Detweiller abuzz with First to the Finish Invite

 

By Michael Newman

DyeStatIL Editor

[email protected]

 

185 schools will flood into Detweiller Park north of Peoria Saturday morning for the First to the Finish Invitational. Formally known as the Peoria Woodruff Invitational, the First to the Finish Invitational is the first of the three major Peoria major meets this cross country season where teams will use the competitions as a dry run for the state meet in November.

 

The top ranked teams of five of the six classifications will toe the line at Detweiller Park. Out of the 150 ranked teams currently in the DyeStat Illinois rankings, 79 schools will be racing this Saturday. There is one exception. In the 2A Girls race, #10 Highland was scheduled to compete. Due to a teacher’s strike in their school district, the team will not be able to compete. Hopefully, this disagreement will be resolved soon so the kids at Highland can get back in the classroom as well as on the cross country course.

 

Here is a look at each of the six races that will take place at Detweiller Park Saturday. The first race goes off at 9:00 AM and will continue in 40 minute intervals. ACT testing will be taking place throughout Illinois on Saturday morning which could affect some of the school’s lineups.

 

 

1A Girls – 9:00 AM

 

Ranked Teams (17) - #1 Decatur St. Teresa, #2 Kewanee-Annawan Wethersfield, #4 Urbana University, #6 Rochester, #7 Freeburg, #9 Carterville, #10 Eureka, #11 Henry-Senachwine, #12 Monmouth-Roseville, #13 Byron, #15 Elmwood-Brimfield, #16 Macomb, #17 Chilicothe Illinois Valley Central, #18 Rock Island Alleman, #20 Canton, #21 Belleville Althoff, #22 Red Bud.

 

Team Outlook – Could this be the year that St. Teresa loses their stranglehold in this classification? Winners of the 1A Girls state championship the last four seasons, the Bulldogs will rely on a strong pack led by Bree Tschosik and Lauren Evelti to lead them to the win in this race. Their split last Saturday at Crystal Lake South was 86 seconds. You can watch for that to go down in this meet. It might be tough for Kewanee-Annawan Wethersfield to be a factor in this race. According to Coach Creston Fenn, three of their top seven will miss the meet due to ACT testing. The team still will be tough led by one of the race individual favorites Kirstie Ramsey.

 

The one team that I would keep an eye on is Urbana University. They have a strong 1-2 punch in freshman Arielle Summit and sophomore Annemarie Michael leading the way. The three-five pack of U-High will be a key to their success in this meet. With their two runners most likely providing single digit scores, their pack needs to be close to the St. Teresa 4-5 runners for a chance to win. Rochester has started out slowly this season finishing third at Edwardsville and second in their own meet, the Rockets pack will need to move up a little for a chance to win. Taylor Bartolozzi and Madeline Campbell should be the front runners for this team in this meet.

 

One of the bigger surprises early in this season has been Freeburg. They placed second to St. Teresa at Edwardsville, then came back last weekend to finish sixth at Granite City. This team will be bit a little by the ACT bug losing two of their runners in this meet. They will have Lindsey Mank who finished eleventh last weekend in the Granite City JV race and would have been their fourth runner overall. Led by Emily Marler, this team still has the talent to win this meet.

 

Carterville was dominant on Tuesday placing five runners in the first fourteen to win the Herrin Invitational ahead of ranked Herrin. A strong pack led by Megan Adams and Scarlett De Rouse will be needed if this team finishes in the top five. Eureka will be racing for the first time this season and could be a factor in the top five. Monmouth-Roseville is coming off of a good race last week at Canton and could push their way into the top five.

