By Michael Newman

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This week we look a little at the sectional assignments that were released last Friday evening. Not that much but we will give you an idea of where the deepest and toughest sectionals are. The focus this week will be on some of the teams at the Richard Spring Invitational.

ILXCTF State & Sectional Rankings Page

3A Girls

Yorkville edged themselves back into the second spot after a convincing performance in winning the Minooka Flight Invitational. Kailey Fox, Emily Eberhart, and Helena Kleronomos were all within eight seconds of each other in separate flight races. Olivia Borowiak and Sara Klemm ran 18:29 and 18:39. Klemm’s performance was eye catching as it could have been the best race (Speed-Ratings wise) of her career (so far). 50 seconds separated their top five. The Lady Foxes tune up for a big next week this Saturday at the Rock River Run in Sterling.

There is still a slight gap between the top three teams and then Glenbard West and Wheaton-Warrenville South. We found that out at the Richard Spring Invitational last Saturday. The two squads are evenly matched as we found out with only two points the difference in Glenbard West’s meet win. Katelynne Hart and Katie Hohe give the team the low numbers in the front as both finished in the top five. The team’s third through fifth runner split off freshman Audrey Allman was only 32 seconds. The split off Hohe and the pack was 66 seconds. That is a number to keep an eye on as this season progresses.

There was no real pack running for Wheaton-Warrenville South last week in the Peoria race and this team knows it or Coach Rob Harvey has let them know it. 22 seconds separated second runner Laurel Moneysmith to Kaitlyn Nenninger. 31 seconds separated Nenninger to Haley Ansiel. 14 seconds separated Ansiel to fifth runner Sarah Kulkarni. The second through fifth pack split was 67 seconds. You can bet that those splits will come down this Saturday night as the Tigers run in Centerville, Ohio against nationally ranked Centerville.

This was the first invitational races of the season for Palatine and Hinsdale Central in Peoria. Palatine has the front runner that they will need at state time in Anne Marie Jordan.  Their second through fourth-runner pack in the race was 50 seconds with the gap between four and five at 19 seconds. Watch those numbers shrink as the Lady Pirates will be on their home course on Saturday. Hinsdale Central has their front runner as McKenna Revord finished eight overall. There is almost a minute gap between Revord and the team’s pack. The split on second-runner Kayla Byrne to fifth runner Diana Denemark was 37 seconds. The top 12 teams are so close together especially from 6 to 12. We could see Hinsdale Central move into the top ten soon.

We knew Oak Park-River Forest was good coming into the Peoria race. We found out how good with a fourth-place team finish.  This team demonstrated again that they have no front runners. That does not matter when you have a 29 second split off their top runner Violet Harper. The addition of freshmen Samantha Duwe and Josephine Welin have been a big help in the improvement of the Huskies.

The biggest mover in the rankings for the week was New Trier who also used great pack running to win last Saturday at Libertyville. 12 seconds separated Bridget Forbes and fourth-runner Elizabeth Finnigan in this race.

Four teams, all who raced last weekend at Peoria, moved into the top 25 led by St. Charles East at #15. The Lady Saints finished 11^th in the Varsity race led by Alice Abbott’s second-place finish. The addition of freshman Gia Klasa, who finished sixth in the Frosh-Soph race, into their varsity team will make a difference. It changes their split on the pack behind Abbott from 71 seconds to only 30 seconds. They are a team to keep an eye on in the inaugural season of the DuKane Conference. Hersey at #17, O’Fallon at #19, and Stevenson at #23 are the new teams into the top 25.

The biggest change in the sectional assignments was the moved of #16 Benet Academy from the Marist Sectional into the Waubonsie Valley Sectional. Four ranked teams are ranked at Marist with Downers Grove North the highest non-ranked team in that grouping. The sectional at Waubonsie Valley could be the roughest to get out of with seven teams in the top 25 with top ten teams Naperville North, Batavia, and Oswego leading the way.

2A Girls

The top three ranked 2A teams were all in action but at Flight oriented Invitationals. Belvidere North and Lakes Community competed at the Minooka Flight Invitational. Vernon Hills competed at the Byrne Festival at Woodstock’s Emricson Park.

