Some of the top Illinois Individual runners primed for great races at Deer Grove East

Pictured – Tommy Brady winning last year’s Boys Meet of Champions race (Mike Newman Photo)

By Michael Newman

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The combination of great individual fields, perfect running conditions on Saturday morning, and a spectator’s paradise at scenic Deer Grove East Forest Preserve make the Palatine Invitational / Meet of Champions the meet to be at Saturday morning.

The first race at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve begins Saturday at 9:00 AM.

There are no top ranked teams in both the Girls and Boys Varsity races. However, the quality of both fields are high making this competition one of the top meets in the state this season. Tommy Brady, the defending race champion, leads four of the top runners in Illinois in the Boys race. Molly FitzPatrick is coming off a great race two weeks ago in Peoria. The Girls field became even tougher with the late entries of Latin School’s Ava Paresh and Marianne Mihas.

Hersey and Mundelein will be among the Boys teams to watch in the front in what could be a wide-open race. Oswego and Lyons Township will be the teams that should be the favorites in the Girls race with host Palatine a possibility in winning it.

Palatine Invitational Meet Page

Girls Varsity Race – 10:20 AM

Girls Ranked Teams – 3A: #7 Lyons Township, #8 Oswego, #10 Palatine, #11 Barrington, #14 New Trier, #18 York, #21 Prospect, #22 Edwardsville, #23 Stevenson. 2A: #2 Vernon Hills, #9 Dunlap, #21 Grayslake Central, #23 Crystal Lake Central.

Girls Entered Teams – Assumption KY, Buffalo Grove, Cary-Grove, Downers Grove North, Dundee-Crown, Fenwick, Jones College Prep, Lake Forest, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Lockport Township, Maine South, Mundelein, Prairie Ridge.

Preview Notes – The team race is too close to call entering Saturday’s meet. We could have four teams within 20 points deciding the winner.

Lyons Township ran a 39 second split on their pack behind leader Kate Dickman two weeks ago in Peoria as they finished sixth. Dickman will be one of the front runners in this race. Getting that pack closer together and within 30 seconds of Dickman will be something to watch.

Oswego ran a strong race last week on Peoria as they finished third behind Glenbard West and Wheaton-Warrenville South. Isabelle Christiansen has help in the front as Ella Hale and Becca Corbett ran 30 seconds behind Christiansen in last week’s race. The gap from the top three and the rest of the pack was close to 69 seconds. That needs to close down for the Panthers to take home the top prize. Palatine opened their season last week at Peoria finishing fifth behind the front running of Anne Marie Jordan. 51 seconds separated Jordan and the rest of the pack led by Kate Lechowicz. Closing the pack split 69 seconds to 45 seconds will be one of the reasons that the Lady Pirates could contend for the meet win.

Barrington will get the low points in the front from Molly FitzPatrick. The pack split in two weeks ago at Peoria was close to two minutes. Getting their three, four, and five runners closer to second runner Alyssa Norris will be something to keep an eye on in this race. Vernon Hills is the second ranked 2A team in the state. They will test their pack running in this race.  Their split when they finished behind Belvidere North two weeks ago in Peoria was only 35 seconds. We should see that kind of split and pack running in this race from the Cougars. Getting their top runner in the top 20 could get this team finishing in the top three teams.

New Trier ran a tight pack in winning at Libertyville last weekend. Moving that pack closer to the front could get the Lady Trevians into the top five. York ran a 17 second split on their second through fifth runners in last week’s Peoria race and were 32 seconds behind their #1 runner Sarah May. Getting May into the top 10 with that tight pack could mean surprises in the top of the standings for York.

