Preview: 6 IHSA Class 3A Boys Sectional Distance Meets to Watch

By Michael Newman

There are so many storylines in each of the 11 Class 3A Sectionals to watch for. We will dig deeper in those events in next week’s state meet previews. Instead, we narrow it down to six sectionals where there are some interesting races that could come about in the distance events. Here are the six sectionals in this classification to keep an eye on. Sectionals are listed in alphabetical order.

State Qualifying Standards: 800 – 1:57.40 | 1600 – 4:21.89 | 3200 – 9:27.68 | 4x8 – 7:59.23

Aurora (East): 5/22 – This is the best distance sectional in the state this year. We should see multiple qualifiers in each of the four events. Aidan Connors of Plainfield North enters this meet with a 9:10.91 personal best (3A #12) and top seed in the 3200 Meter Run. Class 2A State XC Champion Finn Richards of Benet Academy ran 9:20.52 solo at Hinsdale South at the beginning of the month and should challenge Connors for the win. They are the only two runners that have run under the state qualifying mark. Jesse Gudauskas of Neuqua Valley, Logan Dodson of Plainfield North, Jack Loftus of Downers Grove North, and Wojtek Gilarski of Hinsdale South are three to eight seconds behind the qualifiers. It will be a cool evening to run which could produce some fast times. Any of those runner could make it to state. The 800 Meter Run should be a great showdown between two of the top runners at this distance. Mateo Ramiro-Garcia of Sandburg ran 1:53.98 (3A #5) last week at the Southwest Suburban Conference Meet and is ready for the next challenge. Grant Schroder of Downers Grove North has a 1:54.73 best (3A #9) and will challenge for the win. Griffin Schneid of Benet Academy has run 1:56.81 this season and will challenge both these runners maybe going under 1:56 on Thursday. Bo Breed of Oswego and Jason Vervack of Bolingbrook have not hit the qualifying standard yet this year but could in this sectional. The 1600 Meter Run could be a wild race perhaps getting five to six runners advancing to the state meet. Defending Class 3A champion in this event Philip Cupial of Downers Grove North and is seeded 13 in this 32-runner field with his 2025 best of 4:25.34. Cupial has run 1:52,97 this year in the 800. He, last week, ran 9:27 in the 3200 Meter Run at the WSC-Silver in 30 mph winds. He is capable for a fast 1600 in this sectional. Patrick Clune of Naperville Central ran 4:12.94 (3A #3) to win DuPage County two weeks ago and is the top seed in this race. Quinn Davis of Plainfield North ran 4:15.03 indoors and will be in the mix for the win along with his teammate Thomas Czerwinski who has run 4:15.38 also indoors. Will Surratt of Downers Grove North and Conrad Saner of Downers Grove South have run 4:19 and should advance. Six runners are expected to advance out of this sectional. We could see Issac Bowers of Bolingbrook and Gavin Smalarz of Sandburg capable to run in the 4:21 range and possibly advance out of Aurora East. Downers Grove North ran their top seed time in the 4x800 Meter Relay of 7:43.28 at Mustang Relays in March. It is the only time that they ran their best lineup in a meet. The Trojans will be the favorite in this race. There are some great teams in this race with Naperville Central, Sandburg, and Plainfield North having times between 7:56 and 7:57. Oswego East and Bolingbrook are within the 7:59 state qualifying time and might also make it to Charleston.

Chicago (St. Ignatius College Prep): 5/23 – Berwyn-Cicero Morton has only run their top lineup once this season in the 4x800 Meter Relay and it resulted with the Mustangs running 7:52.21 (3A #2) in April. We will see what they can run on Friday night. Whitney Young has run 7:57.25 (3A #12) while Oak Park-River Forest has run 7:58.40 (3A #15) this year. Either team could challenge for the win. Lane ran 8:01.39 at Prospect at the beginning of the month and is within reach of making it to state. It should be Liam O’Connor of Oak Park-River Forest and Miguel Flores of Morton the only runners to advance out of this sectional in the 3200 Meter Run. O’Connor enters this meet with a 9:06.65 best (3A #9). Flores ran 9:12.68 (3A #14) along with O’Connor at Distance Night in Palatine. The rest of the field is led by Yonny Rafter of Oak Park-River Forest who is 34 seconds behind Flores. The top three runners in the 800 Meter Run are separated by less than three tenths of a second in the seedings. Ethan Petrillo of St. Ignatius College Prep ran 1:55.78 indoors but enters this meet having run 1:57.30 outdoors. Finn Kelly of Oak Park-River Forest ran 1:55.87 (3A #20) two weeks ago at Hinsdale Central. Silas Moody of Whitney Young has run only this distance outdoors with a 1:59.91 time. He ran 1:56.06 in March at Gately Park. Reid Waco of Lincoln Park and Connor Schupp of Oak Park-River Forest are the only other runners in this event that have run under two minutes. Morton’s Alex Rodriguez and Orlando Sandoval have times under 4:20 and should be the only runners to make it to state out of this sectional in the 1600 Meter Run. Rodriguez’s time of 4:17.56 is two seconds ahead of Sandoval and another eight seconds ahead of the rest of the field led by Quinn Anderson of Lane.

