A view of Illinois high school cross country, track

I want to thank all of you for your support and help during the 2011 Illinois high school cross country season.  For now, I am planning to discontinue my coverage of high school cross country and track. I very much appreciate your following the blog and wish all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and joyous, healthy holiday season.

The high school cross country season for me – and maybe many of you – culminates with the state meet at Detweiller Park.

But it moves inexorably moves on with the Nike and Foot Locker regional and national meets. Okay, there’s the obligatory commercial mention. I admit I was interested in the results.

On the girls side, the results from the IHSA finals were pretty much confirmed as 3A champion Amanda Fox of Naperville Central took the Nike Midwest individual title at Terre Haute, Ind.

Fox qualifies for Nike’s national meet in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 3 along with New Trier’s team that had to renamed Northshore Tsunami RC (state high school rules, you know) for this meet. Courtney Ackerman led New Tre… — ooops, I mean Northshore – with her seventh place finish. The Tsunami finished just four points behind the team from Hoosier power Carmel, Ind., and that team was called Code Red. This all gets a bit silly.

Lake Park’s Kaylee Flanagan took fourth overall to also qualify as an individual and Hinsdale Central’s Jill Hardies was sixth – just out of the top five automatic qualifiers from those not affiliated with one of the qualifying teams. (I imagine she still has a chance to go if another runner drops out.)

For the boys, York (called Kroy TC — you can figure it out easily) took second overall in the championship race behind the team from Columbus, Ind. IHSA state 3A champion Palatine was third. The Pirates will still be given consideration to qualify for Portland (two teams from each of the nine regionals automatically qualify and four others are selected to fill out the field).  Illinois will also send individuals 2A champion Michael Clevenger of Decatur MacArthur and Malachy Schrobilgen of Oak Park River Forest. They finished second and third, respectively, behind boys champion Futsum Zeinasellassie of Indiana.

New Trier’s Leland Later, the IHSA 3A winner, wound up 10^th and failed to move on. Interesting that 15^th in this regional race and the eighth Illinois runner in the standings was St. Ignatius’ Jack Keelan, who failed to qualify for the state meet.

While there are nine regionals in the Nike series, there are only four in the Foot Locker championships. The Midwest regional is at Kenosha on Nov. 26.

* The Big 10 cross country championships were held Oct. 30 and it was kind of cool to see them televised on the Big 10 Network. Lebanon’s Craig Virgin, whose 1972 state championship run at Detweiller Park still stands as the IHSA record (13:50.6), was part of the broadcast crew at Urbana.

Caitlin Comfort, who prepped at Peoria Notre Dame and won the 2006 Class AA state title as a junior, was the only runner from Illinois who had much of an impact. A senior at Wisconsin, she finished second overall in the women’s final. Woodstock’s Kayla Beattie, who set the Detweiller Park girls state record in 2010, is a freshman at Iowa and finished 40^th overall. The top three teams were Michigan State, Michigan and Penn State – none of whom have a runner from Illinois on their rosters.

Iowa junior Jeff Thode from Conant – the former IHSA state cross country and 1600-meter champion — led the men’s final early but faded to 20^th. Minnesota’s Andrew Larsen, eighth in 3A as a Marmion senior in 2008, finished 17^th. Who took the Big 10 team title? Do you really have to ask? Yes, Wisconsin for the 45^th time.

* If you haven’t done this already, read Phil Hersh’s story in the Tribune about Lukas Verzbicas’ decision to leave Oregon to devote himself to the triathlon.

Austin, Dunbar, Englewood, Harlan, Harrison, Lane, Phillips and Schurz – all Chicago Public League schools that have finished in the top 10 in the history of the boys state cross country meet going into the 2011 season.

Lane’s 10^th-place finish in 1975 – the final IHSA single-class state boys cross country meet

Jones' Jamison Dale, a two-time all-stater

– was the last top-10 finish for a team from the Public League.

The long wait for another Public League team to finish in that select company is over. Jones Prep took seventh in last Saturday’s Class 2A final at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

I had written about Jones earlier this season. Their practice meet with St. Ignatius was one of my earliest posts on bigsutty. Jamison Dale took sixth in Class 2A in 14 minutes 45 seconds.

The junior becomes the first two-time all-stater in boys cross country from the Public League (Young’s Lavinia Jurkiewicz, who won the Class 3A girls title in 2009, is the only girl to accomplish that.) He finished 19^th in 2010 for Jones, which finished 14^th in the 2A team standings.

