IHSA Prediction Time

[eaglecats]

So here we go, the regular season is over and it is time for Regionals. What are some predictions that you have about who will will what events and what teams could challenge DGS (if any) to win the whole thing. I'll start.

Team wise: I see a couple of possible threats to DGS. Possibly Glenbard West, Wheaton North, Marian, Thornton, WWS, a downstate school bringing many entries to state, Belleville West anyone?

Events wise: Of course, with screwy sectionals, some of my favorites may not even make it downstate, but in my estimation here are my favorites in the events. This is based solely on what I have judged this year, not just the Speechwire results.

DDA: Baker/Anderson - GBW, Carroll/Jones - Thornton, Foster/Nunn - Marian
DI: Winters-Prospect, Carroll - Thornton, Williamson - Marian
ES: Haven't seen Joseph King from Benton, but his results do speak for themselves
HDA: Really wide open in my estimation, unless Annie and Mitch are entered for Regionals
HI: Haven't really been super impressed by anything, who knows
OC: Same as HI, I'm sure there is good stuff out there, I just haven't seen it.
OD: Lamar Hawkins - Thornton, seems the clear favorite to me.
OO: Annie Larson - GBW, Sid Sapru - IMSA
INfO: Nick Szurgot - Oak Lawn, Annie Larson - GBS
IMP: Joseph King, Sheiber- Sandburg
PO: Johari Mackey - Thornwood, Javon Smith - Thorton
PR: Trybda - Wheaton North, Erin Walsh - DGS
RS: ??????????????????? No idea
SOS: Benassi - WWS, Bley- Glenbard West

Anybody care to agree or disagree, add or subtract anyone from this list? Of course there is some downstate stuff that no doubt is good, I just haven't seen it, so can't really predict what they will do.

[TruRavenclaw]

I feel like there are very few standouts this year... the wins have, for the most part, been spread out evenly.

SO I'll just speak about what I have seen the most of. In OO, I see good competitors coming out of the Thornwood Sectional half of the DGS final round (including the winner) represented schools coming from there. I'm also sure Suzy will be up there as well. Also, I think Bley/ Houghton-Larsen are entered in HDA, but I'm not sure.

I honestly don't know what school could beat DGS. I haven't seen anything Spectacular from them, but I'm smart enough to know that they can and will make it into those final rounds in as many events as possible. But who knows?

[krossk]

I'm gonna predict final rounds and the places, but please note that i have very little knowledge of southern schools and their strength, so if it seems like i'm light on southern schools, it's not because i think they're bad, it's because i don't know much about them. So, here goes!

DDA: (i've seen a few finals in DDA, and here's what i think will make it to state finals)
1. Baker and Anderson- Glenbard West
2. DeRosa and Walsh- Downers Grove South
3. Carroll and Jones- Thornton
4. Agbehia and Flowers- Thornwood
5. Rubenstein and Eakins- Wheaton Warrenville South
6. Stephan and Tryba- Wheaton North

DI: (only ever seen one final in di this season, but judging by past results... here goes)
1. Nora Carroll- Thornton
2. Randa Flowers- Thornwood
3. Laura Winters- Prospect
4. Rachel Newman- Homewood- Flossmoor
5. Colleen DeRosa- Downers Grove South
6. Ebony Rhodes- Glenbard West

EX: (never seen an ex final, but the same people seem to do well every week...)
1. Joseph King- Benton
2. Alex Sotiropoulos- Sandburg
3. Setu Patel- Wheaton North
4. Nick Desideri- Wheaton Warrenville South
5. Ed Roberge- Downers Grove South
6. Alexander Cooper- Glenbard West

HDA: (seen a couple of these finals, don't like most of them this year but oh well)
1. Larsen and Bley- Glenbard West
2. Kartan and Breig (provided they get the regionals spot)- Downers Grove South
3. Leaks and Patrick- Thornwood
4. Tsironis and Gattari- Wheaton Warrenville South
5. Krivensky and Kugligoski- Sandburg
6. McClevey and Cychowski- Warren

HI: (again, don't know a lot about it, but i've heard about a few that i like)
1. Darius Leaks- Thornwood
2. Evan Karl- Downers Grove North
3. Yale Cho- Fremd
4. Zeyne Guzeldereli- Riverside- Brookfield
5. Dylan Kroll- Warren
6. Dan Leahy- Downers Grove South

IMP: (seen a couple of people for this, and really like em! =))
1. Adin Lykken (provided he is the regional entry)- Glenbard West
2. Elizabeth McKay- Downers Grove North
3. April Jenkins- Wheaton North
4. Joseph Wlos- Marian
5. Nick Desideri- Wheaton Warrenville South
6. Ed Roberge- Downers Grove South

