2020 ILXCTF.com Illinois Track & Field Previews - 2A Boys Distance Events

By Michael Newman

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We may discover how strong the Class 1A runners were last fall with so many top teams moved up during the track season. Three of the four events could be won by 1A Cross country schools. There will be four new state champions in May.

The emergence of Drew Rogers

The Herscher sophomore Drew Rogers made a huge statement last November when he pulled away from the pack during the second mile to easily win the Class 1A State Championship by 14 seconds ahead of Rock Falls’ Dawson Smith. Both runners should be in the front of the pack in the 3200 Meter Run. Smith finished third in last year’s state race and has the fastest returning time. Rogers had a personal best of 9:57.83 at the end of last year. That personal best will get faster this spring.

Four other all-state runners are back from last year’ race. We saw drastic improvement from Sam Lange of Morton last fall running under 14:50 three times last fall at Detweiller Park. He finished sixth last year. He should be challenging for the win in Charleston. Anthony Farmer of Burlington Central missed almost all of last outdoor season due to injury. He did run 9:41.93 during the indoor season and finished third in last November Class 2A State Cross Country Championship. I would not count him out in this event.

Bergman’s next chance

Illinois Valley Central’s Elias Bergman seemed to have the 1600 Meter Run race won last year in Charleston until Daniel Chen stormed from behind to catch Bergman and capture the state title. Bergman is the top returning finisher from last year’s race as well as having the top returning time (4:21.32) ahead of the rest of the pack by close to three seconds.

Dan Weizeorick of St. Francis, Brooks Harlan of Centralia, Luke Sokolowski of Monticello, and Ryan Jones of Marian Central Catholic are the four returning all-state athletes. It will be interesting to see how Drew Rogers does in this event. The same holds true for Wilson Georges of Bartonville Limestone who could be the surprise at this distance.

An Open 800 Meter Run

The term open maybe an understatement when looking at the returning runners. It is anyone’s guess on who could be in the top spot when we get to Charleston in May. Three all-state runners are back from last year’s finals.  It might be the Waterloo duo of Jackson McAlister and Eli Ward. Neither of the two had great races in Charleston with McAlister finishing seventh and Ward finishing 12th. Patric Natindim of St. Viator returns with the top finish a(fourth) and could be the athlete to capture the win.

There are only four other runners back that broke sub two-minutes. Gyvanziel Quinonez of Rochelle and Andrew Hutchinson of North Boone are the only runners back that had seasonal bests under 1:59.

Relay Notes

Stanford Olympia was at the top of the Class 1A rankings most of last fall’s cross country season.. They finished third in Peoria last November. The Spartans have the talent to win the 3200 Meter Relay in May. All four runners are back from their fourth-place team that ran 8:07.38. This team is loaded and could run sub-eight when the time is right. Dixon and Burlington Central finished1-2 in last year’s finals but  only return two of their quartet. St. Francis and Sycamore both return three runners and could challenge Olympia for the win.

Top Returning Class 2A Boys Distance Event Runners

800 Meter Run

1600 Meter Run

3200 Meter Run