Behind the ILXCTF XC Team Rankings - September 21, 2022

By Michael Newman [email protected]

It is funny after I release the State Team rankings every Wednesday what the reaction is on social media. Not that I really care about what Is being said. I like to stay away what some people call the poison pit especially during the season.

Some people realize that what is published every week gives you an idea where teams are at or close to where they are. The real rankings come out after the state meet on November 5. It’s not where you start or stop along the way. It is where you finish on that first Saturday in November. That is what this is all about.

So, to some of you: Why so serious?

My Coach Joe Newton always told us it did not matter where we were ranked. Sometimes it was used as a motivating factor. Why say sometimes? It was a matter of focusing on our team goal, turn off outside noise, and work our butts off to get to those goals. Some people out there do not feel the same way. Instant gratification is more important tham what is down the road.

I look at the big picture. Not on where a team finishes in a varsity race, but the overall runners on the team. Who is running faster in the lower level races to move into the top seven to influence the team. You look at the same time if a runner misses a race. Should you drop that team lower? I usually give the benefit of the doubt. If a runner has not raced in the season or missed two plus meets in a row, then you have to consider the teams overall strength.

Does that make sense?

All in all, look back at the starting line that you start the season on. Look ahead to the finish line in November when you realize your dreams.

Class 3A Boys

We were hoping for a fully loaded Hinsdale Central so that we could compare times with Plainfield South who won the week before at Detweiller Park. That did not happen. The Red-Devils were without two of their top seven runners at the Richard Spring Invitational including their top runner Daniel Watcke. Some at that meet discovered how good Oak Park-River Forest is even though they were ranked #4 to start the season. The Huskies were powered by Liam Newhart’s third-place finish and a top 45 second split on their scorers.

Plainfield South is the top team in this class moving up one spot this week. Watcke not running last Saturday opened up the door for Aden Bandukwala who finished fourth. The addition of Watcke in their lineup puts Central #2 behind Plainfield South. Oak Park-River Forest moves to #3 just ahead of conference rival Downers Grove North. Plainfield South, Hinsdale Central, and OPRF all are scheduled to race Saturday at the Palatine Meet of Champions. The question will be if either Plainfield South or Hinsdale Central will run their top seven in this meet. The two teams will race against each other the following week at the Nike Twilight Invitational in Indiana.

The strength in the WSC-Silver shows in these rankings with three teams in the top four, then followed by Lyons Township at #12 and York at #17. Sandburg made a big jump from 20 to 7 after finishing fourth in Peoria. The combination of Varsity and Frosh/Soph runners for O’Fallon moved the Panthers from 29 to 13 after a run by both groups at Detweiller Park.

Four teams enter the top 30 this week led by #22 Naperville North. The Huskies finished 22 in the Varsity race. The addition of frosh/soph fourth-place finisher  Ammar Bhanpuri pushes this team up to that position. Conant surprised some finishing 18 in the Varsity race. It was good enough to move them up to #25. Downers Grove South at #27 and St. Charles East at #29 edged into the top 30 pushing St. Ignatius out by one spot and holding Benet Academy from getting in.

There is a little more firmness in these rankings after the top 18 with a huge drop off to the next two spots. We will see if that changes in the next two weeks.

Class 3A Girls

Both Prospect and York acknowledged after last week’s PND race where the two teams were separated by one point that this was only September with plenty of work still to be done. Both teams face off for the final time Saturday at Palatine before the state meet. Prospect is competing the following week at Nike Twilight in Indiana. It will be interesting to see what kind of lineups we see at Deer Grove East.

Downers Grove North displayed some great pack running behind the power teams finishing third in that Peoria race with a 66 seconds on five with their 2 through 5 split at 58 seconds. The Trojans move to #4 just behind Naperville North who was idle last week. The Huskies will join a large number of Illinois schools that will head to Minnesota for Friday’s Roy Griak Invitational. Hersey was the big mover of the week entering the top 30 for the first time this season at #8 behind Anna Harden’s second-place finish.

Oak Park-River Forest also made a big move from 26 to 11 with a strong Peoria team performance. 4 WSC-Silver teams are in the top 11, 5 are in the top 23 with Glenbard West.

Minooka moved up from 7 to 5 after winning their own invitational ahead of #9 Lyons Township. Benet Academy, at #28, and Libertyville, at #30, were the two other teams that entered the rankings this week.

