2023 Illinois High School Cross Country - 10 Conference Meets to Watch

By Michael Newman

Wet conditions throughout Illinois will slow down conference meets and dampen the courses that the runners will race in. It will put more emphasis of racing instead of racing against time in these meets. It is a matter of claiming territorial stakes in winning against school’s top rivals. It also begins Championship season where we are three meets away from reaching the IHSA State Meet in November.

Here is a look at some of the meets that will take place in Illinois this weekend.

West Suburban Conference Silver @ Proviso West – Both Boys and Girls races are loaded with the state’s #1 teams in each race. #1 York and #4 Downers Grove North will face off in the Girls race. The teams have raced each other three times this fall with York winning at the Palatine Invitational finishing ahead of DGN. The Trojans in their last race easily won at Naperville Twilight led by Saturday’s individual race favorite Lily Eddington. North will be without their #2 runner McKenzie Willard who will be held out of this race. Their split on five was 47 seconds at Twilight. Their pack has run as low as 23 seconds in races this year. York has continuously had a split under 30 seconds with Katherine Klimek, Michaela Quinn, and Maggie Owens leading the way. Klimek will be one of the runners to watch in the front. York defends their conference title if they can again if they place two runners in the top five and keep their top five split under 30 seconds. #13 Lyons Township is finally healthy and will challenge for the third spot led by Julianne Melby. #14 Hinsdale Central continues to improve as they head to the state series led by Kennedy Boyd. They will also challenge for that third place spot. #21 Glenbard West runs with a great pack keeping their splits on five runners at 40 seconds or under. Getting a runner in the top 10, perhaps it will be Sophie Mitra or Alexa Novak, and a tight split puts Glenbard West among the first three teams. Oak Park-River Forest is led by possible top 10 finisher Lenny Sterritt and could get close to one of those first five teams.

The Boys race could be interesting led by #1 Downers Grove North. The Trojans shook off the rust after not racing some of their runners since First to the Finish Invitational on September 9 but still won last week at Naperville Twilight. Ryan Eddington and Grant Schroder ran together last week but were without their #2 runner Caden Weber who did not race at Twilight. Weber is expected to race on Saturday. This team is deep and should score under 30 points to win in this meet. #6 Oak Park-River Forest did not have a runner in the top 10 last week at Twilight. Their split on the top four runners was only eight seconds in that race. They have been without their #1 runner Finn Kelly since he raced last at the Richard Spring Invitational. A healthy Kelly in their lineup could put the Huskies close to the lead in this meet. #10 Lyons Township looks to be finally healthy with the return of Cillian Henning back to join Nick Strayer in the front. The team’s pack behind these two runners has lowered their split making the Lions a factor in this race. #18 Hinsdale Central continues to improve and could have the individual favorite in this race with Aden Bandukwala who won last week at Naperville North. A key for their team in this meet is if runners from their Frosh/Soph team Michael Gamboa and Henry Miller moved up to varsity for this race. #27 Glenbard West and York will challenge for the fifth spot in this meet. Bandukwala should be the race favorite with North’s Eddington, Schroeder, and Weber, and Lyons Township’s Strayer challenging for a spot in the front.

Mid Suburban League @ Busse Woods, Schaumburg – #3 Barrington finished ahead of #2 Prospect when the two teams raced last at the Palatine Invitational. These two Girls teams are among the top teams in the state and will challenge for the title in this meet. Prospect is the defending league champion and will like to repeat it again led by Veronica Znajda, Lily Ginsberg, and Meg Peterson all finishing in the top five runners. Scout Storms has been undefeated this season and leads Barrington in the front. Abby Lewis and Mia Sirois give the Fillies a strong duo to help Storms in the top 10. Prospect’s 4-5 runners with Ireland Wildhart and Kaitlin Skelton have moved closer to their top three pack. Barrington could win this meet only if they can place 5 runners across the line before Prospect’s fourth runner finishes. #7 Hersey is quietly having a great season and could be the surprise in this race led by Margaretha Grabske and freshman Alexa Izenstark. Palatine and Fremd are some of the teams to watch that will challenge for a place in the top five. Schaumburg continues to run better and could be the surprise in the top five.

