2019 Nike Cross Nationals - Midwest Regional Previews

Katelynne Hart will look to repeat in the Girls Championship race (Laura Duffy Photo)

By Michael Newman

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State meets have been run and state champions have been decided. High school runners from five states throughout the Midwest will converge on the Lavern Gibson National Cross Country Course for the running of the Nike Cross Midwest Regional Championships on November 16 in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The top two club teams and top five individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon on December 7.

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The Boys Championship race could show the dominance of Illinois teams along with Josh Methner who set the Detweiller Park Course record last Saturday at the Illinois High School State Cross Country Championships.

The Girls Championship race could be a great team race between the second-place team finisher from the last two NXN Championships North Naperville IL and Creek Strong OH who has been ranked among the top 10 teams nationally most of this season.

There will be a Michigan school Purple Track Club MI that won the Michigan D1 Team Championship on November 2 with seven runners in this field. Due to Michigan High School Athletic Association by-laws, Michigan athletes can only compete in meets such as this as individual runners.

The Individual race in the Girls Championship competition should be lights out led by defending meet champion and four-time Illinois State High School champion Katelynne Hart.

The schedule has changed with the Boys Championship race beginning at 3:40 EST with the Girls Championship race beginning 20 minutes later at 4:00 PM EST.

The Boys Championship Race – 3:40 PM EST

It could come down to one of three Illinois teams that will capture on of the two automatic qualifying spots in this race.

ILXCSPEEDRATINGS.COM BOYS RACE PROJECTIONS

Saints XC Club IL and Wheaton South IL were only separated by four points in last Saturday’s Illinois IHSA State Cross Country Championships recording two of the top seven team times ever run at Detweiller Park.

Bob Liking and Micah Wilson will lead Saints XC Club IL as they did last week in finishing in the top 10. The squad ran only a 24 second split on their top five with their best performance of the season. The team has averaged near 33 seconds on their scoring split most of the season.

Wheaton South IL had the second lowest score ever for a non-winning team in last week’s state meet and will be in the hunt on repeating a trip to Portland like they did last year when they finished second in this race. The Tigers ran an incredible 16 seconds split on their top five runners last week led by all-state performances from William Hauenstein, David Zeller, and Ethan Seng. A repeat of the state performance could send this team back to Portland.

Trouble hit Kroy IL in the opening stages of last week’s Illinois State Meet when they were almost slowed to a halt on the first turn of the race. The Dukes rebounded and finished third led by the all-state performance from Daniel Klysh. Kroy has the experience on this course having won the Nike Valley Twilight Meet in October with a 15:52 average and a 34 second split. Kroy could be close to the two other Illinois teams in the front. Watch their split on their top five runners. It was still only 33 seconds with all the problems that they encountered. The two previous weeks it was 19 seconds and 21 seconds on their scorers.

Cadets IN was on this course two weeks ago when they won the Indiana State Cross Country team championship. Reece Gibson, Drake Kropf, and Wilson Whicker (all seniors) finished in the top 20 in that race. The team had a 51 second split on their top five runners. That split will need to come down for this team to challenge for a top five finish.

Sandburg XC Club IL missed a trophy in Peoria last week by three points behind Kroy IL and should challenge for a top five finish in this race. Ben and Will Giblin are usually separated by one to three seconds in races. They should be that close to each other again on Saturday. The team’s split was 48 seconds in the state race. That needs to come down 10 seconds for the Eagles to challenge for one of the first four spots.

The Carmel Project IN finished second behind Cadets IN in the Indiana State Meet could challenge for the top five especially with their familiarity of this course. Freshman Kole Mathison and Senior Grant Moon were within two seconds at state and will need to repeat that effort in this race. Carmel finished second behind Kroy IL at the Nike Valley Twilight Meet in October. They had a 32 second split on their top five runners in the state race. That split needs to stay close to that time with their pack closer to the front to increase their chances for a top five finish.

Team AMDG OH won the Ohio D1 State Meet by five points ahead of Nomas OH two weeks ago. Both squads could challenge for a top five finish. Nathan Mountain leads AMDG as he did at state when he finished fifth. The Bombers ran a 53 second split off Mountain. That time needs to come down on Saturday. Nomas had a 36 second top five split led by Aiden Amshoff and Johan Meyer. Their pack will also need to move closer to the front to get not the top five.

Other teams to watch in the top 10 include Husky Running IL, Park Ridge Hawks IL, Sheridan Athletic Club IL, Peninsula XC Club OH, and Arlington XC IL.

Josh Methner of Arlington XC IL leads an individual race that will have at least six state champions near the front. Methner had an epic race in Peoria last week breaking a 47-year old course record formally held by Craig Virgin running 13:49.86 for 3-miles. Methner finished second in this race last year and should be the favorite in this race.

Caleb Brown of Shelby OH will be one of the chief challengers to Methner. Brown has won the Ohio D2 Individual title the past two years. Evan Bishop of Grand Rapids MI is another runner to keep an eye on. He won the Michigan D2 State title two weeks ago. He ran 14:56.4 for five-kilometers in his regional race on October 25.

Matt Duvall of Pickerington OH won the Ohio D1 State title and will challenge for a top five individual finish. Wesley Porter of Kansas City MO is the Missouri D4 Champion and could be a dark horse in this field. Gabriel Sanchez of Lowell IN won the Indiana State title on this course two weeks ago and could find his way into the top five.

Tyler Cushing of Bolingbrook IL ran 14:16 for 3-miles last week behind Methner in the Illinois State race. Cushing finished seventh in this race last year and could find his way into the top five. Jake Allen of North Naperville IL and Jared Kreis of New Lenox IL are two more Illinois runners that could find their way to challenging for a qualifying spot.

