Palatine meet of champions promises a classic affair

Sep 24, 2021

The intensity of the Meet of Champions finish is like no other meet on the scene

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Key girls teams: #1 York, #4 Prospect, #6 New Trier, #8 Oak Park-RIver Forest, #9 Loyola Academy, #10 Maine South, #12 Lyons Township, #13 Downers Grove North, #18 Libertyville, #19 Barrington, #22 Hersey, #24 Lockport; 2A- #1 Grayslake Central, #2 Vernon Hills, #11 Prairie Ridge, #13 Crystal Lake Central, #16 Lakes

For the third weekend in a row, the top-ranked Lady Dukes will look to fight off a multitude of tough teams including Prospect who have roughed during this journey. As good as the Knights have been, they have not been able to stay with York. They have a strong pack led by Lily Ginsberg (So) and Hailey Erickson (Jr). But are they enough to overcome the inevitable? The Dukes are front-running piranhas who sense when their prey is vulnerable. Last weekend at the Richard Spring invitational, the Yorksters averaged 17:34 per girl with a 40-second split. It's airtight racing like that can hype up the sport.

Expect New Trier and Oak Park-River Forest to battle for one of the five-team trophies. Beatrix Gilson (Jr., New Trier) is one of the new faces that have tremendous success. She comes from a competitive cheer background as well as the summer road racing scene. The Trevians endured a very high scoring split at the FTTF but keep in mind in certain situations, the 2-5 split is a better indicator of a team's ability to do well. As for the Huskies, senior Josephine Welin is back. She ran her first race of the season last weekend at the Richard Spring Invite and placed second in 16:40. Though she was a bit rusty, she was with superstar Ava Parekh (Sr., Chicago Latin) for two miles. Welin should be the one to beat this time.

Grayslake Central will lead the first two power teams in 2A. Top runner Bella Domier (So) had a fantastic performance at the Woodstock Carnival last weekend. She and the Rams will need everything they have in holding down a strong Vernon Hills squad.

Loyola Academy ran their first major race of the season last weekend in Peoria and they are led by Morgan Mackie (So.). The Ramblers should feel an upstart Maine South breathing down their backs throughout the competition.

As far as the individual race is concerned, the course should be in great shape. It has been mostly dry but a little rain over the past few days should have softened things up some. If it runs as fast as Detweiller, then we could see a mid 16:00s from the winner.