ILLINOIS PREP TOP TIMES

IHSA BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

CLASS A

2007 Boys Class A Team Rankings

Week 1 Rankings

1. Elmwood/Brimfield – E/B continues to run well in its first meet of the year at the Canton Invitational.  They finished 3^rd, 4^th, 6^th, 8^th, and 11^th to win the meet.  If they can continue to run this well, it will be a great race with Winnebago for the championship.
2. Winnebago – Winnebago came out of the chute in their first race of the year at the Oregon Invitational.  They looked dominant taking first by almost 60 points.  Sean Smith looked great leading his team at the meet by winning the individual title.  I believe that E/B and Winnebago will race against each other at the Amboy Invitational over the Columbus Day holiday, which could give a great indication of how state might turn out.
3. Paxton/Buckley/Loda – No information on this team this week. 
4. Oregon – Oregon looked great in their first meet of the year finishing second at the Oregon Invitational.  With Trace Carlson running well, he can make this team a very good one.  They always seem to run well early in the year.
5. Knoxville – Knoxville has a great core group of runners returning from last year, but with Logan Block’s status for this year up in the air, it could be a rough year for the team.  If he runs for them, they will definitely be a top five team this year.
6. Henry/Midland – Henry has been a very good team the past few years and looks to be continuing this trend this year.  They ran away with their first meet of the year (a meet at Chillicothe).  They might be a team to watch this year.
7. Ottawa Marquette – They won their first meet of the year against some pretty good AA competition.  They have a strong core group of runners that seem to be running extremely well so far this year. 
8. Robinson – They were barely beaten by Lawrenceville earlier in the week, but they were running without two of their top seven.  If this team can get healthy, there is no reason why they should be a pretty good team this year.
9. Cumberland –They took part in the Chrisman Cowchip Classic, which is a seeded race and ended up winning the race.
10. Monticello – They took part in the Chrisman Cowchip Classic.  By taking purely the times from that meet, the Monticello boys might have won the meet.  They seem to have a great pack of runners that could surprise some this year.
11. Beecher – No information on this team this week.
12. Tremont
13. Georgetown-Ridge Farm
14. Rockford Christian
15. Sherrard

2007 Boys Class A Individual Rankings

Week 1 Rankings

1. Matt Feldhake – Effingham St. Anthony (Sr.) – He won the Chrisman Cowchip Classic with a time of 16:12.2.  He looks strong and ready to defend his individual state crown.
2. Dustin Emerick – Elmwood-Brimfield (Sr.) – He finished third at the Canton Invitational behind two talented Limestone runners.  It will be a lot of fun watching this athlete get better and better as the season goes on.
3. Sean Smith – Winnebago (Jr.) – He won the Oregon Invitational ahead of teammate Trenton Tedrick and Oregon’s Trace Carlson.  He looks as if he could become a very good runner.
4. Brian Peterson – Fieldcrest (Sr.) – He won the Twilight in the Woods meet in Ottawa against some good A competition.
5. Graham Morris – Lawrenceville (Jr.) – He finished 2^nd just behind Matt Feldhake in a quad meet in Robinson.  He is someone to watch this year in Class A.
6. Trenton Tedrick – Winnebago (Sr.) – He finished third at the Oregon Invitational and will only get better as the year goes on. 
7. Kody Nelson – Delavan (Jr.) – No information on him this week.
8. Parker Thompson – Tremont (Jr.) – No information on him this week.
9. Trace Carlson – Oregon (Sr.) – He ran well at the Oregon Invitational to finish 4^th.  He always seems to run extremely well at the beginning of the season and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him beat runners ranked ahead of him soon.
10. David Ulrich – Robinson – He ran exceptionally well this weekend and is holding on to the number one spot due to an injury by Kyle Shimer.  When Shimer gets back, he will be an interesting runner to watch this year.  A real dark horse. 

I will have more runners added to this list as the year goes on.  Please continue to get results and send them to the email address below.  As a sport that doesn’t get much recognition, it is important that all teams get a chance to shine.  Thanks. 

Send questions and results to ilclassaxc@yahoo.com.  If we don’t know about you, we can’t put you guys into the rankings.  Plus, we like seeing results to help us to gage how you guys do against similar competition.  Thanks for any help that you can provide.