Sectional Featured Meets
Belleville East High School
Belleville,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch: On the boys' side, the premium elite Justin Mumford (Sr., Wesclin) will look to put the icing on his IHSA career with a title. #12 Freeburg is the team to beat but #18 Benton, #20 Pinckneyville, and #25 Wesclin will come to play; Ansley Bailey of Massac County is undefeated and the girls favorite. #8 Duquoin will duel against #9 Benton and #16 Freeburg for the spoils of victory.
Lincoln Park
Chicago,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch: It's pretty clear cut here on the girls side. The team battle that everyone has been waiting for is finally here: #1 Chicago Latin vs. #2 Benet Academy. It will be the fast front of the pack racing led by Latin junior Ava Parekh vs. the Redwings ultra-conservative team pack element. It will come down to the #5 runner.
The boys will see #4 St. Ignatius as the leaders of the pack but #6 Benet Academy is very close behind. St. Ignatius have the Kiley twins and that could be the difference. Individually, Julian Watson of Hinsdale South should roll to victory.
Lincoln Park
Chicago,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch: This is going to be a first! Tremendous suburban teams make their way to the Windy City for the first time in history. They are going to be in for a show they won't soon forget!
Boys-
The deepest field in the state: #2 Downers Grove North, #7 Chicago Jones Prep, #8 Hinsdale Central, #12 Naperville North, #13 Naperville (Neuqua Valley), #15 Orland Park (Sandburg), #19 Naperville Central, #20 Oswego, #24 Oswego; Downers Grove North is trending up well. The Trojans have beaten them all in recent times. Evan Cummins will lead the way at the top and if they can duplicate or come near the 25-second scoring as they had at regionals, it will be another win. Hinsdale Central will fight with Jones Prep and the rest for a top-five spot. This is going to be a real shoot out. Individually, the highly-rated Nicolas Dovalovsky is on fire and undefeated.
Girls-
Just like the boys, the ladies are incredibly strong. #1 Naperville North is the creme of the crop in Illinois and one of the premier programs in the USA. Even at their worst, they are better than most team's all-time best and that means if you are a fan of cross country, enjoy! #6 Oak Park-River Forest, #7 Downers Grove South, #8 Downers Grove North, #14 Oswego East, #18 Oswego, #19 Hinsdale Central, #24 Neuqua Valley are teams with a fighting chance at a top five spot. Josephine Welin of OPRF is the real deal and she proved it on this very oval a week ago with a smashing 16:55. Let's hope the weatherman is correct in saying temps are going to be in the upper 50s and sunny.
South Shores Park
Decatur,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch:
Girls- The field is DEEP! #2 Monticello, #4 Tolono Unity, #10 Marshall, #11 Shelbyville, #12 Urbana U High, #13 St. Joe-Ogden, #15 Roxana, #18 Champaign St. Thomas More are the names to look over. Monticello Sages was upended at regionals by Unity. Things between them should remain close. As we close in on the Shazam Championships a week later, many players here are in the running. Mabry Bruhn of Monticello is the favorite to run away with the individual title.
Boys- #9 Arthur, #10 St. Joe-Ogden, #11 Monticello, #16 Unity, #21 Shelbyville, #23 Effingham St. Anthony are the teams of note. Many think Arthur is the team to beat and rightfully so with the hard-running Layton Hall as their ace.
Harvest Christian Academy High School
Elgin,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch: Could this be the deepest Class A Sectional on the boys side? Well, the top overall runner in the state is here. Drew Rogers of Herscher has been racing lights out all season with hardly any resistance. However, his good friend Ryder James of PBL should be ready to go all out for three-miles. Some are still not convinced that he will last more than 1.5 miles against Rogers. We will see! Team-wise look for #2 Elgin Harvest Academy, #5 Chicago Latin, #6 Aurora Central Catholic, #7 Niles Northridge Prep, #13 Wheaton Academy, #14 Herscher, #19 Lombard (Montini), #24 Paxton-Buckley-Loda
Girls: Not quite the same fanfare as the boys but there is a pretty fast girl in the weeds waiting to crush the field. Junior Lianna Surtz of Aurora Rosary is one of the state's elite distance runners. She has broken 17:00 for three miles but this is a rugged 5k layout which she has already tackled. Her team is ranked #7 but will face strong resistance against #5 Elmhurst IC Catholic, and #20 Wheaton Academy.
Elmwood Sectional CC Course
Elmwood,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch:
Girls- #3 Eureka, #6 Normal (University), #14 Auburn, #17 Springfield (Sacred Heart-Griffin), #19 Stanford-Olympia, #24 Elmwood, #25 Williamsville. Eureka is the best team in the field even without #2 runner Alexi Fogo. The Hornets have the tough Anna Perry holding it down.
