2023 Palatine Invitational Meet of Champions Preview

Records could fall Saturday at Deer Grove East; Camyn Viger looks to repeat Boys title (Kevin Dorsey Photo)

By Michael Newman

We are coming up to the fourth Saturday of September. The last two weekends have shown us great temperatures and fast times. The fourth Saturday could bring us some great conditions for the Palatine Invitational Meet of Champions held at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve in Palatine. Thursday night forecasts for Saturday morning call for clear skies and temperatures near 70 degrees at Varsity race times.

The challenge for the team championships in this meet should be intense. The top four Class 3A teams in the state led by #1 Downers Grove North will challenge for the Girls title. The Boys title is up for grabs with 8 of the top 10 teams in the state in the field led by #2 Hersey and #3 Oak Park River Forest.

We could have three new meet records. Scout Storms of Barrington and Veronica Znajda of Prospect have both run under 17-minutes at Detweiller Park and could challenge the 11-year-old record of 16:49 set by Kaylee Flanagan in 2012. Six runners in the Boys race have runner have run under 14:33 at Detweiller Park this season. All could get close to the 2019 record set by Josh Methner of 14:32.2. Camyn Viger of Plainfield South is the favorite to defend his 2022 title. Meg Peterson of Prospect could challenge her teammate’s Veronica Znajda time of 14:14.9 in the Girls Frosh/Soph 2.5 mile race if Peterson runs in that race.

Here is a look at each of the two Varsity races that will take place on Saturday. The meet starts with the Boys Freshman race (2.5 miles) at 9:00 AM, Girls Frosh/Soph race (2.5 miles) at 9:25 AM followed by the Boys Sophomore race at 9:50 AM followed by the two Varsity races. The 3-mile JV races will start after the varsity races are completed.

Palatine Invitational Meet of Championships link for Live Results

Girls Varsity Race – 10:20 AM

Teams (28 Total: 16 Ranked: 12 3A, 2 2A) – #1 Downers Grove North, #2 Prospect, #3 York, #4 Barrington, #6 Hersey, #12 Edwardsville, #15 Lyons Township, #20 Neuqua Valley, #21 Wheaton-Warrenville South, #23 Maine South, #24 Lake Zurich, #29 Palatine, 2A #2 Grayslake Central, 2A #26 Crystal Lake Central; Buffalo Grove, Cary-Grove, Fremd, Jones College Prep, Libertyville, Lockport, Mundelein, Northside College Prep (1 Individual), Oak Park-River Forest, Oswego, Fenwick, Prairie Ridge, Stevenson, New Trier, Assumption KY

Race Notes – It is the third week in a row that Downers Grove North, York, and Prospect have raced against each other. Barrington looked impressive in winning in their last big meet at the First to the Finish Invitational on September 9. This will be the only time that these four teams will face each other before the state meet. They are the top four teams as of now in Class 3A Illinois. We could have some questions answered for some of these teams by the end of Saturday’s meet.

Downers Grove North edged York and Prospect by three points without their #1 runner Lily Eddington. The sophomore should be racing this Saturday. What we did find out is how this team handled the situation with their #1 runner. It could be the start of a good duo in the front of races with Eddington and McKenzie Willard who could give the Trojans single digit numbers. The team had a 23 second split on their top five last week without Eddington. The split from their 2-5 pack in that race was only 9 seconds. It will be interesting to see if this team can duplicate their effort from last week.

York has finished second behind Downers Grove North the past two weeks. Will the third time be a charm in this meet? York had the same 5-runner split (23 seconds) as did Downers Grove North did. Their 2-5 split in that meet was 13 seconds. Michaela Quinn was within 10 seconds of their top runner Katerine Klimek. Maggie Owens be within 3-5 of Quinn. Keeping their top five split under 25 seconds along with moving their pack closer to the front could be a key of the Dukes winning this race.

Prospect has run meets at Hinsdale Central, Lake Park, and last week to start the season. They will run another “high-stakes” race at Terre Haute, Indiana next weekend. The past couple of years when the Knights changed their schedule, they have moved some of their freshman and sophomore runners to the lower level races at this meet. That could possibly happen this weekend but not confirmed as of Thursday. Prospect ran three runners in the top five led by Peoria individual winner Veronica Znajda along with Meg Peterson and Lily Ginsberg finishing together. If Peterson runs the Frosh/Soph race, the Knights still should be in the hunt for the win. We saw what they did at Hinsdale Central to start the season winning that meet without Ginsberg. Watch for what kind of split the team has between Ginsberg and Sophie Fransen along with Ireland Wildhart.

The last invitational that Barrington ran in was at Peoria two weeks ago storming away from the field to win the 3A title ahead of another team power in Naperville North. Scout Storms will be one of the individual favorites in this race and will lead the Fillies. The team had a 42 second split between second runner Abby Lewis and fifth runner Kaleigh Burns. Lewis and Mia Sirios were in the top 10 in that race and also under 18-minutes in that race. The split that the Fillies had two weeks ago might be tough to have especially with the teams in the field. We will get a good idea about Barrington in this meet.