Girls Individuals to Watch (In Alphabetical Order) – Emily Burns, Lake Zurich; Isabelle Christiansen, Oswego; Kate Dickman, Lyons Township; Morgan Dieschbourg, Cary-Grove; Molly FitzPatrick, Barrington; Chelsea Gale, Prairie Ridge; Anne Marie Jordan, Palatine; Abby Korak, Edwardsville; Sarah May, York; Marianne Mihas, Latin School; Ava Parekh, Latin School; Brielle Rochester, Libertyville; Natalie Sorenson, Stevenson;

Preview Notes – Molly FitzPatrick comes into this race with a 16:44 best for 3-miles run two weeks ago at the First to the Finish Invitational. She finished second in that race behind Batavia’s Katrina Schlenker and will be one of the favorites in this race on Saturday.

There will be plenty of runners close to FitzPatrick in this race. Ava Parekh and Marianne Mihas were last minute entries into this meet and should be among the top five runners in this race. Anne Marie Jordan will get the support on her home course after running 17:07 last week at Detweiller Park.  Isabelle Christiansen finished ninth at Peoria last week and will be among the runners in the front pack. Brielle Rochester is only a freshman but has been running like a senior with two race wins this season. Rochester ran 17:18 at FTTF and finished seventh. She too will be among the front runners.

Abby Korak is coming back from a close win last week at Edwardsville where she defeated 2A State Champion Jenna Schwartz by five seconds. I would not count out Korak in this race. Kate Dickman has emerged as the top runner for her team as she ran 17:34 two weeks ago in Peoria. A top five finish in this race is not out of the question.

Boys Varsity Race – 10:50 AM

Boys Ranked Teams – 3A: #6 Hersey, #7 Mundelein, #9 York, #10 Oswego East, #11 New Trier, #12 Maine South, #14 Hinsdale Central, #21 Barrington, #22 Plainfield South. 2A: #22 Crystal Lake Central.

Boys Entered Teams – Cary Grove, Dundee-Crown, Edwardsville, Fenwick, Grayslake Central, Jones College Prep, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Loyola Academy, Oak Park-River Forest, Palatine, Plainfield North, Prairie Ridge, Prospect, St. Ignatius, St. Louis University MO, St. Xavier KY, Stevenson, Vernon Hills.

Preview Notes – Hersey is the top ranked team in this field and eager to bounce back from their race last week at Peoria when they finished fourth. Josh Methner will be one of the favorites in this race with hopefully Max Svienty and Ryan Buch closer in this race. The Huskies ran a 74 second split on their scorers last week. Getting that split under 60 seconds could secure the meet championship.

Mundelein finished 16^th last Saturday in a nationally loaded field at the Woodbridge XC Classic in California. The Mustangs will need to pack it up this race. Their split on five last Saturday was 65 seconds. Dillon Blake and Robert St. Clair should finish in the top 10. They will miss two of their top five Michael Parduhn and Aidan Alfonso who are out with injuries. Mundelein’s depth could pay off in this meet if they can get their split under 50 seconds and get their top two runners in before Hersey gets their second runner across the finish line.

We have not forgotten about Oswego East after their fourth-place finish two weeks ago at First to the Finish. The Wolves are young with six of their top seven runners underclassmen. In the Peoria race, East ran a 43 second split on five off their top runners Luke Wentz and Heriberto Alvarez. Oswego East could be among the top three teams in this race but need to get Wentz and Alvarez in the top 15 while keeping the same top five split.

New Trier was also impressive in the Peoria race having 12 runners at or under 16-minutes in both the Varsity and Open races. The Varsity team had a 19 second split on the top five but the pack started at 39^th place led by Charlie Forbes. The Trevians have a tight enough split to win this meet. Getting that pack closer to the front could be the solution to get that win.

Hinsdale Central is the mystery team in this field. The Red Devils have not run their full lineup yet as they were missing four of their top seven due to injuries and illnesses two weeks ago. If Alec Hill and Matt Kusak are running, both Hinsdale runners could finish in the top 15. The potential is there for this team to run a 30 to 40 second split on their top five. We should get more info about this team at the conclusion of the Varsity race. It would not be a surprise if they come away with the team win.

