2012 IHSA 2A Cross Country

[RnnrFrvr]

I'ma roll right into it. Key Pointers:
* With 12 seniors graduating out of the top 25 that leaves 12 new opportunities for new medalists.
* The new classifications didn't shake things up much. Really only Dekalb and Marmion moved to 3A, while Danville is in 2A now, which leaves really only 11 new medals to individuals.
* The Team Race
1. The defending State Champ Belvidere North appears to be the team to beat once again after an impressive track season. The senior trio in Yunk, Menard, and Lee will be as strong as ever, and tough to break apart. The only downside to this empire team is the loss of 3 seniors from the top 7, with Will Crocker leaving with a medal and low points. On paper, it seems Chase Hill, the number 6, with slip into the number 4 position. 5-7 appears to be up for grabs and this is the opportunity for a young underclassmen to prove them-self.
2. State Runner-Up Glenbard South loses only 1 senior from 2011, their number 3, with Wold and Singleton returning low points. If the team fills in the number 3 spot just as well as last year, and the young 2011 team develops into great upperclassmen, I don't see why anyone should count this team out of the 1st place trophy.
3. 2011 3rd place winner Normal U-High, like the first two teams, loses little bang from their roster. With their number 4 graduating, U-High brings back 6 guys from the top 7. Historically, this team surprises a fair amount of people, getting 2 or 3rd place the last 3 out of 5 years. With 3 seniors leading the pack, this team has to be training balls deep for the gold this year.
Teams of note
Springfield: Returning 5 of 7 with one 2011 medalist.
Yorkville: 6 returning from the top 7.
Mahomet Seymour: Returns 4 of top 7, 3 of top 5. Pretty dam* good times by Schaap early in track season.
East Moline (UT) : Returns 5 of top 7 with a predominant team of juniors, led by 2011 medalist.

Individual
With Michael Clevenger leaving, the race could be wide open. Tyler Yunk has to be the favorite on paper, as he has gotten second the last 2 years, along with his 9 03 3200 in late April. With 7 of the top 10 returning, it could be brutal. Good times by Mcirtney in track looks promising, and Jamison Dale set the 1600 2A state record just 3 weeks ago. Whoever it may be, the win won't be easy.

So get at it

[xcrunner2011]

One incoming freshman that could easily fill in the gap in Belvidere North's top 5 is Eric Yunk. He ran a 4:36 1600, and a 10:15 2mile (state champ) in xc this year as an 8th grader, so obviously he is talented, plus the standards his brothers (especially Tyler) set should push him.

[runoholic]

Originally Posted by xcrunner2011

One incoming freshman that could easily fill in the gap in Belvidere North's top 5 is Eric Yunk. He ran a 4:36 1600, and a 10:15 2mile (state champ) in xc this year as an 8th grader, so obviously he is talented, plus the standards his brothers (especially Tyler) set should push him.

Good catch, and Mahomet gets a whole bunch of talented freshmen from a 4th place finishing middle school team, including two people who consistently ran sub 11's for two miles. Plus, they have potential step-up JV runners. If you don't know this team first hand and need proof, just look up their past races in their cross country website (if google's not giving you a link to it, feel free to ask me for the url). Basically, they're going to have five, if not seven, tightly packed runners.

As for Danville who went back to 2A (I bet they're glad to be back down there), I keep a good tab on them, and I refreshed my memory on what they got. They would have seriously been in the game if they moved down to 2A earlier. As it happens, they lose only two guys from their varsity, but two top five contributors (their 3 and 5 sectional finishers), and there's a gap after five that's going to need to be lowered somehow, and there's not really any standout incoming freshmen like Hummer last year and Leverenz two years ago according the middle school records I've got. That's not to say coach Orvis can't find and has not had step-up runners who run slower underclassmen years who get much better in later years. And it also isn't to say that they may already have what they need to advance to state with both Leverenz and Hummer around to reliably score very low. But we're going to have to let the paper of this coming season do the talking on whether they're going to have a solid pack of five or not.

I think I'll do something similar to what I did with 1A whenever I feel like it now that the 2A thread's up.

[zoominvon1]

Originally Posted by RnnrFrvr

I'ma roll right into it. Key Pointers:
* With 12 seniors graduating out of the top 25 that leaves 12 new opportunities for new medalists.
* The new classifications didn't shake things up much. Really only Dekalb and Marmion moved to 3A, while Danville is in 2A now, which leaves really only 11 new medals to individuals.
* The Team Race
1. The defending State Champ Belvidere North appears to be the team to beat once again after an impressive track season. The senior trio in Yunk, Menard, and Lee will be as strong as ever, and tough to break apart. The only downside to this empire team is the loss of 3 seniors from the top 7, with Will Crocker leaving with a medal and low points. On paper, it seems Chase Hill, the number 6, with slip into the number 4 position. 5-7 appears to be up for grabs and this is the opportunity for a young underclassmen to prove them-self.
2. State Runner-Up Glenbard South loses only 1 senior from 2011, their number 3, with Wold and Singleton returning low points. If the team fills in the number 3 spot just as well as last year, and the young 2011 team develops into great upperclassmen, I don't see why anyone should count this team out of the 1st place trophy.
3. 2011 3rd place winner Normal U-High, like the first two teams, loses little bang from their roster. With their number 4 graduating, U-High brings back 6 guys from the top 7. Historically, this team surprises a fair amount of people, getting 2 or 3rd place the last 3 out of 5 years. With 3 seniors leading the pack, this team has to be training balls deep for the gold this year.
Teams of note
Springfield: Returning 5 of 7 with one 2011 medalist.
Yorkville: 6 returning from the top 7.
Mahomet Seymour: Returns 4 of top 7, 3 of top 5. Pretty dam* good times by Schaap early in track season.
East Moline (UT) : Returns 5 of top 7 with a predominant team of juniors, led by 2011 medalist.