 

Individual Outlook – We could see a winning time under 18 in this race. Daly Galloway (Gardner-South Wilmington HS) finished third in last year’s state meet and will be one runner to watch. At the end of July, she ran 18:03 at Detweiller at Dark. Freshman Arielle Summit (University HS, Urbana) has started off her high school career strongly. Last weekend at the Chrisman Cowchip Classic, she ran 18:13 on the rugged Chrisman course to finish second behind Anna Sophia Keller. I think that she, along with teammate Annemarie Michael, will challenge Galloway in this race. Another duo to watch is Kerri Burmester and Deanna Deterding (Red Bud HS). The two finished 2-3 behind Keller at Edwardsville at the end of August. Deterding finished eighth last year at the state meet. Both could push for the front on Saturday morning.

 

Kirstie Ramsey (Wethersfield HS, Kewanee-Annawan) finished 14^th a year ago at state and will challenge towards the front. Other runners to keep an eye on in this first race includes Grace Rowan (Althoff HS, Belleville), Nicole Beebe (Canton HS), Colleen Madden (Carlinville HS), Bree Tschosik & Lauren Evelti (St. Teresa HS, Decatur), Quincy McSweeney (Eureka HS), and Taylor Bartolozzi & Madeline Johnson (Rochester HS).

 

1A Boys – 9:40 AM

 

Ranked Teams (16) - #1 Elmwood-Brimfield, #3 Rockford Christian, #4 Winnebago, #8 Rochester, #9 Pleasant Plains, #10 Freeburg, #12 Johnsburg, #14 Tremont, #16 Urbana University, #17 Mt. Zion, #18 Beecher, #19 Olney-East Richland, #20 El Paso-Gridley, #21 Westmont, #23 Monmouth-Roseville, #25 Carterville.

 

Team Outlook – The last two seasons at this meet Elmwood-Brimfield finished sixth in 2012 and eleventh a year ago. The approach of this team is looking towards the end of the season and not this meet. This is the team that has the most talent coming back heading into the 1A Boys season. They have two good front runners with Matt Osmulski and Nate Herridge. They have the talent to be in the top ten. It will be the strategy that Coach Gregg Meyers deploys in this race that will determine how high up this team will finish.

 

Rockford Christian is a year older and most likely the team to watch in this race. They looked good last Saturday at the non-scored Oregon Open when Nick Monkemeyer won the individual race and had five runners in the first seventeen. Their pack was close together at 22 seconds. It will be interesting to see in the gap gets closer between Monkemeyer and the rest of the Rockford Christian team in this race. Winnebago also ran at Oregon. Nathan Ambrose and Nathan Smith will be the two runners up front for this team. The pack in that race was behind that of Rockford Christian. That will need to close for Winnebago to win this race.

 

Rochester lost Noah Edwards to soccer this year. Coach Bill Owens did not think he would have a team that would contend. The emergence of Freshman Josh Cable and former football player turned runner Joe Santarelli have given this team a boost. Michael Gleason will be up front helping the Rockets towards a top finish. Freeburg has been running strong so far this year and will be in contention for a top finish. Pleasant Plains and Tremont were close to Rochester last week at the Rochester Invitational. Both of those squads could be in contention for the championship. One team that could surprise is Johnsburg. They have gone from the smallest 2A school to being shuttled down to 1A. Lsst week at the mostly big school Crystal Lake South Invitational, Johnsburg finished fifth in that meet led by top ten finishes by Matt Stelmasek and Noah Miller. It would not surprise me if this team is in contention. Keep an eye on them.

 

Individual Outlook – Curtis Reed (Mt. Zion HS) won the race in 2013. He will have company up front. Two of last year’s top five will be in this race. Michael Cook (Wethersfield HS, Kewanee-Annawan) finished third a year ago and should be one of the favorites. Eric Ponder (Tuscola HS), who finished fifth at state a year ago, started his season off by finishing fourth last Saturday at Chrisman. Do not forget about Nick Monkemeyer (Rockford Christian HS). He looked strong at Oregon. He will be pushing for the win along with Ponder and Cook.

