By Ben Cox
This week’s preview will touch on the upcoming cross country season. The area has produced some great runners in recent years as individualized sports have grown in more popularity.
Boys Cross Country
Pleasant Plains and Auburn dominated the 1A circuit in the region last year while Chatham-Glenwood and Normal U-High were the top teams in 2A. Some runners are expected to take some big steps forward this year. South County will have a full roster of returning team members, led by sophomore Marshall Bowman. West Central should also have two big returning pieces this year in seniors Zac Howard and Carson Gregory. In 2A, Jacksonville had several runners finish at or below the top 50 in regionals. JHS sophomore Andrew Schumacher had the best finish at regionals last year and should be a leader again this year. JHS seniors Andrew Soltermann and Evan Gillespie are also expected to see improvement. All four of the aforementioned top teams have well-established, award-winning programs. They will be tough to overtake during the postseason. You should also expect to hear a lot from Auburn junior James Baisden and Glenwood junior Van Schneider in the top 10 at most every meet this year. The season at Community Park will kick off on September 2 at 4:30 p.m.
Girls Cross Country
Many of the teams mentioned for the boys are also the top area girls’ programs. Pleasant Plains has dominated in 1A for as long as I can remember, with some years of PORTA sprinkled in between for 1A. In 2A, Normal U-High and Chatham-Glenwood are again some of the top programs. Rochester also qualified last year as a team. The Central State 8 girls cross country teams have long been some of the best. However, one name has stood out since she was a freshman for the local area — South County junior Madigan Burger. She was a state qualifier again last year. She’ll contend for the top 10 at most meets again this year. Also, don’t count out her senior teammate Sydne Dean. Winchester junior Izzy Wellenreiter also made a lot of waves last year, finishing fourth at the regional meet. She’ll go head to head with Burger in the realm of 1A most of the year. In 2A, Jacksonville is rebuilding their girls program. JHS sophomore Hailey Casey finished just inside the top 50 in regionals last year. She will see some push from senior CeCe Trace and fellow sophomore Lindsay Campbell in this year’s 2A meets. Again, 2A is a tough road to run in the Central State 8.
Regionals are scheduled for the weekend of October 25, with the IHSA State meet set for November 7-8 in Peoria.
