Sirois, Weber, Foltz, Crane headline Illinois runners competing at the NXR Midwest XC Championships

By Michael Newman

State Champions Mia Sirois of Barrington, Sundara Weber of Sandwich, Kate Foltz of Tuscola. and Ben Crane of New Trier headline another strong group of runners from Illinois that will compete Sunday at the NXR Midwest Regional Championships at Terre Haute’s Lavern Gibson National XC Course.

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The top two teams from each of the championship races will qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon on December 7. The next two teams that finish will have to wait until November 30 when the NXN At-Large Selection Committee will decide the fates of four teams that will head to the national meet.

The Regional meets of the past couple of years in Terre Haute have been a coronation of Illinois teams sweeping the qualifying spots. It could change on Sunday especially with the increasing number of Michigan schools competing. The MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) changed some of their rules allowing association teams to compete within a certain mileage radius within 600 miles outside the state. It also includes that if a Michigan team does qualify out of this meet, the school will need to fill out a waiver for the MHSAA to approve and allow them to compete at NXN.

Girls Race

The Girls team race (3:45 PM EST) could be impacted by a Michigan school. Romeo MI (Runner’s High) has been ranked among the top teams in the country through the year and is currently ranked #6 by DyeStat.com. The Michigan school last raced at the MHSAA State Meet on November 2 scoring 61 points and winning by 82 points. What makes this team tough is their pack running led by Natalia Guaresimo and Annie Hrabovsky that had a 28 second spread on their top five at state.

Illinois teams will have a presence in front led by Class 3A 2-3 teams #15 York and #16 Downers Grove North leading the way. The Dukes could have a top 10 finish from Karlin Janowski, and a strong pack led by Sophia Galiano-Sanchez and Maggie Quinn. Their spread was 38 seconds on their second through fifth runners in that race. The top five spread led by Alanya Todnem, Audrey Casten, and Lily Eddington for Downers Grove North was 57 seconds and matched up close to York placing four runners across the line before York’s third runner did. The two teams were separated by just one point in Peoria.

Class 3A State Champion #13 Barrington might have trouble getting into the top three teams on Sunday. They were one and two points ahead of York and Downers Grove North in Peoria. The Fillies will not have their second runner Scout Storms who finished sixth last week in their lineup. Barrington does have state meet record holder Mia Sirois leading them and one of the individual favorites in this meet.

Another school to watch is Prospect who missed a trophy by 12 points last week led by all-state runners Veronica Znajda, Meg Peterson, and Ireland Wildhart who finished in the top 14 last week in Peoria. Their pack has moved closer to their big three and will play a factor in this race. Prospect finished fourth at state last year, and then came back to advance to NXN winning the team title in Terre Haute.

Two Indiana schools will challenge for top five finishes with #12 Carmel and #19 Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran who finished 1-2 in the Indiana State Meet on this course on November 2. The Greyhounds had a tight 3 runner pack in the front with Larkin Taylor, Sadie Foley, and Annabel Pollert that were separated by seven seconds. Their overall top five spread in their state race was 49 seconds. Individual state champion Mallory Weller leads the Cadets that had a 58 second spread on their second through fifth runners.

Other teams that could finish in the top 10 include Minooka IL, St. Ignatius College Prep IL, Holland West Ottawa MI, Naperville North IL, and Lancaster OH.

According to Roland Hopkins, editor of Illinois XC Speed Ratings, sees Romeo MI the slight favorite in this meet possibly having all their scorers finishing in the top 70. It will be close between York and Downers North their point totals separated by less than 10 points. Carmel and Prospects could surprise just another 10 points behind second and third.

Illinois does not have a Meet of Champions after state so this individual race between with the three Illinois state champions will have to do. Mia Sirois of Barrington broke the state record of Judy Pendergast by four tenths of a second running 15:53.4 for 3-miles. Kate Foltz of Tuscola in the first race last Saturday ran the third fastest time ever at Detweiller Park running 15:59.4. Sundara Weber of Sandwich ran 16:11 to win the Class 2A title. All three runners could challenge for a top five finish and the win.

