Illinois HS XC Weekend Highlights - August 29, 2021

Nick Lundin Photo: Minooka Girls lead the way in Normal West Girls race

By Michael Newman

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The 2021 Cross Country season started in earnest at the Yorkville Invitational last Monday. Saturday saw more meets than we usually see on this weekend. It could be because there are so many schools that have been waiting for the opportunity to race again after what teams went through last fall.

The conditions were less than optimal for athletes competing on Saturday with temperatures at some meet locations hitting 80 degrees by 9:00 AM with humidity near 95%. It was not about the times that were produced but the ability just to race again in a normal race.

Clinton and Bethalto Civic Memorial scheduled twilight meets on Saturday evening. The temperatures were still oppressive but at least they were not running under a hot sun. The Aurora City Meet and Kane County Meets moved their schedules up earlier. Kane County combined their Varsity and Frosh/Soph races for each gender. The heat caught up at Waubonsie Valley for Aurora City where they had to cancel the Girls Frosh/Soph race.

The thing is that we get a chance to look back at meets that had big packs and fans cheering them on.

You can read about the following meets or look at the results on the following links:

Yorkville 8/23 | Aurora City 8/28 | Saturday Results

Here are highlights of some of the meets that took place on Saturday.

EIU Showdown @ Neuqua Valley

This was the top meet of the weekend featuring three top 20 3A Boys teams. The meet had previously been held at Green Valley Forest Preserve. This season it was held on the Neuqua Valley High School campus course.

That Boys race was the featured race of the meet. Oliver Burns of Plainfield North showed why he could be one of the top runners in Class 3A by easily winning the race (15:14) by 17 seconds ahead of Highland Park sophomore Nate Wehner (15:31). #2 Downers Grove North placed 3 runners in the top 5 and 5 runners in the top 18 to win with 42 points. #18 Plainfield North edged #17 Neuqua Valley 51-52 to finish second.

The Trojans had a nice 10 second split from the 3-4-5 finish from Roy Llewellyn (15:32), Karan Shetty (15:35), and Topher Ferris (15:42). Downers North’s top five split was 66 seconds. Plainfield North, led by Burns’ win, placed 5 runners in the top 19 with an 88 second split. Their split from second runner Cooper Shelton (7th) and Suchir Sumant (19th) was 53 seconds. Neuqua Valley ran a tight pack led by the sixth-place finish from Ryan Palmer. The Wildcats placed 5 runners in the first 14 with only a 39 second split.

Kelly Carpenter of Jacobs started her 2021 season strongly running 18:42 to win the Girls race. Her teammate Elisabeth Kania finished second (18:57). #16 Downers Grove North swept the next four places led by Ashley Novak’s third-place finish and won the team title with 29 points. Jacobs (46 points) and Plainfield North (63 points) finished second and third. The Lady Trojans placed 5 in the first 11 to win with a 57 second split on that group. Their top four split was only 5 seconds.

Normal West Invitational @ Maxwell Park

3A #5 Minooka claimed their second invitational win this week placing 3 in the top 4 and 5 in the top 9 to easily win the Girls team title with only 24 points. Jocelyn Host led Minooka with the individual win (18:37) ahead of teammate Gabriella McCollom (19:00). Gianna Arizzi of Lincoln-Way West finished third (19:11). Gabrielle Kics (4th), Kathryn Cichon (8th), and Sara McLaughlin (9th) rounded out Minooka’s top five with a 92 split on the group. 2A #10 Dunlap finished second (64 points) led by fifth and seventh place finishes from freshmen Kate Robertson and Abby Tudeen.

3A #15 Minooka made it a sweep for their school in this meet. The Indians placed 5 runners in the top 13 with a 70 second split to win the Boys team title (33 points) ahead of 3A #26 Plainfield South (66 points). Caden Simone of Lincoln-Way Central ran 15:37 to claim the individual title just ahead of Zachary Balzer of Minooka (15:40). Daniel Schalk of Minooka (16:10) and Byron Jones of Belleville East (16:15) finished third and fourth. Emerson Fayman (5th), Cole Kics (10th), and Hayden Host (13th) were also part of Minooka’s top five. 2A #1 Morton finished third with 81 points. The Potters put 5 runners in the top 35 led by a 7-8-11 finish from Yonas Wuthrich, Josh Weeks, and Cade Zobrist. 27 seconds separated their first three runners. Their top five split was 92 seconds.

