The master class, 3A cross country is as intense as it gets! Above is a small highlight reel of the 2023 state championship.
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We break open the 3A previews, detailing a bevy of unranked teams to those up to #21
Head Coach/coaches: Kris Roof/Laura McKnight
Last Year's Finish: Lake Park Sectional- 12th place
Analysis: The Champions were the CPS conference champions at all levels in 2023 and finished 12th at the Lake Park Sectional, with room still to grow into a team that will chase after a state qualification, which would be the first in program history at the 3A level. "We had some younger athletes emerge last year, and we are excited about them this season," says head coach Kris Roof, who is in his 23rd season as head coach. "They've put in a great summer of work. We lost three seniors to graduation, but I am confident we will improve on last year's 12th-place sectional performance."
Ainsley Carter put a strong foot forward as a freshman last year and was the team's top finisher at a number of key late-season meets. Lucy McNally joins her as another sub-19-minute runner, and several others, including Riley Coomer, Sydney Van Aken, and Caitlin Thomas, will be important varsity runners. Claire Davis is a runner to watch after being an essential component of Lane's state-qualifying 4x400 and 4x800 teams.
Van Aken says the team believes it can reach heights it hasn't yet. "I think a big goal for this team is to make it to state as a team. We have been so close to having individual qualifiers for the last couple of years, so to see this team make it would be amazing! It has been so long since the girls' team qualified as a whole, and I think with the girls on this specific team, it will be possible."
Head Coach: Jeff Beaumont
Last Year's Finish: Schaumburg Sectional- 12th place
Analysis: The Deerfield Warriors returned to 3A despite school enrollment dropping due to the enrollment cut-off for classifications dropping even more precipitously. "Our 2023 season didn't really take off until the IHSA postseason," says Jeff Beaumont, entering his 21st year as girls head coach. "Throughout the season, we'd have different puzzle pieces come through each week. I always knew we were better than the results were showing, and that finally came to fruition at the Regional. We were 3rd at Grant with our best team race of the year, and then we were even better at Busse Woods for the Sectional."
"Some of our years in 3A have not gone well - either not making it to Sectionals or finishing last or near the bottom once there. We're on the perpetual classification yo-yo, so with at least one more year in 3A, that effort showed we could be competitive and hopefully even better in '24."
The Warriors begin with team leaders and seniors Maya Garcia and Randi Tye, who Beaumont reports have taken the lead on the team throughout the summer. Their primary varsity help should come from Azalea Modes, Madeline Geres, Olivia Brown, and Natalia Arevalo, all members of an airtight varsity pack whose best race of the year resulted in a 12th-place finish at the deep Schaumburg sectional. Audrey Dickerson also returns as a varsity scorer, and broke 5:40 in the 1600 along with Brown to produce the best distance performances in the spring for the Warriors.
Can Deerfield do what they have not yet done in program history this year? "We have some seniors who ran at 2A State two years ago, and one of the goals they landed on was to return to State," says Beaumont. "The Deerfield Girls have never done that as a team in the biggest class, but they are really motivated to make something special happen this year. I believe we have the runners to do that, but as you might expect from the 2nd smallest school in the biggest class, we have very little room for error."
Head Coach: Ryan Hollister
Last Year's Finish: Lake Park Sectional- 8th place
Key Newcomers: Natassa Papadakis (Jr.), Cassie Gatza (Fr.), Miya Moraga (Fr.), Reese Long (Fr.), Reanna Lascano (Fr.), Brianna Pasillas (Fr.), Aliyah Avila (Fr.)
Analysis: Hampshire's foray into 3A has yielded a ton of improvement for this program in a short time. "We have only been in the 3A division since 2020, but our girls team has greatly improved in that short period, and our numbers have increased every season," says Ryan Hollister, entering his 6th year as head coach. "Only a few years ago, we struggled to make it out of our 2A regional meets, but we've become consistent sectional qualifiers, and we narrowly missed going to state last year."
Hampshire missed qualifying for 3A state by just 5 points at the Lake Park sectional. Although none of the seven-team runners graduated, Hampshire has to contend with the loss of Hudson Szymonik, their top runner and school record holder, to transfer (Algonquin Jacobs).
The team they return remains very strong, however. Hannah Jones, Annabelle Haskins, Kassidy Papa, Cameron Shaw, and Kaley Byhre make five runners who have already gone under 20:00 for the Whip-Purs. " The emphasis this season will be on the power of the pack," says Hollister. "If everyone improves collectively, we'll be stronger as a team despite losing two talented runners. We changed our schedule this year to enter more competitive meets, hopefully pushing our girls to new heights. There's some great competition, but I think we can compete for a conference title, a regional title, and a shot at qualifying for state. "
Head Coach: Eric Simon
Last Year's Finish: State Championship- 12th place
Key Returners: Jenna Lally (Jr.),
Ainsley Grove (Jr.),
Annika McDonnell (Jr.),
Mya Coglianese (Jr.),
Clarisa Gonzalez (Sr.)
