Fleet-footed Plainfield South will put the varsity field to the test on Saturday morning
Date: Saturday, September 24, 2022
Location: Deer Grove East Forest Preserve; Palatine, IL
Course walk: 8:30a
Boys schedule: Frosh 9:00a; Soph 9:50a Varsity 10:50a; JV 11:50a
Social media: @milesplitil
MileSplit IL rankings: HERE
Key teams: #1 Plainfield South, #2 Oak Park-River Forest, #3 Hinsdale Central (JV), #6 Palatine, #8 Hersey, #10 Lake Zurich, #11 Maine South, #12 New Trier, #14 Lyons, #15 Oswego East, #17 Chicago Jones, #19 York, #20 Barrington, #23 Prospect, #24 Downers Grove South; 2A- #1 Grayslake Central, #4 Aurora (Marmion Academy), #6 Prairie Ridge, #13 Crystal Lake Central
-On paper and prior to race day, this was the most anticipated invitational of the season to date. Top-ranked Plainfield South was excited about the potential match-up against previously #1 Hinsdale Central. That was before the Red Devils announced they were going to take a detour and run their "A" team next weekend in Terre Haute, IN at the Nike Twilight Invitational.
Fortunately, the party will not be spoiled. The Cougars will be on all cylinders and they are an exciting bunch led by junior Camyn Viger. In their FTTF Invite win several weekends ago, they had three guys under 15:00 with Viger's winning 14:22. The scoring five average was 14:54 on a scant 58-second scoring split. Viger and several of his mates competed in the frosh race a year ago.
Oak Park-River Forest will rep the WSC Silver well in place of the Red Devils. The Huskies won the Richard Spring Invitational last weekend easily using a 45-second split. They had two runners under 15:00 led by senior Liam Newhart's overall third place finish in 14:22. If they can get the back end pack closer to Plainfield South, it could be a very exciting race.
Host Palatine will battle for a top three spot with a potent lineup but will not have the 15:12 freshman ace, Alexander Krieg. However, a battle vs. Hersey and some other teams will make things fun.
The individual race should be very fun to watch. Defending champ Marcellus Mines (Jr., Joliet West) returns and will be motivated to complete this race. He was in second place with just over a mile to go at Richard Spring Invite last weekend when he experienced severe back pains and dropped out. Mines had been undefeated prior to the drop out.
State leader Viger will be there and expect him to apply some serious pressure to the field. Parker Nold (Sr., Oswego East) took the runner up spot ahead of Newhart last weekend. But runners were clocked in 14:42. Mason Krieg (Sr., Palatine), Dylan Myers (Sr., Lake Zurich), and junior Trey Sato of 2A #1 Grayslake Central ran well in Peoria. All three will shoot for a lowstick to help themselves and their team's cause.