Scouting boys cross country: York, Downers Grove North, St. Charles North headline long list of teams with state trophy goals
With so many key runners lost to graduation from the top teams at the IHSA Class 3A boys state cross country meet last year, the battle for the top-three trophies is looking like it is going to be much more wide open this fall.
State runner-up Downers Grove North lost individual state champion Philip Cupial to graduation. Cupial is now running cross country and track at Virginia.
The Trojans also lost all-stater Will Surratt (18th) to graduation; he is now competing for Michigan State.
DGN has been a model of consistency over the years with a total of 10 top-three trophies, including state titles in 2017, 2023, and 2024. Seniors Steve Cox (33rd), Isaak Stein and Dylan Wood were runners three, four and five for the Trojans at the state meet. Seniors Santino Anfuso, Ray Curran, Henry Eide, Jack Enright, Luke Figliomeni, Mark Krishnan, Brendan Lynch, Ryan Morton, Johnny Newell and Charlie Novotny are ready to make an impact.
"This team can be very competitive, but we have a lot of guys who need to learn to race at the varsity level, and they gained a lot of that experience in the spring," said Trojans coach John Sipple. "So we want to continue to build on those experiences and help them grow the synergy to operate as a cohesive unit. I really like the makeup of this group."
Hersey held off Lake Zurich by 13 points for the third-place trophy, but the Huskies lost all-stater Mateus Salomao to graduation. The Huskies' only returning runners from the state meet are No. 2 runner Gabe Gronski (47th) and junior Luke Carlson, who was their sixth runner.
"We graduated a tremendous senior class," said Hersey coach Mike Glosson. "Gabe Gronski is looking to build off of his breakout track season where he anchored our state runner-up 4x800 relay team and he ran a 4:09 in the 1,600. The key for us will be how tight our two through seven runners can be to Gabe."
Hersey will turn to Max Sternburg, Johan Gonzalez, Santiago Arroyo, Connor Rugg, Nick Price, Matt Lammersfeld and Jonah Morrison to help fill out its varsity pack.
Lake Zurich state runner-up Gordy Libby also graduated, and he is now running cross country and track at Indiana.
The Bears are still bringing back two high-end all-staters in junior Karanveer Patil (eighth) and senior Luke Marshall (11th) to lead their pack. Lake Zurich lost four seniors from the state meet to graduation, but junior Jacob Hinojosa is a key newcomer to watch in 2026. Lake Zurich has dominated the North Suburban Conference for decades.
"Karanveer, Luke and Jacob give us a very strong one through three runners. How strong our four, five runners become will determine the strength of our team," said Lake Zurich coach J.B. Hanson, whose program has a second and a third-place trophy to their credit. "Our goals are to defend the North Suburban Conference (championship), return to state, and run our best race at state."
Downers Grove South senior Conrad Saner is the top returning runner in the Daily Herald coverage area after he placed fifth in Class 3A last fall.
St. Charles North senior Samuel Hill took ninth place downstate; Fremd senior Jack Jennings was 12th. Neuqua Valley junior Grayson Meek placed 14th while senior teammate Jesse Gudauskas placed 24th to earn a spot on the all-state (top 25) squad.
Perennial power York used a balanced approach to take home fifth place in the state. The Dukes got a 27th from junior Patrick Hill, a 32nd from senior Harrison Manternach, and a 43rd from now graduated Carter Olsen. York has a total of 28 IHSA state titles between 1962 and 2012 all under the guidance of legendary coach Joe Newton.
Unlike many teams, York was not hit hard by graduation as juniors George Knott and Michael Gurgone competed at state last year along with senior Anders Dochoff and sophomore Jacob McKillop. Jackson Bohlin, Joey McKillop and Thomas Gonzalez will provide added depth.
"Each year we try to keep things simple by trying to consistently train and focus on individual improvement," said York coach Charlie Kern, who pointed to defending state champion Plainfield South as the team to beat this season.
"Once we master the simple, then we can move to more complex team goals. Each year we strive to be in the top three in the WSC Silver and top five in the IHSA 3A state meet. We would also like to be in the conversation of NXR (Nike cross regional) teams competing for a top five finish."
Prospect edged St. Charles North 262-273 for seventh place in a very competitive field at the high-scoring state meet last year.
The Knights were hit hard by graduation as they lost four of their top five runners. But senior Landon Samp returns from the state meet along with juniors Bobby Wintermute, and Pierce Baker. Juniors Jack Aldworth and Patrick Rosean will be key runners while Scot Fraser, John Duda, Nathan Santoro, Charles Zei, Nate Favian, Noah Jahn, Dylan D'Anna and Ethan Yonan could all make an impact on varsity.
"Our goal is to have more fun than any other team while also living up to our standards," said Prospect coach Jay Renaud. "As long as we do that the outcome is the outcome and we will be happy on Nov. 7. At the same time, our goal is to be better than our 2025 team that finished seventh."
St. Charles North has Hill and No. 3 runner senior Christian Enger returning from state. Junior John Tanig, senior Logan Hitchings and junior Miles Dill also ran downstate last year. Will Gallentine, Ben VonEssen and Ansh Patel will compete for varsity roles.
"We will build off our experiences from last year and work hard to fill the roles left by our two all-staters who graduated (Matthew Russell and Lucas Reed in 4x800 in track)," said St. Charles North coach Kevin Harrington. "We will be good and our focus is on doing what great teams and great people do. The ultimate goal is to compete at the highest possible level and see where the chips lay at the end of the day."
Among the many returning runners who ran downstate are Hinsdale Central senior Henry Miller (28th), Addison Trail senior Nathan Gundersen (37th), Fremd senior David Moore (39th) and Dundee-Crown senior Logan Grey (57th).
Libertyville has all seven of its state-meet runners back, including senior Filip Vojvodic.
It is looking like a pretty close-knit field for the top three trophies. But besides Plainfield South, teams like York, Downers Grove North, St. Charles North, Neuqua Valley, Lane Tech, Hinsdale Central, Lyons Township, Fremd, Naperville Central and Libertyville have been mentioned as teams in the hunt for one of those trophies.
Among the big meets people are pointing towards in the regular season are the Peoria Notre Dame Richard Spring Invitational on Sept. 19, and the Palatine Invitational "Meet of Champions" on Sept. 26.
In Class 2A, Aurora Central Catholic took seventh place last year as junior John Reinbold made the all-state team with a 24th-place finish.
The Chargers are looking good heading into the new campaign as they only lost one of their top seven runners from the state meet to graduation. ACC has a lot of experience returning behind seniors Ben Bohr, Reece Voller, Bryan Lopez and A.J. Viveros.
In Class 1A, Harvest-Westminster Christian from Elgin, renamed River Valley Christian this year, took sixth place. No. 1 runner Luca Bryja (fourth at state) graduated while junior Immanuel Nunez was the Lions' No. 2 runner at the state meet.