The Hinsdale Central Sectional was one of the best sectionals in the state last year!
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Although the team is young, they still have state championship experience, especially in the two best returnees, Ella Satre, and strong mid-distance runner Lily Hodneland. Hodneland was Hinsdale Central's top finisher at state in 75th. Gabby Thanos and Evelyn Skay also ran at the state meet, and Addie Krogstie and Ally Furey give Hinsdale Central six runners under 20:30. A newcomer with a strong chance to make a run at the top-5 is Marin Backus. Backus did not compete in the IESA seasons but ran a circuit of 1600 Miles in the summer, the best of which was a 5:20 full mile at the New Balance National meet. Her running and a large group of non-freshman newcomers will be welcome for coach McCabe's team, who lost just about half their varsity roster to graduation in 2024.
There is a lot of momentum for Central entering August. "As is typically the case, we have had a good, consistent summer of training," reports McCabe. "The girls have developed a good bond and continue to build on the culture and tradition their older, graduated teammates passed down to them. Leaders are doing a great job of fostering a positive and inclusive group.
"Last year was only the second year since 2003 when we didn't have at least one all-state runner. It's important to our girls that they leave their mark and carry on that tradition. The girls and I have high hopes for this team both this year and beyond. As always, our goal is to be the very best we can be. If that happens, the results will take care of themselves."
One silver lining from last season was Glenbard West's 4x800m performance. Save for Prospect, Barrington, and Downers Grove North, who were fighting for the state title, Glenbard West beat the entire field, finishing fourth in 9:12.84, second behind only their 9:00 performance in the legendary 2012 final. Crucial pieces of that relay were Alexa Novak and all-stater Mackenzie Gilbert, and those two are going to be centerpieces of what Glenbard West is trying to do this year. Gilbert and Ella Demchinski are the only returning postseason runners, which means plenty of varsity positions are available for the taking. Hass identifies Lauren Bennett as a runner who has shown enough signs of improvement to insert herself into the picture early on. Maia Kaslewicz, Addie Nordman, and Sophie Yob all produced strong times in the middle of the 2023 season and project to figure into the Hilltoppers' pack as well.
Warren also anticipates the arrival of Mia Hausladen, one of the state's top 1600m runners in the eighth grade from Prairie Crossing, a charter school in Grayslake. Hausladen was in the top 15 at the IESA 2A state meet last year and assembled a host of great performances, including a 2:28 fourth-place finish in the 800 and a runner-up in the 1600 at the state meet. Her mile PB is 5:27, entering the season. Hausladen makes three young but strong runners up front for Warren, looking to make strides of improvement again in 2023.
Hobson, who matriculated from Harvest Christian, was a strong complement to last year's senior leader Camille Sabau. She ran a good overall track season at the longer distances before electing postseason to focus on the 800m. She also anchored a powerful St. Charles North 4x800 relay that made the final in 9:23 and eventually finished all-state. That relay also surfaced young star Julia Rodney. Rodney did not run cross country but split 2:20 and 5:14 in the 1600m. The North Stars add her to the cross country mix in 2024, and she will be an impact runner at the front alongside Hobson.
The other varsity returners include Tia Kilroy, Alex O'Dell, Alyssa Oblak, and North Central College triathlon commit Norah Dorrance. Coach Hayes says this group is the healthiest and readiest it has been entering the fall and is ready to build on last year's success. Elise Pimsner will also be a junior and first-time cross country runner for the North Stars and will help out at the varsity level.
"With so many young runners, our focus has been team bonding and building a family atmosphere," says Patrylak. "We have had the right athletes coming out all summer and have been building a base. We focused on building strength and have not done anything too intense yet. We are very talented up front but must be careful to avoid injuries. We do not have the depth of a year ago, but I hope we get there by the end of the season. Our goal is to improve upon last year's 11th place finish at state."
Popelar broke 18 minutes for the first time at the state meet and enters her junior year with a good track season under her belt (5:16 and 2:20). Antonella DeAvilia is the #2 returner after coming on for a huge personal best performance at the state meet. She and Ella Thompson comprise the core of the varsity returners behind Popelar. But soon, it will be freshmen Willow Jackson and Morgan Popelar, former competitors from Lincoln and Liberty Middle Schools, adding depth to this pack. Jackson was 22nd at the 4A IESA state cross country meet, and Popelar was top 50.
Although the depth will develop throughout the year (an improvement from runners like the way Ava Horsfall demonstrated last season would help), why not shoot for the stars, thinks Patrylak? "I believe that this team has the talent to be the best team in school history. I have been careful to focus on the team atmosphere and culture while slowly building a base. I will recommend that you not judge this team too quickly. I think we will see progress throughout the year and ultimately try to continue our streak of qualifying for State and cracking the top ten. That is the goal of this team. With a little luck and some good health, it is a possibility."
Elizabeth Hall was the team's best runner throughout the season but could not finish the year and the regional meet. Although she was Neuqua's best shot at an all-state medal, freshman Addison Guskey was quite worthy in her place. She made it through the rounds to the state meet, where she eventually ran 18:27 for a top-100 placing.