Analysis: Lyons Township ran a strong team race in 2023, finishing 12th, and rode a senior-heavy team throughout the fall and spring, culminating with a 14th-place finish in the 4x800 relay at the state track meet. But since many of those seniors have left, new names need to step up for a Lyons tea that finds themselves as a chaser for the first time in a few years. "This year's team will only return junior Jenna Lally with varsity and postseason experience," says Eric Simon in his fourth and final year of coaching at Lyons Township. "For the past two years, we placed 7th and 12th in the state with much upperclass leadership that has graduated.
This year's team will require new and inexperienced underclassmen to step into varsity and leadership roles." Lally was 171st at state, running 19:04, making her the top returner for the Lions. Based on the track season, fellow juniors Ainsley Grove, Mya Coglianese, and Annika McDonnell will be right with Lally, which should give them a good pack to start with. However, they still need to improve by a good margin to catch up with some of the other Western Suburban Silver groups.
Head Coach: Regan Cronholm
Last Year's Finish: Granite City Sectional- 10th place
Key Newcomers: Gracie Kane (Fr.), Leah Corrigan (Fr.)
Analysis: The Porters lose just one scorer from a top-10 sectional team and return several dependable varsity veterans, including Sydney Fontaine and Lexi Shea. Bolstering the front pack in 2023 was newcomer Katie Peetz, a top three runner as a freshman in the fall for Lockport, and then stepped up to produce all of the team's best marks in the distance events in the track season. This squad is in a good position to move up the sectional ranks closer to a top-seven spot. Peetz can also be in a position for an individual qualification (Lockport girls missed getting any individuals down to Detweiller in 2023 by about ten seconds).
Head Coach: Matt Blondell
Last Year's Finish: State Championship- 6th place
Analysis: If there is such a thing as the 'graduation bug,' it hit the typically powerful Redhawks program. That class included impact runners Abby Mogg and Ava Hendren, cross country, and 3200m state final runner-up Liv Phillips. Of the returnees, the most experienced and accomplished is Lola Satre-Morales, well-rounded on the track but specializes in the 800m.
The group she leads is senior-heavy again, with Brynn Miller, Allie Opalka, and Lydia Park returning sub-20:00 three-mile bests in 2023. Katelyn Burke, Macy Bjork, and Natalie Enright give the RedHawks more varsity candidates. The Red Hawks is a proven program that, despite starting outside of the rankings this season, has a track record of putting itself in the state qualification mix. We will learn more about where things stand, how their summer went, and the impact freshmen received from outside the IESA system early in the season, with appearances at Red Devil Invite and First to the Finish.
Head Coach: Tom Patten
Last Year's Finish: Granite City Sectional- 12th place
Key Newcomers: Emma Pollitt (So.), Maddie Gentsch (Jr.), Dhruti Joshi (Jr.)
Analysis: The Ironmen had one of the smallest teams in Tom Patten's 40-year stretch as a coach with Normal Community in 2023. "As a result, we didn't have the depth to be as competitive as we typically have been," he says. "We also were missing our top runner, Ali Ince, for many of our meets because of her busy college recruitment schedule. However, Ali competed in the state series and qualified for state with a fifth-place finish in sectionals. Unfortunately, the flu derailed her hopes for a top 25 finish at state."
The Ironmen return Lily Cavanaugh as their top runner, entering her first fully healthy XC season since her freshman year. She and XC newcomer Emma Politt were key 4x800 legs and are probably the two frontrunners this year, trying to improve upon their 11th-place finish at sectionals.
Beatrix Alvarez, Audra Wolf, Lauren Thomas, and Kate Richards are the returners to round out Normal's pack. "Despite losing Ali to graduation, we expect to be more competitive than last year," says Patten. "Normal West appears to have the upper hand in our conference, but Urbana, Champaign Centennial, and Peoria Notre Dame all look to be strong teams as well, so we will have to run well in order to finish near the top of the Big 12."
Head Coach: Chad Aubin
Last Year's Finish: Granite City Sectional- 8th place
Key Newcomers: Abigail Jackson (So.)