Individual
With Michael Clevenger leaving, the race could be wide open. Tyler Yunk has to be the favorite on paper, as he has gotten second the last 2 years, along with his 9 03 3200 in late April. With 7 of the top 10 returning, it could be brutal. Good times by Mcirtney in track looks promising, and Jamison Dale set the 1600 2A state record just 3 weeks ago. Whoever it may be, the win won't be easy.

So get at it

I think you have to consider Jones Prep in the mix. They return everyone led by Jamison Dale. Plus they will have transfer Peter Schaible from St. Rita that will challenge in the top 5. Deep team that could challenge the above 3.

[runxc94]

I think that if U-High was to win the overall team title it wouldn't be very surprising. Their 6th man from last year at state cross was a sophomore and he ran in the prelims for the 1600. BN ond GS both relied heavily on some strong performances from their top runners, if u high can have a consistent 5th man they could sneak away with the title.

[Illinoisprepster]

To piggy back on Chicago Jones, in addition to returning their entire top 7 and transfer Pete Schiable, they will also have back up Armando Rodriguez who ran 4:32 in track. Deep, deep team that nearly everyone is sleeping on.

[Phenom Man]

Jones has 5 kids returning under 9:47 including Schiable, and another at 4:32 (Rodriguez). Honestly, I think it's them and Belvidere North at 1 and 2.

Glenbard South returns 5 and Normal University returns 4 from their state squads, not 6. I think the early summer rankings go something like this.

1. Belvidere North
2. Jones
3. Glenbard South
4. Yorkville
5. Normal U-High

[classof2013runner]

I don't see Belvidere North falling out of first. Not yet, anyway. Despite some graduations, they're still stocked with Yunk, Lee, and Menard. Lee had an adnominal strain in the State race last year, so just having him healthy this year will contribute to Belvidere North having another low score. They have 8 runners from their 12-man roster returning. Of the 4 seniors, three ran at state. Kaleb Gustafson and Cole Considine shouldn't be too difficult to replace, but losing Will Crocker will hurt until they find solid #4 and #5 runners. Junior Chase Hill (16:15, 104th at State) is currently the top candidate. Based on other team's #4s from last year, if Hill can 15:40s or 15:50s this year, it'll put Belvidere North in a good spot as long as their #5 runner isn't too far behind him. As for the 5th spot, it could be senior Jesse Laseman, who didn't run at state but ran at sectionals, where he beat Hill. It could also be freshman Eric Yunk. If he's anything like what Tyler was his freshman year, Eric could even be their #4 runner this year. However, because comparing runners to their siblings is always accurate, I'll keep him as the team's x-factor.

[Col Crunch]

Originally Posted by classof2013runner

I don't see Belvidere North falling out of first. Not yet, anyway. Despite some graduations, they're still stocked with Yunk, Lee, and Menard. Lee had an adnominal strain in the State race last year, so just having him healthy this year will contribute to Belvidere North having another low score. They have 8 runners from their 12-man roster returning. Of the 4 seniors, three ran at state. Kaleb Gustafson and Cole Considine shouldn't be too difficult to replace, but losing Will Crocker will hurt until they find solid #4 and #5 runners. Junior Chase Hill (16:15, 104th at State) is currently the top candidate. Based on other team's #4s from last year, if Hill can 15:40s or 15:50s this year, it'll put Belvidere North in a good spot as long as their #5 runner isn't too far behind him. As for the 5th spot, it could be senior Jesse Laseman, who didn't run at state but ran at sectionals, where he beat Hill. It could also be freshman Eric Yunk. If he's anything like what Tyler was his freshman year, Eric could even be their #4 runner this year. However, because comparing runners to their siblings is always accurate, I'll keep him as the team's x-factor.

I am pretty sure they return 3 guys from the 4x800 team that ran state. They didn't make finals, but were well under 8:10. So those guys are in play too.

[Phenom Man]

Originally Posted by classof2013runner

I don't see Belvidere North falling out of first. Not yet, anyway. Despite some graduations, they're still stocked with Yunk, Lee, and Menard. Lee had an adnominal strain in the State race last year, so just having him healthy this year will contribute to Belvidere North having another low score. They have 8 runners from their 12-man roster returning. Of the 4 seniors, three ran at state. Kaleb Gustafson and Cole Considine shouldn't be too difficult to replace, but losing Will Crocker will hurt until they find solid #4 and #5 runners. Junior Chase Hill (16:15, 104th at State) is currently the top candidate. Based on other team's #4s from last year, if Hill can 15:40s or 15:50s this year, it'll put Belvidere North in a good spot as long as their #5 runner isn't too far behind him. As for the 5th spot, it could be senior Jesse Laseman, who didn't run at state but ran at sectionals, where he beat Hill. It could also be freshman Eric Yunk. If he's anything like what Tyler was his freshman year, Eric could even be their #4 runner this year. However, because comparing runners to their siblings is always accurate, I'll keep him as the team's x-factor.

The way things have been going in 2A, I don't think having two runners above 15:40 is going to win a state championship, even with 3 inside the top ten. Hill and Laseman are both really good runners, but I think they will need little little Yunk to step up into the number 4 spot if they want to win.