Distance Night In Palatine Enters The 9th Stage Explosion

Gavin Genisio of Benton HS, leading in the early stages of the Elite section mile in 2024 

The girls' section #2 800m will be the featured section race. Iya Repple (So., Schaumburg) is the top seed based on her 2:20.39 mark. There are three other runners with 2:20s in their cache. The spread from 1-16 is just 2.4 seconds, which means this is going to be a very close affair. The leaderboard is going to be bustling with fresh marks. The winner should be under 2:18, and if that is the case, the main card is going to be very fast!

The boys' section #2 features the entire field under 2:00, led by Austin Ward (Sr., Oswego East), who has run 1:57.90. Ward fits the typical 400/800 mode; he has a 400 PB of 49.37, so expect the opening pace to be fast. On his heel will be a flurry of 1:58 performers. Elias Ulmen (Jr., Homestead, WI) and Matthew Miller (Jr., Sandburg) will keep him honest.

Section #2 boys 2 miles will close out the undercard. The entry time ranges from 9:34.07-9:40.18. Ian French (Sr., Metea Valley) has run his time during the indoor season and has not debuted outdoors yet. Senior Owen Lencki of Waupaca, Wisconsin, appears to be a strong candidate to win this one. He was the D2 cross country runner-up and has run 9:34.26 this season.

The Main event is the main event-

The girls' section #4 two-mile will be the featured race of this event, and everyone in the stadium will be able to witness the greatness of Mia Sirois (So., Barrington). She won last year in 10:35.90, and that is the actual two-mile record. The overall record is 10:13.91 in the 3200m, set by Lauren Pansegrau of Wisconsin. Sirois has a Grade A approved time and, quite honestly, should take it down en route and supplant herself as the best ever at DNIP.  She may have some company for a while in Chicago St. Ignatius freshman phenom Allison Shutler. She came on the scene during the indoor season and terrorized almost everything in her path. Yale University-bound Zoe Carter of Normal University will be looking to improve her stock before the postseason. Carter is one of the top distance runners in 2A. Molly Farrell (Jr., Marshall), Veronica Znajda (Sr., Prospect), and Meg Peterson (Jr., Prospect) are key standouts in the field.

Let's move to section #4, boys 800m. 'Speak and forever hold your peace' at least until the state championship. This could be a special one with Owen Horeni (Jr., Yorkville), Sam Wollak (So., St. Charles East), and Tra'Monti Williams (Jr., Chicago Payton). Horeni is the favorite based on experience and what's in his toolkit. He opened with a 1:54 at the Arcadia Invite in California and learned a few things about tactics. Wollak almost surprised the veteran Philip Cupial of DGN in his season opener several weeks ago. Will he be ready for this time? Williams is an emerging force who will get his first big-time individual race. He can handle any opening pace but will need to close if he expects to win. Out-of-towners Spencer Alf and Mason Brosious plan on making things hard for the favorites.

Superstar junior Charlize-Trinity McKenzie  of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, is a longtime favorite of racing on Illinois soil. She and Annika Swan (Jr., Chicago St. Ignatius) will duel for the section#4 800m crown. McKenzie took second last year to Ali Ince and will be looking to deploy the same tactic used against her on Swan. That will be a fast start and compound it with a strong finish. The NBNI All-American ran 2:07.17i and will pull others, like Mia Forystek (So., Lincoln-Way Central), Keira Jenke (Jr., Benet Academy), Emily Stecky (So., DePaul College Prep), and several others, to big personal bests. This may be the deepest girls' event on the docket.

The Main Event Boys 2-Mile does not include Ben Crane (Sr., New Trier), Dylan Maloney (Sr., Plainfield South), Rory Gaan (Sr., Fremd), Carter Hayes (Sr., Palatine), or Alexander Krieg (Jr., Palatine). Let's not get it twisted, though; this is still going to be a very good race, with Joe Bregenzer (Sr. Barrington) at the steering wheel. This is now the time for the defending 3A state champion to step forward and prove that he is one of the elite runners in real time. So far, he has only run 9:21.56... sharks are in the water and they are hungry. Alexander Bendana (Sr., St. Louis University) has clocked 9:05.25, and there are three Plainfield North entrants: Thomas Czerwinski (Jr.,), Quinn Davis (Sr.), and Aidan Connors (Jr.). They will have an opportunity that few teams in the history of high school have done, and that's to break 9:00 as a trio. Freshman Karanveer Patil of Lake Zurich could be the future of the event. We will be watching him.

The Main Event girls' mile has eight entrants under 5:00, but aside from Scout Storms (Sr., Barrington), there are no notable names. Still, it will be a hotly contested race with Klarke Goranson (Fr., Mantino) making her primetime debut. She clocked 4:50.29i at the Meet of Champions in early March. Ali Londrigan (So., Chatham-Glenwood) and Kyla Babb (Jr., Westmont) will be out to make a name for themselves.

The final event of the evening will be the Main Event Boys Mile. We mentioned Crain, Maloney, Gaan, and Hayes skipping out of the 2-mile. They will be here and on a mission. Crane mentioned in California after running 8:49, that his next mission is to break 4:10 and win the DNIP mile. Jacob Barraza (Sr., Dekalb) has the top seed of 4:11.38, but he has only run 4:25 to date. Remy Strichartz (Sr., Kenosha Indian Trail, WI) will make his outdoor season debut after running 4:12.03 indoors and winning the state title. Nicolai Martino (Sr., Winnebago) ran 4:14.89 for the mile at NBNI. The field will need to take him very serious.

Meet program