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2021 IHSA State Cross Country Championships - Class 2A Girls PreviewPublished by
2021 IHSA State Cross Country Championships - Class 2A Girls
By Michael Newman [email protected]
There is no surprise in the individual race in Class 2A starting at 11:00 AM. Latin School’s Ava Parekh has been the state’s top runner all season having run 16:27 at the Richard Spring Invitational, finishing second at the Roy Griak Invitational a week later, then running 16:31 at the Naperville Twilight race 10 days later. Parekh is close to a lock, but anything can happen. Elia Ton-That finished behind at Twilight but has come on strong winning the Chicago City Championship and last week at Woodstock North. Mary Grace Hegberg of St. Viator ran 16:50 in her regional race but finished behind Ton-That last week. She will be up front pushing the pace. Parekh’s teammate Mia Kotler is having a great freshman season and could finish in the top five. Isabella Marasco of Lake Forest, Bela Domier of Grayslake Central, Hadley Ferrero of Crystal Lake Central, Isabella Gonzalez of Crystal Lake South, Rachel Soukup of Prairie Ridge, and Delaney Fitzgerald of Normal University are some of the runners that you will see in the front in this race. There is no real team favorite in this meet despite the fact that Crystal Lake South enters this meet as the top 2A team in the state. The first four teams could be separated by only 10 points in this meet with South, Vernon Hills, Chatham-Glenwood, Dunlap, and Grayslake Central the teams most likely you will see in the front. Latin School and Northside Prep will have the power in the front but will need help from their supporting cast to get into the top three on Saturday. There are 28 teams that made it from the four sectionals. Here is a detailed look at each of those teams. READ THE OTHER STATE MEET PREVEWS HERE | LIVE RESULTS LINK FOR THE IHSA STATE MEET
Crystal Lake (South)
Notes – This is only the third time and third year in a row that South’s Girls team has competed in the IHSA State Meet. The Gators ran on this course more than a month ago winning a sixth-runner tiebreak to win the Peoria Invitational and held on to the #1 spot in Class 2A since. Isabella Gonzalez and Abby Machesky lead this team and could finish in the top 10 that appears after the first couple of individual favorites. Addie Frisch is the team’s third runner that also has her eyes on an all-state finish. The team has had splits on their top five between 100 and 110 seconds most of the season. That split was 103 seconds in last week’s sectional race. It was only 72 seconds in the Peoria race in October. A similar race like this on Saturday could bring a state championship trophy home to Crystal Lake. Chicago (Latin School)
Notes – This will be the ninth year in a row that the Romans have competed in the State Meet. Overall, this will be their tenth State Meet appearance. Their best finish is when they finished third in 2013. Latin School has the race favorite Ava Parekh lead in this team. They also have freshman Mia Kotler that will be among the top five in this race. Then comes the mystery from their third through fifth scorers. This school could win this state championship or finishing fifth to tenth in the team standings. That pack led by McKenna Fellows had a 36 second on the group last Saturday. It was over one minute in their regional race. Fellows finishing in the top 40 will be something to watch for. Keeping a split of 40 seconds off Fellows on the next two runners could be the key in this race for Latin School. Vernon Hills
Notes – The first year that Vernon Hills competed in the State Meet was in 2012 when they finished 12 in the Class 2A Meet. Saturday marks the ninth year in a row that the Cougars have competed which is include finishing second in 2018 and placing third four times. The Cougars have that state experience. That could help them in this race. Anna Todd and Reina Hill lead this team and are candidates to finish in the top 20 in this race. Jadyn Parker has been improving and will help this top five. Sisters Rose and Clara Sheridan will need to have solid performances for this team to be in the state title hunt. The team ran a 76 second split on their top five in finishing third in last week’s sectional. They will need a similar type split in this race to earn another state trophy. Chatham-Glenwood
Notes – The Titans will make their 21 State Meet appearance on Saturday with 2015 finishing fifth their best finish. Chatham-Glenwood was in that race in Peoria where they tied for the win. They do not want that to happen again in this race. The Titans have a great pack of four runners led by Nia Gibson and followed by Ava Gorrie, Emma Leahy, and Rachel Behrens. The split on the four in that Peoria race was 23 seconds in the October race. It was 34 seconds in last week’s sectional. This team knows that they need to stay close most likely between 27 seconds of each other. Their gaps between four and five were 41 seconds in October and only 23 seconds in Decatur. This team is aiming for a state title. They could earn that on Saturday. Chicago (Northside Prep)
