1A Girls State Preview: It is Anna-Jonesboro Time To Shine

Last year's state trophy winners were Tolono Unity, Anna-Jonesboro, and Peoria Notre Dame. All three remain in the conversation this year, but the stories are slightly different this time.

Anna-Jonesboro has gone nearly wire-to-wire as the state championship favorite this season. The Wildcats team profile hasn't changed: they are the deepest team in the classification and have a unique problem among 1A schools: there aren't enough varsity spots for all their good runners! They were already deep to start the season and added contributing freshmen Melania Bundren and Sophia Hill, who may or may not be on the state final seven.

There hasn't been much variance in Anna-Jonesboro's season, with wins against 1A competition at every meet (one exception, which will be mentioned later). Whatever variance there has been is a result of Jadyn Gerardi (So.) nursing an injury from the summer. Gerardi is the Wildcats' lone all-state returner, last year's ninth-place finisher at the state meet. Her presence in the lineup has varied from being a front-of-pack pacer to being absent altogether. Still, as the clear top team runner and runner-up finisher at the Benton sectional, she appears to be on the requisite trajectory to give Anna-Jonesboro that low-stick boost that makes them the state favorite. The rest of Anna-Jonesboro's pack deserves mention, as well: dependable #2 Aleah Box (Jr.), varsity pack mainstays Zoe Jones (Sr.), Kenzie Miller (Jr.), and Raegan Jones (Jr.), as well as fantastic varsity options Kinley Leek (So.) and Reese Jones (Jr.). 

One of the Wildcats' competitions is unusual from a ranking perspective: #11 Chicago Latin. The Romans did receive accolades as a potential trophy team preseason. Still, top runner and Johns Hopkins commit Mia Kotler (Sr.) sat until last week with an injury, limiting their ceiling. Furthermore, Ellie Anderson (Sr.) has been sidelined since the season's midpoint. Both seniors are on track to grind out a final race for Latin, who has been boosted mightily by newcomers Francesca Mora and Vivian Sidrys (both Fr.). Latin's prospects of a state title are reminiscent of their 2A title pursuit in 2019: with three potential all-staters, including a couple in the top-10 range, Latin has the best low-score potential in the field. However, a lack of depth pitted against Anna-Jonesboro's depth means Latin has a tiny margin for error. 

Williamsville is the only 1A team to beat Anna-Jonesboro head-to-head in 2024, who took a 181-196 victory over Anna-Jonesboro on September 14 at First to the Finish. Williamsville is the second deepest team in the class and sports major firepower at the front of their pack in Louisa Wilson (Sr.) and Joelle Wilson (So.), as well as Hannah Nation (Sr.). Alaina Woolsey (So.) and Kaylea Hollinshead (So.) have been improved contributors, and newcomer Brooklyn Turley (Fr.) makes for a really strong group of six for the Bullets. Maddie Overmeyer (Fr.) rounded out the sectional team and could factor in for the Bullets, the only team to sniff the top spot during the season. 

The three-time defending champion #9 Tolono Unity also had a crack at Anna-Jonesboro at First to the Finish Invite but finished fifth in that race. Unity's development throughout the year has been incremental, with Mackenzie Pound (Jr.) recovering from injury and many of their back-end scorers improving during the year. Unity has gotten a dependable first-runner performance all season long from Emily Decker (Sr.), who appears to be a solid bet for a top-10 position. Ashlyn Denny (Sr.) has also brought much-needed consistency for the Rockets, who take one last aim at a trophy before a new-look team next year, as this version of Unity is senior-heavy. 

The team race is always tricky to evaluate during the season, but as usual, Regionals and Sectionals gave a lot of clarity to the team race. At least six teams are in the mix for one of the three trophies. Each of the four mentioned teams won their sectional, and the fifth sectional winner was #4 Winnebago. Winnebago is a traditional power and did not take long to return to Trophy contention after a brief pause. The emergence of Molly Webb (Fr.) as Winnebago's top runner alongside Morgan Capriola (Jr.) is a difference-maker. The young Indian squad also includes underclass runners Svea Glidden (So.), Ella Carlson (So.), and Ashlynn Robinson (Fr.) in the top five. 

#3 Shelbyville was runner-up to Unity at Cumberland. Shelbyville has an impact on the top three. Seniors Lily Woolery and Aly Douglass have been consistent scorers behind Patriot Invite champion and legitimate top five contender Tessa Bowers (Jr.).