It isn't easy to track potential newcomers into the Naperville schools since their feeders don't compete in the IESA. Still, you can count on Neuqua Valley finding an impact runner or two in their newcomer list, in the same way that Guskey was for the Wildcats in 2023.
Three of the six sub-19:00 runners return this year, headlined by Nicole Poglitsch, who grabbed her first all-state medal with authority running 17:06 to finish 7th. Poglitsch had a very strong end to the season, winning the DuKane conference, St. Charles East regional, and Lake Park sectional titles. She is in the mix for a top-5 finish in the loaded 3A individual picture. Fellow state scorers Frida Martinez (5:18 in the spring) and Abby Barrett, who broke 19 at state, enter the season leading a deep varsity pack for the Tigers.
Kate Rodakowski and MacKenzie Armstrong also enter the season within shouting distance of the 19-minute barrier. Arielle Friebel improved during her first track season and will move up in the varsity pecking order, while Emily Fahrman and a large group give South a ton of options for 2024, a year where they will try to close the gap on Wheaton North and fend off Batavia.
"We will have a long-term season approach using every workout and race to build momentum," says Harvey, emphasizing improvement as the mindset for the year. "Our season schedule has been modified, adding a few more chances to race. We will need every competitive opportunity and workout to reach our full potential. We have a great senior class...positive leadership should not be an issue for us. They have all stepped up to welcome our underclass athletes into the program."
"Our program looks to build upon the success of 2023," says Stapinski. "Even though we lost three of our top seven runners from last fall, our program has seen steady growth throughout the summer, plus a handful of talented, hardworking freshmen that can make an impact at the varsity level. We will be looking to finish in the top 15 at State and compete for a Conference title by merging the Blue and Red Divisions in the SWSC. We have a great group of girls that are working extremely hard."
In addition to the solid core of sophomores, a few impact freshmen will enter the Central hallways. Keira Faxel will find herself in the varsity seven early in the year, and she already showed some three-mile form, running 19:32 at Detweiller at Dark. Twins Reese and Madison Hundley have consistently trained with the mentioned group this summer and won't be far behind Faxel. The frosh-soph heavy group gets crucial senior leadership in Ruby Hillegass, a soccer player and returning XC varsity runner.
"We had an average of 20 girls a day showing up to summer conditioning," says Stapinski. "Most of our team is freshman and sophomores. They have a great attitude and enjoy being with each other and helping make each other better. It's a fun group to coach. From what I have seen this summer, we will have a very deep team. We return four very strong varsity runners and have eight other girls competing for the last three varsity spots. Even though we graduated three strong runners on varsity, it will be fun to watch our team grow all season long. The work ethic and culture are definitely there to enable us to surprise some schools come November."
Four runners enter the season with three-mile bests hovering between 18:20 and 18:30: junior Madeline Cassidy and sophomores Claire Deppe, Avery Hacker, and Gwendolyn Krodel. Cassidy was the top runner for the Bulldogs at the state meet and ran the team's fastest time of the season in 18:20, but it may be Hacker most commonly at the front based on a big 10:59 3200 best from the track season. Hacker and Cassidy also were sub-5:20 runners at the DuKane conference meet. The remaining top eight are all under 19:30 and include Chloe Kammes, Madison Wnek, Nora Koziol, and Olivia Gebhardt. But making this lineup at the end of the season will be challenging for all parties as a few runners from the Rotolo MS team that finished runner-up at the IESA 4A state meet join the team, including Sara Wolfe and Halle Hillman.
It seems logical to conclude that Batavia will improve on their sectional 6th place and state 18th place performances by returning everyone from last year and demonstrating a lot of improvement through the fall. Still, the focus for Batavia will need to be steadily improving over the season, rounding out the roster from a deep team, and getting the full group to run the best race of the year at the same time, which did not happen last year. Watch for Batavia at the Red Devil invite, where they finished ninth in 2023 but ran more conservatively with their freshmen down at the lower level.
The Red Raiders graduated one of their two top-100 finishers from last year, but the best one, Haley Rahman, returns in her sophomore season as perhaps the top runner in the Fox Valley Conference and a contender for all-state in 3A. Her first year of high school running was strong through the track season, running 5:13 and 11:18, but she was hardly the only Huntley Red Raider who reached that level. Kilvinger won the FVC 1600 in 5:15, and Aspen Maldonado ran 2:24 and 5:24 in her sophomore season.
Morgan Sauber, along with the Maldonado and Kilvinger, broke 19:00 at the state meet, and the Red Raiders also return Mackenzie Billard and Ava Berardi from last year's state 14th-place finisher. Billard and Berardi are the likeliest 5th runner options for Huntley. There is a 40-second gap between 4 and 5 based on 2023 three-mile times, so if Huntley jumps into the top 10, it will be because the team improved at that spot. Huntley runs at the Leavey Invite and then Lake Park, so those two races will be indicative of where this group stands early in the year.