Boys cross country / Northwest regional scouting
Boys cross country
Northwest regional scouting
What to know: The top seven teams and top five runners from non-qualifying teams advance to the sectionals.
Hoffman Estates regional
Where: Busse Woods
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
What to watch: Buffalo Grove is coming off a very impressive second-place finish at the Mid-Suburban League meet, the best-ever effort for the Bison. Senior Jereme Atchison and senior Taras Didenko push BG’s attack, but sophomore Steve Salvano and Dan Roe have put a bite in the Bison’s charge. Schaumburg finishished 14 points behind BG in third place, but the Saxons will challenge the Bison on Saturday. Junior Evan Prizy did not have his best race last Saturday, and could be a game changer this weekend. Senior Tyler Anderson looked comfortable in taking seventh place last weekend. Senior Pat Swiech and junior Juan Barajas also give the Saxons a jump. Junior Michael Leet leads a Prospect team that finished fifth in the MSL. Senior Alexander Miller paced Conant to surprising sixth place MSL finish. Rolling Meadows will be looking to bounce back from a sub-par conference race, with senior Brendan Thielsen leading the charge.
Palatine regional
Where: Deer Grove East
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
What to watch: Top ranked Palatine cruised to its ninth consecutive MSL title last weekend. Senior Anthony Gregorio and Peter Tomkiewicz give the Pirates a solid 1-2 punch, and No. 5 runner Tim Meincke added some power from back of the pack. Erik Peterson took the individual title, leading Barrington to a fourth-place finish. But keep an eye on Ryan Burgoon — the Broncos junior keeps getting better each week, and only finished 2.7 second behind Gregorio in taking fourth in the MSL. Senior Pat Juras took first in leading Lake Zurich to its fourth consecutive North Suburban Conference title. The Bears only finished 1 point behind Barrington at the Wheeling Invitational on Oct. 8. Prairie Ridge and McHenry finished 1-2 at the Fox Valley Conference meet, Prairie Ridge senior Mitch Wilkens won the individual title and also finished sixth at the Palatine Invitational in September, one second behind Peterson.
Other regionals
Elk Grove and Maine West will be participating at the Loyola Regional, with Leyden participating at the St. Ignatius Regional. St. Viator will be at the Class 2A Mather Regional at Legion Park in Chicago, with the boy’s race beginning at 10:45 a.m.