 

Cory Landon (Carlinville HS) could be a runner that will finish in the top five on Saturday. Others runners that could challenge for top ten finishes include Tanner Chada (Aurora Christian HS), Tyler Johnson (Pleasant Plains HS), Wilson Pflederer (Tremont HS), Nathan Ambrose & Nathan Smith (Winnebago HS), Nate Herridge & Matt Osmulski (Elmwood-Brimfield HS), and Michael Gleason (Rochester HS).

 

2A Girls – 10:20 AM

 

Ranked Teams (14) - #1 Yorkville, #4 Dunlap, #5 Normal University, #6 Belvidere North, #8 Marengo, #9 Glen Ellyn Glenbard South, #11 Lemont, #12 Dixon, #15 Vernon Hills, #16 Latin School, #20 Woodstock, #21 Metamora, #23 Normal Community West, #24 LaGrange Nazareth Academy

 

Team Outlook – This race would have had sixteen ranked teams in this field. However, the Highland School District went on strike Thursday morning prohibiting #10 Highland to compete in this meet. Hopefully, this dispute gets settled soon. Nevertheless, this is a deep field.

 

Yorkville finally gets to the starting line after their first two meets were cancelled because of weather. Even though the Foxes lost all-state runner Maddie Dearborn after she transferred to Illinois Math & Science Academy, Yorkville is the team to beat. Skyler Bollinger will be the favorite in this race giving Yorkville a good presence up front. Alexis Grandys, who had a great freshman track season, has transitioned nicely to cross country and could end up in the top ten. Erin Reyonlds and possibly Summer Pierson could also challenge for top finishes.

 

   Dunlap has been the talk of 2A Girls so far this season and should be Yorkville's chief competition. The addition of three freshmen to their top seven led by Francesca Verville, along with all-state runner Abby Jockisch, make this team a contender to challenge Yorkville. Normal University had a good debut at the beginning of the month at Sycamore and should continue that trend on Saturday. Shannan Supan will contend for a front finish. Ashley Lafayette leads a strong nucleus behind Supan.

 

Belvidere North will challenge for a top five spot led by Jenna & Carley Lutzow. Marengo has a good team led by Caitlyn Allen that will also be towards the front. Glenbard South does not have all-state runner Diane Lipa running, but they do have all staters Rebecca Sippel and Caroline Arlasky that could finish in the top ten in this race. Latin School could be a surprise in this race. Vernon Hills finished third at state a year ago. They could be in the top five mix as well.

 

Individual Outlook – We remember last year’s race when RB’s Mailin Struck took a wrong turn causing chaos at the finish. We don’t expect that to happen to Skyler Bollinger (Yorkville HS) in this race. Bollinger cruised at Detweiller at Dark running 17:16 at the end of July. We say cruise because she went through the 2 miles looking comfortable in 11:18. I would not be surprised if she is under 17 in this meet.

 

I would have expected Allison Zobrist (Highland HS) up front. She will not be in the race if her school stays on strike. The individual field behind Bollinger is deep and also a toss-up who will challenge the Yorkville junior.  Jenna Lutzow (North HS, Belvidere) has run strong in her first two meets. Expect here to be up front in this meet. Abby Jockisch and Francesca Verville have been up front in both of their races and have the potential to be up front Saturday morning. Vivian Overbeck (Vernon Hills HS), Emma Chelsvig (Jacksonville HS), Caitlyn Allen (Marengo HS), Abigail Nadler (Latin School, Chicago), and Shannan Supan (University HS, Normal) will all be in the front pack.

 

Other runners to watch in this race include Kate Jacobs (Woodstock HS), Alexis Grandys and Erin Reynolds (Yorkville HS), Karina Liz (Aurora Central Catholic HS), Carley Lutzow (North HS, Belvidere), Rebecca Sippel and Caroline Arlasky (Glenbard South HS, Glen Ellyn), Taylor Campos (Lemont HS), and Ashley Lafayette (University HS, Normal). 

