Ray's Theory: Processing The Fastest Ever IL State XC Meet

Little did we know, and without warning, the 2024 Illinois State Cross Country meet was the fastest state meet ever. 

Almost any metric you can derive supports that statement. The average girls' winning time was 16:01.7, which blew away the previous record set in 2015. Two runners in the 3A Boys' race ran 14:37 and did NOT make the all-state podium, times that would have easily medaled in every year prior. Those winners set the fastest team average in 2A Girls' and 3A Boys' races (the latter being the fastest team average in history). 

All six races in the sequence provided a slow burn of mind-bending events that are still hard to process even days later, but we will try our best to summarize all of the fantastic things we saw on November 9th. 

1A Girls-

Kate Foltz surges into history in dominating fashion

Thousands contributed to the conditions proper for the fastest state meet in history. Still, Tuscola junior Kate Foltz deserves the lion's share of the credit for setting an emphatic tone in the opening seconds of the state meet. 

Despite entering a clash with defending state champion and All-American Isabella Keller (So., Effingham St. Anthony) as the underdog by all accounts, Foltz decided early in the race to be a pacesetter and built an aggressive five-second lead before passing the home stretch for the first time. For Foltz, who admitted post-race that she didn't have a specific race plan and who struggled to meet her own expectations during the track season at the shorter distances, such a quick start was a calculated risk. Foltz remained the visual aid for Keller through the first mile, where Foltz passed in 5:15.9 and Keller followed in 5:23.2. If there was a time for Keller to close the gap, it was at that point in the race. 

However, Foltz's lead only increased from there. Passing through the halfway point in 7:57.1, Foltz led Keller by 8.9 seconds, then more than 11 seconds at two miles, effectively shutting out the rest of the field from title contention and pitting herself against the clock. Foltz needed a 5:19 final mile to become only the third girl in IHSA history to break the 16:00 barrier at Detweiller, and delivered, closing in 5:18.70 to grab her first state title in 15:59.40, the second fastest performance ever (to date), and becoming the first Illinois girl to beat Keller on a cross country course. 

Keller strode to the finish in the runner-up position, maintaining her pace and running 16:27.9, nearly identical to her state championship time from 2023. Keller remained one of the most consistent performers in the state and held her position well, which was necessary with Kyla Babb (Jr., Westmont) closing hard in a 5:27 final mile, the second-fastest closing mile in the field for the race. 

Babb turned in her first all-state cross country performance with a major improvement in her three-mile time to 16:35. Babb ran most of her race in lockstep with familiar sectional foe Mia Kotler (Sr., Latin), who herself was racing for just the second time in the season, and trying to play a crucial role for Latin in their pursuit of a team trophy. Babb and Kotler separated themselves from the pack early in the race and hit the 1.5-mile marker five seconds ahead of the next runners. From there, Babb took control of that race-within-a-race, finishing 20 seconds ahead of Kotler's strong close to a tumultuous senior season. 

Juniors Tessa Bowers (Shelbyville) and Sydney Gertsen (Montini) also turned in impressive races. Gertsen pulled ahead of the chase pack by the two-mile mark and finished in sixth just .1 seconds away from the 17-minute barrier. Bowers was locked in with Molly Farrell (Jr., Marshall) until the very late stages of the race when she pulled ahead and closed hard ahead of Gertsen to finish in fifth. Bowers and Gertsen made for six 1A girls at or under 17 minutes, and Farrell was seventh in 17:13.

Grace Bressner (Fr., St. Joseph-Ogden) was the last all-state runner in 17:55.90, a cut-off that would have been fast for the 2A class in a typical year. Meghan Zopel (Sr., Peoria Notre Dame), Dusti Smith (So., Stark County), Joelle Wilson (So., Williamsville), and Meika Bender (Sr., Eureka) each broke 18:00 but were denied a medal for their efforts. It took personal records across the board to make the podium. Aubrey Denning (So., Effingham St. Anthony) and Madeleine Fox (So., Marshall) were each top-10 and the second runners on their teams to break 17:20. Emily Decker (Sr., Unity) and Louisa Wilson (Sr., Williamsville) provided clutch performances for their teams in the trophy race in the final races of their careers.

A Razor-Tight Team Race Ends in Williamsville Pulling Through-

Despite a season spotted with injury, development, and figuring out how to replicate the success of past seasons, defending champion Unity showed they were ready for the moment from the gun. 