Other runners to watch in the front in this race include Mhalichi Bronson of Defiance OH, Brendan Favazza of Clarkston MI, Jack Spamer of Brighton MI, Lucas Guerra of Highland IN, Justin Iler of Hunting Valley OH, Nathan Moore of Uniontown OH, Luke Combs of Lapel IN, Dalton Kane of Plainwell IN, and Ian Geisler of Huntley IL.

The Girls Championship Race – 4:00 PM EST

Two of the top Girls teams in the nation face off in what should be a team race separated by less than 10 points. Add in an individual race featuring five of the top 15 individual Girls runners in the nation to this championship makes this the spotlight race of the day.

ILXCSPEEDRATINGS.COM GIRLS RACE PROJECTIONS

North Naperville IL has the experience in this championship finishing second in the past two Nike Cross National Championships meaning they know how to get from Point A to Point B.

The Huskies dominated at the Illinois State Cross Country Championships winning their fourth straight Class 3A team title. Maggie Gamboa finished in the top five with teammate Audrey Mendrys close behind in the state race. The team had a 59 second top five split. Their split between Mendrys and fifth runner Molly Morton was 41 seconds. That number needs to close down to challenge for the win.

The one thing that other teams have been watching on Creek Strong OH has been their split from their fourth to fifth runners. It was around two minutes in their first race of the year. In their state race two weeks ago, the gap between Juliann Williams to fifth-runner Kendall Hobbs was at 64 seconds.

The Beavers have the firepower in the front with Taylor Ewert challenging for the individual win and Savannah Roark a possibility in the top 10 on Saturday. The top four split off Ewert at state was 50 seconds. That kind of split could secure a team championship in this race.

North Naperville IL could win this race but will need all seven of their runners in before Creek Strong’s fourth runner to challenge for the win.

With Purple Strong MI able to run seven runners in this race but not able to score, it opens the door for Yorkville Endurance IL who qualified for Portland last year finishing second. Injuries slowed the Lady Foxes down early this season but appear to be peaking at the right time. They finished second behind North Naperville IL in last week’s race and could close the gap between the two teams even closer. The Lady Foxes only had a 42 second split on their top five runners led by Helena Kleronomos including a 10 second split between their second through fifth runners. If North Naperville or Creek Strong falters, Yorkville Endurance could step into one of the two auto qualifying positions.

The Dale IL had top 10 finishes from Emma Watcke and McKenna Revord in placing third in the Illinois 3A race. Another strong race from the Red Devilettes gets this team among the first five squads. The Downers South Distance Club IL did not have their best race last week in Peoria finishing fifth. The Lady Mustangs, led by Brenna Cohoon and Erin Reidy, were ranked second most of the year in Illinois. They should bounce back in this race.

LEXC OH and Davidson Wildcats OH finished second and third behind Creek Strong and will challenge for a top five finish. The Carmel Project IN is the top ranked Indiana school in this field after finishing third in their state meet. Lee’s Summit West XC Club MO is the top Missouri team in this after winning the Class 4 State Championship.

This could be one of the top individual races of all the eight Nike Cross Regional Meets led by defending champion Katelynne Hart of West Glenbard IL. Hart’s season was capped off by winning her fourth straight Illinois Class 3A State Championship. She will be the one runner that everyone will be looking for in the front.

Tatum David of Olney IL has popped up on the scene after a strong middle school career. The freshman ran the fastest time of the day (one second ahead of Hart) last week in the Illinois State Meet winning the Class 2A title. This will be the first time that Hart and David have raced against each other.

We remember what Taylor Ewert of Creek Strong OH did in last year’s Midwest Regional race finishing third less than 24 hours after winning the Ohio D1 State Championship. Ewert won her state title again this year but will have two weeks to recover before Saturday. Ewert ran 17:26 to win the Nike Valley Twilight Meet in October. The three runners up front could go after Judy Pendergast’s 17:00 course record.

Zofia Dudek of Purple Strong MI is another runner that you will see in the front in this race. The senior led her school to the team championship by winning the D1 Individual State Title in 17:00.4. Dudek should be watched in the front. Karina James of Lowell IN finished fourth in her state race and could be a threat in the top five. Erin Strzelecki of Fort Wayne IN won the Indiana state championship and could push for one of the five qualifying individual spots

Illinois has a good group of runners that could find their way into one of the top five spots. If Ewert finishes in the top five and her team qualifies, then it could be six.

Lianna Surtz of Batavia IL qualified for NXN last year as a freshman and is on the verge of doing that again. The sophomore won the state’s Class 1A title last week along with finishing third at the end of September at the Roy Griak Invitational. Katrina Schlenker of Batavia also made it to Portland last year and appears to be ready to go for Saturday’s race after missing the first month of the season due to injury. Schlenker finished third last week in the Class 3A State race.

Brooke Stromsland of Lake Villa IL and Ava Parekh of Chicago IL finished second and third in the Class 2A state race and will be threats in this race. Samantha Poglitsch of Wheaton South IL is on a roll after finishing second behind Hart in the Class 3A race. The junior is running with momentum and could find her way finishing in the top five.

Other runners to keep an eye on the front in this race include Aly Negovetich of Fox Lake IL, Addie Engel of Springfield OH, Savannah Roark of Creek Strong OH, Annalyssa Crain of Edgewood IN, Audrey DaDamio of Birmingham MI, Grace Hartman of Dayton OH, Emma Bucher of Centerville OH, and Maggie Gamboa of North Naperville IL.