Scouting DuPage County girls cross country
Top teams: Naperville North, Wheaton Warrenville South, Downers Grove South, Glenbard West, Benet, Hinsdale Central, Naperville Central, York, Metea Valley, Waubonsie Valley.
Top athletes: Addison Trail: Lizbeth Balbuena, sr., Natalie Diaz, sr., Madelyn Ford, fr., Vivianna Sanfilippo, soph.; Benet: Kelly Andrews, soph., Meaghan Andrews, soph., Joy Jackson, soph., Karly Keating, soph., Emily Spellman, soph., Mae Tully, sr.; Downers Grove North: Eva Bednard, jr., Katie Figliomeni, soph., Ellie Gross, jr., Melissa Jachim, soph.; Downers Grove South: Brenna Cohoon, jr., Erin Reidy, jr., Becky Versaskas, sr., Melissa Weidner, sr.; Fenton: Audrey Benitez, soph., Lupe Honorato, soph., Ruth Kirkwood, sr., Alyssa Silva, sr.; Glenbard East: Emily Anderson, jr., Laura Delatorre, jr., Allyson Griffith, jr., Sonja Wise, soph., Maddie Weltin, soph.; Glenbard North: Kimmy Nunez, sr., Riley Hernandez, soph., Emily Salucha, jr., Elelta Sisay, sr., Alexia Trasha, sr.; Glenbard South: Julia Clingen, sr., Ania Gnaitczyk, sr., Ellie Stewart, soph.; Glenbard West: Chloe Connolly, sr., Katelynne Hart, jr., Abby Hoffman, sr., Katie Hohe, sr., Lauren Pappas, sr.; Hinsdale Central: Kayla Byrne, sr., Lucy Fischer, jr., Bella Pisani, sr., McKenna Revord, jr.; Hinsdale South: Shaylinn Aver, sr., Shahina Karim, sr., Zofia Oles, jr., Marwa Sahloul, sr., Patrice Trzupek, jr.; IC Catholic Prep: Kennedy Calcagno, fr., Frankie Chaidez, soph., Annie Guinean, jr., Alia Johnson, soph., Carly Manchester, fr., Maggie O'Brien, fr.; Lake Park: Anne Marie Ahrens, jr., Lauren Mack, jr., Mariam Chaidez, soph., Katarzyna Szkaradek, jr.; Lisle: Hailey Armalis, jr., Zoe Heidenry, jr., Grace Hosheidt, jr., Rachel Laning, jr.; Metea Valley: Carly Cast, sr., Meghan Fichte, jr., Emily Kohlberg, jr., Terri Scarlett, sr.; Montini: Julianne Billotte, jr., Kate Harrington, sr., Bella Reilly, sr., Hannah Ruddy, jr.; Naperville Central: Cora Marcet, soph., Maddy Engels, sr., Althea Foster, sr., Emily Scott, jr., Carlyn Sokol, jr., Kayla Zimmer, jr.; Naperville North: Megan Driscoll, sr., Maggie Gamboa, soph., Claire Hill, sr., Audrey Mendrys, soph., Alex Morris, sr., Campbell Petersen, soph.; Neuqua Valley: Michaela Hassler, jr., Sofina Medina, sr., MiKenna Robinson, jr., Julia Rushing, jr.; St. Francis: Elizabeth Brouch, sr., Katie Harvey, sr., Gabby Hernandez, soph., Clare Kolker, jr., Minnie Ralston, soph.; Timothy Christian: Hope Clark, jr., Jill Forgac, sr., Olivia Reamer, sr., Elise Terpstra, jr.; Waubonsie Valley: Ashley Heidenrich, jr., Julia Holstead, sr., Katelynn Mullinex, jr., Sarah Vitro, sr.; West Chicago: Ximena Duran, jr., Caroline Pacer, jr., Katie Sutherland, jr., Jocelyn Velazquez, jr.; Wheaton Academy: Yesica Brown, sr., Mary Frost, sr., Stephanie Gregersen, jr., Mia Rynbrandt, sr.; Wheaton North: Sophie Daigle, jr., Katie Fitzgibbons, sr., Olivia Jeannette, jr., Emma Riley, jr., Quinn Wagner, sr.; Wheaton Warrenville South: Haley Ansiel, jr., Sarah Kulkarni, soph., Laurel Moneysmith, sr., Kaitlyn Nenninger, jr., Sam Poglitsch, soph., Mia Rucoba, jr.; Willowbrook: Melissa Florey, sr., Melissa Martinez, soph., Kathleen Mitchell, sr., Victoria Palma, sr., Michelle Villalobos, jr.; York: Lydia Hickey, jr., Emma Kern, jr., Kelly Leonard, sr., Sarah May, sr., Anna Morley, sr.
