The 2A Girls field on the team and individual front will have plenty of Chicago St. Ignatius wolfpacks in the midst (Jorge Espinosa photo)
St. Ignatius and Chatham-Glenwood will lead the team charge-
The storyline in the race for the state title is straightforward for the girl's race: Chatham-Glenwood is the defending state champion and has the clearest route to defending their title among each of the three girls' title defenses happening on November 9.
To complete defense, the Titans must hold off their most formidable challenger, Saint Ignatius of Chicago, who is the only team to defeat them on the cross country course since 2022, when the Wolfpack did so at the Lakes Sunset Invite, winning 51-58. This performance earned the Wolfpack the state #1 spot, and they have continued to run solid races during the conference and state series season.
Saint Ignatius enjoys the privilege of Annika Swan (Jr.) and Allison Shutler (Fr.) scoring single-digit points in every meet this year and Swan potentially scoring just a single point. The wolfpack's rise can mainly be attributed to the consistent performances of newcomers Elle Sheaffer (So.) and Greta Sheaffer (Fr.). Elle did not compete with the team due to injury during her freshman year but has been in lockstep with her sister during the year, and each is on the boundary of all-state contention. Saint Ignatius has also enjoyed depth behind the Sheaffers with fellow newcomer Rory Steinhofer (Fr.) and the varsity team's lone senior, Lizeth Montes.
Chatham-Glenwood's late season performance at Lakes was similarly strong, another in a line of consistent and dominating performances during September. The Titans won their conference, regional, and sectional meets. However, the varsity order has switched since then, with different Titans taking turns at the top spot and in the fifth scoring spot. At their best, Glenwood has potential all-state finishers in Ashlyn Chopra (Jr.), Ali Londrigan (So.), and Ali Broaddus (Fr.), with Ally Knudson (Jr.) and 2023 all-stater Sophie Rentmeister (So.) not far behind.
Chatham-Glenwood has the most top-five state meet pedigree of any 2A team, despite its youth. It remains the team with the best shot to hold off Saint Ignatius. Glenwood's fifth scorer will need to finish ahead of Saint Ignatius' fifth to offset the Wolfpack's front-end power.
Aside from Glenwood, the team that has finished closest to Saint Ignatius in 2A has been local and conference rival DePaul College Prep, competing in 2A in their second year. After earning a trophy in 1A in 2022, the Rams were multiplied into 2A and haven't missed a beat since. DePaul Prep finished 10th in 2023, had their first all-stater in Emily Stecky (So., 18th), and has deepened its pack.
DePaul Prep was runner-up to Ignatius at GCAC and the Hinsdale South Sectional and has started to separate itself from the rest of the pack as the chief candidate to round out the 2A girls' trophy picture. Stecky remains in all-state contention and has a tight pack of Abigail Radich (Fr.), Piper Houghton (Sr.), Abigail Arseneau (Sr.), and Kate Lawrence (Fr.) behind her.
Rockford Boylan Catholic, champions of the Kaneland Sectional, is the most emergent team in the classification. Despite having one of the smallest enrollments and roster in the classification, the Titans have thrust themselves into trophy consideration with a five-strong varsity group headed by sectional champion Reese Kohnle (Sr.). If their pack of Natalie Tekampe (Sr.), Nora Wedwick (Fr.), Gabrielle Kohnle (So.), and Elle Sosnowski (Fr.) remains competitive with DePaul's pack, Boylan might be the one to take home a trophy.
Crystal Lake South seems to find its way into the conversation by this time of year every year. This time around, the Gators burst into the top five late in the season on the strength of a good top four, including Olivia Pinta, Victoria Pinta, Caroline Lucas, and Laynie Ripley. With a gap to their fifth runner, South could not match Boylan Catholic at the sectional and needs some improvement in that spot to get into the top three.
Cross-town rivals Crystal Lake Central ran by far their best race of the year at sectionals and are set to far outpace their final state ranking of #14. Having Hadley Ferrero return to form helps, but the entire pack has been improving in health and fitness as well. Central was just two points behind South, yet it put six runners inside South's fifth.
This year, Rochester has been Glenwood's best Central State Eight competition and has narrowed the gap to Glenwood throughout the state series. Brooke Zeibert (Sr.) assumed the role of pack and team leader and the title of Regional champ. Veteran runners Natalie Nichols (Jr.) and Ashley Zeibert (Jr.) are complemented by freshman duo Calista Gardner and Talia Daniels. Rochester was #6 entering the sectional weekend in our final state rankings.
