Previews of Saturday's cross country sectional meets involving area teams and individuals

Class 1A

Elmwood Sectional

When: Saturday - Girls - 10:30 a.m.; Boys - 11:30 a.m.

Area girls teams: Eureka, Tremont, Fieldcrest, Illini Central.

Area girl individuals: Robin Eastwood, EPG; Emily McCormick, EPG.

Area boys teams: Illini Central, Fieldcrest, Tremont, Eureka.

Area boy individuals: Alec McClure, Deer Creek-Mackinaw; Pierce Furrow, EPG; Tom Forman, EPG; Joe Stuckel, EPG; Sam Stuckel, EPG.

Girls outlook: Eureka senior Olivia Klaus, ranked No. 1 in the state, will seek her third sectional title. Ranked teams include No. 2 Eureka, No. 3 Elmwood-Brimfield, No. 4 Tremont and No. 11 Monmouth-Roseville.

Boys outlook: Reigning sectional champion Parker Thompson of Tremont is ranked No. 1 in the state by Illinois Prep Top Times. No. 2 Elmwood-Brimfield and No. 14 Sherrard are the highest state-ranked entrants.

PBL Sectional

When: Saturday - Girls - 10 a.m.; Boys - 11 a.m.

Area girls teams: Tri-Valley, PBL.

Area girl individuals: Hanna Bobell, Heyworth; Lauren Dixon, Heyworth; Danielle Dixon, Heyworth; Mary Francis Leake, Lexington.

Area boys teams: PBL, Tri-Valley, Heyworth.

Area boy individuals: Sean Larsen, Cornerstone, Alec Wasson, Lexington.

Girls outlook: Tri-Valley junior Stephanie Brown, ranked 15th in the state, placed 13th in the sectional as a freshman and sixth last year. Entrants ranked ahead of her include No. 6 Michelle Mehnert of Urbana Uni High, No. 9 Hannah Hogan of St. Joseph-Ogden and No. 11 Reagan Aylmer of Central A&M. Ranked girls teams are No. 6 St. Joseph-Ogden, No. 7 Urbana Uni High, No. 12 Moweaqua Central A&M and No. 13 Beecher.

Boys outlook: Ranked boys teams entered are No. 5 Teutopolis, No. 6 Beecher, No. 8 Shelbyville, No. 10 PBL, No. 11 St. Joseph-Ogden and No. 13 Cumberland. Reigning state champion Matt Feldhake of Effingham St. Anthony, ranked No. 2 in the state, will face No. 6 Justin Jones of Oakwood.

Aurora Christian Sectional

When: Saturday - Girls - 10:45 a.m.; Boys - 11:45 a.m. (at Aurora's Oakhurst Forest Preserve).

Area boys and girls teams: Gardner-Dwight.

Girls outlook: Ranked girls entrants include No. 1 Winnebago, No. 8 Byron, No. 9 Aurora Christian and No. 15 Sterling Newman. No. 2-state ranked Lauren Sible of Byron is individual favorite. Gardner-Dwight's leader is junior Chloe Trewartha, a member of last spring's state track champion 800- and 1,600-meter relays.

Boys outlook: Ranked boys teams entered are No. 1 Winnebago, No. 4 Rockford Christian, No. 7 Ottawa Marquette and No. 12 Westmont. Winnebago's Trenton Tedrick is the individual favorite. Mitch Small is Gardner-Dwight's leader.

FYI: Results will be available at www.kompusport.com.

Class 2A

Peoria Notre Dame Sectional at East Peoria

When: Saturday - Girls - 10 a.m.; Boys - 11 a.m. (at Illinois Central College)

Area girls teams: University High, Central Catholic, Olympia, Mahomet-Seymour.

Area girl individuals: Grace Hawkins, Delavan; Ashlynn Lippert, Delavan; Lily Barrett, Pontiac.

Area boys teams: University High, Delavan, Central Catholic, Olympia, Mahomet-Seymour.

Area boy individuals: Ryan Hunter, Lincoln; Christopher Davis, Lincoln; Jordan Nagy, Prairie Central; Jarrad Miller, Prairie Central; Phil Johnson, Prairie Central; Jon Richards, Streator; Ben Gutz, Streator.

Girls outlook: Ranked entrants are No. 1 East Peoria, No. 3 Metamora, No. 4 Peoria Notre Dame, No. 5 Mahomet-Seymour, No. 6 Limestone and No. 22 Dunlap. The individual favorite is 2006 Class AA state champion Caitlin Comfort of Notre Dame. Top area girls are Central Catholic's Kelly Curran, U High's Emily Clay and Olympia's Breeana Ragland, who went 1-2-3 in the Olympia Regional, respectively, and Urbana Regional champion Amy Clawson of Mahomet-Seymour.

Boys outlook: Ranked entrants include No. 3 Metamora, No. 6 U High, No. 9 Limestone, No. 12 Delavan, No. 16 Galesburg, No. 17 Peoria Notre Dame, No. 22 Mahomet-Seymour, No. 23 East Peoria and No. 24 Dunlap. Olympia Regional champion Kevin Forde of U High placed 13th last year, missing a state berth by three places and 11 seconds. Limestone's Nick Holmes has run 14:24 on the state meet course where Forde has run 15:05.

Class 3A

Normal West Sectional at East Peoria

When: Saturday - Girls - noon; Boys - 1 p.m. (at Illinois Central College)

Area girls teams: Normal Community, Normal West, Bloomington.

Area boys teams: Normal West, Bloomington.

Area boy individuals: Nic Patti, NCHS: Logan Campbell, NCHS; Drew Mueller, NCHS.

Girls outlook: Ranked entrants are No. 12 Neuqua Valley, No. 16 Lincoln-Way East, No. 20 Lockport and No. 24 Edwardsville. Illinois Prep Top Times predicts O'Fallon will be the fifth qualifier ahead of Minooka, Lincoln-Way Central and NCHS. "Realistically, there are three teams we know we can't run with, but then after that we think we're in the hunt," said NCHS coach Tom Patten. State-ranked individual entrants are No. 4 Aisha Praught of Moline, No. 11 Siobahan Steppe of Belleville East, No. 18 Liz Speicher of Edwardsville and No. 24 Megan Taylor of Neuqua Valley. Ashley Verplank of BHS will seek a fourth state trip after placing 15th in the 2006 sectional, third in 2005 and 10th in 2004.

Boys outlook: The team favorite is No. 1-state ranked Naperville Neuqua Valley ahead of No. 12 Frankfort Lincoln-Way East. The Illinois Prep Top Times sectional rankings predict Normal West will advance third followed by Minooka and Lockport. BHS is ranked 10th in the sectional. Top individuals include Chris Derrick of Neuqua Valley and Nathan Troester of Lincoln-Way East. Derrick ran third in the 2006 AA state meet and has clocked 14:26 on the state meet course where Troester has run 14:33.

Note: the top five teams and top seven individuals not on those teams and anyone else in the top 10 advance to the Nov. 3 state meet at Peoria's Detweiller Park.