Behind a strong start from Decker and riding five girls through the mile in 6:10 or under, the Rockets, sporting pink, had a small lead over Anna-Jonesboro, also sporting pink, by just seven points. In third was Chicago Latin, who was running their full varsity seven for the first time of the entire season. At the mile, Latin totaled 205 points. Latin eventually slipped to fifth and could not hold off charges from a few teams, including champion Williamsville. Still, heroic efforts from Kotler and Ellie Anderson enabled Latin's best finish of the year. Anderson hadn't raced since September and gutted out a 19:41, 120th place finish to keep Latin in the mix. 

By the two-mile mark, Williamsville had moved themselves among Anna-Jonesboro and Unity in the trophy hunt. Anna-Jonesboro had their biggest lead of the day, 19 points over Unity in second, with Williamsville another seven points behind. That's when the Bullets moved. Wilson closed out her career brilliantly, cutting nine places in the last half of the race. Hannah Nation (Sr) moved up 34 places, Kaylea Hollinshead (So) moved up 48 places, and Brooklyn Turley (Fr) scooted 32 places, a movement unmatched by the rest of the field on the day.

However, Williamsville was not spared the drama of changing finish scores and places in the minutes following the race. The Bullets lead shuffled between one and three points on the live results board. Anna-Jonesboro and Unity switched spots continuously before the scores finally settled at Williamsville 171, Unity 173, and Anna-Jonesboro 177. 

For a growing school in a growing community with a heightened focus on athletics, Williamsville's first-ever state championship in cross country validated all the community's investment in the program, which includes state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor track facilities. Of the state seven, only Wilson and Nation graduate, so Williamsville enters the 2025 season with great momentum to complement its trophy. 

Unity's second-place trophy was a testament to the program as each of the three titles the year prior. While Mackenzie Pound (Jr.) recovered from injury, Unity received huge performances from Josie Cler (Sr), Camryn Reedy (Sr), and Ashlyn Denney (Sr) to keep them in the conversation for a fourth straight title. 

Anna-Jonesboro won a trophy for the second straight year. It ran a consistent race but did not move as much as Williamsville did in the final mile. The Wildcats were still clear of the field, led by El Paso-Gridley in an impressive fourth place, yet 48 points behind Anna-Jonesboro.

Processing the 1A Girls Race-

• Senior Kiely Kempf of Immaculate Conception Catholic in Elmhurst broke her three-mile PR by over 12 minutes. Her first race in high school was a 32:09 run at the GCAC Championship. She then represented the Knights, running a couple of 22-minute 5ks in the state series before breaking 20 minutes and running 19:54 in 134th, boosting IC Catholic to 14th in the meet.

  
  Seven teams had all-state teammates: Unity, Latin, Saint Joseph Ogden, Cambridge-Ridgewood, Montini, Marshall, and St. Anthony. It took 17:55 to make all-state. 18 out of the 25 all-staters return next year, including the top three. Paityn Brady of Springfield Sacred Heart- Griffin was the top freshman, and Francesca Mora was the second, in 12th and 17th, respectively. 

• Elmwood was ranked 20th in the final rankings, but finished 10th in the meet in their best race of the year. Elmwood gained 50 team places in their final mile and more than 100 points after the first mile ended. IC Catholic and Murphysboro were unranked almost the entire season and finished 14th and 15th. 

• Mia Kotler and Louisa Wilson became four-time all-state athletes. Despite health struggles during her four years, Kotler never finished a state meet lower than fourth place. 

1A Boys Race-

Chaz Oberkfell takes a meteoric rise into the spotlight.

We will admit it: Chaz Oberkfell (Jr., Gillespie), who did get a mention in our preview, wasn't our pick to take home the title. 

That didn't matter to him, as his run to a state championship exuded self-confidence after a strong season that suggested something like this was possible, even if not likely. 

A few things to know about the Gillespie Miner, who outkicked seniors Nicolai Martino (Winnebago) and Gabriel McLain (Benton) to win: Oberkfell's hometown of Gillespie is just west of Litchfield off of I-55, approaching the St. Louis Metro East area. His sophomore 2023 season was also his first cross country season, eventually winning two races and running a season best of 15:21 at state to achieve his first all-state medal. Oberkfell qualified for state in the 800, 1600, and 3200 meter races and elected the longer distances. He got his second all-state medal in the 1600 (7th) and missed another in the 3200 (10th). 

