Five Big Storylines To Watch At This Weekend's State Meets

Bryan Deibel

Dylan Jacobs vs. Danny Kilrea Throwin Down In Illinois 

What: IHSA Cross Country State Championship
Where: Detweiller Park Peoria, IL 
Who Individuals: Flo50 No. 2 Dylan Jacobs, Flo50 No. 3 Danny Kilrea
Who Teams: Flo50 No. 5 Downers Grove North High School, Flo50 No. 12 Neuqua Valley High School

Why: This one should be good. Very good. It's Dylan Jacobs vs Danny Kilrea in the 3A boys race at the historic Detweiller Park course in Peoria, Illinois. 

This duo, who both recently committed to Notre Dame, will be looking to break records this weekend as they chase Craig Virgin's (Lebanon High School) course and meet record time of 13:50.60 from 1973. That record is 44 years old, and the last person to come the close to touching it was Lukas Verzbicas (Sandburg High School) who ran 13:54.00 back in 2011 at the state championships. Verzbicas's time ranks No. 3 on the all-time list behind Chris Derrick of Neuqua Valley High School, who ran 13:52.00 at state in 2008.

To best break down this matchup and how these guys relate to this historic course, a timeline of events seems fitting: 

September 2 - Kilrea and Jacobs face off in their first head-to-head matchup of the season at the Mike Kuharic Invitational. Kilrea takes the win running 14:10.25 while Jacobs finishes second running 14:34.83. This was Kilrea's first meet of the season, while it was Jacob's second. 
PLACEATHLETETEAMRESULTPOINTS
1Danny Kilrea12Lyons Township High School14:10.251
2Dylan Jacobs12Sandburg High School14:34.832

September 9 - Kilrea runs at the First to the Finish Invitational running 14:02.30 for what was the 10th-fastest (now the 11th) all-time on the Detweiller Park Course.

September 30 -Jacobs runs at Detweiller Park for the Peoria Invitational running 13:57.50 for fifth-fastest time.

Related Link: Danny Kilrea vs Dylan Jacobs Compare Athlete Feature 

October 28 - Kilrea and Jacobs compete in their second head-to-head matchup of the season at the IHSA 3A Sectional - Hinsdale Central. This time Jacobs comes away with the win but by a much smaller margin than Kilrea did earlier in the season. 
PLACEATHLETETEAMRESULTPOINTS
1Dylan Jacobs12Sandburg High School14:39.171
2Danny Kilrea12Lyons Township High School14:47.572

November 1 - The Houston Astros win the World Series in game seven over the LA Dodgers 5-1...Whoops, wrong sport.
November 4 -  A new IHSA Class 3A boys cross country state champion will be crowned and a 44-year-old record will be broken (what we're hoping happens). 

Who do you think will win Kilrea or Jacobs? 

Will they break the record? 


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