10. Morton
2020 Season Finish: 7th at Shazam D2 Championships
Head Coach: Joe Zeller
Key Losses: Arlie Akers, Selah Parnham
Summary: The Potters were young last season and made great strides throughout the course of the COVID-plagued season. "The 2020 season was a learning experience for many as we had a fairly young team," says head coach Joe Zeller. "They grew into themselves and found some success winning their regional, sectional, and placing seventh at Shazam." Emma Skinner has been a mantelpiece in 2A cross country longer than almost any other individual. The defending Mid-Illini champion will be trying to complete a 4-for-4 run of all-state cross country appearances during her illustrious career. The importance of Skinner's leadership and low stick will be accentuated this year with the absence of Arlie Akers, who is playing soccer instead of cross country.
Some of the other key pack runners that return from the Shazam squad include Taygen Beyer, Sophie Krueger, and Adeline Smith. With four out of seven returners from a 7th place Shazam finish, Morton is in the mix to defend their regional and sectional championships and be competitive in the Mid-Illini conference, where they finished just three points away from champion Metamora. Morton will be sharpened by the blade of the best central Illinois competition throughout the course of the regular season.
2020 Season Finish: 4th at Shazam D2 Championships
Head Coach: Travis Shepherd
New Newcomers: Lauren Rymer (Fr.)
Summary: The Eagles prepare for its first season of life after the Brooke Stromsland era- returning almost every remaining runner from a 4th-place team at Shazam. This finish, which was a razor-thin margin between each of the top five teams, was a cap to an unusual year, says coach Travis Shepherd. "2020 was a difficult year, but I am extremely proud of how our girls dealt with adversity," he says. "We were not able to invest in our culture and participate in our usual non-running experiences. The things that make us a family, not just a team. However, the true joy of training and racing with your family could not dampen our spirits or ruin the difficult season. Overall, we are beyond proud of how the girls dealt with adversity and competed all year."
The postseason went very well for the Eagles, who won the NLCC title as well as their regional by narrow margins. The top four of Paige-Elicia Caruth, Madison Twarling, Becca Runyan, and Maddie Perez are competitive for trophy consideration but will need at least another pack runner to join them to match the efforts from the 2019 squad that brought home a runner-up trophy. There is great strength from this top 4, all of whom have run in the 18:30-19:00 range during their careers. Some of the potential contenders to round out the pack are Hunter Savell, Julia Veres, Gretchen Good, and Sarah Lucier. Incoming frosh Lauren Rymer out of Millburn Middle School can also contribute. This version of Lakes is very different now with no runner winning each race, but they will now look more like a pack running team depending on a quick 5th to make waves at state.
Shepherd: "As always, our goals are to elevate our program and compete at a high level, while simultaneously building our culture. We will look to get back on the podium at the state finals. Racing against some of the state's best at NLCC, Regional, and Sectionals will help prepare us to perform at our best in Peoria. Individually we have the potential for multiple all-state athletes. It should be another exciting year. Looking forward to adding to our history."
8. Deerfield
2020 Season Finish: 9th in 3A Wilmette (Loyola) Regional
Head Coach: Jeff Beaumont
Summary: Deerfield returns to 2A after a short two-year stint in the larger class, and they are the second-largest 2A school this year (Cary-Grove is the largest). This will be a welcome change for the Warriors, who had the misfortune of being placed in the absurdly deep Loyola regional in 3A and finishing a respectable 9th. The Warriors began the 2020 season strong, but struggled down the stretch, according to coach Jeff Beaumont. "When things shut down in spring of 2020, our girls soon learned that running was one of the few things they could still do," he says. "So they started running earlier than most summers and put in a lot of miles. It led to a lot of success too, with many of the girls setting lifetime bests early in the season. Ultimately, that turned into our downfall as we peaked a little early. We had a great September but ran out of steam in October. Big picture though, the girls ran great. Our top five was between 19:10 - 19:30, which led to the second-fastest average time we've had across our top five since the IHSA went to three miles for girls."
Deerfield's pack isn't flashy, but is experienced and tight, with seven runners returning within a minute of top returner Madeline Trella (19:11), with Bekah Firestone close on her heels. The pack behind them includes Annie Fisher, Caroline Reich, Ally Geren, Leah Ryan, Hannah Rush, and Lexi Schott. Keep an eye on Schott, who missed time in track with April but has scored as high as #2 for Deerfield. An early postseason indicator of the strength of Deerfield's pack will be the CSL North conference meet, where the Warriors finished second to Vernon Hills in 2020 but could close the gap this year. "As a team, we are also pushing for the elusive Conference Championship," says Beaumont. "Vernon Hills hasn't lost in the CSL North since they joined our conference in 2016. They've set the standard as one of the top programs in the state, so we know that's no small task." Deerfield's path to the state championship will heavily depend on its sectional assignment, which could vary as indicated by neighboring Vernon Hill's shuffling between sectionals the last two years. The Warriors, however, do project to make a strong case to qualify in whatever sectional they are placed. "Our strength is in our pack," says Beaumont. "And I believe that will be the case again this year."