#5 El Paso-Gridley endured a lot of roster turnover over the summer to remain in the thick of the trophy conversation. The Titans are another seven-deep team. Caroline Wettstein (Jr.), Kiley Knapp (So.), and Verity Nowak (Fr.) all made large strides this year. El Paso Gridley returns almost their entire roster next year, so keep an eye on the Titan's result, which will put them in a position to improve next year. 

#6 Peoria Notre Dame, #7 Pleasant Plains, and #10 Eureka complete the full trophy picture. Each of those three schools had to contend with each other in the deep Elmwood sectional, but all made it safely to the state meet, where anyone can pop into the top three. #8 Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin was the highest-ranked team not to qualify for the state meet. 

Individuals on top of the world-

No individual race has gained so much intrigue over the season as the 1A race, whose winner will be the first athlete across the line among all classes on Saturday. Preseason, there was no question that Isabella Keller (So., Effingham (St. Anthony)) was the prohibitive favorite for the state title. The prolific sophomore is the defending state champ, returning as a top-10 finisher and All-American from NXN. She has run her 2024 season intent on a strong postseason run, with excellent performances once again in big meets, including the Spartan Classic, Nike XC Town, and the inaugural Trojan Classic in Charleston, where she ran 15:39 for just under three miles on pavement. 

Here is the wrinkle: Kate Foltz (Jr., Tuscola) did not get the memo that Keller is meant to run away with the title. Foltz had an eye-opening 2023 regular season campaign, highlighted by 16:48 and 16:37 Detweiller performances. Foltz nearly matched that level at the state meet in 16:45 but struggled to recapture that dominance in the track season. Foltz appears to have adjusted the trajectory of her cross country season, instead building incrementally and most recently punctuating her season with a runner-up to Keller, finishing just a second behind Keller at Cumberland in 16:36. Keller was willing to make moves. Foltz was willing to respond before Keller created just enough of a gap in the race's late stages. 

What does that result mean for the state meet? Foltz appears set to play Mia Kotler (Sr., Chicago Latin) 's role in 2023: challenger to Keller from gun to tape. Foltz must contend with Keller's ability to gear change (as well as 4:51 mile speed), but Keller will have to contend with Foltz's relentless pursuit and perhaps an early race push. Although the St. Anthony Bulldog remains a favorite, don't write in any names yet. 

Speaking of Kotler, she is the meet's biggest individual wildcard. In her sophomore year, Kotler opened her season in the IHSA postseason before a big fourth-place finish in 2A. That's the blueprint for the current year, as Kotler opened her season just last week at the Lisle sectional, finishing runner-up in under 18 minutes for 5k to Westmont junior Kyla Babb. Jumping right into the Keller-Foltz duel would be a push for Kotler, but her recent performance suggests she should easily factor into the top five. 

Don't look past Babb, who won eight races this season, including her conference title, and was third in the 1A First to the Finish race. Babb was 12th in 2023, and few runners in the class have improved as much as she. 

Tessa Bowers finally cracked the sub-17:00 barrier at Detweiller by winning a big Patriot Invite the week before the regional meet. Bowers was fifth last year and barely missed the podium in 26th as a freshman. She has carefully picked her battles over the previous month, letting Foltz run away at the CIC conference meet and again at last week's sectional. 

The University of Notre Dame commit Elena Rybak (Sr., Fr. McGivney) was red-hot to start the year but has had to work back from injury since the end of September. At full health, Rybak is arguably the most dangerous runner in the field, certainly on the home stretch, but the injury may be hampering her from replicating her sixth-place finish in 2023. 

This class remains the deepest of the three classes regarding top-10 individual prospects. Molly Farrell (Jr., Marshall), Sydney Gertsen (Jr., Montini), Jadyn Gerardi, and Mackenzie Pound all return having finished top-10 in 2023, and Lousia Wilson and Benton sectional champion Miah Gilmore (Sr., Murphysboro) did so in 2022. Emily Downing (Cambridge), Emily Decker (Sr., Unity), Aubrey Denning (So., St. Anthony), Klaire Eighner (Maroa-Forsyth), and Madeleine Fox (Jr., Marshall) all may be in the mix for a top-10 spot.