The girls' race went out as predicted; the state leader and undefeated Karlin Janowski (Jr., York) was matched up against the Barrington super trio of Mia Sirois (Sr.), Victoria Tarara (Jr.), and Angelica Hil (Sr.). It was a swift but honest first mile in 5:27, but a quarter mile later, the Fillies trio made a move that wedged a gap and momentarily had Janowski on the ropes.
Like a prized fighter, Janowski withstood the counterpunches and actually had the Fillies on the ropes, passing the second mile in 11:05. At 2k, Janowski had several seconds on Hill and continued to widen her lead, eventually running home to another convincing victory; it was another 16:25. This victory may be the most satisfying win of the season, defending Sirois and Tarara, who have been billed as the state's premier opponents.
#2 Barrington put four runners in the top 10 and narrowly held for a slim victory over the upstarts from Edwardsville, 117-131. The Tigers put all seven of their starters in before the Fillies' fifth to decrease the deficit. #1 Prospect was not fully staffed but still finished third with 149 points.
On the boys' side of the game, the ticker talk was how good St. Louis University HS was. The Midwest's top team beat Indiana's top team, Columbus North, at the Forest Park Invite earlier in the month. However, an asterisk was added to it because North's squad suffered from food poisoning. This time, the Junior Billikens would see some of Illinois' deepest units.
Led by senior star Jackson Miller, the Jr. Billikens led unopposed at each mile checkpoint. They had four runners in the top 15 at the first and second mile; the fifth runner, senior Michael Luna, was in 25th place with one mile remaining. It was one of the most dominant performances in PAL MOC history. Jackson took home the individual title in 14:32, and 45 seconds later, Luna closed out the scoring with a time of 15:16. The total tally would be 57 points; the runner-up was 2A #1 Dixon, who tallied 133, Fremd 153, Prospect 182, and York closed out the top 5 with 195 points.
Jackson played follow-the-leader for the first two miles and change, allowing Karanveer Patil (Jr., Lake Zurich) to lead at 4:45 and 9:48. Jackson, a four year veteran in the varsity championship, knew that with less than 600m to go, it was time to put the foot to the medal, staying ahead of Jesse Gudaukas (Sr., Neuqua Valley) in 14:33.