Yet Oberkfell remained a face in the crowd to begin his junior season. Southern Illinois competition became quickly acquainted with Oberkfell, who blitzed his way to six race wins, including conference and sectional titles. Oberkfell's 15:13 at First to the Finish, good for third in the 1A race, was his new Detweiller best, yet still a significant margin behind Martino's 15:00 and McLain's 14:39.  

Oberkfell had become accustomed to running near the front, and he looked every bit as comfortable remaining close to Martino and McLain, even when McLain pushed for home from the front with just over a half mile to go. Oberkfell remained within a few steps of McLain, and Martino closed a considerable gap to create an airtight group of three runners toward the finish. Although all three runners were spent, Oberkfell had just enough to reach the line first, his first state championship at the end of his junior year. 

Sophomore Max Kirby produced a major personal best in 14:47, finishing fourth as a sophomore, and Rockford Christian's Andrew Kurien (Sr.) was fifth in 14:54. Cole Buchanan (Sr. Benton) was sixth in 15:00, so six runners matched or exceeded 15:00, which was roughly on pace with the projected number.

Niles Northridge Prep executes late race move to win first title-

By staying local for competitions throughout the year, Northridge Prep remained relatively anonymous on the 1A scene throughout the season. Northridge did race at Detweiller once during the year, but it was a 24th-place team finish at Richard Spring, where few other 1A schools compete (Northridge did finish ahead of Benton by 20 points). The higher-class competition appears to have sharpened the Knights in preparation for a match with some hot teams, with no team hotter entering the state meet than Elmwood. 

As a familiar foe to Elmwood, Eureka seemed intent on forcing Elmwood, Northridge, and others to catch them. With an incredibly aggressive start, Eureka led at the mile with a 100-point total, a 58-point lead on Elmwood, and 91 points on Northridge.

Eureka remained in the lead through the mile-and-a-half and two-mile marks, but Northridge and Elmwood closed the gap in almost parallel fashion (published two-mile splits omit the first seven runners in the field, so scores are inaccurate).

Northridge's 3-6 pack of James Barder (Sr), Blake Quinley (So), Ryan Holler (Jr), and Joshua Allen (So) remained attached for the entire race, and each gained about 20 team places in the final two miles of the race to solidify Northridge's title. Those four finished just six seconds apart, and that pack was only 30 seconds behind the Knights' all-state duo of John Masaka (So) and Peter Kipp (Jr). Northridge passed Elmwood in the final mile, who was eventually runner-up and 30 points behind Northridge. 

Eureka was rewarded for its early efforts and had plenty of buffers to allow it to claim the third-place team trophy, its first since 2004 when Eureka finished a legendary run of seven consecutive top-two finishes under coach Brett Charlton (five of those being team titles). Elmwood, Northridge, and Eureka were the top three teams to end the MileSplit rankings season. 

Rockford Christian had two all-staters and finished an impressive fourth place in front of strong races from Peoria Notre Dame, Aurora Central Catholic, Montini, and Winnebago. Andrew Kurien ran the race of his life in fifth, setting a PR by over 20 seconds.

Processing the 1A Boys' State Race

-15:19 was needed to hit the all-state mark. Winnebago, Rockford Christian, Montini, Northridge Prep, and Benton had two runners finish all-state. Seventeen of the 25 runners are returners, which is a massive number for boys, including sophomores Kirby, Nino Pesola (Lombard Montini), John Masaka (Northridge Prep), Coriell Green (Delavan), Lucas Hollinshead (Williamsville), and Ben Bohr (Aurora Central Catholic), and freshman Grady Smith (Johnsburg), who finished 9th in 15:04. 

2A Girls-

Sundara Weber's Singular Move is the difference in a huge performance.

The junior from Sandwich, better known as "Sunny" Weber, owned the first headline of the cross country season when she won the 2024 Detweiller at Dark girls' high school race in 16:32, a personal best. She admitted not having any expectations entering that race, just hoping to test herself and come away with a performance that reset her goals for the year. 

Weber remained undefeated throughout the season, including a highly billed matchup with Chicago Saint Ignatius junior Annika Swan. 

