Last year, the Richard Spring Invitational, held at historic Detweiller Park, was a key invite. Distance powers Barrington, Downers Grove North, and York dueled within a handful of points.
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Four runners return from those five all-conference performances, with Ceres Moraitis transferring out of state. Those four are Maddie Romaine, Emily Offutt, June Rectenwald, and Ema Eissler, all running under 19:00, and those first three finishing in the top 100 at state. Romaine (5:20, 2:19 in track) is the only senior of this young group. She knows her leadership role on this team, and she admits that she is "relatively young." "As a team, the ultimate goal is always to build ourselves up throughout the season to gain the highest state ranking," says Romaine. "Earning 8th place at State last year was an incredible success for our team and program and a huge jump from recent past years, so we want to continue that momentum."
The departure of Moraitis is a challenge for North, who has a drop-off to the next pack as they search for another runner to round out the top five. It helps that Annika Carlson and Sienna Keith, both state runners last year, return with that necessary experience. But the road back to where the Falcons were last year will be tough, and Coach Anderson knows that.
"We would like to build on the accomplishments of last fall," he says. "It will be difficult to repeat as conference champions in the always tough DuKane Conference. It will also be difficult to [become sectional champions] as many of those teams are also our DuKane comrades. We are ready for the challenge despite how difficult it will be."
Analysis: The Indians know they left a little on the table in 2023. "I know these girls will be the first to admit they were not happy with how the last two weeks of the season went," says Kevin Gummerson, entering year 26 coaching both Boys' and Girls' programs. "However, they were proud of how they stayed positive and did the best they could on that particular day. I also love the fact that they have been talking about ways to improve upon those finishes."
Minooka was runner-up to rival Yorkville in the Southwest Prairie Conference, quickly becoming one of the most loaded conferences at its front end. Minooka qualified for state after winning the Andrew regional, finishing fifth at Granite City and then sixteenth at the state meet. Half of the Minooka pack ran their best race to date, but it left some to be desired for a team hoping for something closer to the top 10. Thankfully, nearly all those runners return, including a senior-heavy group led by Maya Ledesma, last year's #1. Ledesma's signature moment thus far in her career occurred at the state track meet, when she took off to secure a huge margin of victory in the first 3200 section, eventually giving her a fifth place all-state medal with a PR of 10:53. This puts Ledesma into rare air in the state, and makes her the preseason conference favorite as well as a contender to be a top-10 runner in 3A.
Taya Gummerson and Natalie Nahs, who ran together during much of the competitive season, also enter as the next solid scoring pieces for Minooka and are within shouting distance of the 18:00 barrier. Nahs dropped to the 400 and 800-meter runs and led the team in both events in track but also produced an early-season 5:22. Gummerson ran 11:25 for 3200. Minooka's other returners are Liana Blount, Cassie Brushaber, and Paige Joachim. But making the varsity team at Minooka is no guarantee, even for the returners, with many girls vying for those spots. Melinda Torres, Samantha Hulick, Liana Blount, and Courtney Murphy are just a few of Minooka's good performers in both the fall and spring, and they may be making an appearance at the varsity level throughout the season. It's a large but closely-knit group who will depend on each other and the relationships they've built this year. "One thing I enjoy about our team is our family aspect," says Ledesma. "We have all known each other for a lot of our lives. We have really become a true family. We are always there for each other and motivate/push each other to be the best we can."
Minooka runs big meets to test themselves at Red Devil, First to the Finish, and Naperville Twilight, among others. But the Southwest Prairie Conference will be one of the best tests for the Indians. This group states their goals are to maximize their performance and effort each week and do their best.
"I am extremely excited for this 2024 season," says Gummerson. "I know this conference will be incredibly tough, and we look forward to the battles that ensue. I am confident that we will have a team that will compete and battle each time they step to the line. Like every year, our big goal is to run our best in November."
"The team has the goal every year of competing the best we can at every meet and working together," says senior Taya Gummerson. "The end goal is to do the best we can during the post-season and place well at state. We want to put our feet on the line and give it our all."
The Cats will almost certainly improve on their 17th-place finish at the state meet this year, but progress towards that end-of-year marker will require them to take on their local competition head-on, particularly Minooka and Yorkville, who will challenge North frequently throughout the season.
The lone senior was Allegra Triner, and she led Yorkville to a strong season that included a Southwest Prairie Conference title, a sectional title, and a top-10 finish at the 3A state meet. With only her graduating, there is plenty of Foxes firepower entering 2024. Sophia Keeler, Annabelle Reeder, Ashley Schraeder, Liliana Carmago, Nicole Kraus, and Mia Evans comprise a balanced and packed-up varsity team, with two of those runners in each of the three returning classes.
Keeler was the first runner outside all-state (26th in 17:40), and Reeder and Schraeder provided top-100 marks (31st and 94th). Keeler, Reeder, and Camargo led the team with the best marks in the track season, including a dual 5:22 performance in the 1600 at the conference meet each. Those three teamed up with Triner to run 9:39 in the 4x800 at the end of the season.
