10 Storylines: First To The Finish Invitational 

Top Illinois teams converge on Detweiller Park for first of Peoria meets

By Michael Newman

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Remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon due to hit the Peoria area Thursday and Friday should turn the usually fast track at Detweiller Park into a mud-fest in some portions of the course. That won’t stop the First to the Finish Invitational from going off as more than 200 schools will converge Saturday on the famed Illinois cross country course.

The first of the three annual Peoria Invitationals that take place in September will have more significance in 2018 when the first race starts at 9 a.m. CDT Saturday. Thunderstorms hit Illinois this week, canceling most of the major meets that were supposed to have taken place in the Chicagoland area.

Most coaches have an idea of what their teams look like after having one race in the books from last week. The cancellations lend a bit more mystery to what could happen when the gun goes off.

There should be no mystery in the Class 3A girls race that goes off at 1 p.m. CDT. That race has three nationally ranked teams facing off for the first of three meets over the next month.

Here are 10 storylines to watch at Saturday’s meet:

1. Final Girls Team Race Could Be A Classic. NXN runner-up Naperville North heads a field that includes six of the top seven 3A teams in Illinois. The Lady Huskies have returning All-American Alex Morris leading the way. This team reloaded with the addition of transfer of sophomore Campbell Peterson and freshman Lucy Westlake that could give Naperville North an even bigger presence up front. Naperville North is the top-ranked team in Illinois.

Yorkville made it to NXN last December and would like to make a return trip. First, the Lady Foxes would like to win a state championship after finishing second last November. They have four runners that could challenge Naperville North in the front, led by Emily Eberhart, who ran 17:07 on this course in July. Downers Grove South ran a 45-second spread on their top five last week at Fenton with 15 seconds separating the team's second through fifth runners. Getting top runner Brenna Cohoon to the front could get the Mustangs in position to challenge for the win.

This could be one of the best years for Illinois girls teams, especially in Class 3A.  

2. Cancellations Set Up big 3A Boys Race. Tommy Brady of Maine South was not supposed to race this Saturday. He didn't a year ago as the junior varsity runners on his team took center stage while he sat out. The Lyons Township Invitational last Saturday was cancelled and Brady was denied his first opportunity of the season. The highest ranked Illinois runner in the DyeStat Preseason Individual rankings instead makes his 2018 racing debut this Saturday.

Brady, who finished third in last November’s state meet, is the top returner. He will face a great field that could push this race to fast times despite the expected sloppy course conditions. Rory Cavan of Glenbard West ran 15:01 for 3 miles in less than optimal conditions in winning last week at Fenton. Andrew O’Keefe of Granite City ran 15:10 to win on his home course last week at Granite City. Jack Roberts of Downers Grove North was part of his team’s state championship last year. Now the team leader, Roberts could be among the runners to challenge for the win.

Keep an eye on O’Keefe. He is running with more confidence after his second-place finish in the 3A 1,600 meters final in May. He had the lead until Foot Locker national champion Dylan Jacobs caught him on the final three strides. That experience could lead to great things in November for O’Keefe.

3. Schlenker Could Make Presence Felt. In the three girls races that will take place on Saturday, two of the race winners could be freshmen. Naperville North’s Alex Morris will be one of the favorites in the 3A race, but her chief competition could come from Katrina Schlenker of Batavia. Her legend is growing quickly among Illinois social media. She won the Illinois Middle School Championship last October. On the track, she ran 4:59 to win the 1,600 state title. Some think that she could get close to All-American Katelynne Hart. Schlenker gets her first chance to race Hart at the beginning of October at the Naperville Twilight. For now, it will be interesting to see how she does in her high school debut. 

4. State Champions Make 2018 Debut. It was not the weather cancellations that delayed defending Class 2A state champion Jenna Schwartz’s first race. An illness sidelined her a week before she was scheduled to race. The weather at last Saturday’s Granite City was not the best with heat index levels going past 90 degrees. The Waterloo senior did not run, but will instead get back on the Detweiller Park course for her opener. She will have company at the front from Madison Diercks of Belvidere North, who won this race a year ago.  

This meet is also the first meet of the season for Eureka’s Emma Argo. The defending Class 1A state champion did not have the best of starts in this race last year as she finished 15th. This year it should go much better for her. Argo will be challenged by Caroline Jachino of Pleasant Plains and Lydia Roller from Staunton.