Weber found herself keeping pace with Swan in a swift but consistent 5:18 first mile and then 8:08 through the mile and a half, with neither runner falling back or inching ahead. This changed when Weber gained a step on Swan, exiting the triangle and heading south on bus row. Weber led by a handful of strides at the two miles with a 1.4-second lead, and by the second finish line pass, it had expanded to nearly ten seconds. Weber laid waste to her three-mile personal best of 16:27 set in a similarly run race at Naperville Twilight, where Weber beat a bevy of great talent in a grind fest. Weber's 16:11.27 final time, despite being the slowest winning time of the day, makes her the ninth fastest performer in state history. 

Swan's runner-up was her second consecutive runner-up performance in cross country and fourth overall runner-up performance in a state final. Despite the gap that formed between Weber and Swan in the late stages, Swan finished to improve her state meet best by seven seconds and is now the 20th fastest performer in state history. Weber had to wait a full year to take another crack at Swan after the 2023 state meet, but Swan now only needs to wait eight days for hers, as both Weber and Swan will be representing Illinois at the NXR Midwest regional championship. 

Zoe Carter (Sr., Normal University) was relegated to an island of running, but that did not bother her. She completed her senior year, running 16:49 for her best-ever finish at the state meet. Carter's splits were 5:23, 5:45, and 5:41. 

In 2023, Wheaton St. Francis classmates and teammates Elena Mamminga and Erin Hinsdale just barely missed finishing all state, breaking 18:00 but finishing in 26th and 27th. These two left no doubt this year, taking nearly a minute off their state time each and finishing in fourth and fifth, in 17:01 and 17:02, massive bests for both. 

Just behind the Spartan duo were two notable performances in unique ways. Klarke Goranson (Fr., Manteno) knocked off 30 seconds from her Detweiller best and became the second-fastest freshman across all classifications. Goranson outkicked Normal U junior Natalie Bierbaum, whose performance may be one of the most underrated of all. Bierbaum did not race for two months due to an injury still being nursed in the past weeks, but she picked her way through a very fast all-state field and moved from 14th at the mile to seventh at the finish. 

Saint Ignatius Depth Gives Chicago First-ever Girls Title in Wire-To-Wire Win

The Wolfpack finally took over the #1 ranking spot with a slight win over Chatham-Glenwood at the Lakes Sunset Invitational. Saint Ignatius never looked back, winning conference, regionals, and sectionals in dominating fashion and clearing themselves off the field with a 101-point victory to win the state title. 

The Wolfpack already had a prohibitive lead over the Titans and conference rival DePaul College Prep through two runners. Annika Swan and Allison Shutler (Fr.) held the top 10 positions for the whole race. The real difference came in the pack that followed. Greta Sheaffer (Fr.), Elle Sheaffer (So.), Lizeth Montes (Sr.), and Aurora Steinhofer (Fr.) passed through the mile in positions 47 through 55 at the mile, where Ignatius held a19 point lead, and in 30 through 38 at the two-mile, where Ignatius had expanded the lead to 94 points. Greta finished as the Wolfpack's third all-stater in 23rd, and Montes and Steinhofer followed in 28th and 43rd, scoring five runners before DePaul or Glenwood scored their third. Olivia Brophy (Fr.) finished 111th in 19:14. Saint Ignatius' win is the first girls' state championship for a Chicago school ever, and their 87:40 team time is the fastest 5-runner time in 2A history, just ahead of Belvidere North's 87:43 in 2016.  

There was little suspense for any of the three trophy positions during the race. Even after removing top runner,  Swan was removed from the scoring, the Wolfpack still came out on top. Glenwood briefly moved ahead of DePaul to take the second spot at 1.5 miles, but DePaul quickly regained a large advantage and held on to score 177 and finish runner-up in 2A, just two years after finishing runner-up in 1A.

Chatham-Glenwood adds another trophy to a crowded trophy case in third. Emily Stecky (So.) ran a brilliant race for 10th to give DePaul its only all-state medal of the year, and Ashlyn Chopra (Jr.) completed a stellar junior year, finishing 20th in 17:40 for Glenwood. 