Mahomet-Seymour continues to climb up the rankings to fourth as they were the highest finishing 2A team at the Richard Spring Invitational placing 17^th. The Lady Bulldogs raced the week before on the same course at the First to the Finish Invitational. Their top five runners had a 10 second improvement from the week before led by third-runner Madi Balbach dropping her time form 20:06 to 19:23. Their five-runner split at FTTF was 96 seconds and went up to 101 seconds in this race. Some of that was due to the faster course time. Elizabeth Sims did not run like a freshman as finished 28^th overall running 18:09.

Normal University split up their top seven with some of the younger runners competing in the Frosh/Soph race in Peoria. Their top two runners, Mackie Madix and Lyndsey Wolters, ran in the lower level race. Lizzy Zacharias would have been the fourth-runner on Varsity if she would have run on that level. The Pioneers would have run a 62 second split off Madix with a 22 second split from their second through fifth runners.

Chatham-Glenwood stayed at #10. The Titans also split up their squad. All of their top five runners were in the Frosh/Soph race led by freshman Nia Gibson. The team finished third in the Frosh/Soph race behind 3A teams York and Wheaton-Warrenville South. The split on that top five was 89 seconds but only 34 seconds from their second through fifth runners.

The biggest moving team in the 2A rankings was Rosary who jumped nine spots into the top ten at #8. The Royals currently have the top runner in 2A with Lianna Surtz who ran 17:02 Saturday at Detweiller Park. Ignore the top five split especially with Surtz so far ahead. Their second-through five split off Maia Italia was 58 seconds. Moving that pack up even more could make this a team to keep an eye on.

Three teams entered the top 25 this week led by #17 Wheaton Academy with their 32^nd place finish in the Richard Spring race. Crystal Lake Central finished seventh in the high powered Kaneland Invitational and moved up to #22. Metamora, based off their third-place performance at Dunlap, was the final team in at #25.

In the first ILXCTF Sectional Rankings, the Woodstock North Sectional and the East Peoria Sectional appear to be the toughest with eight ranked teams each.

1A Girls

Defending state champion Tolono Unity still looks to be the team to beat in this classification but Eureka’s race at Bureau Valley moved them even closer to the Rockets. Unity concentrated on their pack in scoring only 27 points to win at Tuscola with their top five runners in the first eight. Jordan Harmon ran her first race in almost a year and was Unity’s second runner in this race. 58 seconds separated their top five with only a 20 second split from Harmon to fifth runner Evelyn Atkins.

Eureka’s second race of the season was better than their opener at Peoria. Emma Argo ran 18:26 to win. Alexi Fogo, who finished sixth at Peoria, stayed back in the Hornets’ pack as the team’s fifth runner. Their second through fifth runner split in the race was only 16 seconds. Rock Falls also ran better in this meet only trailing Eureka by three points. The Rockets placed their top three runners all ahead of Eureka’s 2-5 pack led by Bailee Fortney’s third-place finish. Five seconds separated their top three. Rock Falls fourth runner Erin Porter finished 15^th and was behind Eureka’s pack.

St. Joseph-Ogden moved to #4 after a good race with all the bigger enrollment schools at the Richard Spring Invitational. Their top four runners led by Cassidy Bagby were within 76 seconds of each other. Their fifth runner Hannah Eastin ran in the Frosh/Soph race and would give the Lady Spartans an 84 second five runner split.

Three teams moved into the top 25 this week. Teutopolis, off their win at the Olney Invitational, is the highest new team in the top 25 entering at #15. DuQuoin, who finished second last Tuesday at Sparta behind 2A Waterloo, moves in at #21. St. Thomas More moves back into the top 25 at #22 behind Fran Hendrickson’s under 18-minute race (17:54).

The sectional assignments showed the Decatur St. Teresa Sectional the toughest with eight top 25 teams currently. Elmwood-Brimfield’s sectional seems to be tough with five schools in the top 12 ranked located there.