2019 Palatine Invitational-Meet of Champions Preview

By Michael Newman

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Well, at least this meet will not have a heat index in the 90’s like it has felt like the past two years of this meet. The only thing that will heat up at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve on Saturday is the competition in the two Varsity Meet of Champion races.

The rainy weather that is expected all day Friday is supposed to be out of the Palatine area by the time the gun fires for the first race at 9:00 AM CDT.

Both defending individual champions Molly FitzPatrick and Josh Methner will look to bring home another win. The team battles will feature three schools challenging defending Boys champion Hersey. Barrington, Wheaton-Warrenville South, and York will challenge for the Girls team championship.

Here is a look at the two Meet of Champions races that will take place Saturday morning.

MEET INFORMATION

Girls Varsity Race – 10:20 AM

Teams – 3A: #5 Barrington, #8 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #9 York, #11 Oswego, #13 New Trier, #16 Lyons Township, #21 Lockport Township, #22 Prospect, #23 Palatine, #25 Downers Grove North, Buffalo Grove, Cary-Grove, Dundee-Crown, Edwardsville, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Loyola Academy, Maine South, Mundelein, Stevenson; 2A: #2 Vernon Hills, #5 Dunlap, #7 Lakes Community, #8 Fenwick, #16 Prairie Ridge, Crystal Lake Central; Out of State Schools – Assumption KY, Bishop Kenny FL

Team Preview – This could be a wide-open team race with Barrington having the slight edge. The Fillies have the power up front with Molly FitzPatrick, Allison Drage, and Alyssa Norris all possibilities of finishing in the top 10. The gap between Norris and Annie Berquist was 34 seconds two weeks ago at Peoria with an overall top five split at 158 seconds. The field is smaller on Saturday. That gap will need to come down for this team to win.

Wheaton-Warrenville South did not have their best race last week at the Richard Spring Invitational finishing seventh in that race. They return to Palatine after a two year hiatus looking to make a statement. Samantha Poglitsch will be one of the runners in the front to lead the team. The Lady Tigers had a split at Peoria of over two minutes on their top five and a split of 95 seconds on their second through fifth runners. Both splits needs to come down in order for this team to leave Deer Grove East with a championship.

York also did not have their best race in Peoria finishing fifth ahead of Wheaton-Warrenville South and will look to rebound on Saturday. The Dukes had run a tight pack in their first two meets led by freshman Brooke Berger. The second through fifth runners still had a 12 second split last week, but 30 seconds behind Berger. The split for this team needs to be under 34 seconds with Berger in the top 12 for this team to win the meet title. Oswego also has a freshman leading them in Audra Soderlind who finished 22nd last week in Peoria. Rebecca Corbett and Ella Hale have continued to improve after early season injuries and could next step up in this meet. The split needs to close down for the Panthers to challenge for a top finish in this meet. It was 82 seconds on their top five last week.

One of the top Class 2A teams Vernon Hills is in this field and will challenge for a finish in the top five. Freshman Rose Sheridan has stepped up as the team’s top runner. She finished third in the 2A race at Peoria two weeks ago and should be among the top 10 runners in this race. Emma Wakefield and Reina Hill lead a strong Cougar pack behind Sheridan. Dunlap is back in this meet and could be among the top 10 teams on Saturday. Another freshman, Saniya Mathew, is having a strong opening season and will be among the top runners along with Macy Priess.

New Trier will have Bridget Forbes leading them with aspirations of finishing in the top five teams. Lyons Township, the defending champion in this meet, could be a surprise led by Kate Dickman. Lockport Township has been running with a tight pack all season and will be a factor in the top five if they can move that pack closer to the front. Prospect finished two points behind Lockport last week at Libertyville. The Knights, led by Audrey Ginsberg, could push their way into the top five at this meet.

There are two out of state schools entered in this meet. Bishop Kenny FL is coming off a 12th place finish last week at the Kate Caples Invitational led by Anna Albertelli. This is the first time that the Florida school will run in this meet. Assumption KY makes its annual appearance at Deer Grove East. They traveled west to California last week to compete in the Woodbridge XC Classic. Assumption finished fourth in the Varsity Red A race led by the fifth-place finish from Taylor White.