2020 Season Finish: 2A Lake Villa (Lakes) Sectional Champion
Head Coach: Ken Greenfield
Key Newcomers: Olivia Pinta (Fr.), Victoria Pinta (Fr.)
Summary: The Gators established themselves as a staying power with their returning front-end firepower after a historically accomplished season. "Despite all the challenges unique to last fall, we had the most competitively successful season in our program's history...winning a Regional and Sectional," says coach Ken Greenfield. A big reason for this success is the combination of Bella Gonzalez and Abby Machesky, the only returning duo in 2A to both have broken 18:00. Addie Frisch, a senior, is a fringe all-state candidate as well. Gonzalez in particular has the legs to make an impact at the front of essentially every meet the Gators enter--she won six meets in 2020 and has never finished lower than fifth at a regular-season meet. The front running capability of these three means there is a high ceiling for South, but will need a little more help in the back end of the pack to assert themselves in strong trophy contention. They will look to Gianna Pinta, Elise Gorman, and Anna McDermott (from the 2019 varsity team) to fill in these gaps.
Repeating their regional and sectional championships will be a tall task, but the Gators are led by a talented cohort that has now run a handful of large, competitive meets even though the group opted not to compete in Shazam as a team (Gonzalez did finish 8th for an impressive all-state Shazam spot, besting her 10th place from freshman year at Detweiller). Greenfield describes the challenges that will face Crystal Lake South for 2021: "Losing three seniors from our top seven is a challenge. Those three were all very tough competitors. I think competitively our main goal is right now to get some of our younger runners to match that ability to step up in big meets. Also, I want to see our team continue to build a family atmosphere (they've done a nice job so far)."
2020 Season Finish: 8th at 3A Hoffman Estates (H.S.) Sectional
Head Coach: Mark Anderson
Summary: Cary Grove gets the move from 3A to 2A and is the largest school in the classification by enrollment this year. The Trojans nearly qualified for state last year (hypothetically) in the deep Hoffman Estates Sectional at the higher level, an impressive showing for the experienced squad. There is a great deal of pack turnover, with three scorers from the 2020 team leaving due to graduation. Cary Grove does return their fastest runner, Maggie Mason. Mason's three-mile best dates back to her appearance at the 2018 3A state meet, a 17:38 for 52nd. Some may remember Mason from her victory in the open race at the First to the Finish Invitation that year, finishing 1st out of 708 runners.
Cary Grove also returns great scoring candidates in Jocelyn Onstot, Ada Saletnik and Morgan Haslow. Onstot in particular has demonstrated good leg speed, leading the team with a 2:23 800 time in the spring. These four will need some help, however. Only Aeryn Costello returns with a three-mile time better than 21 minutes. Kate Aniolkowski, Zoe Hubka, Kathleen Apaez and Natalie Warren are all in the vicinity of Costello, but have a wide gap to make up to join the first four. However, all Cary Grove needs is one of these runners to make good improvements and they will be a strong trophy contender this November.
2020 Season Finish: 5th at Shazam D2 Championships
Head Coach: Kelly MacDonald
Summary: Last year was a long and trying year for the Prairie Ridge Wolves, a team who has shown recently that they always perform best at the right times. However, during the year they also showed coach Kelly MacDonald that the team contained a handful of self-motivated individuals. "I never had to worry about the girls working out on their own and preparing for the season," she says. "They organized themselves and ran together prior to me being able to work with them."
A trophy for Prairie Ridge this year would make three consecutive trophies at Detweiller. The task becomes more difficult with former cross country all-stater Rylee Lydon forgoing the season to focus on training for multi-events and shorter distances. Prairie Ridge is built to withstand that loss, however, and returns each of the other Shazam scorers, most notably all-stater Rachel Soukup. Soukup returns at sub-5 minute mile from the 2021 3A 1600 final, one of the best track races in recently memory. Colette Janik and Bridget Jewell are the most accomplished runners who join Soukup, and may not be too far behind to make for three runners in the all-state conversation for the Wolves. Watch for Olivia McPherson, Addison Taege, Leah Walters, Alli Klauser, Sophie Robinson or Grace Turman to fill in the gaps.
Following the Fox Valley Conference will be interesting this year. In 2020, Prairie Ridge left with the victory but only by a hair, two points over Huntley. Other 2A squads Cary Grove and Crystal Lake South, as well as 3A teams Huntley and Jacobs, will all be close together this year. Prairie Ridge tends to run best when the meets matter the most, so the Wolves could run sub-par during the season but not suffer much in the rankings. But, according to Coach MacDonald, the teams' sights will be set on the controllable in the short term. "I believe this group wants to continue to run at the same level as the past few years. I know they want to run well and strong, but not to focus too much on our ultimate goals."
2020 Season Finish: Shazam Champion runner-ups
Head Coach: Suzanne Curry
Key Newcomers: Clara Sheridan (Fr.), Jori Ellen (Fr.)
