Who will pass the test at Palatine Invitational?

The Mid-Suburban League girls cross country race looks to be wide open this year and Saturday's Palatine Invitational will offer a sneak preview as defending champion Barrington, host Palatine, Prospect and Hersey will all be vying for the top spot.

The meet will be held Saturday at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve beginning at 9 a.m. The girls varsity race will begin at 10:20 a.m., followed by the boys varsity race.

Joining the MSL's best teams in title contention will be Mother McAuley, currently ranked No. 4 in the Illinois cross country coaches poll, and Lyons.

"It's like a mid-term, it's pretty important," said Prospect coach Dave Wurster of Saturday's race. "But if you don't have your best, you just have to do a little more battling and get your grade back up. It'll be a good test against some really good teams."

Nine of the top 10 runners from last year's Palatine Invitational will be back, including Crystal Lake Central's two-time defending champion Haley Staples. Warren's Heather Olson, who finished 17th at state last year, will also join this year's field.

"We've had a lot of teams from this invitational that have gone on to win state trophies," added Palatine coach Steve Currins. "This year it looks to be wide open."

Buffalo Grove and Maine West will also be competing.

Hawks flying high: It has been 20 years since Hoffman Estates won the Class AA girls cross country state title, and since then the Hawks have only advanced to the state meet once.

But fourth-year Hoffman coach Kirk Macnider has quietly recharged the program and the Hawks look like they are ready to take flight this season.

Last year Hoffman finished eighth in the Mid-Suburban League, but this year the Hawks have finished second at the Lake Park Invitational and last Saturday they took first at the Libertyville Invitational.

"It's a step by step process," said Macnider, whose team also has 3-0 record in dual meets going into Thursday's meet with Barrington.

Macnider comes from a strong running background. His father Jim is the head coach of the Schaumburg boys cross country and track teams and has won three state cross country titles and nine top-three trophies.

His uncle Jon guides the Saxons girls team and has won two titles and four trophies. Kirk, a 1997 Schaumburg graduate, was also a member of the Saxons' cross country and track teams.

"I planned this out four years ago," said Macnider of his team's progress. "The mileage is very calculated; I have to thank my father and uncle for that."

Hoffman continued building during the track season and missed sending its 3,200-meter relay team to state by one second.

"After the track season I told them 'Now you're ready to run like an elite team'," said Macnider.

After a strong summer of training the Hawks have shown quite an improvement this fall.

Hoffman has shown a consistency and strength in its pack running. The split between Hawks' top runner and seventh runner at Lake Park was 1:04, and the split between the top runner and seventh runner at Libertyville was 1:05.

"I thought we started to believe a little last track season," said Hoffman sophomore Hannah Worman, who finished fourth at Libertyville. "We put in a lot of work over the summer and when we started racing it started to show. Now we're starting to believe in ourselves."

And other teams are taking notice.

"We're hearing other coaches telling their teams to get the Hoffman girl, before we never heard that," said Hoffman junior Gaby Duenas who finished sixth at Libertyville. "People are definitely noticing us more."

But Hoffman isn't satisfied; Macnider and his squad have their sights set higher.

"I knew it was a matter of time before doing the right things would pay off," added Macnider. "Once they start believing in themselves that was the difference. Now we want to compete with the programs that have been historically competitive."

Before long these Hawks may be making a little history for themselves.

Whowell makes strong return: Rolling Meadows' Amanda Whowell was running step for step with Prospect's Annette White and Vernon Hills' Danielle Dickman for two miles at the Libertyville Invitational last Saturday.

Whowell finished third but it was a large step in her comeback from injuries.

Whowell entered Meadows with a promising future, but she had a major setback her freshman year when she suffered a stress fracture in her shin at the Quigley Invitational.

Whowell did not compete in cross country sophomore year due to injuries, but came back last spring to take third in the 1,600 at the MSL conference track meet.

"It's really hard for me to train and not get injured," said Whowell, who is lactose intolerant.

Meadows coach Jim Voyles and Whowell came up with an alternative training program to try and keep the runner healthy.

While most runners are logging miles, Whowell can be found either swimming or biking, and running only a few times a week.

"She doesn't train like most people would," said Voyles of his strategy to keep his star runner healthy. "The good thing about how she is training is you never have to slow down. We're not overdoing anything and she is staying healthy."

Whowell will run an abbreviated race schedule as she hopes to peak for the end of the season.

The junior finished eighth in her first race at Crystal Lake South and admitted to running out of gas the final mile.

But she came back and ran a strong race at Libertyville and felt much stronger.

"The first race I went out way too fast," said Whowell. "Last week I wasn't sure how I would do, but after finishing I felt much more confident."

"Each week she should get better and better," added Voyles, who's looking to add even more to her workout next year. "I left the door open for next year where I can tweak a few things to get her even better."

But the most important thing is after two years of injuries Whowell is finally healthy.

"In the past the thing that always set me back was injuries," added Whowell. "Now I'm the only one that is holding me back."