 

2A Boys – 11:00 AM

 

Ranked Teams (13) - #1 Yorkville, #3 Lansing Illiana Christian, #5 Vernon Hills, #8 Metamora, #9 Sterling, #11 Chicago Latin School, #15 Belvidere North, #17 Rock Island Alleman, #18 Dunlap, #19 Normal University, #21 Salem, #22 Normal Community West, #25 Glen Ellyn Glenbard South.

 

Team Outlook – This could the most interesting team competition of all six races Saturday at Detweiller Park. The top three teams from last year’s state meet are in this field. Yorkville will be making their 2014 season debut in this meet. We know that Jake and Luke Hoffert will be the front runners in this race. The Foxes pack will be led by Trevor Willis. It will be interesting to see how close Willis is to the Hofferts.

 

Illiana Christian has looked good last Saturday in Michigan winning the Christian Schools Invitational. The Vikings will have four runners towards the front in Nick Fiene, Collin DeYoung, Nick Wondaal, and Tom McGuire. The biggest concern area is their gap between four and five. Last week, it was at 90 seconds. That could hurt Illiana’s team chances in this meet. Vernon Hills lost some of their front runners from last season’s third place team. The Cougars have reloaded as evidenced by their win at Sycamore a week ago and then last Saturday with their fourth place finish in a 3A loaded Fenton Invitational. Tyler Smith, Shane Williamson, and Rob Williams give this team a strong first three that could be in the top 15 in this meet.

 

Metamora finished fourth at Galesburg last Saturday but that was without lead runner John Mangold. This team could challenge for a top five finish in this meet. Freshman Jacob Gebhardt has given Sterling more strength up front along with Sophomore Jon Landis. The two could lead Sterling to a top five finish in this meet. Belvidere North led by Eryk Yunk, Rock Island Alleman, Dunlap, Normal University, and Salem could also challenge for top finishes.

 

Individual outlook – It is hard to bet against Jake and Luke Hoffert (Yorkville HS). They are the clear favorites in this race. Jake won the race last year running 14:31. His brother was eight seconds back. Do not be surprised if these two are close to 14:20 despite the fact that neither has raced yet this year.

 

Johnny Leverenz chased the two Hoffert brothers last season. This year it could be Caleb Hummer’s turn. The Danville senior started his season strong outkicking Mahomet-Seymour’s Alex Keeble to win at Charleston. The 14:57 time that he ran indicates that he is ready to run fast this Saturday. Nick Fiene & Colin DeYoung (Illiana Christian HS, Lansing) should be close to Hummer towards the front. Eryk Yunk (North HS, Belvidere) also has the potential to finish in the top five. It would not surprise me if there are six or more runners under 15 in this race. Seasonably cooler conditions could help that out.

 

Other runners that I would keep an eye on include Eli Hill & Alex Bruno (University HS, Normal), Luke Beattie (Woodstock HS), Tyler Smith & Shane Williamson (Vernon Hills HS), Trevor Willis (Yorkville HS), John Mangold (Metamora HS), Phillip Copeland (Dunlap HS), Matthew Church (East Peoria HS), and Nick Wondaal (Illiana Christian HS, Lansing).

 

3A Girls – 11:40 AM

 

Ranked Teams (14) - #2 Naperville North, #3 Hinsdale Central, #5 Minooka, #6 Lockport Township, #7 Naperville Central, #8 Winnetka New Trier, #13 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #16 Batavia, #17 Barrington, #18 Downers Grove South, #19 Geneva, #20 Libertyville, #21 LaGrange Lyons Township, #22 Palatine Fremd

 

Team Outlook – Even without #1 Glenbard West and #4 Palatine not in this meet, the 3A team race should be a dandy. Naperville North looked ready to get back the state trophy that they won in 2012 after their performance last Saturday at the Pleasant Valley Spartan Invitational in Iowa. Their 5 runner split of 27 seconds shows that if you want to beat this team, you need to out pack them. Elly DeTurris will be one of the runners that will be challenging for the top five in this race. Claire Hamilton and Elly Guppy could also finish in the top 12.

