Naperville North: Beware Of The Twilight Invitational

Oct 05, 2022

Last year's varsity race was intense from the opening gate!

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Teams: #3 Naperville North, #4 LaGrange (Lyons), #5 Downers Grove North, #6 Minooka, #7 Naperville Central, #9 Yorkville, #17 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #19 Batavia, #22 Glenbard West, #25 Chicago Lane; Downers Grove South, Geneva, Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley, Plainfield North, Waubonsie Valley

-The girls' field is stacked, boasting every one of the top seven teams except for our co-#1's. Naperville North, last year's champions with 98 points, happens to be the highest-ranked team in the field. The Huskies return from a ten-day bye in which they represented well at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota, finishing third with the frontrunning help of Julie Piot (Jr.), Rianna Tandon (Fr.), and Shania Tandon (Fr.). This will be the first three-mile race on home soil and an opportunity for North to make a statement in response to some of the upstart teams on their heels.

None are more upstart than #4 Lyons Township, running well with a seasoned veteran group all season--and that was before Catherine Sommerfeld (Sr.) finally started her season. The all-stater opened her season at Palatine with a 17:24 12th place finish and will look to take another step forward. The Lions can push North but need a couple more breakouts from girls under 18-minutes to do it.

Speaking of pack running, how about Downers North's start to the season? Only York and Prospect have shown more depth than the Trojans, who have enjoyed the emergence of Lily Eddington (Fr.) to complement Claire Pyne (Sr.). Seven girls under 19:00 so far this year means that DGN's pack will inflate some team scores a bit and may get all their athletes in before anyone else.

The Trojans will need their depth to contend with say, Naperville Central, who has started to come along well and very well could win despite being the fifth-ranked team in the meet entering the night. The preseason number three RedHawks started slow and needed some time to regroup in junior Ava Hendren's absence. Fellow juniors Kate Tueting and Liv Phillips have beautifully held the fort together, and as Hendren returns to form, Central is poised to make a statement as a trophy contender soon.

What will Minooka show? Early in the season, Gabriella McCollom (Sr) seemed to be the only all state candidate for the Indians, who needed to see development from their pack. Last week at the Macnider Invite, however, Maya Ledesma (So) finished stride for stride with McCollum, suggesting there is another step forward available for Minooka. There is a wide range of possible results for Minooka but that includes winning the meet.

Of the rest of the ranked teams, Yorkville and Wheaton-Warrenville South have the best shot of breaking into the top five column. Yorkville is a bit of a mystery- the sixth place finish at Griak suggests they are ready to place high at Twilight but how will it translate to this specific Illinois group? Sophia Keeler (So.) led the Foxes to within 90 points of Naperville North. Wheaton South has the low score of Nicole Poglitsch (So.) laying in wait but needs some more pack runners to push the 18-minute barrier to get into the top five.

Individual athletes to watch: Grace Schager, (Sr., Glenbard North), Evelyn Hett (Sr., Chicago Jones), Scout Storms (So., Barrington), Catherine Sommerfeld (Sr., Lyons), Caroline Schoen (Sr., Homewood-Flossmoor), Kate Tueting, Liv Phillips, Julie Piot, Shania Tandon, Rianna Tandon, Lily Eddington, Claire Pyne, Nicole Poglitsch, Gabriella McCollom, Maya Ledesma (So., Minooka)

Even with the epic team battle waiting to unfold, all eyes will be on Grace Schager and on the clock as she steps foot on a course to race in earnest for the third time this year. What happened the last two times she raced? Only the best national performance (according to Tully Runners) running a course-record 16:00.2 at Lake Park, and then following that with the second-best national performance running 16:08 at Richard Spring. Only Ciara O'Shea's win at Nike Twilight has even touched Schager's resume so far this fall.

The ghost of Judy Pendergast has rabbited Schager throughout this season, and will again be present in the form of the 16:15.2 course record. Much like Lake Park, only Katelynne Hart has come close to Pendergast's best. With Schagers' season much reminiscent of Pendergast's 2015 senior campaign, and all the anticipation building toward Schager's postseason, what will she have in store for tonight? Gone appear to be the days of a conservative Schager early on the race. Watch for how Schager handles the frequent turning of a looping course in the dark.

The race for second is just as intriguing without a clear favorite. The second fastest field time comes from Evelyn Hett, a 17:24 from Palatine in her season opener. That resume is pretty much indistinguishable from Catherine Sommerfeld, who Hett barely held off. Add Scout Storms to the 17:24 season best pack and you have a fantastically even race budding. Based on the racing style, one would have to think Storms will set the pace, but don't miss the pink socks of Caroline Schoen who looks for a bounce back from Peoria Central. Schoen opened early in the year and then took a few weeks down before kicking her season back into gear.

Several other team factors aside from Sommerfeld should be near the front of the chase pack, particularly the Naperville central crew of Kate Tueting, Liv Pillips, and perhaps Ava Hendren.