Maine South edged Downers Grove North by one-point last week at Minooka. Their team, led by individual favorite Tommy Brady, ran a 72 second five runner split in that race. That time needs to dip by 20 seconds to get them in contention for the team win. York most likely will not run their top sophomores up on the Varsity on Saturday. The sophomore-less Dukes still finished sixth last week in Peoria. Ethan Kern and Daniel Klysh will be among the leaders in the front. Moving their pack closer to those two will be something to watch from this team.

There are plenty of solid unranked teams in this field that could be among the top five teams. Downers Grove South leads this group. The Mustangs did not run a great race two weeks ago in Peoria after starting the season ranked among the top 10 3A teams. Watch for a better race from this squad Saturday led by Eddie Siuda. Edwardsville, Jones College Prep, Palatine, and St. Ignatius Prep have all been ranked in the top 25 this season. It is not going to surprise me to see any of those teams finish among the top ten. St. Louis University could be a team to watch. They defeated Edwardsville at Granite City at the beginning of the month. U-High ran a 72 second split on their top five in finishing second behind Neuqua Valley two weeks ago in St. Louis. Patrick Hetlage could be among the top runners in this race. Keeping the pack behind Hetlage within 20 seconds of each other and within 25 seconds of their top runner could secure a win for the Junior Bills. St. Xavier KY is the defending champion in this meet a year ago with a 23 second split on their top five. The Tigers won last week at Trinity/Valkyre with a 30 second split in their scorers led by Lincoln Williams. In that race, none of their runners finished in the top ten individually. That could be a telling point in this race if they cannot get a runner in the top 15.

Boys Individuals to Watch (In Alphabetical Order) – Heriberto Alvarez, Oswego East; Dillon Blake, Mundelein; Tommy Brady, Maine South; Ryan Buch, Hersey; Jacob Flynn, St. Ignatius Prep; Patrick Hetlage, St. Louis University; Alec Hill, Hinsdale Central; Ethan Kern, York; Christian Knowlton, Plainfield South; Daniel Klysh, York; Matt Kusak, Hinsdale Central; Jimmy McDonald, Vernon Hills; Josh Methner, Hersey; Roland Prenzler, Edwardsville; Eddie Siuda, Downers Grove South; Robert St. Clair, Mundelein; Max Svienty, Hersey; Luke Wentz, Oswego East; Lincoln Williams, St. Xavier KY.

Preview Notes – Four of the top runners in Illinois face off in what should be a great race Saturday morning. Tommy Brady bounced back from a “flu-ridden” race at First to the Finish to run one of the top ten times ever at Channahon Park in winning the Minooka Flight Invitational. He pushed the pace two weeks ago in Peoria setting up Rory Cavan’s 14:24 winning time. I would expect nothing different on Saturday from last year’s race champion in this meet.

Josh Methner and Ethan Kern fought the heat and each other in finishing 1-2 last week in Peoria. Methner ran a tactical perfect race patiently waiting for the right moment to make his move. Kern’s first race of the season proved doubters that he will be one of the top runners in the state this fall. Saturday’s race will be another test for the York junior.

Dillon Blake ran 14:38 last Saturday on a fast 3-mile California course in the Woodbridge XC Classic Sweepstakes race. Don’t be surprised if we see him near the front in this race. Ryan Buch and Max Svienty were farther back than expected from teammate Methner in last week’s Peoria. Don’t be surprised if both runners finish among the top 10.

Christian Knowlton has started off the season strong winning at Joliet and then finishing eighth last week in Peoria. You can expect Knowlton towards the front in this race. Daniel Klysh was three seconds behind Knowlton at Joliet, and then 13^th last Saturday. He could be a surprise in this race getting close to the top five. Roland Prenzler is coming off a win on the hills of Edwardsville last weekend. He should be a top 10 finisher for sure on Saturday perhaps closer to the front.