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2021 IHSA State Cross Country Championships - Class 2A Boys PreviewPublished by
2021 IHSA State Cross Country Championships - Class 2A Boys
By Michael Newman [email protected]
If you thought that the 1A race before this one would be exiting, the Class 2A race starting at noon will also have its flare for the dramatics. Alex Partlow of Carbondale and Wilson Georges of Limestone are the top two runners in this classification. The two have raced each other only once this season at the Peoria Invitational on October 2. Partow broke away just after the mile to run 14:23 for the win. Georges was 20 seconds behind running 14:43. It will be the same matchup on Saturday. Yusuf Baig of Burlington Central and Michael Shoemaker of St Viator raced at Woodstock North with Shoemaker winning. The two should be close with Partlow and Georges at the start. Jake Phillips of Marist won at Fenton and will be among the front runners along with Dale Johnson of Sterling, Paul Proteau and Cooper Marrs of Riverside-Brookfield, and Joe Schwartz of Waterloo. The team race is interesting. Fenwick and Morton were separated by only two points on this course last month and will have company with Deerfield quickly improving. Mahomet-Seymour and Kaneland have also improved and will make a push on one of the tree state trophies. There are 28 teams that made it from the four sectionals. Here is a detailed look at each of those teams. READ THE OTHER STATE MEET PREVEWS HERE | LIVE RESULTS LINK FOR THE IHSA STATE MEET
Oak Park (Fenwick)
Notes – The Friars are appearing at the State Meet for the eighth time. Their first State Meet appearance came in 1986. Fenwick comes into this state meet with momentum winning tough meets at the Kaneland Regional and the Fenton Sectional. The Friars won the CCL Championships without Grayden Rill who missed three meets in a row after the Peoria Invitational at the beginning of October. Nathaniel McKillop has improved as he stepped up as the team’s top runner during that period. The two runners came in together at Fenton. The team had a 54 second split in this meet. Rill, McKillop, and possibly Zac Daley could finish in the top 25 in this meet. Their split needs to stay under 50 seconds for the Friars having a chance to win a state title. Deerfield
Notes – This is the 13 time that the Warriors will race at a State Meet as a team and their first appearance since 2017. Deerfield won State Championships in the Class AA Meets in 1976 and 1977. Fenwick and Morton were ahead of the rest of the field when October started. Add Deerfield as we enter this Saturday’s state meet. The Warriors have improved and are peaking at the right time finishing second behind 3A power New Trier at the CSL Championships and then winning at the Lakes Regional. They made a statement winning over a tough field at Woodstock North scoring only 55 points. Cole Bernstein was the team’s top runner leading Deerfield to a 46 second top five split. The team has been running under 46 seconds on splits for their next four meets. Lucas Moskovitz leads this pack that will need their best race to bring home a state championship for the first time in 44 years. Morton
Notes – This is only the third time at the IHSA State Meet for the Potters qualifying in 2010 and 2019 when they finished fourth. Morton won the ShaZam Club Championships in 2020 when the IHSA State Meet was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Morton has not been challenged winning their past three meets by large margins. The Potters still have Cade Zobrist, Yonas Wuthrich, and Josh Weeks close together. They were separated by 35 seconds in last Saturday’s meet. Their top five split was 63 seconds. That should come down on Saturday with better conditions at Detweiller Park. Keegan Anderson will need to be within 20 seconds of the pack for the Potters to have a chance for a state championship. Riverside-Brookfield
Notes – This will be the 12th time at the State Meet for the Bulldogs. They have qualified in four of the previous five times in the IHSA event. Riverside-Brookfield first qualified for an IHSA State Meet in 1968. The power up front for the Bulldogs puts them in this position. Their fourth and fifth runners could be too far back to put RB in position for a top three finish. Paul Proteau and Cooper Marrs are good enough to finish in the top 10 in this race. Jack O’Brien finished 27 seconds behind the two runners last week at Fenton. That kind of race could put O’Brien in the top 25 on Saturday. RB finished third at Fenton. Part of it had to do that the team had a 48 second split from their third and fourth runners. That split needs to be cut in half along with the team’s split under 90 seconds for the Bulldogs to contend for a state trophy. Mahomet-Seymour
Notes – This is state meet appearance #18 for the Bulldogs including nine times since 2011. Mahomet-Seymour won Class 2A State Championships in 2016 and 2017. The Bulldogs surprised some by finishing second in last year’s ShaZam Championships when no other team expected it. We could have the same situation in this meet. Joseph Scheele and Kyle Nofziger are the team’s top runners that could finish in the top 20 in this meet. Jonah Singer could be a plus for the team if he can finish within 15 seconds behind Scheele and Nofziger. The Bulldogs ran their best pack race of the season with a 57 second top five spread. Lowering that puts them into the top three teams in this race. Chicago (Payton Prep)
