Scouting DuPage County girls cross country
Top area teams: Benet, Downers Grove North, Downers Grove South, Glenbard West, Hinsdale Central, Naperville Central, Naperville North, St. Francis, Wheaton Warrenville South, York
Top runners: Audrey Blazek, soph., Kaileen Healy, sr., Liz Johnson, sr., Nini Marchese, jr., Benet; Gaby Effrein, sr., Sami Fry, sr., Gabbie Hesslau, soph., Downers Grove North; Amy Rottuno, soph., Rebecca Stearns, jr., Jacquelyn Thate, jr., Downers Grove South; Ruby Cazares, sr., Ashley Falco, sr., Carsyn Rodriquez, sr., Fenton; Maggie Angst, jr., Erin Mrazek, jr., Glenbard East; Carson Jones, sr., Danielle Rossi, sr., Alisha Urban, soph., Glenbard North; Monica Byrne, soph., Katie James, soph., Karen Lipa, sr., Glenbard South; Katie Born, jr., Maddie Nagle, jr., Emma Reifel, soph., Lauren Sedall, sr., Glenbard West; Jill Hardies, soph., Grace Klein, jr., Hinsdale Central; Meagan DeSalvo, sr., Deirdre Rudolph, sr., Allie Thiel, jr., Hinsdale South; Kaylee Flanagan, soph., Brianne Murphy, soph., Lake Park; Kathleen Adolf, soph., Lauren Lindholm, jr., Amy Nealon, soph., Metea Valley; Theresa Connelly, soph., Gianna Gentile, soph., Erica Laviste, jr., Montini; Lina Alvno, sr., Alex Cushing, sr., Amanda Fox, jr., Kailey Mikulec, jr., Naperville Central; Grace Carballo, soph., Adrienne Schertz, sr., Emily Smith, soph., Britney Weizeorick, jr., Naperville North; Caitlyn Summers, jr., Neuqua Valley; Lauren Callahan, jr., Kelly McShea, sr., Alyssa Robinson, sr., St. Francis; Kate Ardinger, sr., Tessa Bosman, jr., Michelle Ditchfield, jr., Timothy Christian; Ashley Bruner, soph., Kristina Chapman, soph., Lauren Newmyer, soph., Waubonsie Valley; Erika Macias, soph., Meghan Nichol, sr., Kelsey Sayner, jr., West Chicago; Katy Emerson, sr., Katherine McClain, sr., Jacqueline Smith, so., Wheaton Academy; Ann Denz, soph., Karen Jensen, sr., Wheaton North; Clare Kelly, jr., McKenna Kiple, soph., Lauren Mordini, jr., Hope Schmelzle, soph., Wheaton Warrenville South; Julie Garcia, jr., Lizzie Lundine, sr., Willowbrook; Lizzy Field, jr., Michelle Frigo, jr., Stephanie Huster, sr., Kayla Spencer, jr., York.
Scouting report: The usual suspects are up to their old antics as a new girls cross country season dawns. "It's the (Mid-Suburban League), the (DuPage Valley Conference) and the West Suburban Silver," said Wheaton Warrenville South coach Rob Harvey on the top conferences in the state. "That's what it always is." The Tigers, coming off a third-place finish in the Class 3A meet last fall, welcome back a stable of seasoned athletes to make a legitimate run in November. "There is really two seasons for us: the invitational season and the state series - conference, regional, sectional and state," Harvey said. "The good teams know when to be ready." Senior Megan Witnik is in the Tigers' fold again this fall as a state returnee, and Harvey may have a difference-maker in junior Amy Yong, a newcomer who was a staple on the Tigers' 3,200-meter relay team at state track last spring.
WW South may not even be the best team in the DuPage Valley. Naperville North, fourth at Peoria last November, also returns a healthy nucleus of runners. "Wheaton Warrenville South should have every reason to expect to be a trophy-contending team," Naperville North coach Dan Iverson said. "We are highly and legitimately expecting (to contend in Peoria), but we're under no illusion that there is a lack of talent in the state."
