IHSA Class 3A State Series – Five XC Regional Meets to Watch This Weekend

By Michael Newman

There should not be the suspense that we saw a year ago when teams that should have advanced to the following weekend did not. There should not be many surprises on Saturday especially on how well the IHSA set up the roads from each sectionals to the state meet at Detweiller Park on November 4.

Five regional meets were previewed with at least one preview from each sectional.

Good luck to all teams and runners in your race on Saturday.

Lyons Township Regional @ Lyons Township South Campus Course, Western Springs

Boys Ranked Teams - #1 Downers Grove North, #6 Lyons Township, #15 Riverside-Brookfield, #18 Hinsdale Central; Girls Ranked Teams - #4 Downers Grove North, #15 Lyons Township, #19 Hinsdale Central.

Regional Notes - #1 Downers Grove North will be the favorite in this way and will look to cut down their split from 45 seconds in their WSC-Silver win. Phillip Cupial was the team’s top runner last week. It could be Ryan Eddington, Grant Schroder, or Caden Weber if he is in their lineup. Lyons Township with the return of Cillian Henning helped them finish second last week at WSC-Silver and could Henning along with Nick Strayer could drive them to a regional win on their home course . Riverside-Brookfield should have Cooper Marrs among the top five in this meet. The Bulldogs should make it to next week’s sectional race. Hinsdale Central will have WSC-Silver champion Aden Bandukwala vying for the regional individual title. The additions of Michael Gamboa and Henry Miller to the varsity level will give their team a boost. WSC-Gold teams BC Morton and Willowbrook will look to be the other two team qualifiers.

Downers Grove North should be able to pack it up after finishing second at the WSC-Silver Championships. We could see the Trojans put runners in six of the top seven places. Lily Eddington and Sarah Paul could be the runners up front challenging for the win. Lyons Township and Hinsdale Central are locks to advance to KLM next week. They will also challenge for the second qualifying spots. It will be up for grabs for the final three qualifying places with Willowbrook and Willowbrook ahead of Reavis and BC Morton. Only three of those teams will advance out of this sectional.

Naperville North Regional @ Naperville North Campus Course, Naperville

Boys Ranked Teams - #11 Neuqua Valley, #16 Naperville Central, #26 Aurora West, #27 Downers Grove South; Girls Ranked Teams - #5 Naperville North, #7 Naperville Central, #24 Neuqua Valley, #28 Downers Grove South, #30 Metea Valley.

Regional Notes – Naperville North edged crosstown rival Naperville Central in the DVC Championship race last week and will look to repeat that win in Saturday’s meet. The Huskies and the Redhawks were even early in the race with North pulling away for the win. Liv Phillips of Naperville Central is the big favorite in this race. Julie Piot and Shania Tandon will lead their team that could have 7 runners finish in the top 15. Neuqua Valley did not have their top runner Elizabeth Hall racing last week. The return of Hall could place the Wildcats ahead of Metea Valley on Saturday. After losing their top runner at the beginning of the season, Oswego has improved during the season looking to make it to sectionals next week. Downers Grove South won their top 25th straight WSC-Gold title last Saturday led by the individual win from Holly Johnson. The Mustangs moved into the top 30 in the rankings with a good chance to advance out of this regional.

Neuqua Valley will be the favorite in the Boys race with Naperville Central and Aurora West close to the Wildcats. Neuqua Valley will have the individual favorite  with Zac Close challenged by Sean Heetland of West Aurora and teammate Robert Glenn close to him. Aurora West ran a good race without their #2 runner Nathan Gehrmann who has missed the past three weeks due to a stress reaction. Gehrmann in the Blackhawks lineup could get the team closer to a regional title. Naperville North will move three runners from their frosh/soph team for the state series meets. It will get the Huskies challenging for a sectional qualifying spot. Downers Grove South and Metea Valley will challenge for sectional spots. Waubonsie Valley have been hampered by injuries this fall but finally look healthy to possibly finish in the top six teams.