Jones appears to have a shot at improving on their seventh-place finish in 2012 with Jones and fellow juniors Luke O’Connor (36^th) and Kirby Lawson (40^th) returning along with freshman Kyle Maloney and sophomore Daniel Lorden.

A few other things I hadn’t gotten around to:

* Ericka Laviste’s fifth-place finish led Montini to third behind champion Yorkville and Crystal Lake Central in the Class 2A girls race. The senior’s time was 17:25.

* In Class 1A, Chloe Marshinski took 14^th in 18:17 to help Westmont’s girls take home a second-place trophy. Also helping in that effort were sisters Maggie Arndt (sophomore, 52^nd) and Kate Arndt (senior, 56^th).

* Becca Starrett from tiny O’Fallon First Baptist Academy, whom I wrote about a few weeks ago, finished 117^th among the 206 runners in Class 1A. She’s a freshman (the ninth-grade class has 14 students) at First Baptist, whose total high school enrollment is 43.

* I’ve gotten some nice e-mails from K.J. Matuszak’s father, who must have been pleased after his son achieved all-state status. The Carmel senior took 23^rd in Class 2A.

* A personal note: I was thrilled my son Josh, a freelance photographer, joined me for the state finals. He posted the best of his more than 900 photos from Detweiller at www.littlesutty.tumblr.com.  He’s the one whose wedding caused me to miss the Palatine Invitational. Sigh. (And, yes, he’s available for assignments.)

* One more thing: bigsutty.com went over 20,000 views recently since publishing began in August. Thank you, readers!

So, I asked a girls cross country coach in August if he knew about any freshmen who might make an impact on the upcoming season.

Well, don’t quote me, he said, but I heard there’s a girl up in Crystal Lake.

He wasn’t sure if it was Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South or Prairie Ridge. So I

Marist was in full support of Maggie O'Loughlin, who finished 22nd in Class 3A to reach all-state status, and teammate Moira McDermott (90th).

made some calls, spoke with a couple of coaches and found out this girl was an outstanding runner who could be something special.

I went to an early invitational involving Central and saw the freshman run well. I figured she would be a factor in the state meet.

But Haley Staples managed to finish only 44^th in that 2005 AA final.

Oh, you thought I was writing about Sami Staples? The freshman who last Saturday won the girls 2A title with a time of 17:07 at Detweiller Park?

Photo by Joshua Sutton (www.littlesutty.tumblr.com)

Honest mistake. I did hear about big sister Haley in August of 2005 and wrote the lead to a prep notebook about her. She had run a 5:08 mile as an eighth-grader. She did become the state 1600-meter champion in the spring of her freshman year with a 4:56.96 in the Class AA meet in the old two-class system. But Haley, now running for Indiana, never achieved in cross country what her little sister accomplished last weekend.

After her victory Sami Staples said her sister had been a big influence. Sami spoke with Haley both the Friday before the state finals and the morning of the race.

“She called me and said, ‘It’s not about putting the pressure on yourself, just go out and have fun. Whatever happens today, don’t worry about it.”

Sami said Haley has been “really supportive and always there for me. I can learn a lot from her.”

Sami Staples’ time in Saturday’s race bettered her sister’s best at the state finals by more than a minute. Staples told me coach Shannon Schroeder (who also coached Haley) told her to wait until the third mile to take the lead.

“There are so many great girls,” Staples said after her victory. “I didn’t want to get passed or die out. So I listened to my coach, waited until the third mile and took it out and just gave it everything I got. My legs are still dead.”

Asked if she had any nerves before the race, Staples responded with her best quote: “Omigosh, I was just freaking out.”

Other items left in my notebook from the weekend:

* Yorkville’s Ali Hester said that with four seniors in the Foxes’ starting lineup, they knew this was their last chance at a state championship. The senior found inspiration in some advice from her family and wrote what they said on her arms. “I love you, blondie, my grandpa said,” Hester said after she finished sixth (17:28) to lead Yorkville to a state title. “Be a force” was another reminder. She wrote those and other sayings on her arm because “I got to remember these during the race.” Yorkville scored 74 points to runnerup Crystal Lake Central’s 106. Also finishing in the top 10 for Yorkville were Casey Kramer (eighth, 17:29) and Leena Palmer (10^th, 17:34).

