By Michael Newman

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In the 2012 edition of the Meet of Championships, both the Boys and Girls championship trophies headed south to Kentucky with Louisville schools St. Xavier and Assumption taking top honors. Both teams are back to defend their championships. There are a couple of Illinois schools that would like to keep those trophies within the state and are coming off of big wins last week at Peoria. #2 Palatine will be on their home course and will look to challenge the #6 pre-season national team. IL #1 York looked ready to defend their state team championship with a convincing win last Saturday.

Here is a look at both of the Varsity races:

Girls Varsity – 10:20 AM

Individuals – Skyler Bollinger and her Yorkville teammates will be making their first appearance to the Meet of Champions. It will be Bollinger that the other runners in this race that will have their focus on. She rebounded last week after her Peoria performance running 17:14 to win by 55 seconds last week at Minooka. The one runner that could give her a challenge is fellow sophomore Kaitlyn Ko (Buffalo Grove HS). She won the FFTF 3A race two weeks ago in Peoria running 17:00. She will definitely be one of the runners that will push Bollinger. Meghan Carroll (St. Viator HS, Arlington Heights) was in the top five most of the race last week at Peoria before she finished seventh. Expect her to be in the mix up front in this race.

Runners from out of state will definitely have a presence in this race. Whitney O’Brien (Daviess County HS, Owensboro KY) finished third last week at the Trinity/Valkyre Meet in Louisville running 17:51 for 5,000 Meters. She will be up towards the front. Emily Bean and Kenzley Deffler (Assumption HS, Louisville KY) will most likely start out slow, but will come on strong the last half of the race. Expect them in the top five on Saturday.

The individual race is not loaded with top name runners, but this is a deep field that could produce some fast times. Some of the runners that I would keep an eye on include Taila Duzey (Cary Grove HS), Kennadelle Williams (Lee’s Summit West HS MO), Lauren Conroy (Barrington HS), Liz Cox, Amy Kieliszewski, and Jessica Lincoln (Palatine HS), Sara Atkins (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS), Megan Gellinas (Lake Zurich HS), Emily Leonard (Maine South HS, Park Ridge), Lexy Rudofski (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange), Grace Maletich (North HS, Downers Grove), Brooke Wilson (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect), and Maddie Dagley (Central HS, Crystal Lake).

Teams – I think this will be a close team race. Palatine is coming off of a great race last Saturday at the Richard Spring Invitational where they won the team championship with only a seven second split on their five scoring runners. Throw in six if Sabina Yousif, who is normally in the top five, does not lose her shoe 400 meters into the race and finishes only 29^th! The top five has been trading places most of this season with the one constant of Liz Cox being towards the front of that pack. Watch for Palatine to keep that pack, but move a little closer towards the front on Saturday.

Assumption, I believe, would be a shoe in to get their third championship in a row if their normal front runners Katherine Receiveur and Bailey Davis were in the varsity race. Receiveur had a stress fracture at the end of the track season. She is still coming back from that. It is possible they could be in the varsity race but most likely we will see them in the open race. Even without them in the varsity race, Assumption will still be a threat for the championship. When they ran at the beginning of the month at the Mason Invitational outside of Cincinnati, the Kentucky school ran a 52 second spread on their first five when they placed second to national powerhouse Carmel IN.

#10 Barrington has come on strong in the last few weeks led by the addition of Lauren Conroy and Caroline Reynolds who returned from injuries. Their win over former top ten Hoffman Estates proves they could be in the mix for a trophy on Saturday. #12 Wheaton-Warrenville South is a young and deep team. It would not surprise me if they run their stud freshman runners Sara Atkins and Allison McGrath on the lower level on Saturday. They still have the talent to place among the top teams. #13 Downers Grove North has been coming on strong the last couple of weeks. They will be in the mix for a top five finish as well.

2A #1 Yorkville has Bollinger to lead them, but have been hit by illnesses and injuries with the most prominent being the injury to Summer Pierson. The sophomore all-state runner has been sidelined the rest of the season with hamstring problems among other things. It will be interesting to see which runners step up on Saturday. The Lady Foxes still have the talent to place in the top three.