Saber Korn Classic @ St. Thomas More, Champaign

This was one of the top 1A meets of the weekend. Kate Ahmari of Urbana University stamped her claim as one of this fall’s top 1A runners with a win in the Girls race at this meet. Ahmari almost won by a minute running a quick 18:34 considering the conditions. 1A #2 Monticello scored 32 points to win the team title behind the 2-3 finish from Estella Miller (19:31) and Mabry Bruhn (19:44). The Lady Sages placed 4 runners in the top 8, 5 runners in the first 15. Aleigha Garrison of Judah Christian (20:09) and Trixie Johnson of Paxton-Buckley-Loda (20:12) finished fourth and fifth. 1A #7 Urbana University (59 points) and 1A #27 Stanford Olympia (95 points) finished second and third.

Ryder James of Paxton-Buckley-Loda was in control in his opening race of the season. James ran 16:38 to claim the Boys individual win. Henry Laufenberg of Urbana University had a strong race running 16:53 to finish second. Ed Mitchell of Monticello ran 17:03 to finish third. 1A #27 Stanford Olympia got top 10 finishes from Owen Dare (5th) and Carter Phillips (10th) to win the Boys team title with 62 points. 1A #20 Monticello (76 points), 1A #9 Paxton-Buckley-Loda (77 points), and Urbana University (89 points) were the next three teams in the standings.

McHenry County Meet @ Emricson Park, Woodstock

Prairie Ridge’s Rachel Soukup claimed top honors in the Girls race claiming the win in 19:11 on the Emricson Park 5k course. Jocelyn Onstot of Cary-Grove edged Isabella Gonzalez of Crystal Lake South for second. Both runners were timed in 19:18. There were no team scores officially kept. If there were, 2A #3 Prairie Ridge would have scored 39 points to finish first with 3 runners placing in the top 8. Huntley, led by the 4-5 finish from Breanna and Brittney Burak, scored 49 points. 2A #4 Crystal Lake South had 56 points. Karson Hollander of Crystal Lake Central ran 16:34 to claim the Boys race win with Cary-Grove’s Ian Barnes running second (16:43). Huntley placed 5 runners in the top 15 with only a 41 second split to score 42 points. Crystal Lake Central (64 points) and 2A #25 Prairie Ridge (66 points) finished second and third.

Rocket Run for the Stars Invitational @ Limestone

Wilson Georges of Limestone should set the standard in Class 2A this fall. He started his season in less than perfect conditions running 15:33 to easily win the Boys race. Brendan Heitzig of Lincoln ran 16:25 to finish second. Peoria Notre Dame, led by the fourth-place finish from Trey Rocha, placed 5 in the first 11 with a 39 second split to win the team title. Moline (60 points), 2A #26 Lincoln (70 points), and 2A #27 Limestone (113 points) were the next three team finishers. 2A #22 Peoria Notre Dame won the Girls team title 34-37 ahead of 1A #12 Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin. Becca Heitzig of Lincoln controlled the race from the beginning running 18:46 for the individual win. Maddie Miller of East Moline ran 19:57 to finish second.

Kane County Meet @ Northwestern Medicine XC Course

Warm and sticky conditions welcomed runners to this new course located at Settler’s Hill in Geneva. This course did not disappoint with new standards set for future runners to go after. 3A State 3200 Meter Run champion Micah Wilson started where he left off from his race in Oregon at the beginning of July. Wilson pulled away from the field in winning the Boys race and setting the course record (15:40) in winning the inaugural Boys race on this rolling course. Yusuf Baig of Burlington Central will be a runner to watch this fall in Class 2A. The junior ran 15:52 to finish second. Quintin Lowe of Batavia finished third (16:06) just ahead of Geneva’s Nathan Lehman (16:07). 3A #3 St. Charles East did not run their full line-up in this meet. The Saints still dominated winning the team title with 47 points. Wilson was followed by teammates Mitch Garcia (5th), Joseph Xotla (7th), Lexton Rockwell (14th), and Ethan Piercy (20th). Their top five split was 111 seconds off Wilson. Their 2-5 split of Garcia was 83 seconds. Throw in Jedidiah Wilson who won the Frosh/Soph race (16:54). He would have been the team’s fourth runner with their top five split at 88 seconds and 2-5 at only 60 seconds. Batavia (80 points) finished second ahead of Geneva (82 points) and Hampshire (91 points).