INFO: (don't know much, but here goes with the people i like so far!)
1. Annie Houghton-Larsen- Glenbard West
2. April Jenkins- Wheaton North
3. Sophie Luo- Nequa Valley
4. Jamie Friedman- Glenbrook South
5. Nick Szurgot- Oak Lawn
6. Brennan Knop- Carbondale

DEC: (i really love the decs this year! here's who i particularly like!)
1. La'Mar Hawkins- Thornton
2. Josh Durham- Downers Grove South
3. Josh Oakley- Wheaton North
4. Evelyn Smith- Prospect
5. Fatina Ahmed- Hoffman Estates
6. Emma Gotter- Wheaton Warrenville South

OC: (seen a few rounds of this. here's who i like!)
1. Evan Karl- Downers Grove North
2. Vincent Doria- Oak Lawn
3. Ian Koziara- Wheaton North
4. Arvin Hosseini- Warren
5. Yale Cho- Fremd
6. Sam Ide- Nequa Valley

OO: (haven't heard or seen much at all about this, so i just looked at DGS, WWS, and GBW Tourneys and picked the names that seem to do well)
1. Andrew Green- Oak Lawn
2. Kelly Seranko- Downers Grove South
3. Kayla Stroner- Wheaton North
4. Claire Fey- Glenbard West
5. Suzy Oskouie- Hinsdale Central
6. Kevin Daliva- Glenbrook South

PO: (saw a final earlier in the season, so i'm comparing who's doing well now to who i liked then)
1. Anna Gatdula- Nequa Valley
2. Javon Smith- Thornton
3. Emily Delaney- Wheaton North
4. Johari Mackey- Thornwood
5. Laura Williams- Pekin
6. Elsa Guenther- Wheaton Warrenville South

PR: (seen a final of this- really liked!!!!)
1. Micah Tryba- Wheaton North
2. Johari Mackey- Thornwood
3. Erin C. Walsh- Downers Grove South
4. Allie Long- Lena-Winslow
5. Ellie Wyant- Glenbard West
6. Kulsum Ishrati- Hoffman Estates

RS: (haven't seen any, but i see the trends...)
1. Mitch Bley- Glenbard West
2. Abbie Krentz- Wheaton North
3. Lily Zhu- Warren
4. Jess Sidhu- Carbondale
5. Grace Wright- Wheaton Warrenville South
6. Elliot Ihm- DeKalb

SOS: (haven't seen at all, just going off what i've heard)
1. Elizabeth McKay- Downers Grove North
2. Peter Benassi- Wheaton Warrenville South
3. Jess Sidhu- Carbondale
4. AJ Curry- Fremd
5. Christina Dana- Warren
6. Laurel Gawlik- Yorkville


Now i doubt that a lot of this will happen, as this is really a competition between all of the suburban schools. When southern schools come in, the picture will look totally different. However, using this picture, team places would go roughly like this:

1. Wheaton North- 41 pts.
2. Glenbard West- 37 pts.
3. Downers Grove South- 30 pts.
4. Thornwood- 26 pts.
5. Downers Grove North- 22 pts.
6. Thornton- 21 pts.
7. Wheaton Warrenville South- 19 pts.
8. Oak Lawn- 13 pts.
9. Warren Township- 12 pts.
10. Fremd- 9 pts.

Now i highly doubt anyone other than DGS will actually win: they'll figure out a way to pull it out of their you know where as usual. But i feel that GBW and WN will show very well and give DGS a run for their money at the state tourney, provided they can stay consistently competitive and get people through sectionals (something that both gbw and wn don't seem to be very good at....). But anyway, there you go! Whatcha think?

[theoriginalraider27]

Well you just never know whats going to happen, I mean just look what happened last year!

[jayman]

What I love about the state series are the changes.. 4 kids from each sectional at state, 3 sections at state judged by coaches and a few hired judges and semi's and less hired judges... I think that's . Oh wait a minute, they decided that wouldn't be good for the event/kids.. Maybe next year Sorry for the sarcasm. I hope everyone has a wonderful three weeks and that when champions are crowned, everyone is able to step back and remember that in that round, 5 judges decided the most impressive representation of that event is that person. We can all have our opinions, but lets remember as we disect everything, to do it with class and respect for all of the competitors. I do love the kids that come seemingly out of nowhere and quite franklly that's who I root for. Best to you all.

