Another year, another team race that includes some of the best teams in the Midwest. New this year is a little bit of separation between the top two teams and the rest of the field. For the preseason and almost the entire regular season, Downers Grove North held tight onto the top spot. The Trojans have employed a very concerted pack running style, and after four meets of this tactic, it became clear this is how they will run the rest of the year. This pack of five is Alayna Todnem (Sr.), Lily Eddington (Jr.), McKenzie Willard (Sr.), Audrey Casten (Sr.) and Ava Gilley (Sr.). Todnem has been the Trojans' most consistent and dependable top two scorer, with the others taking turns throughout the pack positions, but Eddington's quick start at sectionals may be a hint of what her race plan will be at state. DGN's pack has been airtight and ahead of most other competition. While at full strength, DGN was undefeated against stout rival York, including a huge victory at their conference meet.
But even DGN's fantastic year was not enough to install them as favorites over Barrington this week. From a resume standpoint only, Barrington is an unconventional favorite, having finished behind York twice, including an epic tiebreaker at Palatine. After that date, the Fillies has just ractched up their quality of racing to new levels unmatched in the state. Mia Sirois (So.) and Scout Storms' (Sr.) strength is a given, and Viktoria Higgins (Sr.) has also been great all year. Late season improvements from Sabrina Roach (Sr.), Victoria Tarara (Fr.) Paige Kusmerz (Fr.) and Georgia Storms (Fr.) has ascended Barrington to new levels, rolling over MSL, regional and sectional competition. Between these two teams, there could be as many as six all-staters.
York remains planted in the third spot, although the margin between the Duchesses and the field has narrowed a bit. They are still in good shape to grab another state trophy, with their star freshman Karlin Janowski leading an experienced pack that includes upperclassmen Maggie Quinn (Jr.), Scarlett Moriarty (Sr.), Sophia Galiano-Sanchez (Jr.) and the massively improved Sofia Stoddard (Sr.). Julia Weseloh (So.) and Lila Stanley (Jr.) will probably round out the top-7 for York and each can score.
York needs to be buttoned-up, though, to hold off many strong teams, headlined by the Minooka Indians. Minooka's pack complexion is almost identical to York's: a star frontrunner in Maya Ledesma (Sr.), and a really tight and dependable next four in Taya Gummerson (Sr.), Natalie Nahs (So.), Leah Kleckauskas (So.) and Clara Getsoian (Fr.). Their pack has progressively tightened all year and enters the state meet just having produced their best race at the Normal sectional. A team just as good but very differently formatted is Batavia, whose top four is among the best in the state (Avery Hacker, Madeline Cassidy, Gwen Krodel and Claire Deppe), but need more after those four in break into the trophy picture.
Naperville North has gotten healthy and full of run at the right time of year, finishing an impressive runner-up to DGN at the Hinsdale Central sectional. Emma Berres (Sr.), Rianna Tandon (Jr.) and Shania Tandon (Jr.) each are potential all-staters for the Huskies. Another orange Husky team in the mix is Hersey, who still continues to get healthier after some runners were held out at the conference meet. Madeline Bialko is Hersey's best all-state prospect but several others are also capable.
What will Prospect have in store for the state final? Veronica Znajda (Sr), Ireland Wildhart(Sr) and Meg Peterson (Jr) will all be in the all-state mix, and have improved gradually in the final two scoring spots this year, but need their best races of the year back there to challenge for a trophy. However, only a fool would count out Prospect, who won NXR midwest after finishing fourth at state last year.
Could we see something historic?
Who has looked more dominant than Mia Sirois (So., Barrington) this year? The answer is no one, and she enters the state meet as the biggest individual favorite of the six races on November 9th. Sirois has weather whatever pressure and attention she's received for her efforts brilliantly, and has remained undefeated against the best fields in the state while increasing the gap between her and the rest of 3A. Exactly where Sirois' ceiling sits is not clear, because she has run a more impressive race than her last for the past seven consecutive races. A 16:33 was supplanted by a 16:20, then 16:10, then 16:03.9, at Busse Woods, her current personal best.
How fast does she go on Saturday? Well, that may be up to her and her coaches, who balance Mia's prospects at individual glory with her essential role as the first finisher for a team chasing a state title. It is natural to think about whether the course record of 15:53.8 is in play, and certainly no one should doubt Sirois' ability to chase it down. Sirois' preferred race pattern usually involves a fastest third mile, so even if her two-mile split is a far cry from Judy Pendergast's 10:26 opener in 2015, don't ignore the clock after that point. The Median outcome among the possible distribution of outcomes for Sirois is probably close to her Busse performance of 16:03.
Sirois' year has overshadowed one of the best breakout performers this year, Maya Ledesma. Even after raising expectations with an all-state 3200 showing, Ledesma has exceeded expectations by beating everyone in her path this year save Sirois and 2A's Sunny Weber. Ledesma has been the complete runner this season, handling aggressive paces early in some appearances, making her way through the pack in others, but always ending with a strong finish. Of a field with several athletes able to finish runner-up, Ledesma has the best chance to do it.
The defending 3A champion is, of course, Tennessee commit Scout Storms. Scout has the best Detweiller personal best in the field (16:38), and is also a complete runner with a strong resume and track record of excellent finishes in November. Storms held off MSL rival Veronica Znajda for runner-up at the Hoffman Estates sectional. Znajda did not finish last year's state final after making a hard push for the win. Znajda led at two miles but dropped out with about 1K remaining. She finished sixth as a sophomore and was also top-100 at NXN each of the last two years, so she will be in the top five mix.
Illinois' best newcomer this year has been York's Karlin Janowski. Janowski's only losses this year have been to Sirois twice. She accumulated big wins against Znajda and Annika Swan at Lake Park and Richard Spring, and added WSC, regional and sectional individual titles. Janowski has demonstrated nearly unmatched finishing speed in the classification, making her very dangerous for any group racing right with her.
One of the most improved runners in the classification is Amelie Ojeda (Sr., Willowbrook). Ojeda has quickly emerged as a top five hopeful after finishing just outside all-state in 2023. Ojeda finished ahead of the DGN and Naperville North packs to win the Hinsdale Central Sectional, her biggest win to date. Achieving her goal of top five would require beating one of the aforementioned names, but she has quickly built the pedigree to justify that goal. Can the Western Suburban Gold conference get their first runner in between the Western Suburban Silver does?
Avery Hacker was runner-up to Janowski and quite close through the course of the race. Hacker has been very consistent and is the best top 10 bet outside the six names already mentioned. A huge host of runners can also finish top 10, including but not limited to the following: Maddie Romaine (Wheaton North), Meg Peterson, Emma Berres, Alayna Todnem and Lily Eddington, Nicole Poglitsch (Wheaton Warrenville South), Julia Rodney (St. Charles North), and Madeline Bialko (Hersey).