#3 Hersey is the team to watch in the Boys race. Their top five split at Peoria led by Liam Naughton, Cameron Donner, and Zach Frayder had a split under 50 seconds. Those three runners ran under 14:50 in that race and stayed within 20 seconds each other making the Huskies tough to beat. AJ Svienty lost his shoe the following week at Palatine and was forced out of the race. Svienty along with Rob Geissenberger give their team a solid 4-5 pack. #8 Barrington, led by one of the individual favorites Joe Bregenzer, could get close to Hersey in this race. The Broncos will need to keep their pack close to challenge for the win. The split on five at Palatine when they finished fourth behind Hersey was 76 seconds. Their split from 2-5 was just 19 seconds. Last week at Loyola Flight Night, that top five split lowered to 49 seconds. The 2-5 split went to 16 seconds. That type of race keeps Barrington closer to the front. #13 Fremd, #14 Prospect, and #15 Palatine all will challenge for the third spot. Fremd looked strong at Peoria at the end of September led by Rory Gaan and Jack Jennings in the top five. Prospect ran a solid race at Nike XC Town Twilight led by John Peterson in winning the Open race. Palatine had a solid race on their home course led by Alex Krieg. #17 Conant will mix it up with those three teams after a strong race last week at Sterling. Connor Ariunbat leads the Cougars. Bregenzer is the individual favorite in this race. Krieg, Gaan, and Jennings along with Hersey’s trio of Naughton, Frayder, and Donner will all be chasing after Bregenzer for the individual win.

DuPage Valley Conference @ Waubonsie Valley – #5 Naperville North and #6 Naperville Central will be the teams to watch in the Girls race. North looked strong last week at Naperville Twilight with Julie Piot along with Shania and Rianna Tandon their front three runners. All could be among the top five runners in this race. Liv Phillips leads Naperville Central along with being the individual favorite in this race. Lola Satre-Morales and Ava Hendren could be among the top 10 runners in this race. The key in this close race is Central putting five runners across before North puts five across the finish line. It will be close with the two teams separated anywhere from 6 to 10 points. #27 Metea Valley and #30 Neuqua Valley will challenge for third in this race. Elizabeth Hall of Neuqua Valley could be among the top 10 runners in this race along with freshman teammate Addison Guskey. Maya Hall and Kamea Baker should be the top runners for Metea Valley.

#9 Neuqua Valley, #19 Naperville Central, and #30 Naperville North are the three ranked teams in the Boys field. Zac Close should be the individual favorite in this race with teammate Robert Glenn getting closer to his teammate with every race. Ammar Bhanpuri of Naperville North and Jacob Barraza of DeKalb are the two runners that could apply pressure in the front. With only 42 team runners scoring in this meet (entries are unlimited), it will come down to the pack of Naperville Central to get five runners in led by Tyler Browning before Neuqua Valley has four runners finish. Naperville North has a good frosh/soph group that will help them in the state series meets. They were kept in the lower level race at Naperville Twilight. It is a good bet that will be the case on Saturday morning.