* I expected another freshman, McKayla Harder of Mt. Zion, to take the Class 1A girls race. But it was senior Chelsea Blaase of St. Joseph-Ogden who won in 17:12. Blaase’s late surge was enough to get her past Bloomington Central Catholic’s Alex Van Hoof while Harder finished third. Blaase said she was about “20 yards” behind Van Hoof when she heard the course announcer say that it appeared the BCC runner was taking control of the race. “I heard everyone going, ‘C’mon, you want it, you want it, you can, you can.’ “ Blaase responded and won by six seconds.

On the run during the girls Class 2A race at Detweiller Park last Saturday.

It never occurred to me how big my high school was in the 1960s. I just figured most high schools were about the same.

Of course, I was wrong. Niles East in Skokie had more than 3,000 students in a building (since demolished and replaced by a campus of Oakton Community College) with a capacity closer to 2,500.

That said, in sports it didn’t matter how big Niles East was. When the high school basketball, wrestling, cross country or track state competition came around, everyone competed in one class.  Now defunct St. George of Evanston (East is long gone as well) was in the same district playoffs (I’m pretty sure there were “districts” before regionals) as my Trojans. I’m guessing St. George was a much smaller school.

Photo by Joshua Sutton (more of his photos at www.littlesutty.tumblr.com)

So it was a bit of a cultural shock for me when I took a job writing high school sports and doing editing for the St. Petersburg Times in 1971.  I went to cover the state high school basketball tournament in Jacksonville and there were four classes. I thought it was a mess.

Illinois eventually adopted the system to give smaller schools a better shot at a state championship. Cross country had been a single sport since the first boys state meet was held in 1946. In 1976, boys cross country was split into two classes – then three in 2007. (The girls first state meet was in 1979, two classes were created in 1988 and three in 2007.)

I bring this up because I decided to put a list together of the top runners in the IHSA state meet this past Saturday by times in the 1A, 2A and 3A meets at Detweiller Park in Peoria. Of course, we’ll never know how Decatur MacArthur’s Michael Clevenger, who defended his 2010 state title with a winning time of 14:26, would have responded surrounded by runners like Leland Later, Alex Riba and Malachy Schrobilgen.

But I still think this is a fun exercise.

(Note: If competitors ran in the same race, they may have had the same time but their finish was determined by officials. For instance, Riley McInerney and John Wold were both clocked in 14:40 in the boys Class 2A final. But McInerney was judged as having finished ahead of Wold. Thus the designation “tie” was not used. I used “tie” if they ran in different races but had the same time.)

Boys Top 15 (all classes)

1. Leland Later (3A), New Trier, 14:17

2. Michael Clevenger (2A), Decatur MacArther, 14:26

3. Alex Riba, O’Fallon (3A), 14:27

4. (tie) Malachy Schrobilgen (3A), Oak Park River Forest, 14:28

(tie) Steve Schroeder (1A), Monticello, 14:28

6. Garrett Sweatt (3A), Edwardsville, 14:29

7. Jereme Atchison (3A), Buffalo Grove, 14:30

8. (tie) Todd Ford (3A), Loyola, 14:32

(tie) Tyler Yunk (2A), Belvidere North, 14:32

10. Pat Juras (3A), Lake Zurich, 14:23

11. Erik Peterson (3A), Barrington, 14:36

12. (tie) Grant Nykaza (1A), Beecher, 14:37

(tie) Mark Derrick (3A), Neuqua Valley, 14:37

14. Riley McInerney (2A), Charleston, 14:40

15. John Wold (2A), Glenbard South, 14:40

Boys top five freshmen (all classes)

1. Chris Martin (2A), Mascoutah, 15:21

2. Dorrian Gordon (3A), O’Fallon, 15:35

3. Joseph Suarez (3A), Plainfield East, 15:36

4. Michael Cook (1A), Kewanee Wethersfield (Co-op), 15:51

5. (tie) Kerry Gschwendtner (3A), Naperville North, 16:00

(tie) Konrad Eiring (3A), Barrington, 16:00

Boys top five sophomores

1. John Wold (2A), Glenbard South, 14:40

2. Nathan Mroz (3A), York, 14:56

3. (tie) Patrick Perrier (3A), O’Fallon, 14:57

(tie) Murphy Affolder (2A), Mascoutah, 14:57

5. Joe Singleton (2A), Glenbard South, 14:59

Boys top five juniors

1. Alex Riba (3A), O’Fallon, 14:27

2. Tyler Yunk (2A), Belvidere North, 14:32

3. Grant Nykaza (1A), Beecher, 14:37

4. Riley McInerney (2A), Charleston, 14:40

5. Alex Baker (2A), Crystal Lake Central, 14:43

Girls Top 15 (all classes)

