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2017 Palatine Meet of Champions PreviewPublished by
By Michael Newman
Some of the top teams will be spread out throughout the Midwest competing in meets this Saturday. The top three 3A Girls teams in the state Naperville North, Yorkville, and Downers Grove South will make their presence known competing in the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis. Neuqua Valley and Lyons Township are among the teams that will compete at the Culver Academies Invitational in Indiana. Wheaton-Warrenville South takes their Girls team to Michigan to compete at the Jackson Invitational. The focus meet in the state should be at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve in Palatine. It should literally be a hot one as the Palatine Meet of Champions take place. Temperatures are supposed to hit the mid-90’s by noon on race day prompting the meet management to start the meet earlier. The schedule has been changed to: Boys Frosh Race: 8:30A.M. 2.5 Miles Girls Fr/So Race: 8:55 A.M. 2.5 Miles Boys Varsity Race: 9:20 A.M. 3.0 Miles Girls Varsity Race: 9:50 A.M. 3.0 Miles Boys Soph Race: 10:20 A.M. 3.0 Miles Girls JV Race: 10:50 A.M. 2.5 Miles Boys JV Race: 11:15 A.M. 3.0 Miles Awards: 11:45 A.M.
Boys Race – 9:20 AM Teams - 3A - #4 Hersey, #5 Mundelein, #6 Hinsdale Central, #9 York, #10 Plainfield South, #11 Prospect, #17 New Trier, #18 Dundee-Crown, #19 St. Ignatius Prep, #21 Palatine, #25 Barrington; 2A - #23 Crystal Lake Central; Jones College Prep, Plainfield North, Maine South, Loyola Academy, Oak Park-River Forest, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Marmion Academy, Oswego East, Stevenson, Grayslake Central Out of State Teams: St. Xavier (KY), St. Louis University (MO).
Teams Outlook – St. Xavier enters this meet ranked in the top 10 nationally after winning the Southeast Division and second overall at the Trinity Valkyre Invitational in Louisville. This Kentucky squad, who finished second in this race last year, has a strong presence up front led by Patrick Schaefer who finished fifth in last week’s race. What to watch for from this team is the pack behind Schaefer. The Tigers had five runners together 30 seconds behind Schaefer but only two seconds separating five runners. If they duplicate that effort Saturday, they will be tough to beat. Hersey does have the talent to win this meet. Josh Methner led the Huskies to a third-place finish last Saturday at the Richard Spring Invitational. Methner could be one of the individual favorites in this race but Hersey needs to keep their split under 35 seconds on their scorers. Pack tightness will also be a key for Mundelein and Hinsdale Central in their pursuit for a team title. Mundelein’s split was over 50 seconds last week at Warren, but did have a gap under 20 seconds the week before in Springfield. Michael Parduhn could be in the top ten leading his team. Hinsdale Central was impressive two weeks ago in Peoria finishing second behind top-ranked Downers Grove North and running a 30 second split on their top five led by Alec Hill and Sean O’Donnell. Keep an eye on this team tomorrow if they can duplicate that split. York did not have their best race last week in Peoria finishing seventh without top five runner John Rosak and a rough race from Jackson Bode. The Dukes will again be without Charlie Kern, but could have a strong pack led by Sean MacGregor and Tim Stevenson that could surprise some in this race. Plainfield South has been running strong the past two weeks finishing fourth last Saturday in Peoria. Christian Knowlton leads the Cougars with hopes of finishing in the top five in this meet. Prospect looked good in winning last Saturday in winning at Libertyville. This will be the first major test for the Knights that will again run a tight pack led by Jack Terry. Surprise teams in the top five? There are plenty of good squads that could step into this role. Dundee-Crown could surprise some led by Anthony Hurgoi. St. Ignatius Prep has the talent to be up front led by Michael Obroin. Palatine will be running on their home course and typically run good in this race. University High School in St. Louis finished fifth in the Green Division at the Forest Park Festival two weeks ago and could be a surprise in this race. Individuals Outlook – Without the defending champion Charlie Kern in this race, the run for the win is wide-open. It could be Wyatt McIntyre, who finished second fall in the 1A State race, has not raced much this fall but is in shape as displayed by his run at Detweiller at Dark when he ran 15:00. Tommy Brady of Maine South had an impressive win last week at Minooka as he was 14 seconds ahead of Whitney Young’s Clayton Mendez. Two weeks ago, in Peoria, St. Ignatius Prep’s Michael Obroin edged Mendez for second-place. I would not discount him in this race. York’s Sean MacGregor and Tim Stevenson finished in the top ten last week in Peoria. I would not count them out. Nick Laning of Barrington had a great race last week in Peoria running 14:46 to finish fourth overall. He could come away with the win. Alex Tam of Libertyville and Patrick Norrick of New Trier have run under 15-minutes this fall and could be in the top five. St. Xavier’s Patrick Schaefer also has the speed to be in contention at the end in this race. Michael Ronzone of Marmion Academy, Matthew Blanco of Oswego East, Matthew Vietzen of Oak Park-River Forest, Josh Methner of Hersey, and Patrick Burns of Lake Zurich are some of the other runners to watch in this race.