3A #9 St. Charles East made it a sweep for the school scoring only 24 points to win the Girls team title with 5 runners in the first 11 and only a 75 second split. Bella DiCrosta of St. Charles North easily won the Girls individual race (18:24) by almost a minute ahead of St. Charles East’s Morgan Sandlund (19:23). Brooklyn Walker (3rd), Eleanor Clark (8th), Hannah Kilpatrick (9th), and Amelia Bellizzi (11th) were part of the Lady Saints’ top five. Batavia (63 points) and 3A #18 South Elgin (73 points) finished second and third. Katrina Schlenker of Batavia and Naomi Ruff of South Elgin did not run in this race.

Doc Acklin Memorial Invitational @ Paris

It was a nice beginning for St. Joseph-Ogden as they swept both the Boys and Girls races in this meet. Their Boys team ranked #2 in Class 1A placed 5 runners in the top 11 to win the team title with 30 points. Tuscola (58 points) and Newton (66 points) finished second and third. 1A 800 Meter Champion Eli Mojonnier of Bismarck-Henning ran 16:43 to claim the win 14 seconds ahead of Newton’s Nick Zwilling (16:57). The Spartans had a 67 split on their top five led by the fourth-place finish from Luke Stegall.

1A #8 St. Joseph-Ogden finished ahead of #10 Marshall 31 to 58 for the Girls team title. Ava Knapp led the Lady Spartans running 20:00 for the individual win. Her freshman teammate Savannah Franzen ran 20:11 to finish second. Marshall teammates Brooklyn Bender and Isabel Arthur finished third and fourth.

Mascoutah Kickoff Meet

Eris Nelson of Althoff Catholic started her cross-country season like she did when she left the track at Charleston running great. Nelson ran 19:04 to win the Girls race just five seconds ahead of Father McGivney freshman Elena Rybak (19:09). Waterloo won the team title with 43 points placing 5 runners in the top 21. Angelynn Kanyuck led Waterloo finishing third. 2A #21 Mascoutah finished second (75 points) ahead of Father McGivney (103 points) and Breese Mater Dei (112 points). Joe Schwartz of Waterloo took the lead early and rolled to the Boys race win (16:08) by 34 seconds ahead of Mascoutah’s Lance Miller (16:42). Jack Hiller’s third-place finish helped Althoff Catholic win the Boys team title with 88 points. Freeburg (106 points) finished second ahead of Mascoutah (111 points) and Alton (114 points).

Light It Up Invitational @ Clinton

The lights were in place at Clinton for the inaugural meet for the school. 1A #7 Arthur-Lovington scored 44 points for the team win placing 4 runners in the top 7 led by the 3-4 finish from Logan Beckmeier and Jace Green. The split in that group was only 28 seconds. The Knights had a five-runner split of 109 seconds off the 26th place finish from Jesus Corona. St. Teresa finished second (61 points) ahead of #10 Normal University (68 points). U-High’s Sachit Muduli ran 16:11 to claim the individual win ahead of teammate Brandt Henderson (16:22).

Normal University, paced by Zoe Carter’s individual win, scored 32 points to win the team title ahead of 2A #7 Mahomet Seymour (40 points). The U-High freshman ran 18:51 for the win with teammate Delaney Fitzgerald close behind in second (18:53). The Pioneers placed 4 runners in the top 7 with their fifth runner Eve Whitlow finishing 18th. Mahomet-Seymour packed it up in this race with 5 runners in the top 12 led by Ava Boyd’s fourth-place finish. Their top five split was only 52 seconds.

CM Twilight Invitational

This meet at Bethalto Civic Memorial was a Boys Triangular and a Girls Quad. Jackson Collman of Civic Memorial ran 17:03 to win the Boys race with teammate Justice Eldridge next in at 17:10. Civic Memorial placed 5 runners in the top 9 to win with 23 points ahead of Rochester with 32 points. Colleen Zeibert of Rochester made her seasonal debut running 19:16 for the win. Hannah Meiser of Civic Memorial ran 20:28 to finish second 72 seconds behind Zeibert. Civic Memorial also won the Girls race 28 to 38 ahead of Rochester.