Here are the FINAL ILXCTF.com rankings for Class 3A for the 2021 season. Good luck to all teams in the IHSA State Series.

Class 3A Boys – FINAL

Class 3A Boys – October 13, 2021

Class 3A Boys – October 6, 2021

Class 3A Boys – September 29, 2021

Class 3A Notes - #1 Sandburg was idle last week. The Eagles will be the favorites this Saturday at Peoria. #2 New Trier after their win at Palatine moves into the #2 position readying themselves for the Peoria race. Hinsdale Central finished 2 points ahead of York in that Palatine race. The order is flipped in the rankings with York missing one of their top 5 runners in that race. Oswego moves down to #5 after their win at Schaumburg. Lyons Township and Warren Township move into the top 10 after good out of state races. St. Ignatius moves back into the top 30 after their Palatine race. DeKalb after their win at Bartlett move back int the top 30 at #29 after one week out.

Class 3A Boys – September 22, 2021

Class 3A Boys Notes – We said last week that it was too close to call on who could be among the top teams in Class 3A. Sandburg blew that theory out of the water with a commanding performance in winning the Richard Spring Invitational. York moved up six spots to #2 after finish second behind Sandburg. Oswego remains at #3 for the third week in a row after finishing third at Peoria. They did not have one of their top five runners Balin Doud in their lineup for the second week. The previous week 1-2 in New Trier and Hinsdale Central dropped down to #4 and #5. Those two teams join York this Saturday at Palatine. A strong win by Warren on their home course boosted them from #23 to #11 this week. Naperville North had a great race at Peoria and were the other big mover in the rankings going from #24 to #16. Two teams entered the top 30 this week. Both schools were out of the rankings for only one week. Oak Park-River Forest re-enters at #23. Downers Grove South jumps back in at #28. The IHSA released their sectional assignments last Thursday. We described the Girls Sectional at Hinsdale Central brutal with 11 ranked teams in. You then could call the Boys side horrific with 14 of the top 30 ranked teams bunched in that sectional at Katherine Legge Memorial. 7 of the top 12 teams, 8 out of the top 16 teams are up front. The remaining six teams at that site are ranked #23 or lower. Hoffman Estates has eight ranked teams in their sectional followed by sectionals at Lake Park and Quincy that have four ranked teams each. 

Class 3A Boys – September 15, 2021

Class 3A Boys Notes – The thing that I mentioned at the beginning of the season is that there is no real standout team in Class 3A team this fall. After the second week of rankings, this still holds true. There are right now 12 schools that could win a state title in this class. The teams are interchangeable. A team in the lower half of the top 10 could be the #1 team in the state next week. That is how this season in Class 3A will work out.

The top 2 teams at the First to the Finish Invitational New Trier and Hinsdale Central are the top two teams in this week’s rankings. Oswego did not have Balin Doud in their lineup at the Joliet Central Invite on Saturday when they won. I thought the Panthers could move to the top but missed by a matter of seconds. They could make their statement this Saturday in Peoria. Sandburg stays at #4 after not racing last week. St. Charles East had a great race at Lake Park and jump 10 spots to #5 this week. Downers Grove North was within 1 point of Hinsdale Central in Peoria. There is a logjam in the first 12 spots and the Trojans got inched out by St Charles East by a matter of seconds. They drop one spot to #6 but within reach of the #1 spot. Waubonsie Valley jumped up five spots to #7 after finishing fourth at FTTF. Their 28 second splits could make other teams ahead of them when we get to state series time. Former #1 York ran in their first meet of the year that appeared to be a Rustbuster for them. The Dukes were without some of their top five as they finished 2 at Joliet behind Oswego. They are within a stride of being in the top three teams. Rankings will change again next week. Edwardsville figuring in Ryan Watts and Geo Patrylak still dropped to #21. The Tigers will be at full strength when they race in Palatine in a couple of weeks. Bolingbrook has run strong the past two weeks and gets rewarded by entering the rankings at #25. #26 Jones Prep and #27 Lane Tech enter the rankings after good races last week at Lake Park. DeKalb makes their first appearance in the rankings at #29 after their race at Detweiller.

Class 3A Boys – September 7, 2021

3A Boys Notes – The one thing that I noticed when preparing this week’s rankings in this class is how close the teams are. This will be a wild fall in 3A with teams bouncing in and out of the top 10 every week. The #3 to #15 spots are extremely fluid.

York did not race last weekend but stay in the #1 spot. Hinsdale Central is a clear #2 after their win last Saturday on their home course. Oswego jumps into the top five at #3 after strong races at Yorkville and last Saturday at UW-Parkside. Sandburg kept Grant Giblin in the sophomore race, but still dominated at Lyons Township to move to #4. Downers Grove North has early season wins at EIU Showdown and Jeff Leavey and drop to #5 but are close enough to move into the top three after their race Saturday at Peoria.

Palatine, after a good race at Hinsdale, moves into the top 30 at #14. They are one of four teams new in the top 30 this week that includes Oswego East, Hersey, and Prospect.

August 23, 2021

8/23 3A Boys Notes – The IHSA on August 18 made changes to the 2021 XC Classifications. Riverside-Brookfield, HL Richards, and Marist were moved from Class 3A to Class 2A. Riverside-Brookfield was initially ranked #28 in Class 3A. Glenbrook South was moved from 29 to 28, Wheaton-Warrenville South was moved from 30 to 29, and Libertyville was moved into #30.