With one Triner leaving, another one enters, this new one being Athena, a standout runner for Yorkville Middle School. Triner will immediately step into the front of the varsity pack, as she demonstrated by finishing alongside Schraeder and Keeler at the 2024 Detweiller at Dark meet, which Yorkville effectively won (the winning team, WRSquared, is an all-star team from Indiana, including runners from four different high schools). But she is just one in a huge class of runners entering their freshman year to lengthen out a potent Foxes team.
"We lost only one athlete, Allegra Triner, our team captain, so we will have to focus on filling that role, but we return everyone else," says Muth as he forecasts 2024. "We are focused on recovery work and strength while not losing our basic training identity. I believe we will be a more experienced team with a high ceiling this year when November comes around." There is no reason not to believe that Yorkville can start to approach the podium conversation come November.
A crucial cornerstone of Naperville North's program since 2020, Julie Piot graduated in the spring and now represents the Yale Bulldogs. But she and Bridget Kacedan were the only graduated members from last year's fifth-place team, so the Huskies remain in an excellent place entering the season. Piot's graduation paves the way for Shania and Rianna Tandon to lead the Naperville North trophy push. Both were all-state in cross country (15th and 23rd) and individual qualifiers in the track season.
The third returner, who could be a first runner for North, is Emma Berres. Berres enters her final year, just having completed her most successful season in high school during the track season. Berres was fourth in the 3A 800m in 2:12 and eventually ran 4:55 flat en route at Magis Miles. That type of speed will bode well for Berres this coming season, who can undoubtedly improve her 66th-place finisher from the state meet last year. Two other varsity runners returned: Annika Lovisa and Brynn Pfeiffer, both sub-19:00 last year and essential as the fourth and fifth, especially Pfeiffer, who gained valuable experience as a freshman last year.
There will be some newcomer help for North as well. Kennedy MS graduate Kathryn Rohr ran 5:25 for the Eagles in 2024 and joins the Husky cross-country team alongside Alex Pobozny as another name to watch.
On paper, North has a clearer path to trophy entering the season than it did last year. However, there is racing left to be done. In 29 years as head coach, Dan Iverson knows this and has committed to outsourcing the goal-setting to the athletes. "That's really up to our girls to set the direction," he says. But I think we can be a very good team."
In the fall, Margaretha Grabske was Hersey's top runner, but freshman Alexa Izenstark improved quickly to be a clear #2 by the postseason. Grabske finished 17th to collect her first all-state medal, and Izenstark was 27th, finishing just seconds off the podium as the third-fastest freshman in the field. These two, who both broke 17:45 and entered as all-state contenders, are supported by an excellent varsity pack of Elizabeth Waltz, Madeline Bialko, Sofia Donner, and Martyna Makowski. All of these girls ran under 19:00 last year, and the momentum carried through a strong track season characterized by depth in the distance events and an excellent 4x800.
Donner, Bialko, Izenstark, and Grabske all broke 5:20. Seven total returners broke 12:00. Olsen was also able to recruit out from track to cross country two impact pieces for the first time: Jamie Laskiewicz, who ran 11:48, and (Alexandra) Ola Kopacz, who split 2:20 alongside Grabske to hoist Hersey into a loaded 4x800 final where they eventually finished tenth, running 9:24.
Hersey will also get an array of impact runners through its middle school system. Many could make the postseason roster, but two strong names to watch as the year begins are MacArthur graduates Jojo Messer and Josie Petrelis, both sub-6:00 milers.
Options abound for Hersey, a team with all the momentum in the world and one that will be challenged constantly by their elite MSL competition, namely Prospect and Barrington, throughout the 2024 season. "We are looking forward to contributing to the MSL dynasty along with Prospect and Barrington," says Olsen. "These three teams have continued to push each other throughout the season, and it's a blessing to be one of the best in all the state."
"We would love to repeat history and continue to grow. We will be back for the state finals and aim to finish higher. We will be working together as a pack. This team has more than five runners, and if everyone can get better, it has been a successful season. Our biggest goal this year is ensuring our leaders can continue this positive environment."
The most recent was last year's title. York was in second with one mile to go but moved well and took advantage of Prospect's slide back to fourth place to secure a title. York had the smallest 1-5 split in the field at 24 seconds. According to coach Lauren Deangelis, it took everything York had to pull this off. "This was a very talented year in Illinois, and there was great competition," she said. "The team ran their hearts out and came out on top." Since the Duchesses have been there before, they stretched that competitive peak to the following Sunday for NXN Midwest, where they finished third and were selected to race at the NXN Championship in Portland as an at-large team and finished twelfth.
A powerful senior class graduated, four all-staters, meaning a new segment of the 'Long Green Line' is up to bat to carry on this dynastic run. A trio of juniors, Maggie Quinn, Sophia Galiano-Sanchez, and Gigi Hill, will carry the torch for York, and all enter as sub-18:00 runners. This pack will be augmented by one of York's breakout runners from the track season, Sofia Stoddard, who qualified individually in the 3200 running 11:08. Many Duchesses remain as possible five runners, including Scarlett Moriarity, Julia Weseloh, and Lila Stanley, who all improved throughout the spring since their last three-mile race.
