Hinsdale Red Invite Ready To Kick The 2023 Season

Hinsdale Central Red Devil Invitational
Tony Jones

The fierce pack of runners traverse in last year's big race at KLM

=============

Date: Saturday, September 2, 2023
Location: Katherine Legge Memorial Park; Hinsdale IL
Start time: varsity boys- 9a, varsity girls- 9:30a, soph boys- 10a, frosh girls- 10:30a, frosh boys (1.93 miles) 11a, open girls 11:25, open boys 11:50a
Key boys teams: #6 New Trier, #7 Hersey, #10 Hinsdale Central, #11 Palatine, #12 Naperville Central, #13 Naperville (Neuqua Valley), #18 Highland Park, #19 Deerfield, #21 Batavia, #24 Prospect; 2A- #2 Benet Academy, #23 Chicago Latin
Key girls teams: #1 Prospect, #4 Naperville Central, #6 Minooka, #11 Yorkville, #12 Batavia, #13 Glenbard West, #14 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #16 Oswego East, #18 Hersey, #21 New Trier, #22 Hinsdale Central, #25 Palatine; 2A- #13 Lake Forest
Follow us: TWITTER @milesplitil -  #reddevil23

MileSplit IL rankings: HERE

Premium individual rankings: BOYS I GIRLS

What to look for: It's a new meet change to the Red Devil Invitational from the now former Red Devil-Hornet Invitational co-partnered with Hinsdale South. More or less the cast of solid to great teams remains intact and it should be another great affair.

Things will get started with the boys' varsity race around mid-morning with the sun shining bright. There are 12 ranked teams spanning two classifications. Defending champion Hinsdale Central will have their hands full with the likes of New Trier, Hersey, and several other squads. New Trier placed third a year ago and will be led by junior Ben Crane. Crane is a low-stick candidate but his Trevians crew is known for their strong pack running.

Hersey is a new team entered here and another good one from the MSL is ready to make a strong statement. Senior Liam Naughton will lead the charge for the Huskies. The host Devils lost key firepower including the great Dan Watcke, now at the University of Oregon. They will still have the ultimate front-runner and finisher in senior Aden Bandukwala. "Bunny" finished 11th last year. Don't expect the defending 3A state champion to allow that to happen on Saturday.

Individually, Bandukwala could control the flow of the race if he chooses to. Of the aforementioned runners, the runner of interest will be Neuqua Valley senior Zac Close, He is the top returner, taking third and in line to win his first Red Devil title. But of course, there is someone out there ready to strike it big like hitting the lottery.

The girls' take is a bit more obvious with top-rated and defending meet champion Prospect on the scene. The Knights will be in their first invitational of the season and they are loaded. Veronica Znajda (Jr.), Meg Peterson (So), and Lily Ginsberg (Sr) will lead the charge and could place within the top five to ten. Two other top-ten teams in the log, Minooka and Naperville Central will be in the mix behind Prospect.

The race to the tape could land the likes of Liv Phillips (Sr., Naperville Central) and possibly Mia Kotler (Jr., Latin). Regardless of who the winner is, it will be a fast one.