Girls 1A-
In the individual race there will be an opportunity for a new face to set into the spotlight as the favorite going into the season, Marycait Mackie is currently out with a stress fracture. We wish Marycait a very strong recovery. This will be a race between four young ladies, all of them vying for their first state title.
Morgan Coker of Pekin St. Joseph who has been on fire all season long. With 6 individual wins to her resume, Coker's only loss comes at the Dunlap Middle School Cross Country Invitational where she was beat by two girls that will be battling for their own respective state titles. With a PR of 11:37.2 she enters the field with the fastest PR. Will the highest placed return from last years ShaZam XC Championships win her first state title?
Monika Urbaniak of Palatine St. Theresa has been running up against a lot 3A and 2A talent this season, where she has held her own. Starting her season at the Prairie Stampede she took 3rd at the high power 3A Invite and proceeded to take 4th place at both the St. Helens Open and Bengal Invite the next few weeks. Coming in with a 2 mile PR of 11:53.8, can she hang with Coker. If the race comes down to a battle of foot speed, expect Urbaniak to prevail as she holds a 5:19.54 1600m PR from when she took 2nd at the Illinois Junior High Elite Meet.
Isabella Keller of Effingham Sacred Heart will be trying to replicate her older sisters middle school career with her first state title win. The younger sister of the great Anna Sophia Keller, has had an amazing season as a 7th grader, winning at the Chrisman Cowchip Classic taking down her sisters course record all the way to winning her sectional in 12:14.
Kathleen Nevels of Lombard St. Pius X may be a bit of a wild card as she ran on a slower sectional course where she won. After her team barely missed qualification by 6 points, expect her to have a little bit extra motivation.
The team battle looks to be a three battle with Chicago Old St. Marys, Chicago St. Matthias, and Delavan leading the charge. Back at the 2019 State Meet, Chicago Old St. Mary's took second behind a very high powered Chicago Queen Of All Saints group. With good finishes behind some 3A talent at meets like St. Helens and Prairie Stampede, the Knights finally got their first win of the season at sectionals as they look to be on a roll heading to Maxwell Park. Led by Allison Leonard and Gabrielle Duque, this squad has a very good 1-2 punch between the two. Leonard has experience at the state meet as part of that 2019 squad. The key will be keeping their 1-5 split under a minute.