Annette Schulte at York and Downers North coach Tim McDonald are also loaded with returnees who helped their respective teams to downstate appearances last fall. "It's going to be an amazing conference (race)," McDonald said of the fellow contenders Hinsdale Central, Glenbard West and Lyons Twp. "A year ago we were fourth in conference and eighth in state. That's how it goes sometimes. York is every bit as good as we are." McDonald also keeps an eye on the developments to his west. "Wheaton South is very dangerous," McDonald said. "Dan Iverson knows what he is doing. When you have your top five back (at Naperville North) and you were fourth in state . . ."
Paul Hass at Glenbard West is also seeking to make inroads in the treacherous Silver Division. "I have always said that if we could be competitive in the conference, we could compete with anybody in the state," Hass said. "It's been a while since we've been competitive with the other schools in the conference."
McDonald also noted that one element of surprise does not get noticed until the season officially commences. "The 'X" factor is that you never know what someone has in their freshmen class," McDonald said.
Mark McCabe is banking on such underclass development to propel Hinsdale Central. Hardies returns to anchor the Red Devils after narrowly missing top-10 inclusion last fall. "We have a bunch of newcomers who are going to figure in the mix significantly," McCabe said. The veteran coach then identified a dark horse in the league. "I think Glenbard West is going to be much improved," McCabe said.
Naperville Central, which missed a team state berth by the narrowest of margins, hopes to keep WW South and Naperville North honest. "I never take those two teams for granted," Redhawks coach Aislinn Hicks said of the perennial frontrunners. "I am hoping we can be competitive with them." Fox was 16 seconds off the pace of Whitney Young champion Lavinia Jurkiewicz last fall; the junior was seventh overall (second among at-large qualifiers) and is the top state-finalist returnee this fall.
For the remainder of the DVC programs: West Chicago coach Bob Maxson says the Wildcats' legitimacy rests with the health of Sayner; Ron Piro at Wheaton North is anticipating a rebuilding year; Gary Heilers hopes to extricate Glenbard North from last place in the standings, and Angst is the leader at Glenbard East. In the Upstate Eight Conference Valley, Waubonsie Valley, Neuqua Valley and Lake Park are vying to become the first champion of the new seven-school division. Kaylee Flanagan certainly has the right pedigree at Lake Park Her older sister Lindsay was a force in the sport, and the University of Washington sophomore started on the Huskies' NCAA national-championship squad. "Kaylee Flanagan is going to make her presence felt at the state meet," Harvey predicted.
Metea Valley has its first crop of juniors this fall; the second-year school won the underclass crown in the final year of the Upstate Eight. "I'm hoping we can go out there and hold our own," Metea Valley coach Joy Gonzalez said.
Downers Grove South is seeking to extend its conference winning streak to 12 years. Willowbrook duplicated the Mustangs' postseason feat of advancing to the team sectional, and Warriors coach Lisa Petty has a freshman at the top of her order in Molly Krawczykowski.
The top four athletes at Benet have to make do for the Redwings losing their leading three runners to graduation.
Among the smaller-school programs in the area, St. Francis' McShea returns to provide the foundation for another team run at the Class 2A state title. "I think we're going to be right there at the end, just as good as last year," St. Francis' Scott Nelson said. Montini coach Pete Connelly is hopeful the Broncos will find their collective stride as the season progresses. "If we're going to be good, we're going to be good late," Connelly said.
Glenbard South is the newest member of the Metro Suburban. "We have a legitimate chance to win that," Glenbard South coach Brian Webb said of the Raiders' outlook. "We have some freshmen who can definitely contribute. Being Double-A, our main goal is to qualify (for state) as a team." Fenton will respond with its senior triumvirate of Rodriquez, Falco and Cazares. "(The conference) will be stronger this year since we added Glenbard South," Timothy Christian coach Dick Zylstra said. "It's stronger than the (Private School League) was."
Key dates: Sept. 4, Hornet/Red Devil Invite, Sept. 4 St. Charles East Leavey Invite, Sept. 11, Peoria Invitational, Sept. 18, Peoria Notre Dame Invitational, Sept. 25, Palatine Invitational, Oct. 2, Wheaton North Classic, Oct. 9, West Aurora Stampede, Week of Oct. 11, Conference championships.
Predicted state champions: Class 1A, Carlinville, Class 2A Springfield, Class 3A Schaumburg.