Boys Varsity – 10:50 AM 

Individuals – The one runner that I would keep a close eye on is Jesse Reiser (McHenry HS). The junior has looked strong with early season wins at McHenry County and at Wauconda. In the Wauconda race, he defeated both Zach Dale (Conant HS, Hoffman Estates) and Nolan McKenna (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS). Reiser is definitely a threat to challenge the meet record of 14:33 in this race. Jake Hoffert (Yorkville HS) opened eyes with his 14:31 at Detweiller Park two weeks ago. He will be in the hunt to push Reiser. His brother Luke, who ran 14:39 in the same Peoria meet, will be in the front as well.

David Rodriguez (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights) moved nicely in the last mile last week at Peoria to capture third. With that confidence, I expect him to be towards the front on Saturday. Speaking of moves, York’s front pack did just that moving from fortieth at the mile to three runners in the top 10 at the end last week at Peoria. Nathan Mroz, Matt Plowman, Alex Bashqawi, and Kyle Mattes all could be in the top ten in this race.

Graham Brown (Palatine HS) did not have his best race of the year last week at Peoria finishing 23^rd. With him racing on his home course, the junior should be in the equation for the race championship. Pete Cotsirilos and Chase Silverman (New Trier HS, Winnetka), just like Brown, did not run their best race last week. Expect them to be more towards the front on Saturday.

Other runners that I would keep an eye on include Jake Herb (Barrington HS), Chris Striegel (St. Xavier HS, Louisville KY), Ryan Pitner (Central HS, Crystal Lake), Kyle Maloney and Pete Schaible (Jones College Prep, Chicago), Jack Carpenter (Maine South HS, Park Ridge), Dan Santino (St. Ignatius College Prep, Chicago), and Harry Winter (Fremd HS, Palatine).

Teams – Defending champion St Xavier lost the core of last year’s team. They will still be tough, but will they have enough to stop York? The #1 Dukes have the four horsemen (Mroz, Bashqawi, Plowman, and Mattes) up front. Their split last week was 38 seconds. If they have four runners in the first ten, this team will be tough to stop. St. Xavier finished fourth last week at the Trinity/Valkyre Invitational in Louisville with Chris Striegel leading the way running 15:05 for 5000 meters. The split for the X-men last week was at 49 seconds. That needs to come down if they want to have a shot at a trophy.

#4 Hersey looked extremely strong last week at Peoria with Rodriguez up front and a tight pack behind him. We could see a closer race from Andy Philipose on Saturday. If Hersey can split the York first four and have five in before York’s fifth, the Huskies could have a chance to win. #10 New Trier did not run a great team race, but could be in the hunt for a top finish if Cotsirilos and Silverman can finish in the top 12 with their 5 runner pack at 34 seconds. #11 St. Ignatius could be the surprise of this team race. Dan Santino is starting to come into his own as an elite runner and he is only a sophomore. Chris Korabik is rounding back into shape after a leg injury sidelined him at the beginning of the year. If they can have their first two in the first fifteen and a split of 37 seconds, this team could finish high. #9 Loyola Academy does not have a strong front runner, but have a tight pack. It that pack can move closer to the front, this team could be dangerous.

#14 Palatine will be running on their home course and they usually run good in this meet. A top five finish by Brown along with a narrowing gap between 3 and 4 can mean good things for the Pirates. St. Louis University finished fifth at Forest Park two weeks ago behind team champion O’Fallon. Their five man split 28 seconds, but that started behind O’Fallon’s #3 runner Steve Chorma. The pack led by Junior Jack Sullivan needs to start in the top 20 if this team wants to finish in the top five.

2A #3 Yorkville will have the two Hoffert brothers up front to guarantee them low points. You could see Nolan Tweedy in the top 20 in this race as well. The big question will be if the gap between three and four can stay near 35 seconds for this team to have a shot at a top finish. #5 Crystal Lake Central could finish in the top 10, but will need a top eleven individual finish by Ryan Pitner along with a 45 second split. Defending 2A champion Jones College Prep finished third a year ago just missing beating York. The Eagles will have a tight pack led by Kyle Maloney and Peter Schaible. If they can have a thirty second split with a first runner in the top 15, then this team may be in the top five.