DuKane Conference @ Lake Park East Campus Course, Roselle – Three ranked teams lead this eight team field in the Girls race. #9 Wheaton North, led by Emily Offutt and Maddie Romaine, looked strong last week in their win at Wheeling and could have the edge in this race. Ema Eissler is a runner you could see finish in the top 10. This team will need to have their five scorers in the top 23 to win this race. #17 Batavia seems to run great in this meet as they head into the state series. The Bulldogs are led by freshmen Avery Hacker and Gwen Krodel who should be among the top 10 runners. This team likes to run a tight pack and could have 5 runners within 40 seconds in this race. Six runners across the finish ahead of Wheaton North’s fourth runner could get Batavia the team win. #19 Wheaton-Warrenville South, led by Nicole Poglitsch, has a solid pack behind their top runner led by Jenna Bachara and Frida Martinez. The Tigers placing all five runners in the top 18 could get this team in position to win this meet. St. Charles North could have Gwen Dobson and Norah Dorrance among the top 10 in this race. Their pack needs to be under 70 seconds to challenge for spot in the top half of the teams. Poglitsch should be one of the individual favorites in this race. The junior finished sixth last week at Naperville Twilight and will be boosted by the confidence she has gained in every race. Marley Andelman of St. Charles East is running stronger with ever race as well. She ran a 4:58.3 in a 1600m time trial last week readying herself for the upcoming championship season. Sofia Borter of Geneva did not run at Naperville Twilight but did finish second in the championship race on September 30 at Wheaton North. She could be a factor up front if she races.

#11 Wheaton-Warrenville South started out strong to start the season at Hinsdale Central and have just rolled from there. Josiah Narayanan has been one of the most improved runners in the state this season and should show as the individual favorite in this race with teammate Aiden Noel as one of a number of runners that could chase after him. The Tigers could place 5 runners in the top 10 to secure the team runner. #20 St. Charles East does have the talent to win the team title with Jedidiah Wilson, Oscar Frontjes, and Greyson Ellensohn all possibilities to finish among the top five individuals. It could come down to a runner vs. runner for the Saints to challenge for the win. East to need to be ahead of the individual battles to secure the win. #26 Batavia ran strong last week at Naperville Twilight and will be one of the front running teams in this meet led by Francesco Benelli and David Bednarek. Wheaton North could be the surprise team in this meet with Aidan Murphy challenging for a top five finish.

Southwest Prairie Conference @ Channahon Park (Friday) – The forecast for Friday afternoon’s meet at Channahon Park calls for a good chance of rain. There is also a forecast for great varsity races in this conference meet. (Note: Varsity races moved up to 12:00 PM and 12:30 PM on Friday).  #2 Plainfield South and #5 Plainfield North head the Boys field in this meet. The Cougars ran a great race to finish second two weeks ago at Nike XC Town Twilight led by top 10 finishes from Dylan Maloney and Camyn Viger. The two runners will be the favorites in the meet. The pack between Maloney/Viger and them is lowering the split. Getting 5 runners in the top 20 secures the win for the defending 3A State Champions. Plainfield North has a solid top three with Thomas Czerwinski, Quinn Davis, and Owen Stahl who could all finish in the top five. Their split between those three runners and the pack has affected them in big meets. There are less runners in this race than a normal invitational. The Tigers placing five runners in the top 18 could get them the team win. #29 Yorkville is the only other ranked team in this meet with Owen Horeni and Jake Younger possibilities of being near the top 10. West Aurora will be without their #2 runner Nathan Gehrman for the third straight meet. Sean Heetland will be among the top runners in this race and will lead the Blackhawks.

#10 Minooka and #11 Yorkville will face off for the Girls race team title. Two more ranked teams, #15 Plainfield North and #16 Oswego East, could make it interesting in the front. Morgan Dick of Oswego East and Maya Ledesma of Minooka should be the runners to watch in the front in this race. Minooka and Yorkville raced against each other at Naperville Twilight with Minooka finishing fourth and Yorkville placing sixth. Ledesma and Taya Gummerson have good possibilities of finishing in the top 10. Placing 5 runners in the top 20 could give the Indians the win. Sophia Keeler and Allegra Triner lead the Lady Foxes. The are close time-wise to Minooka. It will come down to the fifth runner to decide the team winner. Morgan Dick will lead Oswego East in this race and could win individually. The Wolves averaged 30 seconds between their second and fifth runners. Keeping that split with the pack starting with a second runner in the top 10 could get East the conference title. Plainfield North ran a great race at Naperville Twilight putting the Tigers in position to win this meet. Marlie Czarniewski is a runner that we could see finishing in the top 10. 5 runners in the top 25 could see North in position to win.