Notes – This is only the third time that the Mustangs’ Girls team has competed in the State Meet. Their best finish came in 2016 when they finished sixth in the 2A Meet. The Ton-That sisters finishing near the front project this team to be in the hunt for a trophy on Saturday. The Mustangs finished seventh in last week’s sectional meet in Woodstock. Elia Ton-That will be one of the individual favorites with her sister Lucia capable of finishing in the top 10. The split has not changed with it being near three minutes most of the season. Their split from three to five when they won the Chicago City championships was 57 seconds. That three runner split last week was 69 seconds. A key will be keeping the gap near 55 seconds and keeping their third runner within 85 seconds of Lucia Ton-That. Dunlap
Notes – This will be the 14th time that the Eagles have competed in the state meet. This includes 2017 when they won the Class 2A State title. Dunlap was in that Peoria race where they scored 84 points coming within eight points of Crystal Lake South and Chatham-Glenwood. The Eagles had a 32 second in that race. That gap has grown in the last two big meets that they have run in. Their top five split in the mud at Metamora and then 49 seconds in their conference meet. Kate Robertson has been the team’s top runner all season and could be among the top 15 in this race. Abbie Gleason was within eight seconds of Robertson in sectionals and will need that kind of race on Saturday. The Eagles will need two runners in all-state finishes in this meet. They will also need a split under 35 seconds to be within a state meet finish. Grayslake (Central)
Notes – This will be the fifth year that the Rams have competed in the Girls State Meet. Their last appearance came in 2018 when they finished eight in the Class 2A race. This is the first time that both the Boys and Girls teams have raced in the same year at Detweiller Park. Injuries slowed down this team in the middle of the season after a fast start to the season including winning at First to the Finish in September. The Rams appear ready to challenge for a state trophy after finishing 12 points behind Crystal Lake South last week. Bella Domier has been the top runner all season and will be among the top 10 runners in this race. The return of Katie Armstrong will help the team’s top five. Sara Armstrong could be among the top 25 in this race. Bryn Sato and Sofia Witt are runners that will be near that point possibly in the top 40. The Rams a season’s best 75 second split in last week’s race. A split at 70 seconds or even faster could get this team a state championship. Crystal Lake (Central)
Notes – The Tigers compete in the 13th State Meet. Central’s last appearance was in 2016. Central has been a surprise this season especially with the emergence of Hadley Ferrero. The freshman has been the team’s top runner all season. She could finish in the top five in Peoria. Her sister Annie Ferrero and Brynn Matthaei led a 74 second split on the next four runners. The Tigers will need a tight split race to get them in contention for a top five finish. If not, they are a good bet to finish in the top 10. Normal (University)
Notes – The Pioneers compete in the Girls State Meet for the 17 time. U-High has two state trophies to their credit. Delaney Fitzgerald and Zoe Carter have been the team’s top runners all season and should be able to finish in the top 25. Adriana Crabtree finished with Carter in last week’s regional race. Crabtree with another race like that could get her into the top 25. U-High has a split of two minutes which has happened most of this season. U-High could be in the top 10. If their split from four to five stays over 60 seconds, it could be tough for the Pioneers to finish in the top five. Lake Villa (Lakes)
Notes – The Eagles make their fourth state meet appearance. The Girls team finished second in the Class 2A Meet in 2019. This team just continues to peak at just the right time. Becca Runyan and Madison Perez are possibilities to finish in the top 25. Lakes dropped their split from 104 seconds in their regional meet to only a season’s best of 69 seconds last week. It was one of the reasons why they qualified for this meet finishing fourth. Another race like that could get them to finish in the top five on Saturday. Crystal Lake (Prairie Ridge)
Notes – Prairie Ridge will make the starting line at the State Meet for the fifth time. They finished third in their last two appearances (2018, 2019). This team has been a mystery in Peoria the last two times the state meet has been held at Detweiller. There was another type of mystery when their top runner Rachel Soukup did not run in their conference and regional meet. She did run in the sectional meet finishing seventh. Prairie Ridge finished sixth last week and could finish in the top 10. The team had a 66 second split from their second through fifth runners led by Olivia McPherson. Peoria (Notre Dame)
Notes – The Irish make the short trip to Detweiller Park from their school for the 19th time including six in the last seven years. Notre Dame did win a state championship in the 2010 Class 2A State Meet. Notre Dame finished fourth at Metamora led by Teagan Cove who could finish in the top 25 in this race. Their team has had their top five split in the mid-90’s for most of the season. The time dropping could move this team into the top 10. Waterloo
Notes – This is the sixth State Meet appearance for Waterloo. The Bulldogs qualified for the state meet finishing fourth even though their top runner Angelynn Kanyuck was under the weather and could not finish the race. Danielle Mudd and Cameron Crump were the team’s top runners in the race. A heathy Kanyuck could finish in the top 25 in Peoria. Mudd and Crump could finish in the top 40. Waterloo finished fourth in the October Peoria race. They could be a surprise on Saturday. LaGrange Park (Nazareth Academy)