5. A WSC-Silver Kind Of Feel In The 3A Boys Team Race. The WSC-Silver Conference in the western suburbs of Chicago has been widely acknowledged as one of toughest cross country conferences in the nation. In this meet, the conference could sweep the top three spots. Class 3A No. 2 Glenbard West won on a sixth-runner tiebreaker last Saturday over Hersey. The Hilltoppers have a good one-two punch, led by Rory Cavan and Stephen Moody that will give them single digit scores. The pack will need to move up 10 seconds to win this meet. Class 3A No. 5 Hinsdale Central will open the season in this race with a tight pack led by Alec Hill and Matt Kusak, and the team could win if it can keep its top five within 40 seconds. Downers Grove North, ranked No. 8, is the defending 3A champion with only Jack Roberts returning. The team reloads with Matt Moravec, who missed last year with a leg injury, running close to Roberts with a tight pack behind them. No. 7 Downers Grove South, in the Gold Division of the WSC, could break up that top three, led by Eddie Siuda.

6. Rock Falls On A Mission. The Rock Falls girls entered last November’s Class 1A state meet ranked No. 3. Bailee Fortney, who was one of the team’s top runners, suffered from severe dehydration during the race and she finished 177th overall and seventh for her team. The team is out for  redemption, according to coach Mark Truesdell. It should show in this 1A race as the Rockets are ranked second in 1A. The team's split on five runners averaged close to three minutes for most of last season. In its first race in August that split off top runner Bryahna Ganther was down to 73 seconds, and that happened without all-state runner Alex Gomez in the lineup.  

7. The 1A Boys Race Contains Mystery. Both the 1A and 2A boys races have some mystery to them with no real strong favorite in the team or individual races. Dawson Smith of Rock Falls is the defending champion in the 1A race, but he will be challenged by Seneca’s Christopher Collet and possibly Shane Yamco of Riverton. It seems Yamco has found comfort on the cross country trails after running 1:54 for 800 meters for third in the state meet. His 17-second win, ahead of all-state runner Leland Sumer of Tremont, last week at Rochester demonstrated that. 

Any of six teams could win the race title, leading with third-ranked Stanford Olympia, which will need to rely on a condensed pack to get it done. Elmwood Brimfield, the defending 1A state champion, looks to have reloaded and could take the win. Athens finished behind Elmwood Brimfield last week at Canton without its full lineup. Noah McIntyre, the younger brother of 2017 state champion Wyatt McIntyre (now at the University of Illinois) could lead Athens to the win on Saturday. 

8. Boys 2A A Mystery, Not So Much The Girls. The boys race feels wide open. Class 2A No. 2 Sycamore and No. 4 Metamora have yet to race this fall and will find out what kind of teams they have. Rockford Christian, second in last year's 1A state meet, are ranked fifth and could come away with the win, led by two-time 800-meter champion Riley Wells. There is no question in the individual race. Class 2A 3,200 meters champion Adam Gilbreath-Glaub of Metamora is the big favorite.

There are fewer questions on the 2A girls side. The team race features the top seven ranked teams. Belvidere North, with individual favorites Madison Diercks and Giana Sagona, have the firepower in the front to take the win. Vernon Hills looks to be the next best team to challenge Belvidere North but will need to have some great pack running. 

9. Previewing A Strong Freshman Class. Batavia’s Katrina Schlenker is just one of a bumper crop of strong incoming freshmen.

Ava Parekh of Latin School defeated her teammate Marianne Mihas by 33 seconds in a 2-mile race in August. Mihas won the 1A title in the 1,600 meters and owns a 4:55 personal best. Parekh could be a surprise in the 2A race Saturday. Brielle Rochester of Libertyville defeated Oswego’s all-state runner Isabelle Christiansen by five seconds last week at UW-Parkside and could be a factor in the 3A Race. Lucy Westlake has stepped into the top five for Naperville North. Anytime a freshman gets into the top seven for the Lady Huskies, it's noteworthy. 

Aly Negovetich of Grant Community has won two races already this fall and defeated Brenna Cohoon last week at Fenton. Lianna Surtz of Rosary broke Yorkville’s course record by more than 20 seconds in her first high school race. Neither of those runners will be in Peoria this weekend, but they will be at Detweiller next week and chasing after Hart.  

10. Rain And Its Affect On Detweiller Park. Heavy rain will hit the Peoria area through meet time on Saturday morning and hopefully let up before the first race goes off. The eight races on the course could tear up the circuit for the rest of the season. After Saturday’s race there will be four major meets that will take place on the historic course by the middle of October. Then, three weeks follow before the state meet Nov. 3. 

The same cycle happened in 2016 when rain hit this meet and the course never recovered the rest of the season.