Individuals Preview – Molly FitzPatrick of Barrington ran away with the individual title in last year’s race winning by 32 seconds. This race on Saturday should be closer. FitzPatrick did start her season by winning at Peoria two weeks ago. Defending Class 2A Champion Brooke Stromsland of Lakes Community will be pushing FitzPatrick. Stromsland finished second behind the Barrington junior in the Peoria race and will be a factor in the front. Samantha Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South ran 16:59 finishing fourth at the Richard Spring Invitational last week. Expect this junior to be among the leaders in the front. Kate Dickman of Lyons Township finished third last year and will be expected near the front. Riley Knoyle of Edwardsville will be among a group of freshman with Rose Sheridan of Vernon Hills, Audra Soderlind of Oswego, Brooke Johnson of Lake Zurich, Brooke Berger of York, and Saniya Mathew of Dunlap that could be among the top 15 finishers in this race. Allison Drage and Alyssa Norris of Barrington, Melissa Jachim of Downers Grove North, and Kaitlyn Nenninger of Wheaton-Warrenville South are some of the other runners to keep an eye on.

Boys Varsity – 10:50 PM

Teams – 3A: #4 Hersey, #5 York, #6 New Trier, #7 Lake Zurich, #9 Oswego East, #13 Maine South, #14 Hinsdale Central, #15 Barrington, #17 Mundelein, #19 Jones College Prep, #20 Palatine, #21 Edwardsville, Cary-Grove, Dundee-Crown, Downers Grove South, Libertyville, Loyola Academy, Oak Park-River Forest, Plainfield North, Plainfield South, Prospect, Stevenson; 2A: #4 St. Ignatius Prep, #23 Crystal Lake Central, #24 Grayslake Central, Fenwick, Prairie Ridge; Out of State Schools – Bishop Kenny FL, St. Louis University MO, St. Xavier KY

Team Preview – Hersey dominated the team race in last year’s race winning by over 100 points. The Huskies will be one of the team favorites in this meet led by defending Class 3A state Champion Josh Methner and Max Svienty. Methner will be the favorite in this race. Svienty could finish among the top five individuals. The pack behind their two-all state runners was only 15 seconds between the third and fifth runners last week in Peoria. The gap between two and three was 39 seconds in that race. That gap needs to be narrowed for Hersey to defend their title.

It was a rusty first race of the year for York’s Varsity team last week at Peoria finishing sixth overall. Their pack was together through half the race and then fell apart. Watch for the Dukes to bounce back in this race led by Daniel Klysh, Sam Ayers, Michael Moriarty, and Colin Hill. A tight split between the four runners in the front could mean big things Saturday for York.

A tight pack for New Trier will be a necessity for this team to come home with the team title. The Trevians won at Peoria two weeks ago led by Charlie Siebert and Andrew Flynn. Their top five split was only 24 seconds in that meet. The pack needs to start with one runner in the top 10 for New Trier to leave with the team title. Lake Zurich opened their season finishing eighth last week at Peoria and will challenge for the top five in this meet. Jacob Myers and Jack Gilboy were under 15-minutes last week finishing within two seconds of each other. Danny Burns ran in the Frosh/Soph race last week and could be a factor if he runs on the Varsity level.

Oswego East finished third behind New Trier in the Peoria race and could be ready to break out on Saturday. The Wolves could have a solid four in the top 20 led by Heriberto Alvarez and Nicholas Bozarth. The key will be getting their top five split under 40 seconds for this team to take home the win.

St. Louis University MO and St. Xavier KY are two of the three out of state schools in this meet. U-High finished third scoring the same points with Neuqua Valley. Seniors Lucas Rackers and Noah Scott should be the team’s top runners. Bishop Kenny FL makes their first performance at Deer Grove East after finishing 17th last week at the Katie Caples Invitational. St. Xavier KY finished eighth last week at the Trinity/Valkyre Invitational in Louisville behind Nolan Hester’s 25th place finish.

Individual Preview – Josh Methner of Hersey is back to defend his title in this race. The two-time state champion set the course record of 14:32.2 in last year’s race. His 14:12.6 that he ran last week at Detweiller Park shows that he could drop that record down even more. The anticipated weather on Friday in Palatine could soften the course up making it tough to match that time.

The Mundelein duo of Dillon Blake and Carter Schorr could be the top competition for Methner in this race. Blake ran 14:28.7 last week in California while Schorr finished seven seconds back in 14:35. Both could be among the top five in this race.

Methner’s teammate Max Svienty will be a factor in the front in this race. Joey Kasch of Maine South, Lake Zurich’s Jacob Myers and Jack Gilboy, and York’s Daniel Klysh have run under 14:55 this year and will be in the lead pack behind the first four. Oswego East’s Heriberto Alvarez, Richie Jacobo of Palatine, and Patrick Furlong of Barrington are some of the runners to watch in the front.