1. Amanda Fox (3A), Naperville Central, 16:24

2. Ariel Michalek (3A), Oswego East, 16:37

3. Kaylee Flanagan (3A), Lake Park, 16:43

4. Courtney Ackerman (3A), New Trier, 16:50

5. Jill Hardies (3A), Hinsdale Central, 16:59

6. Emily Leonard (3A), Maine South, 17:00

7. Lindsey Rakosnik (3A), Glenbard East, 17:04

8. Haley Goers (3A), Hoffman Estates, 17:04

9. Sami Staples (2A), Crystal Lake Central, 17:07

10. Megan Lemersal (3A), Maine South, 17:08

11. Mimi Smith (3A), New Trier, 17:08

12. (tie) Jessica Ackerman (3A), New Trier, 17:11

(tie) Kelsey Schrader (2A), DeKalb, 17:11

14. (tie) Chelsea Blaase (1A), St. Joe-Ogden, 17:12

(tie) Emma Fisher (3A), York, 17:12

Girls top five freshmen

1. Sami Staples (2A), Crystal Lake Central, 17:07

2. Mimi Smith (3A), New Trier, 17:08

3. McKayla Harder (1A), Mt. Zion, 17:29

4. Amanda Thate (3A), Downers Grove South, 17:36

5. Torree Scull (3A), St. Charles East, 17:38

Girls top five sophomores

1. Emily Leonard (3A), Maine South, 17:00

2. Kelsey Schrader (2A), DeKalb, 17:11

3. Madeline Perez (3A), Glenbard West, 17:15

4. Jessica Lincoln (3A), Palatine, 17:21

5. Meaghan Gelinas (3A), Lake Zurich, 17:42

Girls top five juniors

1. Kaylee Flanagan (3A), Lake Park, 16:43

2. Courtney Ackerman (3A), New Trier, 16:50

3. Jill Hardies (3A), Hinsdale Central, 16:59

4. Megan Lemersal (3A), Maine South, 17:08

5. Jessica Ackerman (3A), New Trier, 17:11

Naperville Central's Amanda Fox dominated the Class 3A girls final at Detweiller Park.

Photos by Joshua Sutton

More photos from the state meet can be found at www.littlesutty.tumblr.com

I always wondered if cross country runners really listened to all the advice, yelling and cheers coming from the fans during a race.

At the IHSA state finals in Peoria, there was plenty of that. Fans lined up near the course – especially by the mile and two-mile markers and, of course, near the finish – to exercise their lungs. It’s an amazing, colorful scene. In no other sport can fans be so close to the action.

Amanda Fox couldn’t help but heard them.

“I heard people say, they’re coming on you!” the Naperville Central senior said after winning the Class 3A girls title in near-record time at Detweiller. “I know people have great kicks, I just wanted to finish the best I could.”

She did. She even noticed the clock at the finish line counting up toward 16 minutes 22 seconds – the course record set last season by Woodstock’s Kayla Beattie in Class 2A. I watched it, too, and knew that Fox was just going to miss it. It looked like she crossed the finish line in 16:23 – her official time was given at 16:24. That is a Class 3A record.

Fox said she was motivated to improve after losing to Lake Park’s Kaylee Flanagan in the

Fox said "I knew I needed to change something" after finishing 34th in the 2010 state finals.

Wheaton North flight meet by 10 seconds. (That flight meet was one of my favorite of the season. There should be a comparable one for boys.) But Fox, who finished 34^th in the state meet with a time of 17:33 as a junior, actually started her makeover during the summer.

“I knew I needed to change something,” she said. “I changed my form to be more efficient.”

That involved shortening her stride.

“I knew I had a problem with that, so I really worked on it,” Fox said.

Fox was unbeaten after the Wheaton North Classic and wound up running almost 23 seconds faster on the same St. James Farm course in the DuPage Valley Conference meet.

“I wanted to go out as fast as I could,” she said of the state final and noted that not going out fast hurt her performance in 2010. “I knew my endurance could carry me from there.”

