meet day long beginning at 8a. Follow us on twitter at Milesplit Illinois @milesplitil shout us out using hashtag #ihsaxc19
MileSplit IL 50 Rankings: Read Here
Meet the teams: #1 Naperville North, #2 Downers Grove South, #3 Barrington, #4 Yorkville, #5 Hinsdale Central, #6 Batavia, #7 Oswego, #8 Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West), #9 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #10 Mt. Prospect (Prospect), #11 Lockport, #12 Elmhurst (York), #13 Palatine (Fremd), #14 St. Charles East, #15 Lagrange (Lyons Township), #16 Downers Grove North, #17 Oak Park-River Forest, #20 Winnetka (New Trier), #22 Minooka, #24 Arlington Heights (Hersey), #25 O'Fallon; Edwardsville, Huntley, New Lenox (Lincoln-Way Central), Palatine
Opening line: We are all destined for another great saga of historic cross country as Naperville North will go for their 10th state title. The heralded program led by head man Dan Iverson has 28 total trophies- 3rd most in IHSA history. The Huskies are in the midst of a dynasty in which they have won three state champions in a row and four in the last five seasons. A win on Saturday would put Iverson in a select company. Only Chris Muth (Yorkville) and Todd Vohland (Decatur St. Teresa) have won four titles in a row. Moreover, Iverson's charges have finished no lower than second since 2012.
As for this Saturday's race, there is no team as deep as Naperville from top to bottom. The Huskies have a tremendous leadoff runner in Maggie Gamboa (Jr.). She is a top-five candidate overall and if the rest of the pack can stay within 1:10 or so of her, it could be a blowout. That means we could see five or more girls under 18:00 in ideal conditions.
Downers Grove South has run very well this season. The Mustangs have been nearly flawless in competition with big meets in Arizona, Peoria, and the Naperville Twilight Invite. Brenna Cohoon (Sr.) is the team's best runner. Erin Reidy (Sr.) must also contribute her best race of her career on Saturday in order for the team to dethrone Naperville North.
It's always hard to predict what teams will show up and run their best of the year. Hinsdale Central is a team that put themselves in position at the end of the regular season to be a trophy threat. However, its two outstanding runners seniors Mckenna Revord and Emma Watcke must be at their absolute best. Barrington, Yorkville, Batavia, and Glenbard West are trophy hopefuls.
Katelynne Hart (Sr., Glenbard West) will go for her fourth title in a row Saturday afternoon. If she is successful, she will join Dana Miroballi (Wheeling) and Katelyn Bastert (Carthage) as the only girls to have won four straight titles. Hart will also have an opportunity to chase down the all-best mark of 15:53 set back by Judy Pendergast (Naperville North) in 2015. Look for Hart to go out lightning-fast and then run to win. If she is in sight of the record, you will go for it. But of course, she has more fish to fry in December at the national level.
It's always nice to include others in the fast race mix like Cohoon, Katrina Schlenker (So., Batavia), Samantha Poglitsch (Jr., Wheaton South), Aly Negovetich (So., Grant), Molly Fitzpatrick (Jr., Barrington), Alice Abbott (Jr., St. Charles East), Ashley Heidenrich (Sr., Waubonsie Valley) are some of the best of the best to watch.