IHSA state cross country preview: Shutts will enjoy family day at state meet

Judd Shutt, the father, desperately wanted to see his son Cohen’s Woodstock team advance from the Class 2A Kaneland Cross Country Sectional Meet last week.

At the same time, Shutt, the Prairie Ridge coach hoped his Wolves, who have been running strong all season, also would move on to the IHSA Cross Country State Meet.

“It was an anxious Saturday,” Judd Shutt said. “But it turned out to be a perfect Saturday at sectional with both teams making it.”

Prairie Ridge was third, while Woodstock was sixth, also qualifying as one of the top seven teams. So the Shutts will enjoy Saturday’s Class 2A boys race together at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, with Judd coaching his own runners, while also taking moments here and there to cheer on his son.

“We joke about it,” Shutt said. “[Cohen] tells me when he hears me cheering for him that it’s immediately followed by me telling a Prairie Ridge athlete to catch him.

“They’re pretty familiar with each others’ teams. It’s been a nice camaraderie. My guys are very friendly with the Woodstock team. We go to Byrne Fest. In the age of Instagram and texting, these guys are closer in the area than competitors ever were before. We have a lot of friendly competition, and I separate pretty well.”

Cohen Shutt ran third for Woodstock at Kaneland, helping the Blue Streaks make their second consecutive trip to state.

“Me and my team are really excited about going back after having only one senior leave our team last year,” said Cohen Shutt, a junior who was on Woodstock’s state team last year. “I’m excited to go down there. It’s been a meet I’ve been going to for quite a few years to watch my dad’s past teams and individuals. All around it’s pretty big for our family for him to see me run at state and for him to also have a team competing.”

The Shutts see each other at a few meets during the year, starting with the McHenry County Meet. Prairie Ridge also runs at Woodstock’s Ryan Byrne Festival in midseason.

Last year, Judd Shutt coached Will Gelon at state, who finished 23rd to make All-State, and got to see Cohen run with the Streaks. Cohen often attended Prairie Ridge practices, not that he remembers them.

“Through the years all my kids have been to the state meet watching my kids and individuals qualify,” Judd Shutt said. “All of them, when they were really young, I pushed them in the running stroller at Prairie Ridge practices before they probably even remember it. Cohen didn’t fall in love with running until high school. It’s kind of a newfound love for him.

“We have a lot of fun with it. I find a way to balance cheering for him and some of the other Blue Streaks. We do joke we would still like the Wolves to edge them at the end of the day.”

Ellery Shutt, Cohen’s freshman brother, is an alternate runner and also will be with the Blue Streaks, making Saturday even more special. They are all happy that the Kaneland Sectional, regarded as the toughest in the state by many coaches, worked out with both teams advancing.

“Extremely relieved,” Cohen said. “I knew his team was going to do well. [Prairie Ridge] has been spectacular all season. All those athletes are wonderful athletes. To hear our team to get called again was really something special. I’m sure I’ll never forget it.”

Twinning: Several of the area’s top teams enjoy the advantage of having twins on their teams. Huntley’s Breanna and Brittney Burak are leading the Red Raiders to the Class 3A girls race at state, Woodstock’s Ishan and Aryan Patel head Woodstock’s boys’ return to Peoria, and Crystal Lake South’s Olivia and Victoria Pinta are integral runners for the Gators.

The Buraks are seniors who each recently committed to run at NCAA Division I schools. Breanna will attend Illinois State; Brittney will go to Indiana State. Those two, along with No. 3 runner Molly Allen, have been standouts for four years for the Raiders, who won the Fox Valley Conference championship last month.

The Patels, who are juniors, usually run 1-2 for the Blue Streaks, who repeated as Kishwaukee River Conference champions.

The Pintas are sophomores and run with senior sister Gianna for a South team that hopes to compete for the Class 2A team title. Olivia was South’s third runner, Gianna was fourth, and Victoria was fifth in the Kaneland Sectional.

Crystal Lake Central also has three sisters, who are a senior, junior and sophomore – Annie, Hope and Hadley Ferrero.

Looking for hardware: Crystal Lake South and Crystal Lake Central tied at the Kaneland Sectional with 93 points, with South winning the sectional plaque on the sixth-runner tiebreaker. Those two look like the most likely area teams to finish in the top three at state, although the competition with teams such as Washington, Rochester, defending champion Grayslake Central, Lakes, Dunlap, Normal U-High and Chatham Glenwood will be fierce.