Analysis: Just nine points separated Normal West and the state meet in their first year running in 3A. This was a bittersweet end to a successful season for the Wildcats, highlighted by a championship win in an improved Big 12 conference, just ahead of Peoria Notre Dame and Champaign Centennial.
The Wildcats sent three athletes to the state meet and return all three as juniors this fall: Julie Bach (48th in 18:00), Renee Warren (81st in 18:20), and Amanda Warren (114th in 18:39). West also returns all members of a tight chase pack in Kylie Zimmerman, Stella Pabst, Lauren Jones, Cloe Van Heuklon and Gwen Rodts. It's a strong group, but the strong southern part of the state at the 3A level will be a gauntlet for West as they try to get over the 3A state qualification hump for the first time.
Head Coach: Ashley Raymond
Last Year's Finish: Lake Park Sectional- 9th place
Key Newcomers: Eileen Easton (Fr.)
Analysis: The Huskies, who finished two spots out of state qualifying last year, lost a lot of firepower with Katie Stabb and Lenny Sterritt graduating. It will be a year of growing as a pack, says coach Ashley Raymond, as the Huskies navigate the Western Suburban Silver and racing some of the best competition in the state. "We graduated three of our top five last year," says Raymond. "This year, we will focus on building the program and pack running. We will focus on working together and being competitively curious about what we can achieve."
Violet Schnitzlein and Nora Butterly demonstrated their case for being two of OPRF's top returnees by contributing to a 9:25 4x800 relay team that broke the OPRF school record at the Lake Park Sectional, defeating York. Alana Gerona, Malie Cassel, and Julia Chang are also entering the season sub-20:00, giving OPRF a solid five to start. Eileen Easton is a freshman who can also make an impact, coming from Julian Middle School and finishing in the top 100 at the IESA 4A state meet.
Head Coach: Tony Pena
Last Year's Finish: State Championship-10th place
Key Newcomers: Eva Zimmerman (Sr.)
Analysis: The Eagle's senior-heavy team finished in the top 10 in the state championships, which was a huge accomplishment for that group. Now, graduating all those seniors and losing Lindsey Gerhardstein to transfer means that it is a completely new group for Tony Pena in 2024.
Emma Kanagy is one of the few varsity starters returning from the fall. Still, she has a nice pack of teammates through summer running in Kellie Ellis, Annika Trehan, and Minnesota transfer Eva Zimmerman. Matching last year's finish will be difficult for the Eagles, but it's a great name that the girls sport on the front of their jerseys, and focus remains, says Pena. "We graduated a great senior class this past spring," he says. "As a result, we will be running a largely unproven, young group of athletes this fall.
However, these young ladies are determined to continue the tradition of the Sandburg cross country program.... [Initially, I] thought we might need a year of development before we would be ready to compete at the level we've competed at for the last 5-6 years, but I am now hopeful the timeline may be sped up a bit. Ultimately, time will tell, but I am very proud of these young ladies' work this summer. I am excited to go to battle with these ladies this fall."
Head Coach: Bradley Kaplan
Last Year's Finish: Lake Park Sectional- 14th place
Key Newcomers: Leah Sutherland (Fr.), Adley Wilson (Fr.), Lilly Margewich (So.)
Analysis: The Saints return five of their top seven varsity finishers from the 2023 team that finished fifth in a deepening DuKane Valley Conference and 14th at the Lake Park Sectional, snapping a four-year qualification streak.
TCU signee Marley Andelman graduates after four years of leading the Saints. Nicole Mayer and Ellis Mueller will step up in the top two varsity positions after breakout track performances in 2024- Mayer, in particular, nearly qualified for state individually in her freshman season. After these two, Bradley Kaplan will have a lot of new varsity runners in the mix. "Our goal is always to strive to finish the year strong at the Conference meet and work towards making state as a team," he says. "We will have many new faces in the top 7 this season. I don't know what the lineup will look like at this point, but Nicole Mayer and Ellis Mueller will lead this team." Keep an eye on Wredling MS graduates Leah Sutherland and Adley Wilson, who will make a varsity impact as they transition to three miles.
Head Coach: Christopher Wolf
Last Year's Finish: Schaumburg Sectional- 10th place
Analysis: Vernon Hills is another new entry into 3A, thanks to a boost in enrollment. One of those new students in the building was transfer Anna Lester, who immediately led the Cougars and eventually placed 4th at the state cross country meet and set the Vernon Hills school three-mile record in 17:03.
New also to the Cougar team in the head coach role was Christopher Wolf, who took over for Suzanne Curry after being her assistant for 14 years. "I was extremely grateful for how quickly the girls took to the new strategies I was trying to implement while keeping a lot of the traditions they were used to," says Wolf. "Vernon Hills Cross Country has always had hard-working, dedicated runners; last year's team was no different."
