A look into Illinois High School XC: The Peoria Notre Dame Invite
Written by Sienna McEneaney, Lovesquad Athlete & TheRunAround Podcast host and creator.
On a 90-degree, sunny Saturday morning, Peoria Notre Dame High School hosted the 43rd annual Richard Spring Invite in Peoria, Illinois just three hours away from Heartbreak Chicago. About 2,800 high school runners from all over the state & Midwest descended upon historic Detweiller Park to run in Illinois’ largest cross country meet of the weekend.
Detweiller Park holds great significance for all things high school cross country as this is the 55th year that the Illinois State Meet will be held at Detweiller Park on the first weekend in November. It is the most well-chronicled course in the state, producing extremely fast times and countless memorable performances throughout the years. The records for 3-mile course are blazing: 15:54 for the women (set by Judy Pendergast in 2015) and 13:49 for the men (set by Josh Methner in 2019). Detweiller Park also boasts a very spectator-friendly design. One of my favorite parts of the meet is looking across the massive field seeing parents and fans sprint as fast as they can to claim prime cheering real estate on either side of the course. If you’re a kid who has grown up running in Illinois, like I have, you dreamed of running at this course since you still needed help lacing up your shoes. Personally, some of my greatest running memories have taken place in this same park, like seeing my older brother, win a team state championship back in 2016. Ask anyone involved in Illinois high school cross country and they’ll all say the same thing: “There’s just something magical about Detweiller.”
Top teams entering Saturday’s meet on the varsity women's side included the #1 ranked Downers Grove North Trojans, the defending state champion #2 ranked York Dukes, the #5 ranked Mt. Prospect Knights. Some strong out-of-state teams included Hilliard Davidson of Ohio and Pleasant Valley of Iowa. York raced extremely well to achieve the win with an impressive team score of 102. Despite graduating four of the top seven runners from their state championship winning team last year, they have been able to work their way up the rankings from 5th to 2nd in the first four weeks of the season. A huge contributor to their success has been yesterday’s winner in 16:45, Karlin Janowski, a freshman, who has won her last three races. She credited her teammates for pushing her and “helping her become the best person [she can be]”.
Hilliard Davidson and Pleasant Valley overcame the challenges of cross-state travel and raced with heart to place 2nd and 4th respectively. Downers Grove North was without their #1 runner, Lily Eddington, which most likely contributed to their 3rd place finish. Rounding out the top 5 was Mt. Prospect with 180 points. They were led by Veronica Znajda, who placed 2nd in 16:49. Janowski and Znajda were neck and neck throughout the entire race until the final 200 meters, when Janowski launched a deadly kick that Znajda did not have an answer for. Anika Swan of St. Ignatius also had an exciting race with a 3rd place finish in 16:51.
In the varsity men's race, it seemed that the top contending teams would be the #5 ranked Barrington Broncos, the #7 ranked Palatine Pirates, the #9 ranked York Dukes, #11 ranked Mt. Prospect Knights and out-of-state team Mason High School of Ohio. However, the race unfolded in a slightly surprising way, with Mason taking the title with 205 points, York in 2nd with 222, Palatine in 3rd with 252, and previously unranked Lake Zurich taking 4th with a score of 271. Prospect rounded out the top 5, and Barrington had a difficult day, finishing in 10th overall. Their 3rd runner, Ryan Scott, did not race, which undoubtedly contributed to their struggles.
In the individual race, it was a close pack of five for the first mile and a half. Josiah Narayanan of Wheaton-Warrenville South, Joe Bregenzer of Barrington, Alexander Krieg of Palatine, Gabe McLain of Benton, and Aiden Noel of Wheaton Warrenville South were all in contention for the win until Narayanan created a demanding gap. No one was able to match his move, and he won with a decisive victory in a time of 14:25.
It was an exciting, hot day of racing for many of the top runners in the Midwest. If today’s surprising performances were any indication, this season’s team and individual state championship meets will be ones to watch. It truly is anyone’s race right now!