Isabella Ciesla, Huntley, sr.

Ciesla enjoyed a breakout season in 2024. It was so good that she was named the Northwest Herald Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year after winning the Fox Valley Conference title in leading the Red Raiders to the title for the third year in a row. She was Huntley’s first conference champ since it joined the FVC 20 years ago. Ciesla capped her season by placing 46th in the Class 3A state meet.

Emaline Foster, Prairie Ridge, so.

Foster missed her freshman season because of a stress fracture in her right leg. She then showed off her distance-running talents in the spring for the Wolves’ track and field team. She medaled in both of her distance races in the Class 2A state meet, taking fifth in the 3,200 run and ninth in the 1,600. Foster opened the 2025 cross country season by winning the McHenry County Meet.

Cori Kilvinger, Huntley, sr.

Kilvinger has been a core runner for Huntley during its FVC dominance the past three seasons. She finished sixth in the FVC meet last year, then took 37th in the Class 3A Lake Park Sectional. At state, her 74th-place finish (second best on the team behind Ciesla) helped the Raiders finish 10th, best in program history. She is running on varsity for the fourth year in a row.

Reese Long, Hampshire, so.

Long-distance racing is what Long does well, and she proved it on the varsity level as a freshman last fall. She placed fourth in the FVC Meet, then took eighth in the Class 3A Harlem Regional and qualified for state by placing 21st in the Lake Park Sectional. At the state meet, the All-Area first-team selection ran a personal-best 17:59 to finish 72nd.

Caroline Lucas, Crystal Lake South, so.

Crystal Lake South coach Ken Greenfield said Lucas “showed flashes of being ready to take off and really push herself to another level” in the summer. If she’s better than last season as a freshman, Lucas figures to find herself back at the state meet. She finished 34th in Class 2A last fall, capping a season that also saw her finish seventh in the FVC Meet.