Notes – The Roadrunners will be competing in the Girls State Meet for the fourth time. Nazareth Academy finished 24th in the 2019 Class 2A State Meet. Colette Kinsella and Sarah Owen have been the team’s top runners at the end of the season. Their split was huge, over two minutes, when they finished second last week at Fenton. They will need a lower split to finish among the top 10 teams in Peoria. Mt. Zion
Notes – This will be the third year in a row (2018,2019) that the Braves competed in the Girls State Meet as well as their fifth time overall. Mt. Zion has been running good coming down the stretch winning the conference meet, finishing second at the Jacksonville Regional and placing fifth last week at Decatur. Sofia Munoz has stepped up as the teams to runner with Ashleigh Anderson leading a strong pack. They had a split of 72 seconds at last week’s sectional race. A similar type of race could move this squad closer to a top 10 finish. Metamora
Notes – The Redbirds compete in the Girls State Meet for the first time since 2018. This is their 15th Girls State Meet appearance overall. Metamora finished third last week on their home course after winning the LaSalle-Peru Regional the week before. Audrey Heil and Katie Lalumandier lead this team that could finish in the top 50. Metamora ran a 69 second split in the sectional race. Chicago (St. Ignatius Prep)
Notes – 2021 marks the 11th time that the Wolfpack will be at the Girls State Meet. St. Ignatius Prep finished fifth in 2019. The Wolfpack had a top five split under 60 seconds in finishing third at Fenton last week. Meghan Semmer has been the team’s top runner most of the season and should do so again on Saturday. Chicago (Payton Prep)
Notes – This is the first appearance for the Grizzlies since 2017 when they finished 20th in the Class 2A race. This is the seventh time for Payton in the State Meet. The Grizzlies just advanced finishing sixth at Fenton. Josephine Dziedzic is the top runner for this team aiming for a top 25 finish on Saturday. A gap between her and the pack could slow down Payton on Saturday. Their team split, however, on their second through fifth runners last week was only 41 seconds. Normal (West)
Notes – The Wildcats make their 10th State Meet appearance. This is their first state meet since 2013. Normal West made it to state by finishing fifth at the Metamora Sectional. Addysen Clark and Ashleigh Horton finished within seconds of each other. Both are possibilities to finish in the top 50 on Saturday Morton
Notes – It will be the fifth time that the Potters Girls’ team toes the line for a state meet at Detweiller Park and the third year in a row for this squad. Emma Skinner and Adeline Smith have been the team’s top runner all season. Skinner was the #1 runner at Metamora as the Potters finished sixth with a 91 second top-five split. Mascoutah
Notes – This will be the fourth state Meet for the Mascoutah Girls team. The Indians finished second behind Chatham-Glenwood last week in Decatur. Addison Heard and Jayda Williams led the team that only had a 49 second split on their first five runners. Mahomet-Seymour
Notes – The Bulldogs advance to the Girls State Meet for the 18th time. They have finished in the top 10 three times. Mahomet only had an 87 second split on their top five runners when they fifth at Decatur last week. Ava Boyd has been the team’s top runner most of the season followed by Chloe Brunden and Callie Jansen. Wheaton (St. Francis)
Notes – St. Francis makes the State Meet for the 17th time. They qualified in 2018 finishing 20th in the Class 2A race. Their last appearance before that was in 2012. The team’s split was 63 seconds hen they finished fifth last week at Fenton. Leann Ringsrud and Ava Swiatek have been the team’s top runner all season. Chicago (Marist)
Notes – This is the second time for the Redhawks at the Girls State Meet. Their first appearance came in 2015 when they finished 16th in the Class 2A Meet. Marist had a good race last Saturday in finishing fourth to advance to Peoria led by Jenna Bugos and Emma Karczewski. Their top five split was their best of the season at 47 seconds in their sectional race. Highland
Notes – This will be the eighth time at the IHSA State Meet for Highland who just made it to Peoria finishing sixth at Decatur. Alyson Pace and Payton Frey finished within three seconds of each other to lead their team. Highland had a great pack with only 26 seconds separating the top five runners. Morris
Notes – This will be the first time that Morris will compete in the Girls State Meet. This team was a bit of a surprise t advance to Peoria not having run any big meets. They did peak at the right time winning the Interstate Eight Conference, placing third at the LaSalle-Peru Regional and then last week finishing seventh at Metamora. Freshmen Makensi and Danica Martin along with Joy Dudley have been the team’s top runners this season. Troy (Triad)
Notes – This will be the fourth time that the Knights will run in the Girls State Meet. Their last came in 2017 when they finished 16th in the Class 2A Meet. Triad just made it to Peoria finishing seventh at Decatur led by Blaire Cunningham and Kennedy Bowman. Maple Park (Kaneland)
Notes – Kaneland makes it back to the Girls State Meet for the 14 time. They have finished in the top 10 ten times with fourth place in 1989 in the Class A State Meet their best. Kaneland made it to state finishing seventh at Fenton led with Alli Gonella and Lindsey Andrade as their top runners. More news |