Rockford Boylan Catholic validated their breakout year with a fourth-place finish, only 10 points off the podium. They had big runs from Reese Kohnle (senior, all-state in 12th) and Nora Wedwick (Fr). Rochester was led by Brooke Zeibert's (senior) first all-state cross country showing. It was also the only team with three runners in before Saint Ignatius' fifth. The Rockets finished fifth. 

Crystal Lake Central ran their best races at the end of the year and finished as a team in twelfth. Hadley Ferrero (Sr.), in her final race of an eventful career, paused with about 100 meters to assist Elle Sheaffer, who had fallen. Ferrero carried Sheaffer for about 20 meters before officials stewarded Sheaffer to the finish line, which she reached under her own power in 20:43. Sheaffer was 30th with less than a half mile to go. 

Processing the State Meet

-Sophia Ramirez (Jr., Washington) ran 17:50 for 25th, the fastest cut-off for all-state ever in 2A (17:52 in 2016 was the previous record).

Weber becomes the ninth fastest performer in state meet history, while Swan moves up to number 20 all-time for girls racing at the state meet at Detweiller. 

-Lulu Ton-That (Sr., Chicago Northside) became a four-time XC all-stater. Carter finished 26th at a freshman but has otherwise been top-10 each other year. 

-12 of the 25 all-state runners represented either the Girls' Catholic Athletic Conference or the Eastern Suburban Catholic Conference. Of the 25 all-staters, only nine graduated.

-Carterville, Wheaton Academy, Lake Forest, and St. Viator all began the season unranked. They finished 15th, 16th, 18th and 21st respectively. 

-There were three different team ties. Grayslake Central won the tiebreaker for 14th over Carterville, Mahomet-Seymour won the tiebreaker for 20th over St. Viator, and Mascoutah won a tiebreaker for 28th over Champaign Centennial. 

2A Boys-

Richards caps an unheralded but dominant 2024 season

Finn Richards (Sr., Lisle Benet Academy) assembled the best resume in the field during the season by a good margin, solidifying himself as arguably the biggest race favorite outside of Mia Sirois in the meet. This was a big change from the individual outlook preseason when this classification seemed open for the taking. Richards shut the door, even with Thomas Jochum (So., Glenbard South) shoving his foot in that door the last two weeks of the season. It took over two miles for Richards to shake Jochum, but a definitive move in the final mile sealed the deal. 

As Richards approached the finish line, he signed himself with the cross, and pointed heavenward. Just six days earlier, Richards had acted as lead vehicle for the Love LIke Sean Family Run in Robbins Park in Hinsdale, supporting the foundation that honors the life of Richards' younger brother. Follow https://lovelikesean.org/ for more information.

Richards wasn't so sure he had the race win in the bag. "Two years ago, I didn't think I would be in this position," he said postrace, reflecting on a disappointing performance in the 3A race in 2022. Jochum's emergence at the sectional meet had also instilled just the slightest amount of doubt, Richards admitted. But after Jochum lost a step on Richards, it was go time. "I know that was the moment that I had to pull away." 

There was good reason for the murkiness of the individual picture preseason: there was a lot of capable talent in the field that could win. Evan Nosek (Sr., Kaneland) had broken 15:00 more than any other runner in the field over the course of his four years and needed another top-25 showing to achieve the rare feat of four all-state medals for a boy. Nosek delivered in third place, just holding off breakout sophomore Cuyler Swanson (Morris) and Williams, who completed the top five. 

Kaneland exemplifies the 'circle of life' principle in this race. Their second all-stater is freshman Carson Kaiser, who ran 14:41, the second-fastest performance for a freshman this year. The only all-stater to move more in the final two miles of the race than Williams was Lakes senior Jackson Summy, who passed 29 runners to move from 36th to finish in the top 10 in 7th, a school record of 14:41. 

Payton leaves no doubt about complete team performance.

Few programs have ascended as quickly over the past five years as the Walter Payton College Prep of the Chicago Public League. In 2019, the Grizzlies' season ended with a ninth-place finish at the Fenton Sectional. At that time, even though only five teams qualified for the state championship out of each sectional, that finish represented a step forward for the Payton program, which had struggled to keep pace with its Public League counterparts in the 20 years of the school's existence.

Five years later, at their sectional, Payton put forth a dominating performance over trophy-caliber Latin, a lakefront training partner of Payton. The Grizzlies had accumulated all-staters over the three previous years and two 4x800 team titles in the spring, and they entered the state meet as one of the favorites. 