Oak Park-River Forest Regional @ Schiller Woods, Chicago

Boys Ranked Teams - #8 Oak Park-River Forest, #14 Lane Tech, York #24; Girls Ranked Teams - #1 York, #25 Glenbard West, #29 Maine South

Regional Notes – Oak Park-River Forest has continued to show great pack running even without their #1 runner Finn Kelly out with an injury. The Huskies could lock down a win in their home history with Kelly in their lineup. A split on their top five under 30 seconds gets them the regional title. Lane Tech has the momentum right now after winning the Chicago Public League Championship last Saturday and could challenge for the win. Will Kozlowski should be one of the lead runners in this race. The Champions need to keep their split near 60 seconds to win this regional. York is extremely young with all of their top seven underclassmen. Zach Saltiel finished eighth last week at the WSC-Silver lead the Dukes. Their split continues to close down on their 2-5 pack. That kind of race gets the Dukes to Lake Park next week. Glenbard West did not have their top race last week at WSC-Silver. The Hilltoppers will look to bounce back this week. Mather finished third last week at the Chicago City Championships behind the individual win from Mohammed Abdullahi. They will push for a top three finish in this race. Maine South, Fenwick, and Maine South will chase after the sixth sectional spot from this regional.

York had a convincing win last week at WSC-Silver Girls race sweeping the first four places. The top ranked team in Class 3A is the big favorite in this race again possibly scoring under 20 points. Any of their top five runners could win this race including seniors Katherine Klimek, Maggie Owens, or WSCS champion Michaela Quinn. Stella Davis of Evanston could be the top runner to challenge for a spot in the top five individuals. Glenbard West and Maine South are close to locks to advance to next week’s sectional race. Oak Park-River Forest welcomed back their top runner Katie Staab who finished 11 last week. It will put Oak Park in a position to advance out of this regional. Evanston Township looks like a sectional qualifying team. Lane Tech and Taft will challenge for the sixth sectional spot.

Palatine Regional @ Deer Grove East Forest Preserve, Palatine

Boys Ranked Teams - #10 Hersey, #13 Fremd, #17 Palatine; Girls Ranked Teams - #6 Hersey, #21 Lake Zurich, #27 Palatine

Regional Notes – Their might not be much suspense in the Boys race with top six teams close to locks to advance to Busse Woods next week. Hersey finished second last week at the MSL Championships and may be able to rest one of their top runners Liam Naughton after running as the seventh runner last week. Fremd and Palatine could challenge Hersey for the win. Conant, Jacobs, and Lake Zurich are good bets to also qualify for the sectionals. Rory Gaan and Jack Jennings of Fremd, Alex Krieg of Palatine, and Zac Frayder of Hersey will be among the individual runners to watch in this race.

Hersey could place 5 runners in the top 14 to put them in position to win the Girls Regional title. Lake Zurich, Palatine, and Fremd should be among the first four teams. Schaumburg will advance. Hoffman Estates and Jacobs could challenge for the sixth place qualifying position. Abigail Jordan of Palatine, Celia Blaylock of Lake Zurich along with Hersey’s Margaretha Grabske and Alexa Izenstark will all race after the individual win.

Plainfield Central Regional @ Plainfield Central HS, Plainfield

Boys Ranked Teams - #2 Plainfield South, #3 Plainfield North, #21 Yorkville; Girls Ranked Teams - #8 Yorkville, #13 Plainfield North, #17 Oswego East

Regional Notes – Plainfield South edged Plainfield North 33-35 in last week’s Southwest Prairie Conference Varsity race. It is hard to gauge this race considering the two teams could tempo this course and still finish 1-2. Yorkville and Oswego East are good bets to advance to Granite City along with host Plainfield Central. Joliet West could advance to sectionals if they have Marcellus Mines in their lineup. Otherwise, Joliet Central could make it to sectionals. Dylan Maloney set a Channahon Park course record and will be the favorite along with teammate Camyn Viger.

Yorkville ran away with Girls win last week at the SPC Championships. The Lady Foxes should be the favorite with Plainfield North closing in for the second spot. Oswego East should challenge Plainfield North for the second spot led by conference champion Morgan Dick. Sophia Keeler of Yorkville and Marlie Czarniewski of Plainfield North will challenge for the individual win. There could be close to a 100 point gap between the first three and next three qualifiers in this meet. Joliet West, Pekin, and Plainfield Central look to be the three teams to advance out of this sectional.