Boys- #1 Stanford-Olympia, #3 Elmwood, #4 El Paso-Gridley, #15 West Hancock, #17 DeeMack, #22 Williamsville. Three of these teams could be fighting for a Shazam trophy next weekend. Stanford Olympia has rebuilt their team on the fly and look very strong. This is Elmwood's time to lace up the spikes and drop a peak performance. The massively underrated Miles Sheppard of West Hancock is going to demonstrate just how good he is against the field
Hoffman Estates High School
Hoffman Estates,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch:
Boys- #1 New Trier, #6 Barrington, #11 Lake Zurich, #14 Hersey, #22 Loyola Academy; top-rated New Trier will be ready to run their best race of the year to date. They were a bit separated pack wise at regionals. That should not be the issue this time around. Barrington and Lake Zurich will be close on the case. Nick Falk of New Trier could be the X factor from the individual spot.
Girls- #3 Prospect, #11 Loyola Academy, #17 Barrington, #25 New Trier; the team with the best pack in the state should be victorious. Loyola Academy beat Barrington at regionals. However, look for a tight fight for second. Aly Negovetich of Grant is undefeated and should stay that way.
Lyons Township High School
Lyons Township,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch:
Boys- #3 St. Charles East, #4 Lyons Twp, #10 York, #16 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #17 Glenbard West, #23 Maine South. The defending state champion Saints will face a tough challenge against the hosts on their flat turf. This should be a shoot out with fast times. St. Charles East has the best trio in the state and that could be too much for the Lions. Micah Wilson and Owen Hays along with Luke Schildmeyer will be all be in the fight for the individual title.
Girls- #4 York, #5 St. Charles East, #9 Batavia, #10 Lyons Twp., #13 St. Charles North, #20 Wheaton-Warrenville South; The Dukettes of York have been racing lights out this season and that should continue on Saturday. They are a very young squad running like veterans. St. Charles East lost their top runner at the beginning of the season but racing well has not been an issue. Individually, Katrina Schlenker of Batavia is the one to watch. Let's see if she can go under 17:00 for the first time this season.
Eagle Acres
Lake Villa,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch:
Boys- #5 Crystal Lake Central, #7 Kaneland, #13 Burlington Central, #14 Hampshire, #15 Sycamore, #24 Woodstock. Central Lake Central is the team to beat but not by much. Pack running will be the key to victory here. Peter Walsdorf is undefeated and will fight to stay that way.
Girls- #4 Crystal Lake South, #5 Lakes, #6 Vernon Hills, #7 Prairie Ridge, #8 Grayslake Central, #9 Dixon. Lakes and Vernon Hills have gotten the notoriety this season but CLS is for real. Grayslake Central and Dixon are good as well. But one thing for certain is senior Brooke Stromsland. She is the premier runner in the field.
Maxwell Park
Normal,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch:
Girls- #2 Yorkville, #12 Normal Community, #15 Minooka, #16 Lockport, #21 Lincoln-Way East, #23 Lincoln-Way Central; Yorkville is the one team to watch. They should win comfy on the strength of their front running pack. Normal Community led by freshman Aly Ince would notch a huge feather in their program cap with a second-place finish.
Boys- #5 Yorkville and #6 Edwardsville will meet in the biggest match up for them to date. Both teams are a shoe-in for the Shazam Championship but sectional bragging rights are of most important right now. Elite runner Ryan Watts of Edwardsville will more than likely go for broke with fellow outstanding harrier Austin Popplewell of Yorkville. Both runners will cancel each other out and leaving the 2-5 runners to decide the fate of the team title.
Onley Central College
Onley,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch:
Boys- #1 Chatham-Glenwood know they are good but may be looking ahead to facing Morton and Metamora at Shazam. #9 Mascoutah, #10 Marion, #11 Mahomet-Seymour, #19 Carbondale, #21 Richland County, #22 Rochester. Alex Partlow of Carbondale has run 15:01 this season and he is the favorite.
Girls- #3 Chatham-Glenwood, #20 Mascoutah, #21 Highland, #22 Mt. Zion, #23 Mahomet-Seymour, #25 Waterloo. This is probably the most underrated sectional with a list of quality teams regardless of class. Chatham-Glenwood. Lead runner Nia Gibson does not get enough respect. She will on Saturday. Colleen Zeibert of Rochester will run to keep her undefeated status.
Detweiller Park
Peoria,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch: Kaitlin Skeate of Bloomington will get an opportunity to run at historic Detweiller Park and her #10 squad will face off against the host team who is #11 and tough. #12 Dunlap, #14 Washington, #15 Metamora are close in concert and could actually walk away with a team title.
On the boys' side, #2 Morton and #3 Metamora could win it and posture themselves as the favorite for Shazam. Morton is a team built for the future and Metamora is ready now. But the real question is, who will be ready on Saturday? We know that Wilson Georges of Limestone will be ready from an individual standpoint.
Seneca High School
Seneca,
IL
Oct 31, 2020
Meet Records
Virtual Meets
Who to watch:
Girls- #1 Winnebago spent the entire month working their way back up the charts. The defending state champions are excited about sectionals and later the Shazam Championship which should put some smiles on their faces. Sisters Grace and Katie Erb will lead the way. Their teammate Natalia Martino is the favorite. Other top-rated teams in the field are #21 Rock Island (Alleman), #22 Rock Falls, #23 Rockford (Christian)
Boys: #8 Rockford Christian is the extremely heavy favorite and should roll easily into Shazam. Briar Nevills of West Carroll is expected to walk away with the victory.