Notes – This is the fourth State Meet for the Grizzlies. Their best finish was 20th in the Class 2A State Meet in 2017. That should change on Saturday. One of the bigger surprises in Class 2A this fall. Payton has a legitimate chance to finish in the top five, maybe the first three teams in this meet. The Grizzlies did not have their best race at Fenton finishing fourth. The team has not run under 60 second splits on their top five al season. That could happen on Saturday. Ritvik Viniak is the team’s top runner and could finish in the top 25. Griffin Braunreiter is a strong #2 runner for this team that will need to stay within 30 seconds of his teammate on Saturday. The split on their second through fifth runners at Fenton was 40 seconds. That gap needs to close if this team has state meet aspirations. Maple Park (Kaneland)
Notes – The Knights appear in the State Meet for the 22nd time. Kaneland won a State Championship in the Class A Meet in 1987 and then again in the 2019 Class 2A State Meet. The Knights are coming on strong at the right time finishing second in both their regional and sectional meets. Kaneland could finish in the top five or maybe top three in Peoria with another great race. They have kept their top five split under 60 seconds all season and will need to repeat that again. Evan Nosek has developed into one of the top freshmen in the state. He could finish in the top 15 in Saturday’s race. Christian Phillips was only a second behind the freshman in the regional race. It was 31 seconds last week. He needs to be within 10 seconds of Nosek on Saturday. Nolan Allen and Logan Cunz will need big races to keep their pack within 4 seconds on each other in the top five. Good things could happen if those things happen just after high noon on Saturday. . Chicago (Mather)
Notes – This is the eighth appearance at the State Meet for the Rangers with their fourth time in a row in at this IHSA event. Mather finished within three points of Payton in their regional meet. They were 15 points behind their city rival in last Saturday’s race at Fenton. Muhiyadin Ali and Yasir Hirsi could give this team a strong duo up front in this race. The two runners within eight seconds of each other in last week. Their split was good last week at 75 seconds. It still needs to come down to allow this team to finish in the top 10. Belvidere (North)
Notes – This is the eight time at the State Meet for the Blue Thunder and their first appearance since 2015. Belvidere North won Class 2A State Championships from 2009 to 2011. The Blue Thunder started out the season strong led by basketball player turned runner Evan Horgan who did not in last week’s sectional race. The split without him in the line up was 78 seconds. It was 47 seconds in their lineup the week before. Caden McNulty stepped up as the team’s top runner last week when they finished fourth at Woodstock North. Grayslake (Central)
Notes – The Rams advance to the state meet for the sixth time including winning the Class 2A State title in 2015. Their last state meet appearance was in 2016. One of their top runners Bryan Vale did not race in the middle of the season. Trey Sato stepped in as the team’s top runner. The sophomore could finish in the top 25 in this meet. Vale and John Vagnoni are potential top 50 finishers in Peoria. The Rams top five split was 79 seconds when the finished third last week. Lower their split could get this team into the top 10. Wheaton (St. Francis)
Notes – The Spartans qualify for the state meet for the 20th time. St. Francis has advanced to the State Meet for the past five times. The Spartans have displayed great pack running in some of their meets this fall. The team had a 21 second split, but just finished seventh at Fenton. Chris Covone was the team’s top runner in that race. Having a split like that in this week’s meet would be a huge plus. Their pack has to start in the top 40 to allow the benefit of that close pack. Springfield
Notes – This is the 29th time at the State Meet for the Senators. The last time they did not race in the State Meet was in 2004. The Senators also had a god top five split of 29 seconds when they finished second last week in Decatur. Matt Johnson and Andrew Peralta stepped up as the team’s top runners in that race. A similar type of race should get the Senators at least in the top 15. Glen Ellyn (Glenbard South)
Notes – The Raiders appear at the State Meet for the 17th time. Glenbard South won the Class AA State Championship in 2001. South finished sixth at Fenton with their biggest split of the season at 60 seconds. That should lower on Saturday in a pack led by Caleb Walter and Jaden Frederick. Crystal Lake (Central)
Notes – This will be the 23rd time that Crystal Lake Central will run as a team in the State Meet. The Tigers won the Class AA State Championship in 1995. Central did not make it to Detweiller Park in 2019. They are back in 2021. The Tigers finished a god second at Woodstock North with their top runners Karson Hollander and Daniel Hamill within four seconds of each other. They needed that kind of race after finishing sixth at the Fox Valley Conference Meet two weeks before. The Tigers had a 63 second split last week. That needs to go lower for this team to be near the top 10. Woodstock