Scouting report: The depth of talent among Illinois girls involved in cross country in Class 3A has been hailed as possibly unprecedented - before the season has even begun in earnest. "I don't think it's necessarily hyperbole, but time will tell," said Benet coach Scott Brooks, who returns his entire state roster from a year ago. "A lot can happen between now and November." No one in the state - and only upstate New York powerhouse Fayetville-Manilius in the nation - bested Naperville North last year. The Huskies have three Class 3A championships in the last four years alone. "Somebody (associated with the sport) says that every year," Naperville North coach Dan Iverson said of the preseason discourse. "(Illinois is) always one of the best states in the country for cross country," said Glenbard West coach Paul Hass, whose 2013 team won the title. "Anyone who has won state will tell you it's never easy."
Individual excellence among local Class 3A athletes is equally compelling, mirroring the team juggernauts that dot the area landscape. The discussion is dominated by the inescapable presence of Hart, the Glenbard West junior extraordinaire who is being extolled as on a path to becoming - regardless of gender - the most accomplished runner in state history. "There's not much else to say (about Hart) at this point," Downers North coach Tim McDonald said. Hart has conquered the holy grail of distance running (state cross and the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs in track) in consecutive years as an underclassman. After defending her cross country championship last fall at Deweiller Park in Peoria, Hart stamped her imprint at the national level with a runner-up finish and fourth-place showing, respectively, at the Foot Locker Championships and Nike Cross Nationals. "I am pretty sure it is the highest finish by an Illinois girl at Nike," Hass said. After a record-setting track campaign last spring and early summer, Hart embarked on a rigorous training regimen at the national level. The Hilltoppers' star junior will be a prohibitive favorite this fall for a third straight largest-class individual championship.
For all her workmanship, athletic ability and mental acumen, however, Hart has more than able individual company from the area. Five other local athletes are ranked in the top eight by ilxctf.com. Morris and Petersen, a transfer from Class 2A state-champion Dunlap, are slotted in the second and fourth slots, respectively, for two-time defending champion Naperville North. Glenbard West also has a brilliant 1-2 punch in top-ranked Hart and No. 5 Hohe.
Wheaton Warrenville South and Downers South secured the same number of votes in the coaches' poll (third) behind Poglitsch, who enters the season at No. 6 as the top returnee for the Tigers, and fellow returning all-state product Cohoon, No. 8 for the Mustangs. Naperville North has a third all-state candidate in Hill, while reigning track relay-state champion Revord anchors Hinsdale Central in slot No. 15. Hart, Morris (seventh), Poglitsch (11th), Hohe (16th), Cohoon (19th) and Revord (24th) will all seek to match or better their individual placements from a year ago. "Last year I never expected to be anywhere up there," Poglitsch said. "I want to be up there again this year. It's not going to come easy at all." But individual accolades will gladly be sacrificed for the betterment of the team. "Individual runners are interesting, but cross country is a team sport," Iverson said.
Yorkville tied the state record with its fifth consecutive Class 2A championship in 2015. But the Foxes have had to settle for runner-up finishes to Naperville North the last two seasons after moving up to Class 3A. Naperville North and Yorkville are once again the consensus top-two programs in Class 3A entering the season. "I think Naperville North has separated themselves from the rest of the state in Triple-A cross country," Yorkville coach Chris Muth said.
Naperville North achieved a first in large-divison girls cross country and track and field by becoming the first school to win state championships in the same school year. "It was definitely a really special year," said Morris, who was all-state in both disciplines. "We were all working together with the same target in mind. We have a new (cross) team and are excited to start off the new season." Iverson directed the programs to both state championships. Petersen and her Dunlap teammates achieved the same feat with dual state titles last year. "It could carry over one of two ways," Iverson said of the historic accomplishment. "We could come back hungrier to win or we could come back more complacent. I hope it's the former and not the latter. We are certainly taking nothing for granted. There are all sorts of really good teams out there who would like to stop what we have going on right now."