York does not return as much on paper as it has in the past, nor does it return as much as the three teams ranked ahead. Finding their way to another state championship will be difficult for York in 2024. But this program has earned the benefit of the doubt over the last half decade, taking multiple routes to state titles giving their young roster plenty of experience and examples to follow. With this in mind, York will stay near the top of the rankings until other teams grab this spot. And don't count out York in late November, when the national championship picture shakes out since teams that have been there before typically find their way back. But the Duchesses aren't thinking beyond their state quite yet.
"This year, we have a lot of girls ready to step in and fill the openings from the 4 graduated seniors," says DeAngelis. "Our goal is to be back on the podium at state with a consistent progression all season. Our team will work on our pack running while focusing on our specific racing strategy. The state competition will be extremely tough, and we look forward to racing against these great programs!"
But great runners like Znajda cannot be kept down for long, and she emphatically bounced back at the NXR Midwest regional, where she and Meg Peterson ran themselves onto the 3rd All-Regional team. She led Prospect to an incredible NXR victory, beating the same teams that bested them at state. The Knights returned to Portland for a second straight year and took advantage of that opportunity, finishing 14th.
"Goals are similar to past years," says Peter Wintermute, in his 11th year as girls' head coach. "The goal is to focus on individual growth while tapping into the team's strength. If we each focus on being healthy, fit, and fast we have a great chance to have a successful season. This year we will be looking to find strength within our team and find a number of athletes that wish to compete to be scoring runners on our team and that wish to make a difference."
Like York, this team has graduated key members of strong senior classes, but it has the benefit of returning its best two, Znajda and Peterson. Each has run all-state cross country the last two years and has been crucial to the Prospect 4x800 team, which has won 3A state four years in a row. They will be in the front-pack of every race they run this year.
A strong senior class brings a number of experienced runners who will need to step up into positions left void by graduated runners. Sophie Fransen and Ireland Wildhart have done this most consistently for the Knights in cross country, but Mary Laba improved greatly in the spring and, by adding herself to the 4x800 mix, showed she may be a go-to athlete for coach Wintermute in cross country too. Ava Collins, Emma Skelton, and Carmen Wooten were excellent runners at the JV level for Prospect and got the call-up this year to close the gap on the first five.
Prospect also welcomes a huge freshman class, one of a wave of talented classes that Prospect will enjoy during these few years. The strong varsity pack means that they will not depend on these freshmen this year but will allow them to develop, and perhaps there will be contributors this year. One freshman who can be a force in lower-level races early in the year is Sami Lobacz, a top-25 finisher at IESA state for Mt. Prospect Lincoln.
Winning the cross-country individual championship was a long time coming for Scout Storms, who had accomplished a lot in their career but hadn't gotten a title up to that point. She ran 16:38 to beat out Liv Phillips at Detweiller and win, her best in a series of wins for Storms (nine total victories, with her only state-season loss being to Veronica Znajda at the MSL championship). The winning state came much quicker for Storms' freshman teammate Mia Sirois, who also beat out Phillips at state, this time in the 3200m in the track season. Sirois was the class leader in the 3200m for most of the year and eventually grinded the pace down until she ran 10:19 for the win.
Barrington has both of these two runners, arguably the two best returners in the classification and perhaps the state, which is a major reason why they stand a good chance to improve on their already sky-high accomplishments from last year, especially a third-place trophy from the state meet. But what separates them from almost the rest of the state is their returning group. Abby Lewis, Sabrina Roach, and Angelica Hil ran 18:00 or under at Detweiller at different points during the season last year, giving Barrington a solid top five and the state's best 1-2.
Roach ran 11:13 and 5:15 during the track season, while Lewis ran 5:08 and contributed, along with Storms, to the Barrington quartet that set the school record* in the 4x800 in third place at state. Viktoria Higgins and Madison Miles will be in the varsity mix to start the year as well, and coach Debbie Revolta points out three freshmen who can have an impact quickly this season: Victoria Tarara, Paige Kusmerz (12:16 at IESA state), and Georgia Storms (13:02 at IESA state).
"In 2024, we hope to build on our accomplishments of 2023," says Revolta. "We only lost two seniors and have a talented group of returning athletes with a lot of experience running at the state level. We will be working on getting our 1-5 split closer than in past seasons and focusing on ourselves and what we want to accomplish in each given meet."
*MileSplit note on Barrington 4x800: Barrington ran 9:03.33 at state, and the school's coaching staff considers this the school record over the previous mark of 9:03.1, a hand time from 2008 set at the St. Charles Sectional. This is using .24 as the FAT conversion, so the old mark is 9:03.34 by this standard. However, the Track and Field News FAT standard adds .14 seconds to track races 300 meters and longer, so by this convention, Barrington's school record remains as 9:03.24 from 2008.