What will we see from Washington this Saturday? The Panthers were the third-place state trophy winners in 2022, with a group that has almost been entirely retained. Last year, Washington finished fourth, positioning themselves for a preseason #2 ranking. Washington has shown some glimpses of hitting their full capacity but is coming off a loss to Mid-Illini rival Morton at the Metamora sectional. Morton improved rapidly at the end of the year, and their sectional win was the season's highlight thus far.
A team to watch is Normal University, which finally runs a full group with Natalie Bierbaum (Jr.) returning for the first time post-injury. In her absence, U-High improved dramatically in their scoring spots behind Zoe Carter (Sr.), making U-High a strong top-five contender with everyone running to their potential.
Strong programs like Wheaton (St. Francis), Benet Academy, Carmel, Dunlap, and Morris will vie for top-10 team finishes.
The individual field is one of the strongest in recent years-
During the preseason, the individual title race was billed as a fierce duel between the top two returners in the classification, Annika Swan and Sundara Weber (Jr., Sandwich). Both juniors have done their part to build anticipation for this race, which has resulted in many strong performances and wins throughout their seasons.
Weber's junior campaign began very early, with her winning the Detweiller at Dark summer race in 16:32. Her resume has been flawless since then, with her winning ten consecutive races during her season. The biggest wins include a 16:50 victory in the First to the Finish 2A race and a big-time win at Naperville Twilight over stellar 3A competition in 16:27, a personal best. Weber seeks her second overall state title, the first being the 2A 3200 this past May.
Although Swan hasn't been undefeated in 2024, her resume is no less impressive. After third-place finishes at Lake Park and Richard Spring, Swan broke out big time with a 17:16 sixth-place performance over 5k at the Nike XC Town Twilight Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Swan was only one second behind Isabella Keller, the closest any Illinois athlete has ever been to Keller in cross country. The next week, Swan won the Lakes Sunset Invitational in a personal best of 16:23 and has been undefeated since. Swan's next state championship will be her first, but she has been runner-up in three state finals, including the 2023 3A 800 and 2024 3A 1600 races, both to Ali Ince and last year's 2A cross country final, just .05 seconds behind Becca Heitzig. Last year's finish between Swan and Heitzig was the closest recorded finish in cross country state history.
Weber was third behind Swan's second last year, so Swan has the only head-to-head win over the last few years. How may the race play out? This will depend on who decides to be aggressive early in this race- both runners have demonstrated the ability to maintain fast early paces so it could be close throughout the race. In 2023, Heitzig made most of the moves throughout the race, but Weber pushed to the front during the final mile between Swan and Heitzig and pulled away with about 400 meters left. Swan does have superior track times, especially with a 4:48 full mile.
Zoe Carter belongs in the front group conversation as well. Carter finished fifth at last year's state meet but had an even better track season, highlighted by two All-American performances in the 5000 and one sub-17:00 run. Carter is a Yale commit and has a consistent season for Normal University, running hard efforts against strong mid-state competition. Carter broke 17:00 at Detweiller for the first time this year at the Peoria Invite in October.
Carter is the fourth returner. The third returner is Natalie Bierbaum. Bierbaum stayed right in the mix for a win last year and was rewarded with a 16:41 personal best. Bierbaum will race on Saturday, but this will be her first race in several weeks as she nurses an injury that has kept her out.
Weber, Carter, and Bierbaum were engaged in a pursuit of the 3200 state title in May but were joined by Cameron Crump (Sr., Waterloo). Crump recently won the Olney Richland County sectional and is deep in the top-5 mix. She was runner-up to Swan at Lakes Sunset and fifth at Peoria High.
Delilah Helenhouse (Sr., Benet Academy) also broke out at that same state track meet, finishing third in the 3A 3200. The St. Francis duo of Elena Mamminga (So.) and Erin Hinsdale (So.) has led the Spartans regularly this season, and both will be aggressive runners in the front pack. The same goes for Ally Shutler, who has traded places with Mamminga between conference and sectionals. Returning from last year's top ten are Lulu Ton-That (Sr., Chicago Northside), Ali Londrigan, Niki Tselios (Sr., Lemont), and Molly McGreal (Jr., River Forest Trinity). Some strong candidates for their first top-10 finish include Hannah Farley (Fr., Lemont), Klarke Goranson (Fr., Manteno), Reese Kohnle, Molly Robertson (Carterville), and Juliana Gamboa (Fenwick).