By Michael Newman

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At almost the halfway point of the season, there will be some teams that are using this weekend as a break. There are some teams that will be gearing up for next Wednesday’s Naperville Twilight Invitational. Five of the six #1 teams in the state will be racing. Neuqua Valley Boys will run at Lockport but it is doubtful that they run their top runners in this race looking ahead to Naperville next week. The same holds true on the Girls side for Hinsdale Central and Wheaton-Warrenville South at the St. Charles North Invitational. It will be interesting to see if we see both of their top lineups.

The one thing that will be better than the past two weeks is that we will have temperatures in the 60-degree range, some 25 to 30 degrees cooler than the saunas that athletes ran in the past two weekends.

The big meet of the weekend will be at Detweiller Park as the final of the three invitational meets in September, the Peoria Invitational, will take place. There should be some interesting storylines in all four of the races that will be contested.

The Waterloo Girls squad should be the favorite in the 1A/2A Girls Race beginning at 9:30 AM. It could be a toss-up for the second spot with Urbana, Normal University, and Carmel the top teams that could challenge for the top spot. Jenna Schwartz of Waterloo ran 17:23 earlier this month on this course and should be one of the favorites in this race. Shanice Garbutt of Danville ran 17:19 in the same race and could be under 17 minutes especially with the favorable conditions. Olivia Rosenstein of Urbana is another runner to keep an eye on.

The 1A/2A Boys race should have Normal University as the team favorite with Chatham-Glenwood, Springfield, and Danville the teams that could challenge the Pioneers. Jacob Gebhardt of Sterling did not run at Detweiller at First to the Finish Invitational earlier this month. I think we could see him run close to or under 14:30 in this race after running 15:03 in the heat last week in Sterling. It could be wide-open for the second spot with Mason Jones of Mt. Zion, Charlie Parrish of Freeburg, Jared Shuckman of Normal University, and Spencer Smith of Alleman the top runners to watch.

3A takes over the course with the Girls race at 11:00 AM first. This could be the showcase for an underrated but good Edwardsville team who could rule this race. Only five ranked teams are competing in this race making it anyone’s guess who could get the second position. Edwardsville is capable of scoring 55 points or lower in this race. The individual race is wide-open as Edwardsville’s Abby Korak, Grace Pagone of Oswego, and Kate Jortberg of Glenbrook South could be some of the runners to watch in the front.

We should see some good-pack running in the 3A Boys race starting at 11:45 AM. Mundelein had a tough 15 second split in finishing second last week at Palatine and will be the team to watch. Hinsdale Central has been averaging 30 second splits on their first five and could challenge Mundelein if they can get two runners in before Mundelein’s first. Downers Grove South has a strong top three pack but will need to get their four and five runners closer to the front. Lyons Township and York have been running better in the past two meets and could also challenge.

Dylan Jacobs of Sandburg ran 14:23 two weeks ago in sweltering heat. He will have another go on the state course and should better his earlier time. It would not surprise me if he runs faster than 14:10 on Saturday. If would have been nice to see Danny Kilrea run against Jacobs but Kilrea will not race on Saturday after a strong 15:08 5k last week in Indiana. The two runners will face off at the end of October at the Hinsdale Central Sectional. There is a quality field behind Jacobs with Palatine Invitational champion Tommy Brady of Maine South leading the pack. Andrew O’Keefe of Granite City, Thomas Shilgalis of Naperville Central, Stephen Pipilas of Downers Grove South, Sean MacGregor and Tim Stevenson of York, and Brandon Christopher of Maine South should be among some of the runners to watch for up front.

Here is a look at where the ranked schools and some other top teams will be competing at this weekend.

 

Peoria Invitational @ Detweiller Park

 

Class 3A Race

Boys - #4 Mundelein, #6 Lyons Township, #7 Hinsdale Central, #8 Downers Grove South, #10 York, #11 Sandburg, #14 Prospect, #18 Maine South, #19 Huntley, #22 Naperville Central, #24 Edwardsville; Jacobs, East Moline, Glenbrook South, Granite City, Benet Academy, McHenry, Pekin

Girls - #6 Edwardsville, #15 Oswego, #22 Fremd, #24 Plainfield North, #25 Prospect; West Aurora, Glenbard North, Glenbrook South, Hoffman Estates, Huntley, Glenbrook North, Fenwick, Pekin, Rolling Meadows.

 

Class 1A/2A Race

Boys: 2A - #2 Normal University, #4 Chatham-Glenwood, #7 Springfield, #8 Danville, #9 Waterloo, #11 Lakes, #13 Normal West, #14 Mt. Zion, #15 Marion, #16 Bloomington, #19 Metamora, #21 Triad, #23 Rock Island Alleman, #24 Dixon; 1A - #6 Carlinville, #9 Freeburg; Carbondale, East Peoria, Father McGivney, Sterling.

Girls: 2A - #4 Waterloo, #7 Mundelein Carmel, #8 Normal University, #10 Urbana, #13 Lakes, #16 Dixon, #17 Chatham-Glenwood, #18 Peoria Notre Dame, #20 Triad, #21 Geneseo, #22 Crystal Lake South, #23 Metamora, #25 Springfield; 1A - #8 Freeburg; Carbondale, Carlinville, Danville, Galesburg, Morton, Normal West, Roxana, Sterling.

