Here are Rockford's 12 breakout runners so far this IHSA cross country postseason
While we know who the stars on the Illinois cross country courses have been this season, lately there have been quite a few runners from local teams that have really stepped up their games when the races mean the most.
And right now is when the races mean the most as the Illinois High School Association postseason rolls on.
The Rockford Christian boys locked down their third conference and then regional titles in a row last weekend, while the Winnebago girls placed second at the Big Northern Conference meet, but then steamrolled their regional opponents and dominated on Saturday.
The Belvidere North boys, which won the NIC-10 title the weekend before, cruised to the regional title this past Saturday, while Guilford's boys and Hononegah's girls took second in their regionals as well.
More cross country: Rockford's top 10 boys and 10 girls to watch as race to IHSA cross country state begins
This weekend, it's on to Saturday's sectionals, with bids to the state meet in Peoria on Nov. 5 on the line. The Class 1A sectionals starts with the girls race at 1 p.m. and concludes with the boys race at 2 p.m. at Oregon. The 2A sectionals will be held in Kaneland, while and the 3A sectionals will be run in Roselle. The top six teams, and then the next 10 best runners who are not on a qualifying team, advance to state in Class 1A, while the first seven teams followed by the next best 10 runners advance in 2A and 3A.
While they may not be the No. 1 runners or the longtime leaders of the teams, these runners have shown that they can be counted on when they're needed. Here are the top six boys and top six girls breakout cross country runners from the area who have stepped up their games of late:
GIRLS
Abigail Bauman, Lutheran
A freshman that finished seventh at regionals last week, Bauman is going to be one to watch over the course of this postseason and the next three years after that. She took seventh overall with a time of 18:29.47 at last week's Class 1A regional showdown in Winnebago. She took 12th at the hotly contested Big Northern Conference meet the week before, with a large contingent of 2A runners.
Paige Giardina, Rockford Christian
Her sister Kelly was a star for Rockford Christian and graduated last year, but Paige, now a sophomore, has turned it up a notch this season, finishing as the No. 2 runner for the squad at regionals. She had a personal-best on the Winnebago course to finish 17th this past Saturday.
Rebecca Krein, Rockford Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
This freshman has had a big season for a team that is not usually even on the radar. She finished 10th at regionals last weekend, which was the best finish ever for the program. Their top finisher was 46th at regionals last year, and Krein finished 10th on Saturday with a time of 19:14.75.
Alyssa Pryor, Belvidere North
Pryor climbed her way into eighth place at the NIC-10 meet, and then last week the junior was the highest-placing local in the 2A Belvidere Regional with a 16th-place time of 19:14.13. Belvidere North has traditionally been a power, but has been down for the past couple of years. Pryor and others could help bring it back.
More:Here are 10 boys and 10 girls cross country runners to know around Rockford in 2022
Kylie Simpson, Hononegah
Simpson has been on a couple of our lists this season already, and she's hardly going to sneak up on anybody now, after winning the NIC-10 title and tearing up the courses this entire season. But she's still a freshman, and she's about to really show what she can do at the state level.
Emma Woolery, Winnebago
This Winnebago sophomore has slowly sliced down her times so that she appears to be one of the next great runners to power that Winnebago program. With three seniors and a junior ahead of her, along with freshman Morgan Capriola, Woolery could even be key this postseason.
BOYS
Joe Erb, Winnebago
Erb, a freshman, maneuvered his way into ninth place in Saturday's 1A regional race with a solid time of 16:01.15. Erb is the son of the co-head coaches Joe and Janet Erb and is the younger brother of the Erb sisters, Katie, who graduated last year, and Grace, now a senior star. Running, and running for long distances at a fast pace, is in his blood.
Andrew Kurien, Rockford Christian
Weston Forward and Aidan Sosnowski have been the leaders on this Rockford Christian boys squad for the past two seasons, and Tyler Nalley is a two-time all-conference runner and a former all-stater. But the guy who has really grown by leaps and bounds — and who could be key this weekend and next — is the sophomore Kurien. After taking 19th at the BNC meet, he placed 18th at sectionals and helped Rockford Christian claim the team regional title.
Kyle Gnewuch, Lutheran
This sophomore clocked a 15:44.47 to place seventh at last weekend's regionals, and that was after taking 11th in the stacked BNC conference meet. Gnewuch has a good shot at qualifying for state for the first time this weekend.
Jaden Gocken, Durand
This is a senior, but he has had a breakout stretch, for sure. He just finished with a time of 15:59.0 to take 11th at the 1A regional race last weekend, which was over a minute faster than his previous best on the course. That could be a sign of the times to come for Gocken.
Last year's state finals:Winnebago, Rockford Christian cross country among top teams at IHSA state finals
Tim Starwalt, Byron
This is another freshman that burst onto the scene this year, and Starwalt was the highest-placing freshman at the BNC meet (at seventh, just one spot ahead of Joe Erb), and then placed sixth at last weekend's regionals, one spot out of an all-regional slot. Starwalt will be one to watch already this weekend, and most likely at Detweiller Park in Peoria on Nov. 5.
Keegan Sweeney, Belvidere
This freshman placed 29th at last week's regionals, but he was the second-fastest freshman in the field, and he advanced to sectionals, where he will be pushing for a state bid on his first try. Sweeney — as well as most of the runners on this list — is one to watch for years to come.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, for more than 20 years at the Register Star, and for nearly 30 years all together. He was a four-sport athlete himself, and is the father of five that went on to be jocks of some kind as well.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA cross country postseason: 12 breakout runners from Rockford area