WW South and Downers South certainly fit the Iverrson prognosis. "Wheaton South is going to really, really good," Iverson said. Like Benet, WW South returns its entire seven-athlete state lineup; the Tigers were edged by Lyons Twp. for a third trophy in program history last fall. "The outside world puts a successful season on (winning) a trophy," WW South coach Rob Harvey said. "We ran one of the fastest (team) times in state history last year. True success is doing the best you can with what you have on the day you have to do it." Moneysmith is the Tigers' senior leader. "We know there a lot of good teams out there. It's a little overwhelming at times. Just because we were fourth last year doesn't mean we're going to do any better (this season)."
Downers South has been a superpower in the West Suburban Gold for decades, but a state trophy has been ever elusive for the Mustangs. "Fourth is our best," Downers South coach Doug Plunkett said. "We need to have our (other state-counting) girls to move up to Breena Cohoon (to trophy). If you have some freshmen who are that close, they have the most room to grow." Preseason intelligence reports from area coaches indicate the Mustangs have potential difference-makers from their incoming athletes. But Plunkett will not tip his hand in the early season. "We're not going to run the freshmen on varsity (at early meets)," Plunkett said. Downers South was a point behind WW South for fourth place last fall.
Glenbard West, Benet and Hinsdale Central enter the season rated eighth, ninth and 10th in the coaches' poll. In fundamental respects the state finals are invariably a continuation of the regular season as the elite west suburban programs routinely knock heads in September and October. "There are no surprises when you get to the state meet," Hass said. "(State) is not something you're intimidated by." The West Suburban Silver alone, which includes ranked teams at Lyons Twp., Hinsdale Central, Glenbard West and York, constitutes an imposing regular-season schedule. "There's a lot of starpower in our conference," said McDonald, whose Trojans narrowly missed being ranked in the coaches' poll. No program in recent memory has had the individual athletes the Hilltoppers can cite with such illuminaries as Hart, Lindsey Payne, Madeline Perez and Lindsay Graham, all of whom were state champions in either cross country or track - or both. But for Glenbard West to contend for a trophy the all-important third through fifth runners will have to narrow the gap on Hart and Hohe at the major competitions. The senior triumvirate of Connolly, Hoffman and Pappas could very well serve the Hilltoppers' purposes this fall. "The goal this year is to move the pack as close to possible to Katie," Hass said. Hart, meanwhile, has ambitions this fall that extend far beyond the state boundaries. "(Hart) respects the level of runners in Illinois," Hass said. "She also wants to focus on the talent nationally. She knows who is out there nationally."
Invoking comparisons to a virtually all-freshmen state-championship team out of Geneva from a decade ago, Benet best this fall will be its state-tested sophomore class. "We have never had this depth of talent coming back," Brooks said. Tully, a four-year mainstay for Benet, is the lone upperclassman expected to crack the Redwings' lineup. The Redwings were a major surprise last year when the freshman-dominated squad emerged from obscurity to begin the season to finish 11th at Detweiller Park.
Naperville Central is yet another ranked area team. The Redhawks will seek to better its 14th-place state finish behind top returnee Scott and the trio of Marcet, Foster and Zimmer. Metea Valley and Waubonsie Valley are incredibly evenly matched, but the former rates a slight edge after opening the year with the team title at the Aurora City Championship.
Among the area programs seeking greater legitimacy, Willowbrook is a program to watch - as is Wheaton North - in Class 3A. Willowbrook features returning at-large state qualifier Palma, who could very well give Cohoon a severe test at the West Suburban Gold championship.
Among the small-school programs, IC Catholic Prep has arguably the most upside. Chaidez was revelation in claiming third in Class 1A. The Knights' margin for error is razor-thin due to a lack of depth, but the freshman class could very well land IC in Peoria this fall. In Class 2A Montini is perhaps the strongest local contender after barely missing a team state berth last year. "I am not going to say we're state-bound," Montini coach Gail Casey said.
Wheaton Academy has been a perennial contender for Class 2A state inclusion in recent years, but the Warriors' chances largely rest on the health of Gregersen. The junior is questionably to return for the state series after surgery.
- Kevin McGavin