Although the team's health did not return to its fullest form by November 9th, this didn't matter; who handled the pressure of expectation with ease and won handily over talented Morton and Latin. The Grizzlies scored 113 points, Morton scored 191, and Latin scored 195. 

Payton was already over 100 points ahead of each main competitor at the mile. Dixon, the Kaneland sectional runner-up, led Payton briefly at the mile, but Payton held their form while Dixon fell back, and Payton's pack never relinquished the lead. 

Best embodying Payton's resolve to put away the race was top finisher Tra'Monti Williams (Jr.). Williams led the team pack and hit the 1.5-mile mark in 7:19.6, 23rd at the time. From there, he was a freight train, closing in a 4:46.10 (the fastest third mile in the field, Finn Richards included) and soaring past 18 all-state runners to finish fifth. The rest of Payton's top five also delivered: Declan Slavin (Jr.) was the Grizzlies' second all-stater in 19th (14:51), Steven Jiang (So.) just missed all-state by four places, and Vaughn Collier (Sr.) and Preston Ellis (Sr.) all moved up at least ten places and ran lifetime three-mile bests. 

Morton ran a solid race and would have had to produce something better than they have shown all season to win. Christian Harris (Sr.) was Morton's only all-star in 15th. Fellow seniors Boston Beyer and Phillip Canopy were each top 50, and Morton's four underclassmen all broke 15:45 to position themselves well for next year. 

Despite having no all-state runners, Latin collects another trophy thanks to a tight 34-second 1-5 spread off of Micah Weiss' (Fr.) 15:03, which was good for 30th. Latin needed every inch to keep Dixon at bay, who needed two fewer points for the trophy. Aaron Conderman (Sr.) and Dean Geiger (So.) were both top-30 for Dixon. Conderman is the only scorer that Dixon loses.

Processing the 2A Boys' State Meet-

-14:55 was the all-state cut-off. Mahomet-Seymour junior teammates Augustus Gaudio and Henry McMurry were given the same official time in 14:55.00, a virtual tie for the final all-state medal. Gaudio was given the medal in the official results. 

-There was a lot of team movement in this race. Saint Ignatius was in 20th at the mile and moved up to 8th. Similarly, Lakes was 18th at the mile and moved up to 9th by the end of the race. Normal University was 19th at the mile and ended in 11th. Metamora and Morris each moved up nine team places to finish 15th and 16th. 

3A Girls-

Mia Sirois record run is the greatest single performance in state history

Mia Sirois (So., Barrington) ran a highly satisfying race for me as a journalist to watch. In the stages before the state meet, it is difficult NOT to discuss state record narratives with whoever is the state's best runner. Sirois had run the best times in the state and earned the title of Illinois' best runner," but I was still somewhat reticent about publishing discussions of the all-time state record.

It's a bit rote, and rarely does that narrative deliver. But with Sirois, it felt different. Her wins had been so comfortable, dominant, and often negative-split that it seemed like this sophomore coming into her own as a superstar earned the right to be on record watch. So, we went ahead and etched 15:53.8 in marker on our hands as the 3A girls' race ran, and Sirois validated the attention by sneaking across the line in 15:53.4 after a clinic in the three miles previous. 

Sirois' mid-race splits of 7:51.4 at halfway and 10:30.5 at the two miles were surefire indicators that the race for the record was on. Check out the MileSplit state meet video of the 2016 record... I stated that Sirois did not need to match Judy Pendergast's aggressive 10:25 opening two miles to remain in the title hunt. Sirois needed a 5:23.28 final mile to grab sole possession of the state record, and her 5:22.90 was just enough to do it. 

Sirois was happy to admit that her record was at the top of her mind when she entered the race. 

"I definitely had my eyes set on the course record," said Sirois post-race. "I know it was a possibility, although I was still trying to remind myself that I still have two more seasons to go get it. But I still had it in my mind as something to run for."

Although she outran every challenger, Sirois won't outrun course record discussions for those two years. She will have her mark now to shoot for. 

Amelie Ojeda (Sr., Willowbrook) stated that her fast start was no accident after her Hinsdale Central sectional victory. 

"I like to make sure to get out and stay out of the mess of other runners," she said. "Instead of having to pass by others who go out fast, I want to run my own race.

"I'm shooting for top five," she concluded afterward.