 

Hinsdale Central showed how strong that they were finishing second to a powerful Glenbard team last week at their own invitational. The Red Devilettes have the strong front two with Alexa Haff and Annie Zaher. The addition of two freshmen in their top five makes this team a little stronger. The key for this team is closing the gap between their fourth and fifth runners. Last week, it was over 1 minute.

 

Minooka also has the strong four that could place in the top 20 led by Ashley Tutt and Mackenzie Callahan. Just like Hinsdale, their gap between four and five is something that needs to be watched in this meet. Lockport had an easy time last week at Plainfield Central. It looks like the Lady Porters could challenge for a top five spot. They have a good front two with Morgan Bollinger and Emmie Hahn as well as a strong pack. Naperville Central could challenge for the top spot in this meet if they are 100% healthy. Last week, all-state runner Katie Hoffman did not run. If she is in their lineup along with her sister Rachel, this team will be tough. New Trier got out slow last week at Hinsdale. Watch for Mimi Smith and the rest of the Lady Trevians get out at a better pace this Saturday. Their pack was within 11 seconds of each other. If they move up, this team could finish in the top three.

 

Wheaton-Warrenville South knocked the rust off with their Hinsdale race last week. Their split last Saturday was a whopping 110 seconds. This team should run better this Saturday led by sophomores Sara Atkins and Allison McGrath. Batavia got a boost from Freshman Emma Stephens’ fourth place finish last week then they finished second at St. Charles. They should challenge for the top five on Saturday. Downers Grove South has a solid 45 second pack last Saturday led by Amanda Thate and Abby Kargol. The Mustangs could surprise in this race on Saturday.

 

Individual Outlook – This will be a dynamite race. Alexa Haff (Central HS, Hinsdale) ran 16:52 to win last week on a soggy Katherine Legge Memorial course showing that she is ready for a fast time at Detweiller. Lauren Van Vlierbergen (Jacobs HS, Algonquin) has demonstrated a good fitness level especially after she ran 17:08 on a muddy course at St. Charles. The two should challenge each other up front. Let’s not forget about defending 3A state champion Mimi Smith (New Trier HS, Winnetka). Even though she slipped back towards the end of the Hinsdale race last week to finish eighth, I think we will see her towards the front in this race.

 

Elly DeTurris (North HS, Naperville) is a big meet racer that should be in the top ten in this race. Lauren Opatrny (McHenry HS) is another runner that could also challenge for a top spot. Annie Zaher (Central HS, Hinsdale) finished sixth last Saturday. We could see her finish towards the top at FTTF. Ashley Tutt (Minooka HS) finished just behind Zaher at Hinsdale. She has the potential to place in the top ten in this race. Kaitlyn Ko (Buffalo Grove HS) finished fourth last week at Fenton. Do not be surprised if she is in the top five in this race.

 

Other runners that I would keep an eye on in this race include Amanda Thate (South HS, Downers Grove), Lauren Cropsey (Barrington HS), Emma Stephens (Batavia HS), Lizzie Lynn (Edwardsville HS), Katie Hamor (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange), Morgan Bollinger (Lockport HS), Rachel Hoffman (Central HS, Naperville), Aiyako Higuchi (Fremd HS, Palatine), Sara Atkins (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS), Claire Hamilton (North HS, Naperville), and Emma Stephens (Batavia HS).

 

3A Boys – 12:20 PM

 

Ranked Teams (14) - #1 Hinsdale Central, #3 Naperville Neuqua Valley, #5 LaGrange Lyons Township, #7 Naperville Central, #9 Downers Grove North, #10 Glen Ellyn Glenbard West, #11 Winnetka New Trier, #13 Buffalo Grove, #14 Naperville North, #17 Edwardsville, #18 New Lenox Lincoln-Way Central, #20 McHenry, #22 Chicago St. Ignatius, #23 Hoffman Estates.