Other thoughts from the girls 3A state meet:

* I look at New Trier’s finishers in the 3A girls final Saturday and see junior, freshman, junior, senior, sophomore, junior, senior. The Ackerman twins were fourth and 11^th with Mimi Smith 10^th. There were four seniors among the top eight finishers in 3A  – Fox, Oswego East’s Ariel Michalek, Glenbard East’s Lindsey Rakosnik and Hoffman Estates’ Haley Goers. A repeat isn’t a lock for the Trevians – but the near future looks very good.

* Lake Park’s Flanagan, one of the most upbeat runners I’ve ever interviewed, will be the leading returnee after finishing third. Besides New Trier’s top runners, Hinsdale Central’s Jill Hardies and Maine South’s Emily Leonard (just a soph this season) and  Megan Lemersal will challenge. Lemersal’s ninth-place finish is one of the biggest surprises in the state meet. The junior ran a 17:08  and just edged out Smith.

* Speaking of Mimi Smith, she was the meet’s top freshman finisher. Other frosh of note in 3A were Downers Grove South’s Amanda Thate (28^th), St. Charles East’s Torree Scull (29^th) and St. Charles North’s Sydney Stuenkel (30^th).  Scull’s performance helped the Saints tie Naperville North for third in 3A with 183 points – 39 behind runnerup Wheaton Warrenville South.

* As a freshman, Minooka’s Haley Renison did not have a memorable run in 2010. She finished 203^rd as a freshman (beating only five runners) in 20:18. Last Saturday Renison improved by 94 places. The sophomore wound up 109^th in 18:37. Is there a lesson to be learned here about not giving up?

* Some other bits and pieces: Last year’s girls 3A team champion Schaumburg finished 19^th  … Wheaton Warrenville South freshman Katie Popejoy, whose father Ken is a former state cross country champion and became one of the top milers in U.S. history, was 64^th in 18:07 … Oak Park River Forest’s Erin Schrobilgen, sophomore sister of Malachy who took third in the boys 3A final, was 81^st in 18:22. Another prominent sister, Garrett Sweatt’s sophomore sister Allie, wound up 132^nd in the field of 217 runners.

Palatine's Peter Tomkiewicz (far left) and Anthony Gregorio (2072) with leaders Jereme Atchison of Buffalo Grove (1900), Garrett Sweatt of Edwardsville (1934), eventual winner Leland Later of New Trier and Erik Peterson of Barrington (1894)

Photos by Joshua Sutton

See more photos by Joshua at www.littlesutty.tumblr.com

I was standing by an IHSA tent near the cross country course at Detweiller Park Saturday and talking with Gary Childs. He was in charge of handing out results sheets to the press and we were waiting to find out which team won the boys 3A state title.

Suddenly, a cheer and a roar interrupted our conversation. We weren’t sure where it came from – was it the awards area? But Gary thought it might have come from Palatine’s camp, which wasn’t that far from the tent.. So I walked in that direction and witnessed the Pirates in the midst of a celebration.

They were emotional, cheering and, yes, in tears. Palatine had won the state championship.  It is the first time the school’s boys cross country team had done that since … well, they never had transported the IHSA state championship trophy in the previous 65 years of Illinois high school cross country finals.

“I really can’t explain this,” said senior Peter Tomkiewicz, who barely could get the words out. I’ve seen state champions celebrate before – in golf, basketball, soccer, track and,

Palatine coach Chris Quick

yes, cross country. But I’ve never seen anything like this. It was as if a two-ton weight had been lifted off the Pirates cross country program.

You see, it’s so odd. The Palatine girls had made a regular habit of winning state titles – seven of them since the first IHSA state girls meet in 1979. The girls won in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996 and just two years ago in 2009. The boys? Well, they have five second-place trophies.

But no state championship until the recent sunny Saturday afternoon in Peoria. And it wasn’t easy. Their cheer was after an agonizing wait for the results. Palatine wound up with 114 points and a close victory over surprising O’Fallon. The downstate team, led by junior Alex Riba’s second-place finish, had 120.

Mark Derrick and Taylor Soltys finished ninth and 10^th, respectively, for Neuqua Valley to give the Wildcats a third-place trophy.

“Four years of hard work,” Tomkiewicz said. “It’s about dedication, all the hard work we’ve been putting in for four years. Just the whole team bonding over the summer.”