Deerfield: 5/22 – There is a possibility we could have six or more runners advance out of the 3200 Meter Run in this sectional. Ben Crane of New Trier has the fastest time in the state (8:49.02) at this distance and is the huge favorite in this race. Dylan Domingues of Highland Park ran 9:13.04 (3A #15) and will lead the group behind Crane. Luke Robinson of Prospect has a 9:20.20 best and will challenge for a qualify spot. There are no other runners that have hit the 9:27.68 qualifying time. There are four runners that could surpass that time including Nathan Marotta of Hersey, Brody Cushing of Prospect, Jamie Chandler of Deerfield, and Evan Parker of Niles North. The IHSA dropped the qualifier from 4:23.60 in 2024 to this year’s 4:21,89 in the 1600 Meter Run. Four runners have surpassed the qualifier this season heading into this meet. Nine runners have run faster than 4:24 making this race for state spots intriguing. Crane enters this meet having run 4:13.70 (3A #6) followed by Dominguez, Henry Thuet of Niles Notre Dame, and Brian Hatoum of Highland Park. The runners knocking on the state door include Cole Branstrom of Glenbrook South, Chandler, Gabriel Gronski and Elliot Baik of Hersey, and Andrew Calderon of Deerfield. One slow lap could be the doom for any of these runners. The field is strong also in the 800 Meter Run with five runners under state qualifying. Matteus Salomao of Hersey is seeded first with his season’s best of 1:55.31 (3A #11). Luis Mendoza of Maine East is next having run 1:56.14 followed by New Trier’s Joey Papanicholas and Jordan Kreiner along with Loyola’s Colin McKinney. Jesse Campos of Wheeling has not run under state qualifying but he is close having a time under 1:58. Deo we see just two teams that make it to state from this sectional in the 4x800 Meter Relay. Hersey has run 7:57.71 (3A #14) with New Trier at 7:59.23 (3A #17). Those two teams are under state standards. Prospect has run 8:03.28 and with a good race could make that trip to Charleston. Deerfield has a best of 8:09.54 and is 10 seconds of qualifying.

Hoffman Estates: 5/22 – The 3200 Meter Run in this sectional is dynamic with seven runners in the field have run faster than the 9:27.68 qualifying standard. There are six runners in this race that have run 9:16 or faster. Carter Hayes of Palatine has run 8:59.10 (3A #3) followed by Rory Gaan of Fremd at 8:59.64 (3A #4). Alex Krieg of Palatine has a best of 9:02.41 (3A #6) and will be close up front. Defending 3A state champion in this event Joe Bregenzer of Barrington enters with a 9:07.54 seed time (3A #10) with Karanveer Patil of Lake Zurich and Jack Jennings of Fremd having times under 9:16 indoors. Brady Faulkner of Hoffman Estates is under state qualifying but by two seconds and will need a good race to get to state. Riley Wold of Buffalo Grove is within three seconds of qualifying and like Faulkner needs to ride that wave to a state berth. Gaan has the fastest time in Class 3A in the 1600 Meter Run of 4:11.43. Hayes will double back from the 3200 and has a 4:16.11 best (3A #11), Cole Tupper of Elgin popped a 4:17.53 time (3A #20) two weeks at Kane County and could also be a threat to win along with qualifying for state. Bregenzer has a time under 4:20 and could punch his ticket to qualify at this distance. Patil and James O’Sullivan of Palatine are in the 4:22 range and will threaten to advance out of this sectional. There are eight runners in the 800 Meter Run that have times faster than 2:01. Just Mark McGinn of Barrington and Zach Campbell of Schaumburg have times under 1:57.40. This intriguing race where it would not be a surprise if we see only two runners advancing. Cameron Libby of Lake Zurich, Will Capito of Buffalo Grove, and Josiah Lindsey of South Elgin may be runners that you could see heading to state. Palatine has the fastest time in Class 3A (7:50.19) in the 4x800 Meter Relay run last week at the Mid Suburban League Championships. Carter Hayes and Alex Krieg were in that quartet. They will be focusing in the 3200 on Thursday. You might see them in state prelims if the Pirates make it which they should. Fremd has run 7:59.84 and could make qualifying. Conant at 8:05.35, Barrington at 8:06.46, and Lake Zurich at 8:09.25 are teams to keep an eye on in this event.

