The 2024-25 Herald Cup: No. 4 Downers Grove North
Editor’s note: Now that the 2024-25 high school sports year is over, it’s time to announce the top schools in the Herald Cup standings. We devised a points system based on team state finishes to measure which of the 80-plus high schools from the Daily Herald circulation area had the best athletic year. Last week we announced the top five small schools in the Herald Cup standings. This week we’re unveiling the top large schools, one per day, starting with No. 5 on Monday through No. 1 on Friday.
Leave it to those long distance runners.
Not only did Downers Grove North High School’s boys cross country team win a second straight Class 3A state title in the fall, the Trojans backed it up in track and field with a first-place finish in the 3,200-meter relay.
Add a championship from the “Trostangs” co-op gymnastics team and another strong run by the football team, and Downers North had plenty of success in finishing fourth in the 2024-25 Herald Cup standings for large schools.
The Trojans finished with 110 points that were calculated by weighing team finishes throughout the fall, winter and spring.
How they did it
The boys cross country state meet score was higher than in 2023, but the Trojans won by a wider margin. Their 83 points eclipsed second-place Plainfield North by 71 points.
The girls cross country team finished a deceiving third in 3A. Only two points separated state champion Barrington from Downers North.
The gymnastics team won its second state title in three years, this time with a 3-point improvement. The football team, after reaching the Class 7A title game in 2023, made it to the quarterfinals before falling to Batavia.
In addition to a sixth-place finish by the boys track and field team, the co-op girls lacrosse team won a sectional title.
Who made it happen
Senior Grant Schroder led the cross country team with a second-place individual finish, with junior Philip Cupial less than a second behind in fourth place. They joined senior John Courtney and junior Will Surratt in winning the 3,200 relay in the spring.
In gymnastics, Kaelyn Landry was fifth on uneven bars while Caroline Phillip finished seventh in the vault as co-op representatives from Downers North.
With quarterback Owen Lansu committed to Minnesota, tight end Will Vala to Illinois and defensive end Aiden Solecki to Purdue — all rising seniors — the Trojans are eyeing another strong football season this fall.
Key stats
Lansu had nine scholarship offers before committing last summer. Vala had 20 offers and Solecki 15.
The co-op girls lacrosse team reached the sectional final in 2023 and 2024 but lost both times. This season, they won their first sectional title with a 12-9 victory over Benet.
Key fact
Schroder, who finished 10th in the 2023 state cross country meet, became the highest finisher in program history with his second-place run.
His time of 14:11.80 topped the previous year by nearly 25 seconds and would have won the 2023 race.
They said it
“We just treated it like any other race. Our coaches told us we're not changing anything with our schedule and we ended up going back to back.” — Schroder after the Trojans won the state cross country title.
“I fired myself up and just was digging and looking at the crowd and it was an exciting feeling to cross the line and seeing the time.” — Cupial after the Trojans won the 3,200-meter relay title.
“We just needed one more quarter.” — girls lacrosse coach Jon Gargiulo, whose team lost 10-8 to Crystal Lake Central in the Benet supersectional after trailing 10-5 entering the fourth quarter.