There are several Illinois runners that might finish in the top 10 including Annika Swan of St. Ignatius, Isabella Keller of St. Anthony, Karlin Janowski of York, Veronica Znajda of Prospect, and Maya Ledesma of Minooka.

There are some state champions from the four other states represented here that could have a factor in the top five. Victoria Garces of Midland Dow MI went undefeated during the season culminating with a D1 state win of 16:37.1 as well as the second fastest time ever for a Girl at the Michigan International Speedway State Course. Helen Sachs of Holand West Ottawa, who won the Midwest title in 2022, finished second in the D1 race two weeks ago and again should be a factor in this race.

Mallory Weller of Concordia Lutheran was the Indiana Girls State Champion running 17:12 on this course. Ava Jarrell of Pendelton Heights IN might be someone you see in the top 15. Daniella Scheffler of Uniontown Lake OH ran 17:01.3 to set a course record in the Ohio D1 State Meet and someone you could see finish in the top five.

Boys Race

The Boys race (3:05 EST) will spotlight the #6 Downers Grove North as they look to repeat as Midwest Regional champion and make it bake to NXN for a third year in a row. They are the prohibitive favorite to repeat Sunday at Terre Haute after a convincing win in the Class 3A State Meet. Grant Schroder, Phillip Cupial, and Will Surratt give the Trojans a strong presence in the front and could be among the top 15 runners in this race. Their spread at Detweiller Park on their top five runners was 41 seconds good enough for this team to repeat.

Fellow Illinois school #21 Plainfield North could make it a 1-2 Illinois sweep in this meet and could again make an Oregon trip. Quinn Davis and Thomas Czerwinski are top 20 possible finishers. Their spread on four runners was just 32 seconds. Their overall gap was 62 seconds. Getting a tighter pack gets this team back to NXN.

It is hard to see where the Illinois teams will finish especially since there was almost a 100-point gap between Plainfield North and the rest of the field. Plainfield South, Lake Zurich, and York finished in the top five in Class 3A and could be surprises in this deep field. Palatine and Class 2A champion Payton Prep are a couple of teams to watch for from this state.

There are several non-Illinois teams that will play a factor on who finishing in the top five. Five teams stand out. #30 Allendale won the MHSAA D2 State Meet race with 78 points and winning by 102 points. The team just had a 24 second spread on their top five runners led by Mason Hill, Kilian Whalen, and Ronnie Silveira separated by seven seconds in that race. #24 Rockhurst MO is coming off last week’s MSHSAA Class 5 where they won by 25 points ahead of St. Louis University. Henry Alcorn led the team with the individual state title with the team having a 60 second spread on their second through fifth runners. #25 Bloomington North won the Nike XC Town Twilight Meet at the beginning of October. Two weeks ago, they won state title by 10 points. Jacob Mitchell was their top runner as he led a 40second spread on their top five.

Noblesville finished second in the Indiana State Meet with their pack under 40 seconds led by John Libs that might find their way into the top five. Northville won the MHSAA D1 State Title two weeks ago by a commanding 70 points. The team had a 17 second spread on their first four runners but 50 seconds on their top five.

TJ Hansen of Freeland MI should be the runner to watch in this race after defending his D2 State Championship two weeks ago. Hansen finished fourth in this race last year on his way to finishing tenth at NXN. Ben Crane of New Trier is the top Illinois runner to watch after running 14:03 to win the 3A race at Detweiller Park. Dylan Maloney of Plainfield South is someone you could see finish in the top 10 along with Downers Grove North’s Grant Schroder and Phillip Cupial and Joe Bregenzer of Barrington.

Seth Conner of Jenison MI is one of the state champion runners from non-Illinois states that will be in this race. Conner ran 14:54 to win the D1 State title. Sam Quagliaroni of Fishers IN ran 14:46 to run a new state meet record on this course two weeks ago. Noah Bontrager of Westview was five seconds back (14:51) and should be watched for in the front of this race.