Notes – This is the seventh State Meet appearance for Woodstock. It is their first time at Detweiller Park since 2010. The Streaks have flown under the radar this season before finishing fifth last week on their home course. Ishan Patel and Alex Wickersheim were within 17 seconds of each other last week and have been the team’s top runners most of the season. Their top five split was 52 seconds the last time they raced in Peoria in September. Their top five split has been greater than one minute for most of the season. Sycamore
Notes – The Spartans advanced to the State Meet for the ninth time. They have qualified every year since 2016. Sycamore made it to the state meet by finishing sixth at the Woodstock North Sectional. Naif Al Harby is the top runner n this team. He could finish among the first 40 runners. Sycamore had an 83 second split in their sectional race. Peoria (Notre Dame)
Notes – The Irish go down the road to qualify for the 15th time. Notre Dame finished 13th in the 2019 Class 2A State Meet. Trey Socha has been the team’s top runner all season. He led the Irish to a second-place finish at Metamora. Notre Dame had a split of 44 seconds in that race. Another race similar to that could place them in the top 15 on Saturday. Marion
Notes – Marion qualifies for the State Meet for the sixth time and for the first time since 2019. The Wildcats do not have a “star” runner in their top seven. Marion will need a good pack race on Saturday. They finished a surprising third at Decatur with a top five split of 46 seconds led by Logan Morgan. Their split has been between 40 and 50 seconds most of this season. Highland
Notes – Highland qualifies for the State Meet for the fourth time and their first time since 2001. The Bulldogs had a split 97 seconds last week but still finished sixth at Decatur to advance. Sophomore Dallas Mancinas has stepped up as the team’s top runner and could finish in the top 50 in Peoria. Washington
Notes – This is only the third time in the State Meet for the Peoria area school. They did qualify in both 2017 and 2018. Jackson Ward has been the team’s top runner for most of his career at the school. He could finish in the top 15 in the 2A race. Washington made it to the state meet by finishing third at the Metamora Sectional. Bartonville (Limestone)
Notes – This is the third time racing at the State Meet as a team for Limestone. Their last state appearance was in 2014 when they finished 14th. One of the biggest surprise teams to make it to the state meet. The Rockets finished seventh in their conference meet and then fifth in the Galesburg Regional. They stepped up last Saturday to finish sixth with a three to five split of 62 seconds. Wilson Georges will have teammates by his side on the starting line after he attempts to go after the individual state title. Teammate Reece Dusek has showed significant improvement and could finish in the top 25. Lake Villa (Lakes)
Notes – This is the second time at state for the Eagles. They qualified for the State Meet in 2018 finishing 14th. Lakes just made it to state finishing seventh at Woodstock North. Payton Whitehead and Micah Lind finished within a second of each other in Saturday’s race. The Eagles had a 60 second split in that race. Dunlap
Notes – The Eagles make it to the State Meet for the 11th time appearing last in 2016. This team relies on solid pack running. Dunlap was separated by only 19 seconds when they finished fifth at Metamora. Braden Cox and Noah Hopkins were only separated by eight seconds in that sectional race. Normal (West)
Notes – The Wildcats last ran in the State Meet in 2017 when they finished 10th in the Class 2A State Meet. This is Normal West’s fifth time in Peoria for state. The Wildcats also used tight pack running at Metamora finishing fourth with a top five split of only 30 seconds. Their top two runners, Aiden Swanlund and Harrison Taylor, were only two seconds apart at the finish of that race. Geneseo
Notes – The Maple Leafs qualify for state for the 11th time. This is their first state race at Detweiller Park 22 years ago since 1999. Justin Johnson and Gavin Allison have been the team’s top runners all season. Geneseo just made it to state finishing seventh at Metamora with the team running a 42 second split. Allison finished 16 seconds ahead of Johnson as the team’s top runner. Urbana
Notes – This is the 17th time at the IHSA State Meet for Urbana. Their last race at the State Meet was when they finished 31 in the Class AA race in 2004. Sam Lambert again has emerged as the team’s top runner. There is a good chance that Lambert could finish in the top 20 in this state race. The Tigers made it to the state meet by finishing fourth at Decatur. Champaign (Central)
Notes – This is their 13th time in the IHSA State Meet appearing last in 2003. It has been almost 20 years since the Maroons have race at state at Detweiller Park. They finished seventh at Decatur to make the trip led by the front running of Peter Smith and Fynn Bright. Mt. Zion
Notes – The Braves appear in the State Meet for the fifth time. They last ran at Detweiller Park in 2012. Mt. Zion won the Class 1A State title in 2011. The Braves advanced by finishing fifth at Decatur. Julian Baker has been the team’s top runner that has a chance to finish individually in the top 25. More news |