Those words were coming from a runner who led Palatine’s state championship with an 11^th-place finish in the 3A boys final. He improved upon last season’s finish by – well, improved upon it infinitely. That’s because he wasn’t in the Pirates’ lineup in 2010. He couldn’t crack the top seven.

“I just came alive,” said Tomkiewicz, who had apparently joined his teammates in trimming their hair. “This team meant so much to me. I didn’t want to let anyone down this week.”

His time over Detweiller Park’s three-mile layout was 14 minutes 43 seconds. Not up there with the Laters, Ribas or (Malachy) Schrobilgens. But he beat some outstanding runners like Willowbrook’s Pat Niyork and Metea Valley’s Joe Stewart. Quite a turnaround from 2010.

“Peter’s probably the difference,” said Palatine coach Chris Quick, who added “We had a bunch of guys who ran state last year, but here’s a guy who wasn’t even on our varsity. He decided he was going to work hard.”

Before the season started I stopped by a Palatine practice and took a photo that included Anthony Gregorio and Tess Wasowicz (she took 26^th in the girls final). Gregorio did his job at state with an 18^th-place finish in 14:56. Tim Johnson (28^th, 15:05), Marcus Garcia (29^th, 15:05) and Tim Meincke (66^th, 15:22) rounded out the Pirates’ top five.

“We’re more than thrilled to represent all the kids who have run all these years at Palatine,” Quick said.

“Thrilled” doesn’t even begin to describe his team’s feeling.

Crystal Lake Central freshman Sami Staples in the home stretch at Detweiller.

Reporting by Alan Sutton

Photos by Joshua Sutton

See more photos by Joshua at www.littlesutty.tumblr.com

PEORIA — New Trier has won more than a hundred state athletic championships – easily more than any other high school in Illinois.

Saturday the Trevians not only added to their total, they might have had one of the most memorable days in the school’s long sports history.

The girls cross country team, which had never even won a trophy in the sport, came into the Class 3A Illinois state finals as the favorite and emerged with the championship trophy at Detweiller Park. If that wasn’t enough,  senior Leland Later ran the fastest time

O'Fallon made quite an entrance for the cross country state meet at Detweiller Park.

of the day in all classes to become New Trier’s first boys individual champion since 1965.

It was a beautiful day for a cross country meet filled with some stunning times, stunning news and even some upsets:

• Palatine, five times a bridesmaid (groomsman?), won its first state boys cross country championship in school history behind the one-two punch of Peter Tomkiewicz and Anthony Gregorio. Tomkiewicz, who didn’t even run in last year’s state final, finished 11^th and Gregorio 18^th to receive all-state designation.
• Naperville Central’s Amanda Fox came close to breaking the girls course record in winning the 3A individual title in 16 minutes 24 seconds – 13 seconds ahead of runnerup and last year’s state champion Ariel Michalek of Oswego East. Lake Park’s Kaylee Flanagan took third. Fox’s time was only two seconds off the course record set last season in 2A by Kayla Beattie.
• Belvidere North won its third consecutive Class 2A title. Just as he did in 2010, Tyler Yunk led the Blue Thunder with a runnerup finish to Decatur MacArthur’s Michael Clevenger, (14:26) who has back-to-back wins.
• Sophomore John Wold took fourth in 2A to help retiring Glenbard South coach Andy Preuss exit with a state trophy – this one for second place (his Raiders won the 2001 AA title.)
• Freshman Sami Staples of Crystal Lake Central won the girls 2A individual title. She is the first cross country runner from Central — boys or girls — to win state. Yorkville, runnerup in 2009 and 2010, took its first state championship as three runners finished in the top 10 in 2A – Ali Hester, Casey Kramer and Leena Palmer.
• In the boys 1A race, Monticello’s Steve Schroeder upset favorite Grant Nykaza of Beecher for the individual title. Jake Brown’s third-place finish led Mt. Zion to the team championship.  Decatur St. Teresa repeated as girls team champ, the individual crown going to St. Joe-Ogden’s Chelsea Blaase.

“That’s the worst I’ve felt after a race leg-wise, but it’s the best emotional feeling,” said New Trier’s Leland Later, whose time of 14 minutes 17 seconds was the best at Detweiller this season. The senior who finished 44^th last season wound up 10 seconds ahead of second-place Alex Riba, who led his O’Fallon team to a close runnerup finish to Palatine for the team championship.