"While losing Anna Lester to graduation will make a repeat of last year a bit more challenging, having 5 of our top 7 returning this year will give this group the experience they need to step up to the challenge of another season in 3A. The Cougars will look to continue competing for top finishes in the CSL as well as qualifying for the 3A sectional at Busse Woods."
Jori Ellen and Ella Ollinger are a sub-19 1-2 for Vernon Hills, running side-by-side for most of last season. Although the varsity pack is far from being set, Daniela Gomez Anez, Amelia Pan, and Nania Mather are the postseason returnees to help Vernon Hills compete in the CSL and move forward in the postseason.
Wolf on the challenge of competing in the highest class as one of the smallest schools: "Last year, the girls faced a challenge competing in 3A for the first time in the school's history. Many of the returning runners had been used to qualifying for the state meet, as the team had been for nearly a decade in 2A. Racing at one of the most competitive sectionals was eye-opening for some of them, but they took it as a challenge and now know what it takes to compete at that level. Being one of the smallest schools in 3A will be a challenge again this year, but our girls are up to the challenge."
Head Coach: John Burnside
Last Year's Finish: State Championship- 23rd place
Analysis: The Trevians finished 23rd at the 2023 state meet, with the top seven runners on their large team (158 athletes registered three-mile results in 2023) all running their best at the end of the season. Of those seven, three graduated, including two scorers, Hannah Falk and Lauren Moutvic.
Josie Cahill, newly-all-state with a 7th place finish in the 3200 at the state meet, returns for her final season of a strong career for New Trier and leads the team with an 18:06 best from last year's state meet. Sadie Abbott, Kayla Ritchie, and Sawyer Vyas also return to postseason varsity experience for New Trier. A return to the state meet won't be any easier this year. Still, this program is an accomplished one led by coach Burnside and will find themselves in a position to challenge at the most important meets at the end of the year, including the CSL conference meet, which New Trier lost to Maine South by 27 points last year.
Head Coach: Neil James
Last Year's Finish: Granite City Sectional- 9th place
Analysis: The O'Fallon Panthers were a very young team at the varsity level in 2023. Just a single runner graduated from the seven that finished two places away from qualifying for state, and the eight best three-mile times through the year were all run by freshmen and sophomores.
The best of that young bunch has been Ellie Bush now for a couple of years, running her first sub-18 minute race last year before finishing 14th in the 3200 at state for the second consecutive track season. She finished 65th at state cross country and was accompanied to Peoria by then-freshman teammate Mae Naveira, who finished 125th in 18:44.
That's a good first two for O'Fallon, who will also depend on sophs Madelyn Lane and Kayla Kalmer as impact scorers this year. Early in the season, Ella Andrews was positioned in the top five but didn't finish or compete in track. It would be an essential boost for O'Fallon if Andrews were available. With many athletes making their biggest jumps of improvement from the first year to the second year, O'Fallon is a candidate to make moves up the rankings out of the southern solid sectional.
Head Coach: Jeff Downing
Last Year's Finish: State Championship- 19th place
Key Newcomers: Emma Fuentes (Fr.), Abby Seurynck (Fr.)
Analysis: The Maine South Hawks took a measured approach in 2023 to the start of the year with some younger runners, and despite some injuries, had a successful season with a mix of runners. "The 2023 season was one with some younger runners that ended up very well," says head coach Jeff Downing, entering his 19th year as head coach. "We kept our frosh/soph down at the lower level until early October. At the IHSA State meet, we finished in 19th place as a team. Overall, it was a nice season for the younger girls, but we did rely on a few seniors down the stretch in the post-season, which we have to replace for this year, specifically our #1 [Olivia DeLuca]." A third straight CSL conference title and the state berth made for a good year for Maine South.
Four of the state's seven return, with Sofia Arcuri being the most notable. Injuries have prevented Arcuri from finishing the last couple of cross-country seasons at full strength, but her 17:17 Detweiller best from 2022 proves that she can get her first all-state medal this fall if she is in form in November. Tessie Bradley made big strides for South as a freshman last year and slides in as a strong #2 for Downing's team. The third and fourth state returners are middle-distance specialists Sophia Iniguez and Ally Seurynck, an essential piece of Maine South's 4x800 the past two years. Lucia Fuentes, Luisa Arcuri, and Lilly Handley provided consistency in the 3200 in the spring and are the likeliest to fill in remaining varsity spots, but a number of sophomores and freshmen have made their presence known in training, says Downing, and can have an impact just as the underclassmen did on the team last year.