I'm also thinking this is a 25-30 point year for team champ. I'm looking for GBW to put it all together this year.

[Well...]

Wow krossk! You clearly have put a lot of thought into it, not that you are the only one! I'll give my general predictions although they will not be nearly as specific as krossk. The names are in no particular order, but inevitably resemble who pop into my head first and therefore may represent some bias, sorry! I mostly only know last names so, you'll have to check speechwire if you need more info!

DDA
Baker & Anderson—GBW
Eakins & Rubenstein—WWS
Carroll & Jones— Thornton
Stephan & Tryba—WN
Snyder & Hesik or DeRosa & Walsh— DGS
DI
Nora Carroll—Thornton
Laura Winters—Prospect
McElvain or Rhodes— GBW
Rachel Newman— HF
Randa Flowers—Thornwood
Joey Kim—Neuqua Valley
EXT
Sotiropoulous— Sandburg
Desideri—WWS
Setu Patel—WN
Alex Cooper— GBW
Ed Roberge— DGS
HDA
Bley & Larsen or Baker & Carey???—GBW
Kartan & Breig— HDA
Leaks & Patrick— Thornwood
Perino & Zidek—Sandburg
Krentz & Krentz—WN
HI
Zeyne Guzeldereli—Riverside-Brookfield
Darius Leaks— Thornwood
Evan Karl— DGN
Yale Cho— Fremd
IMP
Adin Lykken—GBW
Elizabeth McKay—DGN
Jilly Gokalgandhi—Warren
Joe Wlos—Marian
Rebecca Schieber—Sandburg
Adrienne Walker—Hinsdale Central
INFO
Annie Larsen—GBW
Sophie Luo—Neuqua Valley
Nick Szurgot— Oak Lawn
DEC
Fatima Ahmed—Hoffman Estates
Ryan Eakins or Emma Gotter—WWS
LaMar Hawkins—Thornton

OC
Arvin Hosseini—Warren
Evan Karl—DGN
Tom Murphy—Oak Lawn
Maeve McDounough—GBW
Yale Cho-- Fremd
OO
Andrew Green—Oak Lawn
Suzy Oskouie—Hinsdale Central
Kevin Davida—Glenbrook South
Kelly Seranko—DGS
Claire Fey or Annie Larsen—GBW
Anna Nilles—WWS
PO
Emily Delaney—WN
Matt Peterson or Elsa Guenther—WWS
Ana Gatdula —Neuqua Valley
Johari Mackey—Thornwood
PR
Micah Tryba—WN
Johari Mackey—Thornwood
Erin C. Walsh or Jean Hesik—DGS
Jonathan Williamson—Marian
RS
Mitch Bley—GBW
Abbie Krentz—WN
Elliott Ihm- DeKalb
Lily Zhu--Warren
SOS
Elizabeth McKay—DGN
Anna Nilles or Peter Benassi—WWS
Jacqueline Sutherland—New Trier
Vinay Nayak—Hinsdale Central
Kaveri Sharma—Neuqua Valley

[remiss]

ihsa is intense

[jeawagne]

.... I hope everyone has a wonderful three weeks and that when champions are crowned, everyone is able to step back and remember that in that round, 5 judges decided the most impressive representation of that event is that person. We can all have our opinions, but lets remember as we disect everything, to do it with class and respect for all of the competitors. I do love the kids that come seemingly out of nowhere and quite franklly that's who I root for. Best to you all.

I think Jayman brings up a really good point that needs to be emphasized. Whatever happens, and whatever any of us think about the system (good or BAD,) it is the current system and we have to play in it for the month. In the end five people decide who the best person in the state is in a given event. It is imperfect and subject to many outside variables, but it is what it is.

And while for the other five in that round, or the other 17 at state, or the other 50-60 in the regional in that event it may be unfair and frustrating, it helps to keep two things in mind -- one, you were chosen to represent your team and school which is a great honor; and two, what you get out of your experience will last longer than the skimpy medals that the IHSA gives out (yeah, what is up with that?!?)

But seriously, the last part can apply to any and all of us.

[TruRavenclaw]

However, there is another point to make. Sometimes, ranks are all over the place so essentially the person who came out the least scathed wins. Someone can win without getting a 1, so saying 5 judges picked The Best in the state, is a bit of a general statement. In most cases the final gives us the best, but it is by no means a perfect system. Just saying. =]

[peacebone]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Dan Rife from Sandburg for HI. This last weekend was the only weekend all season he didn't break in HI. And he has consistently placed in the top 3 for most of those final rounds.


Also, he's my little brother, so I am understandably a little biased...