 

Carterville Invitational

Boys: 1A - #16 Pinckneyville

 

Elmwood Brimfield Invitational

Boys: 1A - #3 Elmwood-Brimfield, #8 Deer Creek-Mackinaw, #17 Eureka, #21 El Paso-Gridley, #22 Tremont

Girls: 1A - #6 Eureka, #20 Elmwood-Brimfield, #23 Stark County

 

Freeport Invitational

Boys: 2A - #5 Kaneland; 1A - #15 Winnebago, #20 Rock Falls; Belvidere

Girls: 2A - #5 Kaneland; 1A - #2 Rock Falls, #24 Winnebago

 

Jacksonville Invitational

Boys: 2A - #4 Chatham-Glenwood (split squad); 1A - #2 Athens, #6 Carlinville

Girls: 2A - #17 Chatham-Glenwood (split squad); 1A - #7 Williamsville, #14 Springfield Lutheran

 

Kickapoo Invitational

Girls: 1A - #19 St. Thomas More

 

Pat Hartland Invitational

Boys: Antioch, Grayslake Central, Burlington Central, Richmond-Burton, Crystal Lake Central, 

Girls: 1A - #17 Johnsburg, Grayslake Central, Burlington Central

 

LaSalle County Invitational

Boys: 1A - #25 Seneca

Girls: LaSalle-Peru

 

Lisle Mane Event @ Lisle Community Park

Boys: 2A - #10 IMSA, #25 Hampshire; Dundee-Crown, Lincoln-Way East, St. Francis

Girls: 2A - #15 Rosary;; 1A - #9 Herscher; Oak Park-River Forest

 

Locktoberfest Invitational @ Dellwood Park

Boys: 3A - #2 Neuqua Valley, #9 Plainfield South, #16 Glenbard West, #21 Wheaton North; Whitney Young, Plainfield North, Oak Park-River Forest, Naperville North, Lincoln-Way Central, Buffalo Grove, Plainfield East.

 

Oakley Invitational @ Quincy

Girls: 1A - #15 Liberty

 

Pat Savage Invitational @ Niles West

Boys: 3A - #17 St. Ignatius; Oswego East, Evanston, Woodstock, St. Viator, Mather, Payton Prep.

Girls: 2A - #11 Payton Prep; Evanston Township

 

Robinson Invitational (Thursday)

Boys: 1A - #7 Lawrenceville, #10 Robinson, #24 Benton; Charleston, Olney Richland County.

Girls: 1A - #1 Tolono Unity, #25 Teutopolis; Charleston

 

St. Charles North Invitational @ Leroy Oakes FP

Boys: 3A - #3 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #12 St. Charles East, #13 Batavia, #25 Jones College Prep; Marmion Academy, Geneva, Waubonsie Valley, Prairie Ridge

Girls: 3A - #5 Hinsdale Central, #7 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #10 Batavia, #12 Lyons Township, #17 Lincoln-Way Central; 2A - #2 Belvidere North, #24 Lemont; Geneva, Cary-Grove, Marist, Lake Zurich, St. Charles North.

 

Twin Valley Conference @ Clifton Central

Boys: 1A - #13 Clifton Central

Girls: 1A - #21 Beecher

 

Wheaton Academy Invitational @ Kress Creek Farms

Boys: 2A - #3 Sycamore, #17 Illiana Christian, #22 Hinsdale South, Elmwood Park, Wheaton Academy, Montini Catholic,

Girls: 1A - #10 Kankakee McNamara, Wheaton Academy

 

Wheaton North Falcon Classic

Girls: 3A - #11 Lockport Township, #14 Oswego East, #16 Naperville Central, #20 York, #21 Maine South, #23 Benet Academy; 2A - #6 Mahomet-Seymour; O’Fallon, Hersey, Waubonsie Valley, St. Charles East

 

Teams Not Running in a major invitational this weekend

 

3A Boys - #1 Downers Grove North, #5 Hersey, #15 New Trier, #20 Yorkville, #24 Barrington

2A Boys - #1 Mahomet-Seymour, #6 Riverside-Brookfield, #12 Mascoutah (ran @ Triad 9/27), #18 Washington, #20 Belvidere North

1A Boys - #1 Harvest Christian Academy, #4 Monticello, #5 Rockford Christian, #11 St. Joseph-Ogden, #12 Urbana University, #14 Sterling Newman, #18 Tuscola, #19 Illinois Valley Central, #23 Trenton-Wesclin

 

3A Girls - #1 Naperville North, #2 Yorkville, #3 Downers Grove South, #4 Glenbard West, #8 Barrington, #9 Minooka, #13 Palatine, #18 Stevenson, #19 New Trier

2A Girls - #1 Dunlap, #3 Vernon Hills, #9 Latin School, #12 Washington, #14 Riverside-Brookfield, #19 Urbana University

1A Girls – #3 St. Joseph-Ogden, #4 Monticello, #5 Harvest Christian Academy, #11 Rockford Christian, #12 St. Teresa, #13 Stanford Olympia, #16 Breese Mater Dei, #22 Amboy