The only out of state team that will compete in this meet is Assumption KY. The Rockets have been one of the regular out of state team’s in this meet finishing second behind York in last year’s meet. Assumption went on to finish 2nd in the Kentucky D3 State Meet and then finish 4th in the NXR Southeast Regional. Their entire top seven is back from last year’s team aiming for a higher finish in this meet. The last race for the Rockets was when they easily won Rumble Through the Jungle. Julia Schmidt and Leah Penick were the team’s top runners at Rumble and could finish in the top 15 in this race. Reagan Gilmore was the team’s top runner in their opening meet when they won ahead of defending State Champion DuPont Manual. Watch for Gilmore to be front in this race. Their split on five in the opening race was 88 seconds.

Hersey ran great last week in Peoria led Madeline Grabske and will be among the top 10 teams in this meet. Edwardsville easily won last week on their home course and have a solid pack in the front led by Ella Thompson and Olivia Coll. Grayslake Central is ranked #2 in Class 2A and could finish among the top five teams led by Ava Henke and Sara Armstrong. Lyons Township, Neuqua Valley, and Wheaton-Warrenville South are teams that we could see finish in the top 10.

Runners to Watch – Scout Storms-Barrington; Veronica Znajda-Prospect; Lily Ginsberg-Prospect; Lily Eddington-Downers Grove North, McKenzie Willard-Downers Grove North; Katherine Klimek-York; Michaela Quinn-York; Maggie Owens-York; Nicole Poglitsch-Wheaton Warrenville South; Abby Lewis-Barrington; Mia Sirois-Barrington; Lulu Ton-That-Northside Prep; Margaretha Grabske-Hersey; Abigail Jordan-Palatine; Ava Henne-Grayslake Central; Sara Armstrong-Grayslake Central; Elizabeth Hall-Neuqua Valley; Skyler Ferrero-Crystal Lake Central; Juliana Gamboa-Fenwick; Ella Thompson-Edwardsville; Olivia Coll-Edwardsville; Julianne Melby-Lyons Township; Celia Blaylock-Lake Zurich; Lenny Stirrett-Oak Park River Forest; Josie Cahill-New Trier

Runners Notes – The two Peoria winners so far this year will challenge for the win in this race. Scout Storms led from the start at First to the Finish running alone most of the race with a 16:62 winning time. Veronica Znajda took the lead just before 2-miles in last week’s race and won by 22 seconds with a 16:56 time. It could come down to the final 400-meters to determine the winner. Lily Ginsberg was among the top 10 throughout last week’s race and could finish in the top five. Meg Peterson should be along side Ginsberg if she runs up in the Varsity race.

13 of the top 22 runners at Richard Spring last Saturday were either Downers Grove North, York, or Prospect athletes. Lilly Eddington and McKenzie Willard could challenge for top 5 finishes along with York’s Katherine Klimek and Michaela Quinn. The York senior finished sixth in last year’s race. Reagan Gilmore of Assumption finished right behind in seventh. Lulu Ton-That will be running individually and could finish in the top 10. Nicole Poglitsch is having a great junior season and will challenge for a finish in the top 10. If the conditions are right, we could see one of the fastest races in the Girls Meet’s history.

Boys Varsity Race – 10:50 AM

Teams (30 Total; 17 Ranked: 12 3A, 5 2A) - #2 Hersey, #3 Oak Park-River Forest, #5 Plainfield North, #6 New Trier, #7 Plainfield South, #8 Neuqua Valley, #9 Barrington, #13 Palatine, #17 Hinsdale Central, #18 Fremd,  #22 Prospect, #28 Edwardsville, 2A #7 Grayslake Central, 2A #8 St. Ignatius College Prep, 2A #9 Prairie Ridge, 2A #11 Marmion Academy, 2A #26 Crystal Lake Central; Cary-Grove, Downers Grove South, Fenwick, Jones College Prep, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Loyola Academy, Maine South, Mundelein, Oswego East, Rockford Christian (1 Individual), Stevenson, York, St. Louis University MO

Race Notes – This will be a close race with 7 of the top 10 3A teams in the state competing. There are 17 ranked teams overall in the race including a good St. Louis University team.

Hersey has run two good races to start the season looking for a third one to get their third invitational title. Zach Frayder, Liam Naughton, and Cameron Donner ran between 14:29-14:49 last Saturday at Detweiller Park. Their overall split was 50 seconds last week. A split similar to the Peoria race will get them close to the win. A 45 second or under split could get the Huskies the win. Oak Park-River Forest in their first big meet last weekend finished seven points behind Hersey last week in second. Oak Park had a 22 second split on their top five in that meet. They will not race their #1 runner Finn Kelly in this race according to their coach Chris Baldwin. Their split off #2 runner Lewis O’Connor last week was 39 seconds. The Huskies will need a runner in the top 15 in this race and a split under 35 seconds to put this team in position to win.