Ojeda now has a patent on the hot start, opening in what was nearly a 10-second mile PR in 5:14.8, the only runner who could see Sirois' pink headband in the race. Although Ojeda was eventually caught by Karlin Janowski (Fr., York), Veronica Znajda (Sr., Prospect), and Maya Ledesma (Sr., Minooka), she put a stamp on a superb senior season that forced the state to pay attention to her and enters the track season as a contender in any event she enters. 

Janowski was also new to the scene this year and had conquered all competition sans Sirois this season. That continued, with the York freshman pulling away from Znajda and Ledesma in 5:31 to finish runner-up in 16:30, incredibly just the third-fastest runner-up performance of the day. Znajda produced a lifetime best 16:34.80, and Ledesma celebrated her commitment to Iowa State with a massive fourth place, sub-16:40 performance. Scout Storms (Sr., Barrington) took her third all-state medal in sixth, running 16:50.00 and setting the stage for an all-time team battle. 

Where did Meg Peterson come from? The Prospect junior has been honing late-race surges for years, and the state meets was her finest masterpiece. Peterson was over 20 seconds behind the top five group at the two mile mark, crossing 11:21 in 17th place. Peterson then raced home in 5:30.1, the fastest final mile outside of Sirois in the field, and moved to seventh overall, outkicking Batavia's star sophomore Avery Hacker. Peterson's time of 16:51.80 was her first time under 17:00. These two placed just ahead of school record performances from seniors Alayna Todnem (Downers Grove North) and Tessa Russo (Plainfield North).

3A Girls Refuses to be Outdone as the Most Compelling Team Race

For three years, the 3A Girls title and trophy race have been the highlight of Illinois cross country. It notifies the entire region that these teams are the most competitive and capable of performing at a championship level in November. 

Barrington appeared to be separating themselves from the pack entering the meet, but the classification would not go quietly into that black night. 

Barrington took a commanding lead of 40 points over Downers Grove North past the first mile, but in less than three minutes, that lead was only nine points and eventually swung in favor of North at the two-mile. The bulk of that movement came from Todnem and Audrey Casten (Sr), who found themselves in the heart of all-state contention. Ava Gilley (Sr.) also gained eight points at that time. 

In the weeds, waiting to strike like they have become so accustomed to for the last four years at the state meet, York then made its move. 

Sophia Galiano-Sanchez moved four places and Lila Stanley five in the final mile. Scarlett Moriarty's final mile was the biggest difference, maker-crossing the two-mile marker in 78th but kicking just ahead of Joliet West's Erin Santerelli (Fr.) to finish 52nd. In the meantime, both Barrington and Downers Grove North had lost a few spots. 

As wild of a ride as the score tabulation after the 1A Girls' race was, this episode was on another level. Barrington, York, and Downers Grove took turns in the top spot briefly (Barrington did have its lion's share), and the scores oscillated between ties and 1-point margins. Barrington held in its pocket the sixth runner tiebreaker over both York and North, with Abby Lewis (Jr.) finishing in 18:01. North's Hannah Renner (Sr.) was 18:06, and York's Sofia Stoddard (Sr.) was 18:12, so the WSC rivals needed an additional point over Barrington.

In the end, they couldn't find it. Twenty-three years after Barrington won their first state title, the Fillies brought home a second, holding off defending champion York by a single point and preseason favorite Downers Grove North by just two. York had all five scorers run personal bests.

After a season of health-limited lineups and losing ground on the trophy conversation, Prospect ran their best race of the year to place fourth and finish just 12 points away from Barrington. Only Sophie Fransen (Sr.) did not run a personal best, but her 18:02 was perhaps the most heroic race for the Knights to cap a season shortened by a summer injury.

Batavia was only 18 points behind Barrington and 42 points clear of sixth-place finisher Minooka. Before the race, Batavia's pack narrative was that the Bulldogs desperately needed a good position from a fifth runner to leave a mark on the 3A race. 

Chloe Kammes (Jr.) delivered in a nearly unimaginable breakout race. 

