By Ricky Quintana 

Terre Haute, IN –A record 4,286 athletes are scheduled to compete at the Nike XC Town Twilight at the LaVerne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course on Friday and Saturday. Both events will be contested under the lights on the same course that will host the Nike Cross Regionals Midwest on Saturday, November 17, and the NCAA DIII Championships on Saturday, November 23.

Friday events begin at 5:00 pm with the College Races and conclude with the College Championship Women’s races. Saturday events begin at 6:00pm and conclude with the Race of Championships for Boys and Girls at 9:00pm and 9:30pm.

Participants from 15 states, including California, Utah, Texas, and Pennsylvania, will face off in the 13 races contested over the two days of competition.

The entire event will be broadcast on RunnerSpace on both Friday and Saturday.The link can be found here .

The Boys and Girls Race of Champions will feature National Champions and US High School Class Record holders.

Important links

Meet information
Live Results
Live Broadcast
Photos

Top entrants in the boys’ and girls’ competition include:

Girls

Individuals

• Lily Alder (Timpview, Provo, UT) – Alder ran the best cross-country race of her life at the Woodbridge Classic. Her 5:05.5 last mile was second only to the winner, Rylee Blade’s 5:03.6. She spent a month training at 11,000 feet in Ecuador and is reaping the benefits this season.
• Emily Wisniewski (Crescent Vally, Eugene, OR) – The 3rd place trophy winner at Nike Cross Nationals ventures out of the state of Oregon for the first time this season. Her best time came finishing 2nd at The Mook Invite on Sept 21 at 16:55.0. The NC State commit is formidable on the grass turf and will be a factor on the windy and hilly grass course at LaVerne Gibson.
• Jane Hedengren (Timpview, Provo, UT) – Hedengren finished 4th at the Woodbridge Classic in 15:36.7. The 2-time Utah State Champion and BYU commit has her eyes on another state title and a first-time berth at the Nike Cross Nationals this postseason.
• Abby Faith Cheesman (Webb School, Bell Buckle, TN) – Last year, the Virginia commit sped to a dominating 40-second win at the Great American XC Festival. She then went on to a 13th place finish at the Foot Locker Nationals 17:56.30. Now, she turns her sights north to face a tough field. She’s only raced once this season, a 16:57.0, a course record, to win the Meet in the Middle Invitational on September 18.
• Ava Jarrel (Pendleton Heights, Pendleton, IN) – The Indiana commit finished 9th last year in 17:43.60. The 2-time state champion will again face a challenging field. She has the speed and endurance with personal bests of 4:45.76 in the 1,600m and 10:11.20 in the 2-mile from last spring. If she can transfer that speed endurance to the grass, she could be in contention.
• Isabella Keller (St. Anthony, Effingham, IL) – Keller couldn’t have asked for a better freshman year. She finished 3rd at Nike XC Town Twilight last year in 17:06.60 before claiming an Illinois state cross country title and an 8th place finish at the Nike Cross Nationals in 17:43.40. That was the highest place finish by a freshman. She’s opened her season running faster than ever. Her 16:42.70 at the Chrisman Cowchip bested last year’s 17:10.50 by 27.8 seconds.
• Libby Dowty (Indian Creek, Trafalgar, IN)—Junior Dowty has bested her times from last year in two of her events by 22.83 seconds and 59.4 seconds. She finished 4th in last year’s race with a 17:09.5. Her 3,200m best of 10:15.14 came in second to Jarrel at the Illinois State Track and Field Championships.
• Julia Score (Bishop Chatard, Indianapolis, IN) – the junior returns to Nike XC Town Twilight after finishing 4th in 17:09.5 last year. She finished 41st at the Nike Cross Nationals, the ninth-best for the sophomore class.
  
