The best of the best in boys cross country will meet at the IHSA state finals at Detweiler Park in Peoria on Saturday.

Several teams and individuals from The Herald-News area will be at the meet with the idea of bringing home some well-deserved hardware.

CLASS 3A

Plainfield North won the team title at the Normal Community Sectional, with Plainfield South taking second, Lincoln-Way Central third and Lincoln-Way East sixth. Alll will be competing as a team at the state meet, along with Nicholas Dul and Hunter Spee of Lincoln-Way West, who qualified as individuals.

Plainfield North seniors Tommy Czwerwinski and Aidan Connors finished 1-2 at the sectional, and the Tigers are poised to bring home another trophy after finishing second last season. Other runners for the Tigers will be senior Cal Anderson, senior Dylan Araiza, junior Liam Beavers, junior Zach Bucsanyi, junior Logan Dodson, freshman Dominic Frigo, senior Gavin Hall, senior Sean Jansen, senior Aidan Kyrychenko, junior Dominic LaMontagna, senior James Maso and senior Jake Schmauderer.

“We are excited to be back at the state meet,” Plainfield North coach Andy Derks said. “We never take for granted getting to run at Detweiller in early November.

“Our guys have had a bit of an up and down season, but we’ve never wavered from our mission, which is simply to be the best possible team we can be come championship season and have fun. Our guys are healthy, fit, and ready to see what we can do. I’ve had so much fun coaching this group of guys (current seniors) since they were in 6th grade doing summer running with us. They have a special bond that most teams don’t have.”

Competing for Plainfield South, which finished third in the state last season, will be junior Giovanni Acosta, junior Alex Batsala, junior Dylan Buturusis, sophomore Logan Capalbo, senior Austin Cory, junior Ethan Ensign, junior Kellan Hernandez, senior Tyler Miller, Aiden Nissen, senior Brady Prokop, junior Asim Saba, sophomore Michael Samayoa, junior Atticus Stevens and freshman Phoenix Viger.

Taking the course for Lincoln-Way Central will be senior Ronin Borgeson, senior Bryce Counihan, junior Domenico DiSalvo, junior Gavin Hoff, junior Andrew Nilson, sophomore Jaxon Oldenburg, junior Cian Scanlon, freshman Luke Simone, sophomore Russell Welch, sophomore Colin White, senior Mekhai Wright and sophomore Ryan Zartler.

Running for Lincoln-Way East will be senior Ryan Bhargava, senior Noah Borchert, sophomore Ryder Connolly, sophomore Brendan Hanrahan, junior Dylan Jacobson, senior Coleman Kavanaugh, freshman Eddie Matteson, junior Luke Mueller, freshman Miles Mueller, junior Henry Phillips, freshman Ryan Scaletta, freshman Ian Schroers, junior Nathan Schroers and junior Braydon Simpson.

CLASS 2A

Morris finished fifth at the Geneseo Sectional to advance to the state meet for the third straight season. It has been a banner year already for Morris, which won the school’s first Interstate Eight Conference championship and regional championship earlier this season.

Morris junior Cuyler Swanson won the individual title at the sectional, and his twin brother, Everett, finished eighth. Both are very much in the running for an All-State (top 25) finish, with Cuyler Swanson being in the title conversation.

“I think the title is within reach,” Cuyler Swanson said. “My hope is to finish in the top three, but really I am going for a time of 14:10-14:15. If I can hit that and still don’t win the title, I won’t be disappointed. Even with all those runners on the course, you are really going against yourself for your best time. If I run my best time and some other runners beat me, tip your hat to them, but I will not be disappointed in how I ran.

“I’m not really nervous, just excited to run. It’s all positive excitement. We have a lot of seniors that this will be their last hurrah, the last time we will run together. We are so close-knit as a team, we’re all like family.”

Other runners for Morris will be sophomore Joseph Emmerich, senior Parker Fleetwood, senior Nikita Hovious, freshman Victor Larsen, freshman Payton Luberda, senior Emmanuel Martinez, senior Chase McConnell, freshman Trevor Mitoraj, senior Brodie Peterson, freshman Rusty Rogers, senior Hunter Russell, and senior Johathan Zarbock. Lemont’s Scott Biedess qualified as an individual as well.

“It’s darn tough to have seven ‘A’ races four straight weeks, and our guys ran extremely well Conference- and Regional- Saturdays to win titles,” Morris coach Joe Blumberg said. “We ran hard at Sectionals, but let a few schools we expect to beat sneak by us. We did enough to advance, earned one more week together, and will run extremely hard this weekend.

“In 2023, these guys made the bold goal of winning a state title this season. For a team that had never won a conference, regional, sectional title or even been to the state finals... that was daring. And I give our guys so much credit for raising the bar, putting in the work, and improving. Are we in a position to hoist a trophy? We are probably on the outside looking in based on state projections. That is not to take anything away from these guys. There are so many factors out of their control.

“With so much focus on the individuals up front, I don’t want to forget about the heart and soul of our team - the five seniors who score for us weekly. Both Nikita Hovious and Brodie Peterson are all-conference runners and have consistently improved the last four years. And Jonathan Zarbock, Chase McConnell, and Parker Fleetwood have juggled the fifth, sixth, and seventh spots for three years now.

“Regardless of what happens Saturday, these guys deserve the credit for elevating the program. They’ve set the standard and expectations, and our younger guys look up to them and will begin work next week to fill their shoes. We are awfully proud of the successes they’ve had, but more importantly, the young men they are and how well they have represented MCHS.”

CLASS 1A

Dwight’s Joe Faris is the lone area Class 1A qualifier.