After Riba (14:27) came Malachy Schrobilgen of Oak Park River Forest in 14:28, Garrett Sweatt of Edwardsville in 14:29 and Jereme Atchison of Buffalo Grove in 14:30. (Complete results for all races are on www.ihsa.org.)

Later won his first varsity race this season in New Trier’s opener at the Hornet-Red Devil meet in early September. His lone loss came the next week against Edwardsville’s Garrett Sweatt at Detweiller in the Peoria Woodruff Invitational. Since then he’s been perfect.

“It was just a confidence thing with Leland,” New Trier coach David Wisner said. “He just came along slowly and I don’t ever think he believed he could be one of the best runners in the state.”

New Trier boys had won three individual titles before Later. Weymouth Kirkland won in 1959 and 1960 and Mike Collins in 1965 when cross country was a single-class sport.

Asked how he felt about not only Later’s victory but the girls team, Wisner said, “How could we not be thrilled! The girls got us off to a good start (their race was earlier) and the boys team is getting better. It just gets kids excited to be a part of this.

Sectional champion Courtney Ackerman led New Trier’s girls with a fourth-place finish, freshman Mimi Smith took 10^th and twin sister Jessica Ackerman 11^th to help New Trier to its 82 points – 62 better than runnerup Wheaton Warrenville South.

“It’s so exciting,” Jessica Ackerman said at the IHSA awards ceremony. “Honestly, we were really trying to keep our expectations low so that if we did win it would be more exciting. I don’t think it’s actually sunk in yet.”

(More coverage of the state championships will continue throughout the week.)

That was the famous line delivered by Joe Friday in the classic television series “Dragnet.” That’s all we’re delivering here the day before the IHSA state cross country championships at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

Saturday’s race times:

Class 1A girls, 9 a.m.

Class 1A boys, 10 a.m.

Class 2A girls, 11 a.m.

Class 2A boys, noon

Class 3A girls, 1 p.m.

Class 3A boys, 2 p.m.

A word of advice: there’s a relatively long walk from the parking lots to the cross country course, so arrive early. The Detweiller Park course is fan friendly – you’ll be able to watch much of the action. Awards for 1A will be at 11 a.m., 2A at 1 p.m. and 3A at 3 p.m. When results are made official, they will be posted at the meet. But you’ll have to maneuver for space to get close to the results boards.

2010 champions:

Girls 1A

Team: Decatur St. Teresa

Individual: Kristen Busch, Freeburg, 17:36

Girls 2A

Team: Peoria Notre Dame

Individual: Kayla Beattie, Woodstock, 16:22

Girls 3A

Team: Schaumburg

Individual: Ariel Michalek, Oswego East, 16:32

Boys 1A

Team: Beecher

Individual: Chase Cofer, Farmington, 14:48

Boys 2A

Team: Belvidere North

Individual: Michael Clevenger, Decatur MacArthur, 14:35

Boys 3A

Team: York

Individual: Lukas Verzbicas, Sandburg, 13:54

Course records (regardless of class):

Girls: Kayla Beattie, Woodstock, 16:22 (2010)

Boys: Craig Virgin, Lebanon, 13:50.6 (1972)

The IHSA state girls series began on Nov. 10, 1979 with 225 schools. There were 557 schools competing in the 2011 state series. The boys state series began in 1946 (the IHSA did not provide the number of teams for that season on its website). There were 560 boys teams competing this season.

There are 25 teams in each race – 150 total for Saturday’s races. Also running are qualifying individuals from each section. There will be approximately 210 runners in each of the six races.

Other things fans should know: With the exception of a service or seeing-eye dog, all pets are prohibited by the IHSA. I reported in a previous story that Fenwick’s Olivia Ryan was attacked by a leashed dog during the regionals. Fortunately, she suffered only minor scratches. … No cooking grills are permitted in the park during the state meet. … There is a parking fee — $10 for cars, $15 for vans (extended 15-passenger type), $25 for buses. (I think I saw that the Indiana state high school meet charges $8 per person.)

How can the York boys cross country program fly under the radar?

Here’s a coach whose teams have won 27 state championships and, as Joe Newton pointed out during the season, the next one will eclipse the number of World Series won by the Yankees.

