By Michael Newman for DyeStat.com

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Cross Country weather is a good way of describing what runners and fans from five states will experience Sunday in the Nike Cross Midwest Regional Championships held at Terre Haute’s Lavern Gibson National Course. Temperatures will be in the mid-40s with on and off showers. The good thing is that the winds will be low which tends to be a factor on this course and this meet.

It will be worth getting a little wet watching what could be the toughest of the eight regional races that will take place over the next three weekends.

Here are some of the things to watch for Sunday in this race.

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The last race of the day could be the best

Five of the top 10 individuals in the latest DyeStat.com Boys Individual Rankings head what could be the best and deepest individual race of all the Nike Cross Regional Meets. State champions from all five states in this region are here and could break the course record of 14:48.8 that Futsum Zeinasellasie ran at the 2011 Indiana State Meet.

Illinois 3A State Champion Danny Kilrea of Lyons Township is the defending champion in this race having run 14:51.6 to win last November. Dylan Jacobs of Sandburg IL finished sixth in the state race with Kilrea after recovering from a viral infection that he came down with the Tuesday before the state race. Jacobs ran the fifth-fastest time ever (13:57.5) at Detweiller Park this year and will be among the frontrunners in this race. Remember, Jacobs earned All-American honors in both the Nike Cross Nationals and Foot Locker Nationals last December. Clayton Mendez of Whitney Young IL finished second behind Kilrea last week in Peoria.

Gabe Fendel of Hamilton Southeastern won a close race at Lavern Gibson National Course two weeks ago when he ran 15:17.2 to win the Indiana State Championship by more than two seconds ahead of Cole Hocker of Indianapolis Cathedral. The junior is the only runner to finish ahead of Fendel when he won by six seconds Oct. 14 at the Noblesville Regional. Both Indiana runners will have eyes on top five finishes in this race.

It was a close finish in last week’s Ohio D1 State Championships as Dustin Horter of Lakota East won his second straight state championship by just 0.4 ahead of Conant Smith of Middletown. Zach Kreft of Buckeye Valley won the Ohio D2 State Championship running 15:20. He is the only runner to finish ahead of Horter this season. That happened at the end of September at the Midwest Meet of Champions when Kreft won by seven seconds. Those three runners, as well as Matt Scrape of Pickerington Central OH, who finished third in the D1 race, have good chances of finishing in one of the top five qualifying spots.

Carter Solomon of Plymouth finished fifth in last Saturday’s Michigan D1 State Championship. The sophomore could be among the top finishers from the state as well as finishing in the top 15. Victor Mugeche was the Missouri Class 4 State Champion and led his school Blue Springs to the team state championship. Mugeche is a runner to watch toward the front in this race.

Pack running could lead Downers Grove North to the Boys Region Championship.

The name of the game for Downers Grove North the entire season has been staying close together in races. That has resulted in wins for the Trojans, including a convincing one last Saturday at the Illinois 3A State Championships. Sixteen seconds separated their top five runners as they scored only 73 points to win a tough 3A championship. Their team time (73:46) was tied for the eighth fastest run at the state meet on the Detweiller Park 3-mile course. The state has been running that distance since 1971. Jacob Ridderhoff leads this pack that could have a sea of purple toward the front.  

Carmel IN has been itching to run this race for the past 12 months ever since finishing sixth last fall. The Greyhounds have been tough all regular season culminating in winning the Indiana State title. Their win was also convincing scoring 94 points ahead of Fishers with 152 points. Carmel also displayed good pack running in their state race with a 33-second spread on their scorers headed by seniors Keelan Grant and Colin Murphy. They are a team that could make a return trip to Portland. They have made the trip three previous times.

Illinois schools Neuqua Valley and Wheaton-Warrenville South could be close to or ahead of Carmel in this race. Neuqua Valley is looking for a return to Portland after finishing second behind Downers Grove North last week. They will have a runner in the top 10 with Zach Kinne. Their spread was 44 seconds on their scorers last week and 21 seconds from their second through fifth. Normal No. 3 runner Chris Keeley had an off race last week. With him in his normal spot, the Wildcats could surpass Carmel. Wheaton-Warrenville South has finished within 10 points in three races to Neuqua this fall. Keeping their split close to their average of 33 seconds compared to 43 seconds last week would be a plus.

Hart vs the field in the Girls Championships race

Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West IL enters this Sunday’s race as the defending champion. She won last year’s race running 17:05 and getting close to Judy Pendergast’s course record of 17:00. The philosophy of Hart racing this fall has been different compared to last year when she seemed to run out of gas finishing 18th at Nike Cross Nationals. Hart has used different strategies during the season not exerting as much energy as the year before. She pulled away from Enyaeva Michelin in the final mile to win her second straight IHSA 3A cross country title last Saturday, running 16:22 on the 3-mile course. She has been pointing for the postseason meets. Sunday’s race is a start.

The final four individual qualifying spots for Portland are up for grabs. Tyler Schwarz of DeKalb was undefeated for most of the season until Indiana’s State Meet where she finished third behind Emma Wilson of Greencastle and Phoebe Bates of Carmel. All three runners could be in the hunt for the top five in this race.

Morgan Gigandet of Troy won the OHSAA D1 State title five seconds ahead of Taylor Ewert of Beavercreek and Gracie Sprankle of Olentangy Liberty, who finished third and fourth. Expect to see all three runners toward the front in this race. Rylee Robinson of Waterford Mott finished third in the Michigan D1 Championships and will be in position to finish in the top five. Sarah Schmitt of Naperville North and Lindsey Payne of Glenbard West finished fourth and fifth in the Illinois 3A State Race. It would not surprise to see those two runners fighting for top five spots.

An Illinois team flavor up front in Girls Championship Race

Illinois has qualified 15 girls teams to the Nike Cross Nationals. Two teams from the Land of Lincoln have a chance to be a part of the Nationals experience this December. Naperville North is looking for its seventh trip to Oregon and third straight. The Lady Huskies looked strong in winning their second straight IHSA 3A State Championship running the fastest girls team time ever at the 3-mile Detweiller park course. With Sarah Schmitt, Alex Morris and Hannah Ricci in the front, it could be tough for other teams to finish ahead of Illinois squad.

Yorkville has finished second to Naperville North three times this season including last week at the Illinois State Meet. The Lady Foxes have showed improvement as the season has progressed. They have the inside track to the second spot. Centerville won the Ohio D1 State Championships, scoring 122 points. The Elks could surpass Yorkville but will need to cut the gap down between their third through fifth runners. It was 61 seconds last week in their state race.