Summary: The talented Vernon Hills squad turned in their best performance of the last year at Shazam, placing three athletes in all-Shazam status to give Glenwood a run for the title. This performance, and the strong return the Cougars receive, are reasons for optimism to coach Suzanne Curry. "For as unusual of a season as 2020 was, looking back, it went much better than anticipated," says Curry. "There was so much uncertainty as we started up the season but once we received guidance and details as to how practices/meets would work, it actually felt somewhat normal at times. We return all runners who competed in the Shazam Championship meet where we finished a strong 2nd. Those girls have had a great summer of training together again and are looking forward to returning to more pack running this season."
On paper, the Cougars return more than anyone in the division, especially looking back to PR's from 2019. But with inconsistencies and injury concerns, there are some questions left to be answered before Vernon Hills is the favorite this year. If Vernon Hills ends the season with a trophy, that will probably mean that Rose Sheridan, Reina Hill, and Anna Todd have all finished in the top-30 of a state championship race. These are three juniors that will benefit from all running together, a privilege they did not have in 2020.
The next pack includes Hannah Thomas, Ashlee Shoemaker, and Jadyn Parker. A potential lynchpin running is senior Emma Wakefield, who was swallowed in the pack in 2020 but was one of the Cougar's best in 2019. Perhaps Clara Sheridan or Jori Ellen, incoming frosh, will supplement Vernon Hills in their quest towards defending their CSL North title for a sixth straight year and a trophy. Some early season performances should give a good indicator of whether Vernon Hills is the unquestioned favorite, or still ascending. Curry states her teams' goals: "The team goals remain constant - for each girl to strive to be the best teammate, improve as a runner, have fun, compete for the CSL title, advance to state and compete for a trophy."
2020 Season Finish: 6th at 3A Hoffman Estates (H.S.) Sectional
Head Coach: Steve Clegg
Summary: Lake Forest is a newcomer to 2A, and without a great deal of star power, brings 3A-type depth to the fold to make them a trophy contender immediately. A successful season that ended in a conference title and a 3A state meet 'qualification' is a jumping board for the young Scouts team. "As challenging as 2020 was, we had a great season," says coach Steve Clegg. "Our conference (North Suburban) ran time trial format races, which was really tough for the kids, but we ended up winning the conference meet for the first time in eight years."
Leader Skyler Kreunen departs and leaves a pack primarily comprised of rising sophomores, headed by Isabella Marsico, a 5:22 miler and a runner firmly in the conversation for all-state contention. The rest of the sophomore contingent includes Olivia Marsico, Paige Gibbons, and sisters Olivia and Alexandra Palmberg. One runner who could make a step forward and join Marsico at the front is Sophia Lane. Lane ran a 19:15 three-mile best in the fall and showed great speed with 2:24 and 5:25 performances. Her training has been closer to Marsico during the offseason. With this being the Scouts' first year in 2A with four sectionals, they will be especially interested in whether they are assigned to the deep northern sectional, or the thinner Chicago-area sectional. They should be in good shape to qualify regardless of assignment, however, and the 2A race at First to the Finish will be a great indicator of where Lake Forest stacks up this year. That is a big regular-season race they can win. Clegg: "Our team goal for the season is a return trip to the state meet. The loss of Skyler is a big hit for us, but a year of experience for our young runners will really help."
2020 Season Finish: 3rd at Shazam D2 Championships
Head Coach: Jimmy Centella
Summary: The Rams ride a great deal of momentum from two successful seasons back-to-back in cross country and track. "I was very proud of our team this past fall," says coach Jimmy Centella. "We knew we had a solid veteran core returning as well as some very strong freshmen coming in with middle school state meet experience in. The girls did not disappoint as we were able to qualify for state by finishing 6th in our tough sectional. Even more impressive was how they stepped up the following week at Shazam and finished 3rd. It was a rewarding experience to see the team come together and gel over the course of the season."
The Rams continued that momentum through a strong track season, that including an all-state 3A 4x800m team performance and a smattering of strong distance performances, particularly in the 1600m. There is a great deal of uncertainty across the 2A field, but there is a certainty at the top of Central's pack in Bella Domier, and the team has depth to compliment as well with Sarah and Katie Armstrong, Grace and Caroline Kokkin, and Bryn Sato. Sato and Sarah Armstrong are key pack runners who will fill in behind Domier and could be all-state candidates. Look also to Piela and Katie Armstrong as runners with the potential to make a surprising impact as well. These eight runners will likely make up the top 7 spots for Grayslake Central.
The Rams were third at Shazam and just missed Vernon Hills by a couple of points for runner-up. Some teams behind the Rams have a little more depth, but the recent data suggests that Grayslake is running well and has strong pack running to go along with the front running of Domier to earn the #2 preseason spot. As shown last year, a 3rd to 7th place finish at sectionals will not mean that Grayslake is out of the state championship contention. Expect them to be in the mix regardless of how the path to Detweiller looked for the Rams. Centella says the season will be run with November in mind. "Our goal as always is to run our best when it matters most in November at Detweiller. Along the way, I hope our girls dedicate themselves to one another and see the power in a strong, unified team fighting common goals. We hope to challenge for our first NLCC title since the conference was founded in 2016."