Plainfield North, Plainfield South, and New Trier all raced last at First to the Finish two weeks ago. Plainfield South has one of the individual favorites in this race with Camyn Viger. Dylan Maloney should be among the top 10 runners in this loaded field. The Cougars have a tight 3-5 pack behind their two all-state runners. That gap needs to close down for the defending state champions to leave Deer Grove East with the team title. Plainfield North finished second ahead of their crosstown rival at First to the Finish. Quinn Davis, Thomas Czerwinski, and Owen Stahl all ran under 15-minutes in that race. Their fourth and fifth runners were nearly 30 seconds back. The gap will need to narrow for the Tigers to contend for the title. New Trier finished fourth in the same race led by the second-place finish from one of the race favorites Ben Crane. The team had a 35 second split from their 2-5 pack. The gap from Crane to second runner Atticus Miller was 39 seconds. The Trevians could finish in the top three if their pack can be within 28 seconds of Crane.

St. Louis University could be a surprise team in finishing among the top teams in this meet. They finished only three points behind O’Fallon at Granite City on September 2. They followed up by winning the championship race at Forest Park with a 27 second split on their top six runners. Jackson Miller, a freshman, has emerged as the team’s top runner. The Bills will have a tight split on 5 runners. Miller finishing in the top 20 and then that pack could have U-High leaving Palatine with the team title.

Neuqua Valley competes at this meet for the first time and is another team that could challenge for the win. Zac Close finished third last week in Peoria and will challenge for the win in this race. Robert Glenn ran under 15-minutes for the first time (14:43) and could be among the top 10 in this race. Their 3-5 pack was separated last week by just 11 seconds, but over 40 seconds behind Glenn. Barrington finished behind Neuqua Valley last week. The Broncos have a front runner in Joe Bregenzer that ran under 14:28 last week. Barrington had a nice 4 runner split of 52 seconds last week of Bregenzer. The gap from 4-5 was another 26 seconds.

Hinsdale Central ran better than they did in their opener last week. Aden Bandukwala will be among the team’s front runners in this race. Their split on their 2-5 lowered to 23 seconds last week in Peoria. Watch for them to improve again this week. Fremd jumped into the top 30 with their win last week at Warren. Rory Gaan will lead the Vikings. Their #2 runner Jack Jennings most likely will be running in the freshman race to start the meet. 2A teams Grayslake Central, Prairie Ridge, and Marmion Academy could challenge for top 10 team finishers. York could be a surprise team in the top half of this 30 team field. The Dukes with all underclassmen ran a 37 second split in their top 5 in their opening meet last week. The pack will need to move closer in this race for a possible top 10 finish.

Runners to Watch – Camyn Viger-Plainfield South; Ben Crane-New Trier; Zac Close-Neuqua Valley; Joe Bregenzer-Barrington; Aden Bandukwala-Hinsdale Central; Alex Krieg-Palatine; Trey Sato-Grayslake Central; Dylan Maloney-Plainfield South; Rory Gaan-Fremd; Zach Frayder-Hersey; Jackson Miller-St. Louis University; Weston Forward-Rockford Christian; Liam Naughton-Hersey; Quinn Davis-Plainfield North; Owen Stahl-Plainfield North; George Donahue-St. Louis University; Will Gelon, Prairie Ridge; Robert Glenn-Neuqua Valley; Nathaniel McKillop-Fenwick; Lewis O’Connor-Oak Park River Forest; Owynn Garrelts-Maine South; Sam Berlinghof-Jones College Prep; Matthew Conroy-St. Ignatius College Prep; Dhairya Trivedi-Oswego East.

Runners Notes – The individual race is loaded in the front and will be just as tough as the team race within the individual race. Camyn Viger moved the final 400-meters of last year’s race to run 14:44 to win by less than a second. Viger will be back to defend his title. Four runners in this race have gone below 14:30 at Detweiller Park and should push Viger in this race. Ben Crane was within two seconds of Viger two weeks ago and will be a force in this race. Zac Close ran 14:22 last week and will also be in contention for the win. Joe Bregenzer ran 14:27 last week and was in contention for second until the final 800 last week. He will be in the hunt for the win. Bregenzer finished eighth in this race last year. Alex Krieg will be on his home course and will challenge for the win. He ran in the freshman race last year and broke the meet record running in 12:41.

Dylan Maloney (5th), Joe Bregenzer (8th), Trey Sato (9th), and Sam Berlinghof (12th) are the top returning runners from last year’s race. All are running strong this season and could finish in the top 10. Rory Gaan won last week at Warren and should surprise some in the top 10. Jack Miller ran 15:06 to begin the season. This Missouri freshman should run faster in this race. Aden Bandukwala ran 14:40 to finish 14 last week. Watch him to be among the leaders in this race. Weston Forward will run in this meet for the first time. The senior ran 15:09 in the 1A race at First to the Finish two weeks ago. He could go under 15-minutes on Saturday.