It should be a fast and furious time at the venerable Detweiller Park in Peoria!
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Date: Saturday, September 20
Location: Detweiller Park; Peoria IL
Meet Schedule:
8:00a Varsity Girls
8:40a Varsity Boys
9:20a F/S Girls
10:00a F/S Boys
10:40a Open Girls
11:20a Open Boys
Quick thoughts: A new schedule and event order will favor the varsity races. For the athletes, this is genuinely a business trip, get in and get out. See the following meet thoughts below.
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Key girls teams: #1 Arlington Heights (Hersey), #2 Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West), #3 Lake Zurich, #7 Chicago St. Ignatius, #8 Elmhurst York, #9 Prospect (B-team), #13 New Lenox (Lincoln-Way Central), #15 South Elgin, #16 Chicago DePaul College Prep, #18 St. Charles North, #20 Chicago Lane, #21 Orland Park Sandburg, #25 Downers Grove North, Downers Grove South ; 2A- #7 Peoria Notre Dame, #8 Mahomet-Seymour, #25 Springfield (Sacred Heart-Griffin); 1A- #5 St. Joe-Ogden, #6 El Paso-Gridley, #14 Effingham St. Anthony, #19 Monticello; Pleasant Valley, IA; St. Thomas Aquinas, KS
Outlook: It could get crowded at the top as the top three teams are entered, plus the defending champion, York, is ready to defend its crown. Let's start with the newly anointed queen of the 3A rankings, Hersey. The Huskies have basically sleepwalked in two invitationals this season. This will be their first true test of the season, and they will be more focused after finishing sixth last year. Newcomer Graceleen Mabry has been keeping pace with veteran junior Alexa Izenstark. They should be among the top 25 finishers on Saturday.
Last weekend at the Lake Park Invitational, Glenbard West may have caught the favored York and St. Ignatius off guard, pulling off a masterful team win. Could we see a second straight upset by an underdog team? Senior Alexa Novak's sixth-place finish led the Hilltoppers, and behind her, the scoring pack polished off a 59-second spread.
St. Ignatius put two girls in the top three, with sophomore Allison Shutler leading the charge with a masterful 16:47 performance. The Wolfpack were spread out too much last weekend to make a significant impact in the win. They cut things close with five finishers. In a much bigger field, they will need to be upfront from the start. Hopefully, the Wolfpack will be physically and mentally stronger on Saturday to make a strong charge for a top-three standing.
Lake Zurich will be competing in its first major competition of the season. The young Bears are led by freshman Chloe Wettstein, who already has clocked 17:40 in limited action. They will need to stay strong as a formidable pace if they desire to come out on top. That means the likes of junior Celia Blaylock, senior Polina Krupsky, and freshman Abigail Kocher will need to finish in proximity.
As mentioned earlier, York is the defending champion and will be ready to fight. Sophomore Karlin Janowski placed fourth at Lake Park, so that she will be in good company individually. However, her teammates will have some work to do at the back end of the pack that saw a 59-second spread from the 2-5 runners. That
The individual race could be a masterful one. Why? It will start with a healthy Isabella Keller. The junior from Effingham St. Anthony ran 16:24 a few weekends ago at the Chrisman Cowchip Classic. She has been a frontrunner and will be expected to push a fast pace. Annika Swan (Sr., St. Ignatius) will be expected to join in, as will Shutler and Meg Peterson of Prospect, who didn't compete at Lake Park. With favorable weather conditions, we could see a new state leading time under 16:18.
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Key boys teams: #4 Prospect, #5 Chicago Lane, #6 Lake Zurich, #7 York, #8 Hinsdale Central, #9 Hersey, #11 Naperville (Neuqua Valley), #12 Naperville North, #13 Naperville Central, #15 St. Charles North, #16 Palatine, #20 Oak Park-River Forest, #22 Orland Park (Sandburg), #24 Wheaton-Warrenville South, Downers Grove South, Chicago Whitney Young, Chicago Mather, Chicago Payton; Brighton, MI, Daviess County, KY; Mason, OH 1A- #6 El Paso-Gridley, #8 St. Joseph-Ogden; 2A- #1 Mahomet-Seymour, #3 Peoria Notre Dame, #6 Taylorville, #5 Marion, #25 Springfield
Outlook: If all things are equal on Saturday, this could be one of the more quality team performances in quite a while. There is not a superstar team here, and that includes the defending champions from Mason, Ohio. The Comets from the Buckeye state are used to running 5000m, so hearing English marks could be a little foreign to some of their runners. Top runner senior Caden Winship has run a season best of 15:23 in his native distance.
The term DEEP is not an understatement. Prospect has had one invitational performance on its record, and it was a big win during the first opening weekend of the season. The Knights had their top six under 16:00 there, and it could be more. Senior trio Quinn Davis, Luke Robinson, and Brody Cushing are among the best in Illinois. They will need to pack up front and push hard in the middle mile, and finish together. If they can do that, the Knights will be hard to beat.
Lake Zurich is expected to be a state trophy contender in November, but this will serve as the Bears' starting point toward that goal and their first major invitational of the season. Sophomore Karanveer Patil returns after a banner year that saw him earn all-state honors. He will be joined by teammates senior Gordy Libby and junior Luke Marshall. In July, Libby and Patil ran 15:04 at the Detweiller at Dark meet. So we know that they are capable of going much faster than that on Saturday.
It appears that York may be running some of their guns down on the lower levels, so watch out for the upstart crew from Chicago Lane. The Champions are building something special this season, especially after a dominating performance at the Lake Park Invitational, scoring 23 points on a 19-second split. There is no superstar in the lineup, but instead, a strong group of guys who can pack a run among the best of them. If they get out well and maintain, we could see a top-three team finish. Watch for top runner junior Samuel Assefa to lead the charge.
Other teams to watch are Hinsdale Central, Hersey, Naperville (Neuqua Valley), Naperville North, Naperville Central, St. Charles North, and Palatine.
Samuel Hill (Jr., St. Charles North) easily won the Lake Park Invite last week and indicated that his best races are ahead of him. That may be here on Detweiller soil. He will see Libby and Patil on his shoulders, along with Winship. But another name to watch is Alexander Krieg (Sr., Palatine), who was third here in 14:37. He is the top returner and will be laser-focused from start to finish. Another kid to keep an eye on is Jesse Gudauskas (Jr., Neuqua Valley), who is on the rise after winning the Red Devil Invite a few weekends ago. His teammate, sophomore Grayson Meek, should be close by.