Mid Illini Conference @ Detweiller Park (Friday) – This is the first of three meets that will take place at Detweiller Park within a 24 hour period. 2A #2 Washington leads the Girls field in this meet. 2A #8 Dunlap and 2A #14 Morton are the other ranked teams in this race. All three of these teams could be separated by 20 points in this meet. Sophia Ramirez is the individual race favorite and the top runner for Washington. The Panthers have a good pack led by Jayne Hermann and Madeleine James that could place 5 runners in the top 12 on Friday. Dunlap could have Abby Tudeen, Katie Sell, and Kate Robertson all finish in the top 10. The split between three to four is projected to be near 50 seconds. Cutting that split down gets the Eagles closer to the front. Isabella Greider and Avery Braker are the top runners for Morton and could finish among the top five runners in this race.

2A #1 Morton races Friday after defeating the then #1 Glenbard South by one point at Metamora. Josh Weeks leads the team and is the overwhelming favorite in this race. Weeks is the only runner in the conference under 15-minutes on a three-mile course. Devon Hayes of Pekin is next closest at 15:27. 2A #10 Washington and 2A #27 Dunlap are the only ranked teams in the Boys race. Sam Tellefson and Fisher Rinkenberger are the top runners for the Panthers. Both should finish in the top 10.

Fox Valley Conference @ Plato Park, Elgin - #25 Hampshire and #20 Huntley along with 2A #5 Crystal Lake South should be among the top teams in the Girls race. Hampshire is having a great breakout season that could result in first a conference win and possibly a trip to the state meet. The Whips have a solid top four led by Hudson Szymoniak and Ella Perrone. Both could finish among the top five individuals. Even though Huntley was supposed to be rebuilding, the Red Raiders could come away with the conference title led by freshman Haley Rahman and Ava Allison possible top 10 finishers. The two teams could be separated by less than five points. The team with the first fifth runner in could win the team title. Crystal Lake South could also be in the mix with Abby Machesky and Olivia Pinta in the top 10. The Gators will need a split under 60 seconds to get close to the win. Danielle Jensen of McHenry won in dominating fashion two weeks ago at Peoria and will be the runner to watch in this meet.

#25 Jacobs and 2A #16 Prairie Ridge will be the spotlight teams in the Boys race. Jacobs has run well in the last couple of races and puts themselves in position to win. Andrew Beyer, Matt Andreano, and Max Sudrzynski are the team’s top three runners that could all finish in the top five in this race. Getting the fourth and fifth runners form close to a 90 second split on the top five. That needs to close down for a conference win. Will Gelon, Gerrit Dam, and Evan Gilleland all could finish in the top 10. If the #1 runner for the Wolves can break the top three pack of Jacobs, that could give Prairie Ridge a chance to win. Huntley could surprise led by individual race favorite Tommy Nitz.

Central State Eight @ Community Park, Jacksonville – 2A #1 Chatham-Glenwood with the addition of three freshmen to their top seven has made the Titans the top team in Class 2A and the Girls team to beat in this meet. Ali Londrigan and Ashlyn Chopra have been the top runners for their team this fall. The Titans will get ready for regionals winning this meet with 5 runners finishing in the top 10. 2A #7 Normal University it seems their top runners Natalie Bierbaum and Zoe Carter together in the last three meets. U-High did not run them in this meet last fall. Both runners could make it a 1-2 sweep for the Pioneers. Glenwood’s depth could be too much for U-High. 2A #13 Rochester ran well last week at Metamora and could close the gap on the front two teams led by Ashley and Brooke Zeibert. Springfield could move in the top three with a good race. Mia Volpert is the Senators’ top runner and could finish among the top 10 runners.