Downing's plan to get the Hawks back to where they were in 2023 involves getting the new names in the second part of the varsity pack to improve together. "This season, we hope to find a way to compete at the same level," he says. "Our annual goal of making the state meet will stay the same. We expect to be decent up front and then find a way to build a pack from 3-7 to be competitive in invites, conferences, and state series levels. Our main job will be putting together our pack and finishing the third mile for all of our 7 in big meets."
Head Coach: Lisa Cook
Last Year's Finish: State Championship- 15th place
Analysis: In Lisa Cook's twelfth year as head coach at Oswego East, the Wolves achieved the best finish in program history by placing 15th at the 3A state meet. "As a team, we are pursuing topping our best year every single year. Success means seeing Oswego East on the line at Detweiller and in some distance events on the track in Charleston. The girls have done a great job of continuing to raise the bar year after year. Being part of the Oswego East cross country and track and field programs has been a very meaningful and special thing."
A strong culture setting has been transformative for the Wolves, but it does not hurt to have talented runners like the Dick sisters as well. All-stater Morgan leaves the team to compete at Kentucky, but younger sister Macy returns for her second season and is the unquestioned #1 runner even as she gets back into the swing of running (Macy plays soccer in the spring). Despite the youth of the top runner, Oswego East is a very experienced group at the varsity level, with Olivia Van Denend, Emma Berglund, and Annie Schiltz all as key varsity seniors. Ashley Gumm, Julia Burney, and Izzy Daguinsin complete an even seven runners for East, who have already broken 20 minutes.
East will compete at strong invites early and often in the season, so we will know where they are quickly. "Our schedule is tough, and it's that way for a reason," says Cook. We see a number of the top teams in the state in our first few weeks of the season. We have improved by racing the best, and we enjoy racing against the SPC teams, as well as Naperville North, the Red Devil/Hornet Invite, and Richard Spring."
Since Oswego East has been gaining momentum and improvement year after year, the team believes, why shouldn't we be even better next year? Cook agrees: "Building off of our team's improvements, we have our sights on a higher team finish at State than we had last year. We will focus on the team and the process, and I'm confident the results will follow."
Head Coach: Jeremy Kauffman
Last Year's Finish: State Championship- 25th place
Key Newcomers: Trish Johns (Fr.), Jackie Bernardo (Fr.), Karolina Borg (Fr.)
Analysis: By nearly every measure that Jeremy Kauffman could find, the 2023-2024 cross country and track seasons were resounding successes for the Lake Zurich Bears, even as their part of the state becomes one of the strongest in the sport. "We were [conference] XC champions for the first time since 2015 and were [25th in] only our 9th state qualification in history," he says. "We won our sixth straight regular season, and the NSC conference championship title broke four school records. We also had three state medalists [in track].
"We are working hard to defend our Conference Title and want to return to state and place in the top 20 this year as we continue to build on last year's success. I believe these goals are very reachable."
A promising sign for the Bears is that six of the top eight from last year return, including top two runners Celia Blaylock and Polina Krupsky and Ruby Nissen, who did not compete in the state series due to injury. Blaylock led the Bears in the 1600m to end her freshman year (5:22), and Nissen broke 12:00 in the spring, along with Avery Muhr, boding well for the returning group. Gilhaus and Bianca Perez return as varsity runners, too.
Head Coach: ChrisJon Simon
Last Year's Finish: State Championship- 27th place
Analysis: Loyola finished 27th at the state meet, having to run their best races of the season in the postseason to make it there despite some injuries that limited the Ramblers. Coach ChrisJon Simon's group returned almost all of the top seven from that team last year, whose seniors have qualified for state every year and have their sights on their highest finish since back-to-back tenth-place finishes in 2021 and 2022. "This tight group of seniors has qualified for the state the past three years, and they expect to finish their high school cc experience in Peoria in November," says Simon. "The girls are determined to be in the top 15 for sure."
The Rambler's pack is headed by two seniors with all-state aspirations who have been varsity competitors since the start for Loyola. Jane Lynch is the school record holder in the 1600 and finished all-state in the 3200 to conclude a very strong season. Despite getting a late start in the 2023 fall due to injury, Lynch barely missed all-state, finishing 29th, her best showing in three appearances. She has the profile of a top-15 or better runner in 3A this fall. Behind her is Ana Kimball, who was the varsity #1 in Lynch's stead early in the season. Also, the seniors in the picture are Elle Anderson and Molly Robson. Matie Mueller, Erin Gibbons, and Presley Zimmerman were underclassmen at the state meet and lengthened out Loyola's pack.