O’Fallon: 5/21 – Brandon Kloeppel of O’Fallon and Caleb Matthias of Champaign Central have run under 9:20 in the 3200 Meter Run which could just have the two auto qualifiers advance up to Charleston. Kloeppel ran 9:16:30 (3A #18T) at Belleville West in April while Mathias ran 9:19.91 at Palatine three weeks ago. Hugh Davis of Edwardsville has run 9:28.82 and could also make the qualifying time. There is close to a 15 second gap after Davis. Three runners could punch their tickets to state in the 1600 Meter Run; Landon Harris of Granite City is the top seed at 4:19.01 with Joey Yaros of Bloomington and Kloeppel under the 4:21.89 qualifying time. Mathias is within reach of getting that standard and maybe Chase Cooley of Belleville East. The 800 Meter Run is compelling to look at where we could see just two auto qualifiers to the point where we see multiple qualifiers. Nine runners in this field have times under 1:59. Three of those runners have times under 1:56 led by Drew Patterson of Normal Community who has run 1:54.78 (3A #10) followed by Aiden Swanlund (3A #14) and AJ Ince of Normal Community (3A #19). Four runners that might make it to Charleston include Hank McClaine of Alton, Will Patzia of Chatham-Glenwood, Aaron Kneller of Champaign Centennial, and Robert Wocking of O’Fallon. Three teams are solid choices to make it to state in the 4x800 Meter Relay with Chatham-Glenwood (3A #3), Normal Community (3A #5), and Edwardsville (3A #7) all with times under 7:57. O’Fallon, Belleville West, and Springfield will be teams also to watch for.

Roselle (Lake Park): 5/23 – This sectional was originally scheduled for 5/21 but was moved to 5?23 last week. The way the weather will be on Wednesday and Thursday, it could be the best thing for the runners in this meet with favorable weather. The field in the 3200 Meter Run is deep with talent with six runners under the 9:27 time standard. Francesco Benelli of Batavia ran 8:56.20 at Prospect (3A #2) and leads this field. Josiah Narayanan of Wheaton-Warrenville South ran 9:06.27 at the end of March indoors. His 1600 times have dropped considerably in the past two weeks making a threat on Friday. Greyson Ellensohn of St. Charles East (3A #13) and Samuel Hill of St. Charles North (3A #18) have times under 9:20. Matt King of Glenbard West and Aiden Noel of Wheaton-Warrenville South are under the time standard. Three runners that are under 9:35 include Ian French of Metea Valley, Judah McLean of West Chicago, and Patrick McGrail of York need season best races to get to EIU. We should see multiple qualifiers in the 1600 Meter Run. Aidan Murphy of Wheaton North ran 4:16.06 at DuPage County two weeks ago and is the top seed in this race followed by Benelli at 4:16.23. York freshman Patrick Hill has been on fire the past two weeks running 4:18.27 at DuPage County and 1:56.99 to win last week at WSC-Silver last Thursday. Keep an eye on him in this race. Edward Polaski of Batavia and Graham Faris of Glenbard West might also advance along with Miguel Orrala of West Aurora. St. Charles East duo of Samuel Wollak and Michael Wilson are the top seeds in the 800 Meter Run. Wollak has a 1:53.64 best (3A #4) and Wilson is at 1:55.69 (3A #16). Polaski is at 1:56.31 and could challenge Wollak for the win. Nathan Gehrmann of West Aurora and Lucas Reed of St. Charles North should be among the runners that find their way to state. West Aurora at 7:53.73 (3A #4) and York at 7:57.25 (3A #12) will push each other to challenge for the win in the 4x800 Meter Relay. Good races by Batavia and St. Charles North could propel the two teams to a state meet trip.