The Teams
York High School (Kroy TC)
Led by MS # 24, Jack Driggs, the Dukes return five out of their NXN Midwest Championship team from 2009. Driggs, who finished sixth at regionals last year, helped his team bring home another state title last week despite a disqualificaton.
Belvidere North High School (Belvidere TC)
Coming off an amazing performance at state, Belvidere north is one of very few teams that have topped York this year. They won their classification with only 28 points and a 14:52 average for 3 miles. They finished ninth last year at regionals, but return their entire squad.
Columbus North High School (Columbus Thron)
The Indiana State Champs are undefeated coming into Sunday’s race. They won in a convincing fashion 92 to 170 on the Lavern Gibson Course. The Bulldogs’ No. 5 has yet to be beaten by another team’s No. 3 this year. The highest finishing team not from Illinois from last year, they are ready to compete against the best.
Lake Zurich High School (Alpine Runners)
Finishing only two points behind York at state, Lake Zurich is one of the favorites to make it to Portland. Lake Zurich’s 4th runner beat York’s 2nd at State and their team average was faster than York’s.
Naperville (Neuqua Valley) High School (Naperville South XC)
The third place team from Class 3 in Illinois this year finished second last year. They graduated six of their top seven from their team that finished second at regionals last year. However, they have found people to fill their roles, having three guys at 15:00 or better for three miles at State.
The Individuals
Lukas Verzbicas (MS # 1)
The defending Footlocker National Champion, Verzbicas comes in as the clear favorite. Last week, he ran a 13:54, just off of Craig Virgin’s course record, to defeat Jack Driggs by 22 seconds.
Michael Brajdic (MS # 8)
The Ohio Division 2 State Champ has yet to lose a race this year. He comes into the race with a PR of 14:54. He clocked in at 15:01 for his state meet, 18 seconds ahead of what Wills ran in Division 1. He looks to improve on his 7th place finish from last year.
Zach Wills (MS # 18)
It’s very rare that somebody could win regionals, go on and finish fifth at nationals, and not come into the race as the favorite. Wills won the Ohio Division 1 race by 7 seconds in a time of 15:19. After his 15:07 last year at regionals, he should be looking to run a great time this weekend.
Zach Herriott (MS # 21)
Herriott has had an amazing junior season, capped off by a 15:30 on a difficult Missouri State course. He has run some great times all year on tough courses, so there is no doubt he is someone to watch out for Sunday.
Jack Driggs (MS # 24)
Undeafted until state, Driggs has beaten some great runners. He finished sixth last year and is the second best returner only behind Wills. He comes in to the race after running a 14:16 at his state meet where he finished 11 seconds ahead of third place.
Other State Champions
Michael Clevenger
Daniel Everett
Alex Standiford
Kyle Tait
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