Kammes had run under 19:00 in 2023 but had not done so in 2024. Kammes held loosely onto her varsity spot entering the state series. They were Batavia's seventh runner at the Lake Park sectional, finishing 82nd in 19:37.6. A switch flipped for Kammes, who defeated 64 of those 81 sectional runners at the state meet. Kammes destroyed that 19:37 'November best' with a 17:52.7 personal best, finishing 58th, incredibly 24 places better than her sectional showing. Kammes' state race was over five minutes faster than her season opener at the Kane County XC Meet. Her performance gave Batavia five sub-18 runners, good for a one-minute 1-5 split, a fifth-place finish, and five underclass returners for a 2025 Batavia team that will be among the favorites for a state title. 

Minooka and Naperville North finished on the periphery of that trophy race through no fault. Minooka had PR's from their top four and their best-fifth runner average of the year. North produced three all-state runners, including a masterful surging race from Shania Tandon (Jr.), who capped her season recovering from injury with a move from 54th place all the way to 24th. 

Processing the Girls 3A Race-

-Amelie Ojeda was the only all-state runner not representing a team at this meet. Barrington senior and third runner Sabrina Roach, despite running 17:32 for 28th place, still accumulated 27 team points, a phenomenon for which there is no precedent. What is the meaning of this? It may be some time before we know for sure, but it is difficult to ignore that the best performances in the state come from the strongest programs, from environments where good runners have great teammates and good coaches. Mathematically, this inflated team scoring, so Barrington's 130-point total is remarkable considering this environment. 

-Janowski was the only freshman to finish all-state. This was the fewest freshman all-staters in 3A since 2016, when Katelynne Hart was the only freshman to finish in the top-25. She was first that year.

-Ruth Dellaria of Lake Park passed 130 runners in the final two miles of the race and nearly 100 in the final mile and a half. She was the only runner in the 235-runner field to run a negative split from the race's first half to the second half. 

-New Trier trimmed their point total from 667 at the mile to 498 by the second mile. They finished 18th with 471.

3A Boys

Crane's Wire-to-Wire win spared drama and stewarded the fastest field ever

The lasting memory for many fans of the 2024 state meet will be the 3A boys' race, which solidified the meet's status as the fastest ever. 

Ben Crane (Sr., New Trier) was a pre-race favorite and has remained undefeated against Illinois runners all year. Crane did 'just enough' to win comfortably, but when the field ran the way it did, 'just enough' required a 14:03, which is good enough for Crane to be counted as the twelfth fastest performer in state meet history. 

Crane overcame a poor night of sleep and nerves to rise above the pressure and respond in a historically fast race, buoyed by a historically fast start. Crane and Joe Bregenzer (Sr., Barrington) were through the mile officially in 4:32, but ten runners were within three seconds of the duo. Eleven runners hit the halfway mark in 7:00 or faster. Crane's approach was to conserve and delay the move until as late as possible, and this worked, giving Crane the cushion he needed to hold off Grant Schroder (Sr., Downers Grove North), who was charging hard and passed Bregenzer to finish runner-up.

The all-state cut-off of 14:37.1 was officially the fastest cut-off in state history. Patrick Clune's (Sr., Naperville Central) 14:37.3 is the fastest non-medaling performance ever, and Aidan Connors (Jr., Plainfield North) was only 0.3 seconds behind Clune. The meet also provided place records at a number of other important markers: Tommy Nitz (Sr., Huntley) ran 14:25.70 but missed the top 10. Freshman Karanveer Patil (Lake Zurich), ran an all-time freshman record in 14:30.90, but missed the top-20 (Charlie Kern's old record of 14:36 was good for eighth in 2014). Hugh Davis (Sr., Edwardsville) ran 15:00 flat but finished 'just' 68th. 

If you glance at the team scores, Downers Grove North's total of 83 points wouldn't suggest their performance was the fastest in state history, but the higher tide of the fast meet and 20 of the top 22 finishers running for qualified teams inflated this total. DGN's team total of 72:29 finally broke the 1999 York team record. This is the first team to ever average under 14:30 per scoring runner. All seven Trojans ran lifetime three-mile bests, three of those good enough to finish all-state: Schroder's 2nd place 14:11, Philip Cupial's 4th place 14:12, and Will Surratt's 12th place 14:26. John Courtney, Brady Travers, and Owen Kelly each ran under 15:00, and Jack Loftus broke former teammate Isaac Moss' record for fastest even 7th runner by finishing in 15:02. Surratt is the fastest ever 3rd runner, and Cupial is the faster ever 2nd runner.