There’s a movie – “The Long Green Line” – made about one of the most successful high school programs in the nation. York fans show up at meets dressed in their ubiquitous green jackets, tooks or sweatshirts. At least 150 boys show up on the first day of practice each year to become another link in that line.

York won its 27^thstate title in 2010 with the considerable help of Jack Driggs, a senior

York coach Joe Newton believes the Dukes are coming on at just the right time.

who ran the three-mile course at Detweiller Park in an impressive 14 minutes 16 seconds. Although Driggs finished 22 seconds behind the remarkable run by Sandburg’s Lukas Verzbicas, he was able to finish second and lead the Dukes to yet another state title.

Driggs is gone (a freshman at North Carolina, he finished 38^th in last week’s ACC championships in 24:27.0 on an 8K course), but the beat seems to move on. York did not win the Richard Spring Invitational hosted by Peoria Notre Dame, did not win the Palatine Invitational. Much of the talk about the boys team titled has centered around Palatine and Neuqua Valley. They’ve both had outstanding seasons.

But while Dukes don’t win every state title,  they still have to be considered dangerous for Saturday’s Class 3A race.

Newton was in a good mood after his team’s victory in the Niles West sectional. His team had won and its first five runners were all underclassmen.

“I think we ran well,” Newton said. “Our split was 30 seconds (actually 33, but close enough). There were so many individuals in here who are going to be in that top 15 to 20 at state.”

He was referring, certainly to the top finishers – New Trier’s Leland Later, Oak Park’s Malachy Schrobilgen, Willowbrook’s Pat Niyork and Loyola’s William Hague and Todd Ford. But then came the first two runners from York – junior Scott Milling and sophomore Nathan Mroz, who had been recovering from a bicycle accident.

“We’re defending champs and we’re coming right at the right time,” Newton said. “My transfer student (Billy Clink) was my sixth guy. This was the first time he’s raced … hadn’t done any running for three weeks. So we got a great effort today and this was a tough sectional.”

Clink, who transferred from St. Charles North to run at the school his father attended, had been bothered by a hip problem. He still managed to finish 32^nd in 15:51.

Neuqua Valley won the Lockport sectional dominated by Mark Derrick and Taylor Soltys. In the final coaches 3A rankings the Wildcats were only two points (88-86) behind No. 1 Palatine. The Pirates won the Schaumburg sectional behind the top 10 finishes of Peter Tomkiewicz and Anthony Gregorio.

My prediction? It’s going to be close.

Other notes off the boys sectionals:

* Metea Valley’s Joe Stewart won at  Wheaton North with a 14:50.1 at St. James Forest Preserve and twin brother Matt was second. Griffin Haugen’s fifth place helped Naperville North take the team title.

* Barrington’s Erik Peterson won the dual of Mid-Suburban League rivals. He took first in the Schaumburg sectional at Busse Woods in 14:55.22 with Buffalo Grove’s Jereme Atchison third in 15:05.35. Lake Zurich’s Pat Juras slipped between them (14:57.14) for second. Buffalo Grove will go to state for the first time.

* No sweat for Edwardsville’s Garrett Sweatt (had to use that at least once this season) as he took the Quincy sectional in 14:52 with O’Fallon’s Alex Riba second at 15:00.

* I’m eager to see how two 2A teams from the Public League – Jones and Mather – do at state. They finished 1-2 in the Fenton sectional. Jamison Dale of Jones won it in 15:27 – 27 seconds ahead of Mather’s Abdurahim Haji. Jones won the team title. Lane Tech’s boys made it through on the 3A side — the first time a Public League boys team has done that since the automatic qualifiers for the conference were dropped.

* The individual favorite in 2A, Decatur MacArthur’s Michael Clevenger, won the sectional on his home course. Springfield and Mahomet-Seymour were 1-2 at the sectional and will contend for trophies at Detweiller. (For those wondering about the Nazareth 2A sectional, I covered that in a separate story.)

* Tough 2A sectional at Belvidere. Defending two-time state champ Belvidere North won it (60 points to runnerup Yorkville’s 89) behind Tyler Yunk’s winning 15:05. Alex Baker of Crystal Lake Central took second and teammate Chris Alvarez fifth as their team qualified for state as well.

* In Class 1A, Beecher’s Grant Nykaza won at Lisle in 16:05 – 39 seconds ahead of second-place Tim Johnson of Manteno. Nykaza certainly is one of the top 10 boys in the state in all classes.