1A-
Boys field: #1 Decatur (St. Teresa), #4 Normal (University), #6 Rockford (Christian), #8 Eureka, #9 Aurora (Central Catholic), #11 El Paso-Gridley, #14 Elmwood, #16 Pontiac, #18 Freeburg, #19 Sandwich, #20 Williamsville, #21 Clinton, #23 Pleasant Plains, #25 Tuscola
Girls field: #1 Tolono (Unity), #2 Winnebago, #5 Eureka, #6 Marshall, #8 Stanford-Olympia, #10 Glen Carbon (Father McGivney), #12 Elmwood, #16 Seneca, #17 Williamsville, #18 El Paso-Gridley, #20 Clinton, #21 Urbana (University), #24 Sandwich, #25 Freeburg
Boys to watch:
Patrick Hilby (Jr., Aurora Central Catholic)- Hilby will be running his fifth race of the season which lends the thought that he is lathered up. Look for a significant improvement from his season best 15:43.
Weston Forward (Jr., Rockford Christian)- The season has gone well so far in the contest that Forward has competed in. Look for Forward to smash the 15:57 that he ran in July at the Det at Dark.
Isaac Crumrine (Jr., Riverdale)- Alot of things here. Crumrine was 50th at Det at Dark. Before that, he did not compete in the state series so his best performance a 12th place at the FTTF last year in 16:10. Look for a huge improvement this time out.
Aidan Sosnowski (Sr., Rockford Christian)- Won the Rock Falls Rocket Run to kick off the season and 4th at Oregon Open. Sosnowski and teammate Weston Forward should power themselves and their team with lowstick finishes.
Isaiah Hill (Jr., Elmwood)- Undefeated in three races and laser focused on making it number four. Hill was 24th last year at FTTF.
Girls to watch:
Molly Farrell (Fr., Marshall)- Scored her first high school win at last weekend's Chrisman Cowchip Classic over a solid field for 5000m. The confidence earned in that affair should bode well against a deeper Detweiller field.
Kate Ahmari (Sr., Urbana University)- She returns back to Detweiller since Det at Dark. Ahmari has won two official team races and should be ready to improve on the 18:14 that she ran last year at FTTF.
Louisa Wilson (So., Williamsville)- Wilson has been quiet thus far. If you recall, she ran 17:34 to place third in the state meet a year ago. In her only meet in '22, she placed third at the Rochester Invite.
Ahry Comer (Jr., Pope County)- One of the state's top returners has only competed in one race and it was a winner at Murphysboro in 18:40. We all will be watching to see if Comer is ready to blaze against the best competition that she will see prior to the state meet.
Elena Rybak (So)- There is no doubt Rybak is one of the best runners in Illinois when she is on her game. In her only contest, it was a dominating effort at the Mascoutah Invite. She placed second last year at FTTF and maybe it is a first place gold medal is in the cards.
Nora Brady (Sr., Bloomington Central Catholic)- Brady placed 31st at FTTF as a freshman and since that time she has improved mightily. It was all-state honors last year and that should carry over on Saturday.