Athletes in fall sports will be “one and done” this season when it comes to postseason competition.
The Illinois High School Association board of directors met virtually Monday and approved a plan for a modified postseason state series that will feature a single round of regional geographic competition in boys and girls golf, boys and girls cross country, girls swimming and diving, and girls tennis.
The competition will be held the week of Oct. 19-25, with the majority of events expected to be held on Saturday, Oct. 24.
It wasn’t unexpected.
Prior to the announcement, Chad Clarey didn’t think a traditional playoff format would be forthcoming.
In fact, the coach of defending Class 2A boys cross country champion Kaneland pretty much called what the IHSA would decide for his sport.
“I’m already planning on having Oct. 24 marked on the calendar as my end date, like they announced in July,” Clarey said. “I’m thinking we’re going to have a Class 2A COVID Regional featuring teams from Kane and DuPage counties.
“If they announce anything that’s different than that, it might be a pleasant surprise. I think schools were more or less advised that it would be good to use Oct. 17 as the date for conference meets. However it turns out, we’ll take it as it floats in.”
Chris Muth, Yorkville’s boys and girls cross country coach, has watched his girls team finish second to Naperville North the past four years in the 3A state meet.
“It will be interesting to see how small the regions will be,” Muth said. “Right now, we’re limiting everything to 50 participants, so that’s a maximum of eight teams. That’s a pretty small region.
Picture Source: Rob Dicker / Daily Southtown
