Minooka's Maya Ledesma earns an all-state medal in the 3200 in the spring. (Photo: Griffin Forberg)
The 2024 Illinois XC season was already scheduled to be as late in the calendar as possible -- Nov. 9th for the State meet is as late as we see it go. So forgive us for being impatient when the heat further delayed the start of meets, which was originally to be August 26th. Wednesday, August 28th became day one, but runners in the state quickly showed up big time over four days of competing.
Labor Day week represents only a short interlude for us to breathe in between actions, so let's take that moment to pause and jog around some of the points of what happened.
Ledesma Capitalizes on Momentum from Track Season
Maya Ledesma (Sr. Minooka) won the Normal West Invitational in a PR of 17:47, more than a minute faster than her win on the same course in 2023 and already quicker than her previous lifetime best, which is a Detweiller time (17:50).
Ledesma's win in the first section of the 3A 3200 was one of the most emphatic victories in the track season. Her 10:53 was punctuated by a massive kick, leaving the crowd to wonder if she had even more in the tank and if that was good enough for an all-state medal. The answer would be yes, with only four runners in the hyper-competitive section 2 beating her time.
In short order, Ledesma appeared to show confidence had indeed carried over. Her win looks like the best performance of the opening weekend in the state, winning by 49 seconds in front of another outstanding performance by Renee Warren (Jr.) of the host school. Even better, it has spread to her Minooka teammates, who finished en masse behind her to win their first meet of the year.
Ledesma followed up her Normal West win with a second convincing victory, a 16:57 blazing at Kailey Fox on Tuesday, 9/4, on Yorkville's 2.95 mile course.
Ledesma will get her biggest test to date against the field at Hinsdale Central's Red Devil Invite.
Luis Flores Makes an Early Statement in Elgin
Luis Flores (Sr., St. Laurence) was a significantly improved runner in 2023 and 'snuck-on' to the podium in 25th in 2A, a well-deserved honor for the Catholic League runner-up. Flores is no such secret anymore. He won at the Elgin City Classic in 14:47, the fastest three-mile time of the opening week. Evaluating the performance holistically is challenging, with little information on the course, but he beat some strong runners by over 35 seconds and enjoyed his first sub-15 in his career. St. Laurence has Rich Dust and the DePaul Ram invite on the calendar, so we must wait and see what prime competition Flores will find to challenge himself.
Newcomers Around the State Begin to Announce Themselves
Preseason rankings are constantly upended by the emergence of names that didn't figure into the returning conversation. So here are a few that impact where teams fall in the rankings.
- We wondered where Paityn Brady of Springfield Blessed Sacrament would end up for high school. The answer is Sacred Heart-Griffin, and Brady represented the Cyclones with a win in her first high school race, winning the Rocket Run for the Stars by a minute and a half. SHG won 24-48 over Rock Island, which means they will quickly rise in the rankings in 1A. Brady's teammates also include other freshman and sophomore newcomers for SHG.
-St. Charles North's first finisher (and race winner) at Elgin was Julia Rodney (So.). This was her first cross-country race, but her win validated her strong track season, where she qualified for state in the 1600m. She held off Sophia Baumert (Sr., Streamwood), who had a breakout season in track herself. That's a significant development for St. Charles North, which looks quite competitive in 3A. That's two-star sophomores for the North Stars between Rodney and Gwen Hobson.
-York's top finisher and race winner at a girls' tri mid-week was Karlin Janowski, a regular attendee at York camps during her middle school summers. She won the 2.88-mile race at Camera Park in 17:31.
-Chicago Latin freshmen made some statements at the Elmwood Park Trial on the Trail, an annual two-mile race. Micah Weiss (Fr.) won the frosh/soph race over Glenbard South's Tom Jochum (So.), but their times were faster than the varsity race. Meanwhile, Francesca Mora (Fr.) also won the girl's frosh/soph race, which was the fastest on the day.
-Klarke Goranson (Fr., Manteno) ran her first race for Manteno, finishing second to Sunny Weber (Jr., Sandwich) at Morris on Wednesday. Goranson ran just over 19 minutes but already broke 18:00 in 2024 at Detweiller. She will get another crack at the state course at First to the Finish.
-Plainfield North girls nearly scored a perfect score at the Plainfield City Championship on Tuesday, 9/3. Lindsey Wenz (Sr.) registered a result as their fifth runner. This is significant because Wenz, who has not run cross country since 2021, was a crucial 2:18 leg on North's 4x800 in the spring.
Leo Cozzi (Sr., Mascoutah) defended his home course in 15:37. Photo by Mike Baxter.
Team Statements Made by Top-Ranked Teams in Varsity Packs
-1A Girl's #1 Anna-Jonesboro didn't run Jadyn Gerardi (So.) but still dominated the Mascoutah XC Kickoff, putting seven runners in the top 13. Their depth is one of their biggest strengths over the rest of the 1A field, which was on full display on Saturday.
-3A Girls' #11 Huntley decisively won the McHenry County meet, and #12 Batavia similarly dominated the Kane County Meet. Both teams littered the top 10 in the varsity races with their own runners and made strong cases to slide into the 3A top 10 in future rankings.
-The EIU Showdown (not at EIU, but in Naperville) was won by Downers Grove North, preseason #1, on both sides. Plainfield North was runner-up on both sides but was closer on the boys, aided by a 1-2 finish from Thomas Czerwinski (Jr.) and Quinn Davis (Sr.). DGN ran progressively quicker through all three miles (both boys' and girls'), and Philip Cupial and Lily Eddington look like the team's best runners once again. Don't forget to keep an eye on Macy Ermitage (Fr.), who will probably run with varsity from this point forward, which means head-to-head comparisons against other top freshmen, including Janowski.
Upcoming this week
-The Inaugural Vicky Piela Invitational, hosted by Grayslake Central, will commemorate the life of Piela, who passed away in the summer of 2023. Piela was on the 2022 state championship team for Grayslake Central. The Central Student newspaper honored her life in this piece. Please visit The Remembering Vicky website here to learn more about her and learn how to honor her legacy.
The Red Devil Invitational will be a great look at the state's top talent. Times will be very fast due to a shortened course due to construction at Katherine Legge Memorial (site of two sectionals in November). Mia Kotler usually makes her season debut at this meet, as do Prospect girls.
Chrisman Cowchip was a breakout performance for Isabella Keller (So., St. Anthony) in 2023, so keep an eye out to see how she does as she opens 2024 as the unanimous favorite to win 1A state and be the fastest runner in the state this fall.
-There are plenty of weekday meets to look out for, including the Lake County invite. Red Devil, Granite City, Mike Kuharic, Rochester, and Silver Streak will be highlighted on Saturday.