2A #5 Normal University will be the overwhelming favorite in the Boys race. The possibility is that the Pioneers could put all seven runners in the top ten led by Mason Hart and Landen Alcorn. A split under 25 seconds on those runners should also happen. 2A #19 Chatham-Glenwood is the only other ranked team in this meet. Van Schneider is the top runner for the team and could be among the top five finishers.

Southwest Suburban Conference @ Lockport Township East Campus - #12 Sandburg is one of three ranked teams in the Girls race and should be the race team favorite. The Eagles should have all 5 runners in the top 10 led by Lindsey Gerhardstein and Katie Roche. #18 Lincoln-Way East and #24 Lincoln-Way Central should challenge for the second-place finish. Brea Counihan of Central will be the individual favorite in the race with Gerhardstein and Roche, Maura Hanrahan of East, and Madeline Mellin of Bradley-Bourbonnais some of the runners you should see in the front.

The Boys individual race is wide open. The team race could be a close call for defending champion #22 Sandburg. #21 Lincoln-Way East could be their toughest competition along with a good packing Lincoln-Way Central team. Sandburg is a young team led by all-state runner Grant Giblin who will be one of the favorites in this race. Sean Hanrahan and Michael O’Brien could be in the top 10 for East. Both teams have top five splits that could range from 60 to 70 seconds. Sandburg placing four runners ahead of Lincoln-Way East’s third runner could clinch another conference title for the Eagles. Evan Jensen and Braden Hoff are the top runners for Central that could be in the top 10. The 25 second split between their second and third runners could hurt the Knights chances in this race. Giblin and Hanrahan will be the runners to watch in the front. Jeremiah Lanum of Bradley-Bourbonnais, Nathan Powley of Lockport, and Habtamu Epley of Homewood-Flossmoor are runners you will also see in the front.

Peoria Heights Patriot Invitational @ Detweiller Park – It’s not a conference meet but it is the biggest meet happening in Illinois (66 Class 1A teams entered). This is the final meet of the weekend at Detweiller Park. With the possibility of rain, how well will the course stand up over the three meets?

Molly Farrell of Marshall ran 16:50 at the Woodbridge in California in September and could be one of the favorites in this race. Eleana Rybak of Father McGivney finished second in September at First to the Finish and could be in position to win this race. Kennady Anderson of Kewanee Wethersfield, Emily Dowling of Cambridge, and Kaitlyn Hatley of Father McGivney will be some of the runners that you will see in the front.

#1 Tolono Unity is the top team in this meet and favorite to win the Girls Division. The Rockets scoring under 55 points is something that we could see. #3 Shelbyville will race Thursday at the Central Illinois Conference Meet. We will see how they race in this meet. #11 Pleasant Plains was edged by #10 Williamsville last Saturday at  the Sangamo Conference Meet. Both teams could finish in the top five in this race. #12 Knoxville has been a strong team and capable of finishing among the top five teams. Other ranked teams we will see in the Girls race include #8 Delavan, #13 Elmwood, #15 Father McGivney, #18 Marshall, #20 Sherrard, #24 Stanford Olympia, #27 Lowpoint-Washburn, and #29 Stark County.

The Boys individual race is a little more wide-open. Isaiah Hill of Elmwood finished fifth last Monday at the Amboy Columbus Day Invitational but could be the favorite in this race. Carson Maroon of St. Joseph-Ogden and Elijah Teefey of Pleasant Plains could be Hill’s chief competition.

#7 St. Joseph-Ogden should be the team favorite with Maroon, Aden Armstrong, and Jack Fisher all able to finish among the top 10 individuals. #4 Elmwood finished second at Amboy on Monday led by Hill. They ran a tight 2-5 split in that race led by Reed Florey that could help them win in this race. Other ranks team in the Boys race include #10 Pleasant Plains, #12 Georgetown De La Salette, #15 Petersburg PORTA< #19 Tolono Unity, #20 Riverside, #23 Erie, #25 Princeville, and #28 Sterling Newman.