The Trojans joined Prospect and York in Portland last year to represent Illinois at NXN, finishing 16th behind Lily Eddington's 90th-place run. Like Prospect, North had a topsy-turvy route to that point. North looked every bit the contender for a state championship after winning a loaded Lake Park Invite, then again at the Richard Spring Invite against all of the biggest contenders. But as fate would have it, one of the most strange freak incidents befell the Trojans in October.
In the Naperville Twilight Invitational's opening meters, Audrey Casten and McKenzie Willard were involved in a fall and then injured. Casten wasn't the same after the accident. She did run at state but ended her season after that point. Willard had come on as one of the breakout athletes in the state but didn't compete until she eventually toed the line at NXN. Since North finished runner-up at the state meet and NXR Midwest, there is a little 'what-if' for coach Tim McDonald's team.
"It is well known we had two injuries at the end of the cross country season that were unfortunate, but the girls rallied around each other and had one of the best seasons in school history," he recalls. "It is impossible to know if we would have turned some of those second-place finishes into first-place finishes if we had Kenzie Willard and Audrey Casten healthy, but we certainly would have been close."
Both Casten and Willard return for redemption in 2024. They ran exceptionally well in the spring, particularly Casten, who finished all-state in the 3200m in ninth place. Willard also broke 11:00 for the first time, so we may get to see some of those 'What-if' questions answered. Hannah Renner returns from both the state and NXN teams as well.
Three cross country all-staters return. Alayna Todnem was 14th in 17:20, was 116th at NXN, and ran 5:12 and 11:23 in the spring. Lily Eddington was most commonly the team's top runner, finishing 10th at the state meet in 17:13 and running 4:55 for a full mile in the spring. Eddington also anchored the state-record-setting 4x800 relay and gave Prospect a scare in 9:02.66.
The other returner from that relay is Ava Gilley, and Gilley may be one of the most intriguing returners in the classification. She was 24th in 17:37 in cross country, but her bread-and-butter in track is the 800. Gilley's 2:12 was good for a third-place all-state medal in the 800m, and she also split 2:11 multiple times throughout the year. Gilley kept her focus squarely on the 800 during the season but was able to convert that success in the Mile, running 4:56 at Magis Miles. Gilley can be a major factor in the cross country scene in Illinois if she stretches out that level of success to three miles, but as it stands, Eddington is the Trojans' best to start the year.
As if that unbelievable pack isn't enough, DGN will be joined by one of Illinois' most accomplished ninth-grade runners this year, Macy Ermitage. Ermitage won the highest level of IESA this fall (4A) in 11:33 for Jefferson MS in Woodridge. She enjoys the unique privilege of the best training group in the state meet and an elite program that will allow her to develop pressure-free without stepping into an essential varsity role to start the year.
The DGN girls aren't thinking of themselves as state favorites, even though they are. Instead, their goals focus on doing correctly this year what they did not have the opportunity to do last year. "If we can get our top 7 to the championship season healthy and running well, we can compete with the best teams in the state," says McDonald. "We simply want to keep improving our execution of our team racing strategy. The girls took a step forward on the track, and I believe they will continue racing well together, just faster."