  

Teams

• Carmel (IN)—Last year, they finished 7th with 207 points. They return four of their top five: Annabel Pollert, Nola Eling, Larkin Taylor, and Olivia Mundt. Junior Sadie Foley has been running well this season, posting a personal best of 18:10.60 in her last outing on September 21. Freshman Margo Halle and seniors Ella Gaddis and Katy Dascoli give them more depth than they had last year. They are currently ranked 5th in the Dyestat.com Midwest Regional Rankings.
• Mount Prospect (Prospect, IL) – Last year, Mount Prospect ran away with the title, scoring 91 points to top Noblesville’s 133.  They return Veronica Znajda, Meg Peterson, Ireland Wildhart, and Ella Benassi, but lost top-five scorer Lily Ginsberg to graduation and won’t have the services of Sophie Fransen. Mary Laba and Anna Zajac have been running well and may be the key to defending their title.
• South Texas Heat Homeschool (San Antonio, TX) – The Latta sisters are possibly the first all-sister team that could make a run at a top finish on Saturday. They are led by freshman Elin Latta, who ran 17:23 to finish 2nd at the McNeil Invitational on Sept 20. Fellow freshman Iris, Remy, and Reese all finished under 20 minutes in that race. Sophomore Addyson will be competing in Nike XC Town, giving them a full team.
  
  

Boys

Individuals

• Evan Noonan (Dana Hills, Dana Point, CA) – The 3-time California State Champion finished 18th at the Woodbridge Classic on September 21. He’s coming off his best track season, winning the California 3,200m title with a personal best of 8:43.12, the 3rd best of all underclassmen. He also ran a personal best of 4:02 for the 1,600m, the fifth-best underclassmen. He will be looking for his 2nd state cross country title and a third berth at the Nike Cross Nationals.
• Alex Bruns (St. Xavier, Cincinnati, OH) – Bruns’ season-best time of 14:39.86 came winning the Trinity/Valkyrie Invitational. Last year, he finished 84th at Nike XC Town Twilight and is looking for the biggest turnaround in meet history with a sub-15-minute showing.
• TJ Hansen (Freeland, MI) – The Colorado commit is undefeated this season. He ran a personal best of 14:41.55 at the Shepherd Bluejay Invite on September 28. That broke Hunter Jones’s (Benzie Central, Benzonia, MI) course record by 8.75 seconds. At Nike Cross Nationals, he finished 10th in 15:27.8, the second-best of all underclassmen behind Manny Putz (Onalaska, WI). Last spring, he ran the 4th fastest mile of all underclassmen, 4:04.28.
• Sam Quagliaroli (Fishers, IN) – Last year’s runner-up returns to contend for an individual title. His 14:53.1 was the 3rd fastest in meet history.
• Dylan Maloney (South, Plainfield, IL) - He finished 3rd last year in 14:57.70- the 4th fastest time in meet history. He is undefeated this season.
• Corbin Coombs (Organ Mountain, Las Cruces, NM) – The senior ran 14:30.50 at the Organ Mountain Rob Winter Classic to break the course record by 51.89 seconds. Last year, he was the 6th fastest underclassman in the mile 4:04.48, and the 15th fastest in the 3,200m, 8:50.58.
• Charlie Vause (Rio Rancho, NM) – Vause is coming off the biggest win of his career. At the Desert Twilight on September 27, he won in a new course record and personal best of 14:42.20. This was on the same course that will host the Nike Cross Regionals Southwest Championships on November 23.He’s undefeated this season and will be vying for his first state cross country championship and first post-season berth of his career.
  
  

Teams

• North (Downers Grove, IL) – The Illinois and Midwest Region #1 has a season average best of 15:50.38.
• South (Plainfield, IL) - They are currently ranked #2in the Midwest Region by Dyestat. They finished second last year and return six from that team.
• North (Plainfield, IL) - DyeStat Midwest Region #5 team.
• McCallie (TN)- DyeStat Southeast Region #4 team.
• Brownsburg (IN) -DyeStat Midwest #4 team.
• Noblesville (IN) - The Miller men finished second to Brownburg at the Hoosier Crossroad Conference meet September 28. They have the best top-five average of 15:28.22.
• Carmel (IN) - The defending champion Greyhounds lost five seniors to graduation. However, they are very deep and return five from that team.