Girls Race – 9:50 AM Teams: 3A - #4 Palatine, #9 Barrington, #16 Lyons Township, #17 Stevenson, #18 York, #22 New Trier, #23 Prospect; 2A - #1 Dunlap (Top 14), #3 Vernon Hills, #15 Crystal Lake Central; Downers Grove North, Maine South, Loyola Academy, Hersey, Libertyville, Cary-Grove, Lake Zurich, Lake Forest, St. Charles East, Grayslake Central Out of State Teams: Assumption (KY), Louisville Male Traditional (KY)
Team Outlook – 2A Top ranked Dunlap makes their first appearance in this meet and could leave Palatine with the championship trophy. They will have the one of the individual favorites with Campbell Petersen and a tight pack behind her led by Franny Verville. Keeping their five-runner split under 50 seconds could be a key for the Eagles. Palatine ran their best race of the year so far in finishing just three points behind Wheaton-Warrenville South and Glenbard West last week in Peoria. The addition of freshman Anne Marie Jordan up front with Kate & Liz Lechowicz along with Lauryn Simons could make the Lady Pirates tough to beat especially on their home course. MSL rival Barrington has Jocelyn Long as their front runner but the addition of freshman Molly FitzPatrick just makes the Fillies even stronger. This team could be in the mix for the team win. Vernon Hills, ranked third in Class 2A, finished third behind Dunlap two weeks ago in Peoria. If they can get Lauren Katz or Payton Makowskyj in the top 15 along with a team split under 35 seconds, the Cougars could finish in the top three. Lyons Township is still without Sarah Barcelona but will be a factor in this team race led by Emily Henkel and Cara Paliakas. York is led by Sarah May and could be in the top five if they can keep their pack behind May together. Assumption (KY) makes another appearance in this meet led by Sarah Michels. They could challenge for a finish in the top ten. Stevenson, New Trier, and Prospect are teams to keep an eye on that could finish in the top five. Individuals Outlook – Kaitlyn Lacy of Male Traditional HS in Louisville is the defending champion. Last year, she edged Prospect’s Brooke Wilson by a tenth of a second. Lacy made her seasonal debut finishing 58th last week at the Trinity/Valkyre Invitational. We will see if she bounces back in this race. It could be Lake Forest’s Brett Chody that comes away with the win. The senior traveled to the Woodbridge (CA) XC Classic where she ran 17:01 on the fast 3-mile Woodbridge Course. You also have Melissa Manetsch of Libertyville that could be a factor in this race. Manetsch finished fourth in Peoria two weeks ago running 17:11 and should be in the front. Dunlap’s Campbell Petersen and Franny Verville could be among the top ten. Don’t forget about Barrington’s Jocelyn Long who finished in the top five in this race last year. Isabelle Sparreo of Stevenson, Molly FitzPatrick of Barrington, Lauren Katz of Vernon Hills, Olivia Niziolek of Maine South, Sarah May of York, and Emily Henkel of Lyons Township are runners that have the talent to finish in the top ten.
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