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Key boy teams: #2 Plainfield North, #4 Plainfield South, #6 Lake Zurich, #7 Palatine Fremd, #9 Arlington Heights Hersey, #11 Libertyville, #13 Naperville (Neuqua Valley), #14 Edwardsville, #19 York, #20 Downers Grove South, Oak Park-River Forest, New Trier, Palatine, Barrington; 2A- #3 Dixon, #9 Vernon Hills, #20 Washington; Beavercreek OH, St. Louis University, St. Xavier KY
Key girl teams: #1 Barrington, #2 Hersey, #3 Prospect, #4 York, #5 Plainfield North, #6 Lake Zurich, #12 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #15 Edwardsville, Maine South, Libertyville, Palatine, OPRF, Vernon Hills, Palatine, New Trier; 2A- #2 Wheaton St. Francis, #7 Washington, #9 Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge, #12 Grayslake Central, #16 Cary-Grove; Louisville Assumption KY, Beavercreek OH
Quick blurb: A litmus test is pending for both genders on Saturday morning. Believe it or not, there are still some questions remaining on who the top teams are in the state. For the girls, there have been injuries and sickness in multiple camps. Barrington appears to be getting healthy with the return of star Mia Sirois, but the Fillies have not been tested with her in the lineup. Hersey, York, and maybe Prospect will have something to say.
On the boys' side, two consecutive weekends of intense racing lead us here as to who may vie for state trophy hopes in November. This will be the third competition between town rivals Plainfield North and South. Add in Lake Zurich, Fremd, and Hersey to upset the balance.
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The start of the 2024 girls varsity meet of champions (Griffin Forberg photo)
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In last year's girls' race, there was a tie between York and Barrington at 103 points. But the Lady Dukes of York were awarded the first-place trophy over a sixth-place runner. It could be as many as four teams battling for the big plaque.
Let's start with the Fillies. They will have their top invite lineup in for the first time this season. Sirois may not be at full strength yet, but she should be able to carry her teammates to a title. The key factor is bringing the fifth runner close enough to secure vital low points.
Hersey was ranked #1 and then #2 in recent weeks, but may feel some type of way despite coming in undefeated in invitational races. The Huskies squeaked past York last weekend at the Peoria Notre Dame Richard Spring Invitational, 192-198. They were led by freshman standout Graceleen Mabry, who took ninth overall. Her teammates backed her with a great 55-second scoring split in a huge 63-field team. York, on the other hand, had their chances, putting its first three runners in the top 35, but had to wait quite a while for its fifth runner, Lila Stanley, to cross the line in 82nd place. Hopefully, the Lady Dukes have solved their scoring split that has topped 1:50 in both invites this season.
Prospect appears to be holding their talented underclassmen at the frosh-soph level. By contrast, Lake Zurich has two equally gifted ninth graders, Chloe Wettstein and Abigail Kocher, who are ready to lead them to a top-five or better team placement. Do not sleep on Plainfield North. The Tigers won the FTTF Invite 3A title.
The individual race will be on to watch as defending champion and meet/course record holder Sirois is back. She missed most of the first half of the season with a severe foot injury. In her recent return, there did not appear to be any lingering setbacks. If there is anyone capable of challenging Sirois, it could be York sophomore Karlin Janowski, who has run well in two invite performances. She clocked 16:36 last weekend in Peoria to take fourth in 16:36. Watch out for Wettstein, Meg Peterson (Sr., Prospect), Marlie Czarniewski (Jr., Plainfield North), and Emaline Foster (So., Prairie Ridge) as serious challengers.
The varsity boys let it rip off the starting line in last year's Meet of Champions race (Griffin Forberg photo)
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Last year, Plainfield North won its first PAL MOC title, scoring 91 points en route to a comfy win. This time around, while the Tigers appear to be the favorite, it will be a much more difficult task walking away as a repeat champion on Saturday. The Tigers are led by a senior-dominated roster that features top dog duo Thomas Czerwinski and Aidan Connors. Both runners are lowstick runners, which have aided them throughout the first half of the season. However, the key to victory will be the fifth runner, which could be several runners, but the target man appears to be Gavin Hall, who has run 15:25.
Plainfield South has split with its cross-town rival, winning the city championship and then taking third to the Tigers' runner-up finish at the FTTF Invite several weekends ago. The Cougars are a well-balanced team with seven starters running under 16:00. Leading the way is the three-headed monster of Dylan Buturusis (Jr), Alex Batsala (Jr), and Austin Cory (Sr). They have cracked 15:00 and will counter any other top team through three runners. The key again will be closing out the scoring at the fifth spot.
Lake Zurich was smarting a bit after finishing third last weekend at the Richard Spring Invite in Peoria. In that affair, the Bears jumped out on the field with their first three runners in the top 15 among a massive 68-team field. Senior Cameron (Gordy) Libby was the big winner, followed by teammate Karanveer Patil (So) in third. The Bears' third runner, Luke Marshall (Jr), took 12th overall. They all ran an amazing 14:30 or faster. That's the excellent news; the not-so-good news was fifth man Carson Porter (Jr) in 133rd place. If the Bears have any thoughts of winning the title or breaking up the Plainfield connection, they will need to improve in that spot vastly.
Another team to keep a real close watch on is Dixon. The Dukes are a talented team in 2A, and if they have a great showing, they could be the team to watch in their classification come the postseason.
For the second straight weekend, a team from Ohio is here to play spoiler. Mason, Ohio, came in as the defending champs at the Peoria Notre Dame Invite, but limped home with a 7th-place finish. Beavercreek is #1 in the big classification and will have something to prove to the NXN selection committee. This one will surely be counted among the elite corps should they finish among the top.
Individually, this will be a strong race and one of the deepest of the season. Libby comes in the fastest time of the season, followed by Conrad Saner (Jr., Downers Grove South), who ran 14:18 and 14:20, respectively. Patil clocked 14:22 in that same race, making him a threat to win the title. Not to be counted out are top returners Czerwinski and Alexander Krieg (Sr., Palatine). Krieg is hoping to return back to form after a recent illness. Jackson Miller (Jr., SLUH) has been running strong this season and could be a candidate to win the title. And there is Jameson Tenopir (Sr., Cary-Grove) as a dark horse challenge, along with Jesse Gudauskas (Jr., Neuqua Valley). There is no doubt it will be fun to watch how things unfold.