South was Class 2A state runner-up last season and has leaders Bella Gonzalez and Abby Machesky back.

“We’ve been training pretty hard and working because we want to have a shot at getting top in state again,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez battled some sickness at the FVC Meet three weeks ago, where she finished eighth, but has recovered.

“Much better. I was really sick at conference,” she said. “I probably shouldn’t have raced, but I feel way better.”

South won its third consecutive sectional title at Kaneland.

“They’re such a fun group to coach,” Gators coach Ken Greenfield said. “They’ve done so much over the last few years.”

Career capper: Prairie Ridge senior Rachel Soukup finished seventh in last year’s state meet, and that was after missing the FVC Meet with a sore hip. This season, Soukup has been at the top of her racing form and eagerly looks to the Class 2A girls race.

Richland County’s Tatum David will be the 2A favorite, but Soukup and Ferrero, who was fourth last year, could be near the top.

Soukup felt she could have run a little faster at Kaneland, where she was out in front by herself most of the race.

“It’s going to fuel me for next week, my last chance to try to break that 17[-minute] barrier,” Soukup said.

Repping the FVC: There will be seven of the FVC girls teams running at state – Central, South, Cary-Grove and Prairie Ridge in 2A; Huntley, Jacobs and McHenry in 3A. McHenry’s girls are making their first trip to state in school history.

Not alone: Gelon is excited that his team will be with him this trip to state. Prairie Ridge was No. 7 in the 2A rankings on ilxctf.runnerspace.com by Michael Newman.

“I’m so excited to race with the team there,” Gelon said. “It’s going to make me feel more relaxed going into the race. Bringing the guys down there’s going to be a ton of fun. I’m really excited.”

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

Local State Qualifiers

Class 1A

Individuals: Jolene Cashmore (Johnsburg).

Team: Richmond-Burton (Alexia Spatz, Savannah Wells, Emerson Wold, Olivia Popp, Camila Mendez, Lahey O’Connor, Beth Hillier).

Class 2A

Individuals: Abby Burke (Burlington Central).

Teams: Crystal Lake South (Bella Gonzalez, Abby Machesky, Olivia Pinta, Gianna Pinta, Victoria Pinta, Anna McDermott, Brieannah James); Crystal Lake Central (Hadley Ferrero, Brynn Matthei, Annie Ferrero, Emma Macke, Gwyneth Brickey, Hope Ferrero, Lelia Czysczon); Prairie Ridge (Rachel Soukup, Brenna Benjamin, Olivia McPherson, Alexis Soukup, Nella Robinson, Lydia Jensen, Ali Storz); Cary-Grove (Ada Saletnik, Jocelyn Onstot, Jadie Chavez, Kate Aniolkowski, Juliana Ferrera, Zoe Hubka, Aeryn Costello).

Class 3A

Teams: Huntley (Breanna Burak, Brittney Burak, Molly Allen, Guillermina Gimene, Ava Allison, Gabrielle Sweeney, Aspen Maldonado); Jacobs (Bailey Schwartz, Natalia Maciorowski, Alyssa Madera, Adeline Gorman, Madeline Osmanski, Christina Beyer, Natali Varela); McHenry (Danielle Jensen, Lynda Rotundo, Alyssa Moore, Skylar Balzer, Haley Oeffling, Lauren Blake, Jessie Pfannkuche).

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

Local State Qualifiers

Class 2A

Individuals: Ryan Kries (Burlington Central); Jameson Tenopir (Cary-Grove).

Teams: Prairie Ridge (Will Gelon, Evan Gilleland, Ian Mahon, Gerrit Dam, Kevin DeGroot, Daniel Cardenas, Eddy Klimkowski); Crystal Lake Central (Karson Hollander, Aiden Shulfer, Jackson Hopkins, Nate Peyer, Elliot White, Brady Sterzik, Jackie Clark); Woodstock (Ishan Patel, Aryan Patel, Cohen Shutt, Dylan Hanson, Jakob Crown, Thomas Sieck, Charlie Baker).

Class 3A

Individuals: Tommy Nitz (Huntley), Ty Rasmussen (Huntley), Zach Zuzzio (Huntley), Alec Melendez (Jacobs), Andrew Beyer (Jacobs), Doug Martin (McHenry).