Class 2A Boys

Grayslake Central solidified their position on top of Class 2A last week finishing eight in Peoria. A top 10 finish from Trey Sato along with a 33 second split from their 2 to 5 runners. Marion followed up a good performance at St. Louis last week to last Saturday in Highland where they won at top 10 matchup with Champaign Central. Marion’s fine run moved them from 10 to 2.

Niles Notre Dame re-enters the top 30 at #26 after starting the season at #29. There were no other teams that entered the top 30 this week. Peoria Notre Dame was the biggest mover up besides Marion as the Irish jumped six spots up to 14.

Class 2A Girls

Grayslake Central continues to be the top team in the class after finishing ninth in the Varsity race at the Richard Spring Invitational. Freshman Ava Henne has stepped up for the Rams as the team’s top runner and that makes the Rams even tougher. Lakes Community remains second even though they finished fifth at the Bill Dawson Invitational. The Eagles were missing some of their top runners including Paige-Elicia Caruth. Lakes should be at full strength this Saturday at Palatine.

Normal University did not put a runner in the Varsity race. They moved up one spot to #3 after putting six runners in the Frosh/Soph race and 11 more runners in the Open. Danielle Bierbaum and Zoe Carter finished within seven seconds of each other and received a top 10 finish from Lana Alcorn. This race bettered their performance from a week ago. We might see a nice show down with the Pioneers going up against Chatham-Glenwood, Crystal Lake South, and Dunlap in two weeks at the Peoria Invitational.

Chatham-Glenwood finished two places behind Grayslake Central in the Varsity race. It was a race that Coach Mike Garber acknowledged that they were pointing towards. The Titans finished 11 overall placing all 5 runners at 20-minutes or faster.

St. Ignatius made a huge jump into the top 5 at #4 from #10 after finishing 13 in the Varsity race. The Wolfpack also have a freshman to lead them with Annika Swan finishing 18 last Saturday. St. Ignatius had 3 runners under 20 minutes, two more if you include Courtney Beatty and Gabrielle Duque who finished within six seconds of each other in the frosh/soph race. Another Chicago school, Payton Prep, made their big meet debut in a good way finishing 27 out of 55 teams placing them into the top 30 this week at #19.

Grayslake North jumped back in the top 30 after being out for a week at #29. Marist catapulted up more than 15 spots this week just getting them into the rankings at #30.

Class 1A Boys

The top four teams in 1A faced off in the Varsity race at the Richard Spring Invitational. This race gave us a preview of what we may see in November in the second race of the day. The four teams finished between 23rd and 28th places and within 91 points of each other. Normal University and DePaul Prep were separated by nine points in this race. The Pioneers were separated by seven seconds for their first four runners. Their overall top 5 split was 82 seconds. It would have been 36 seconds on five with the addition of sophomore Connor Hartman. DePaul had a nice pack behind Mac Kittrell who finished 28th. The team had a 50 second split from their second through fifth runners.

Riverdale finished ahead of Latin School in this meet. The rankings are reversed for the two teams based on Akili Parekh running 15:04 in this race.

These four schools have separated themselves from the rest of the classification. Rockford Christian has a strong top three and puts them closer than farther away. St. Teresa had an easy win last week at North Mac. The race at St. Joseph-Ogden could shuffled some of the teams behind the big five in 1A.

Clinton at #28 and Tolono Unity at #30 returned to the top 30 after out of it for a week.

Class 1A Girls

Tolono Unity keeps their stranglehold on the top spot in this class with an 11 point win over Marshall last Saturday at Tuscola. Winnebago was idle and keeps their #2 spot. Their strong top three along with their fourth and fifth runners improving keeps Bago in this spot.

The next four places are interchangeable. We should see these four teams flipping in these places. Rosary is solid at #3. The Royals ran a solid four pack at PND. Their fifth runner is back but is slowly closing the gap. DePaul ran a great race in Peoria moving them from 6 to 4. Eureka, Marshall dropped down one spot but still remain trophy contenders.

Two traditional 1A powers moved into the top 30. St. Joseph-Ogden split their runners into the three separate races led by Savanah Franzen finishing third in the frosh/soph race. They enter the rankings at #20. Monticello has Mabry Bruhn who was near the front in the Peoria race. There are still questions that need to be answered by the Sages. They did a good enough race to move them up to #23 this week. Pinckneyville (#26) and Sherrard (#29) also enter the top 30.