 

Team Outlook – I think we could see the same type of race that we saw last weekend at Hinsdale between top ranked Hinsdale Central and third ranked Neuqua Valley. Hinsdale’s Blake Evertsen, Chris Brenk, and Matt McBrien were ahead of the Neuqua pack of Connor Horn, Michael Widmann, and Daniel Weiss. Both teams ran great pack races last week. We should see more of the same in this race. It comes down to the individual battles that will determine who is the team champion in this meet. Last week, it was Hinsdale 5-0. Neuqua Valley would like to change that on Saturday.

 

Lyons Township could surprise the two above teams if they can keep their split to under 30 seconds. Connor Madell has made a big step up and could be in the top five in this race. Alex Lima has also stepped up in his senior year and could catapult the Lions ahead of either Neuqua or Central with a good individual race. Naperville Central ran a fantastic team race last Saturday at Hinsdale led by Geoffrey McCullough. Their split last week was only 20 seconds. In a race with more runners, their pack needs to move up if it wants to finish near the top three. Downers Grove North ran a good race last Saturday winning at St. Charles. Ryan Clevenger will challenge for the individual championship in this race guaranteeing low points. Sophomore Alec Danner has seen rapid improvement over the summer and could end up in the top fifteen. Their split last week was at 68 seconds. That needs to come down a little bit Saturday.

 

Glenbard West surprised some with a convincing win over Buffalo Grove and Hersey last Saturday at Fenton. Paul Christian is the top guy on this team that ran a 34 second split on five last week. If Christian finishes in the top 15 and the Hilltoppers keep that split, Glenbard could finish in the top five. Buffalo Grove will look to bounce back after their finish at Fenton. Kevin Salvano will be in the top five in this race. Their split needs to be under 45 seconds for a top five finish. New Trier had a tight 1-5 split last week at Hinsdale but the pack was too far back to contend for a top finish. Watch for their pack to move up this week with a better result.

 

St. Ignatius looked strong last week at the ICOPS meet and could be a surprise led by Daniel Santino and Andy Weber. Naperville North will look to bounce back after their run at Hinsdale. Edwardsville and McHenry could surprise with top ten finishes.

 

Individual Outlook – What could have been. We could have experienced an individual pre-state showdown between the top three individuals in the state. Conant will be here but Zach Dale will not as he will be back home taking ACT’s. Dale will get a chance to run in Peoria the following week at the Richard Spring Invitational. Still, the individual race will be one not to miss.

 

Jesse Reiser (McHenry HS) opened up his season running a fast 14:53 on the flat Lippold Park layout in Crystal Lake. He showed that he is ready to be one of the top runners in the nation with that performance. Ryan Clevenger (North HS, Downers Grove) ran 14:51 on a muddy Leroy Oakes 3.0 mile course in St. Charles really not exerting himself the entire way. Clevenger ran 14:45 at Detweiller at Dark at the end of July. Put these two runners together in a meet and we could see a lightning fast time on the Detweiller Park course.

 

Kevin Salvano (Buffalo Grove HS) ran a good opening 15:20 to win on the tight turning Fenton course. He should be under 15 in this race. Brydon Groves-Scott (Edwardsville HS) has the talent to dip under this race. It would not surprise me if Matt McBrien, Blake Evertsen, and Chris Brenk (Central HS, Hinsdale) dipped under 15 in this meet. They were in the 15:07 range. Close behind was the Neuqua Valley trio of Connor Horn, Michael Widmann, and Daniel Weiss. They should be close or ahead of the Hinsdale pack.

 

Other runners that I would watch for in this final Varsity race of the day include Ben Casey (Highland Park HS), Brady Bobbitt (Marmion Academy, Aurora), Connor McCue (West HS, Aurora), Andy Weber & Daniel Santino (St. Ignatius College Prep, Chicago), Alec Danner (North HS, Downers Grove), Paul Christian (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn), Connor Madell (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange), and Tommy Kolacki (Lincoln-Way Central HS, New Lenox).

 

Good luck to all athletes, coaches, and fans this Saturday at Detweiller Park!