The 2023-24 Herald Cup: No. 5 Glenbard South
Editor’s note: Now that the high school sports year is over, we devised a points system based on team state finishes to measure which of the 85 high schools from the Daily Herald circulation area had the best athletic year in 2023-24. We’ll announce the top five small schools this week, one per day, with No. 5 today and No. 1 on Friday. The top five large schools will be revealed next week.
It started in the fall with a Class 5A football playoff victory and a second-place finish in Class 2A boys cross country. Boys track and field brought it home tied for fourth in Class 2A.
The Raiders finished fifth in the 2023-24 Herald Cup standings for small schools with 42 points that were calculated by weighing team finishes throughout the fall, winter and spring.
How they did it
The boys cross country team’s second-place finish brought in a bunch of Herald Cup points for the Raiders. They followed regional and sectional titles by trailing only 2A champion Marion at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.
The momentum ran over to the spring. The Raiders boys track team won its sectional and tied with Bureau Valley for fourth place, one point out of third.
In football, Glenbard South (9-2) reached the playoffs for a 12th straight full season. Seeded No. 7 in Class 5A the Raiders beat Noble/UIC 54-0 before falling to eventual 5A champion Nazareth in the second round.
Who made it happen
Cam Williams, a 6-foot-2, 194-pound receiver, was the state’s No. 2 football recruit in the Class of 2024 according to Rivals.com. Before graduating early to attend Notre Dame, his choice out of 24 scholarship offers, the two-time all-state selection set Glenbard South records for receptions, yards receiving, total touchdowns, points scored and yards per catch.
Quarterback Michael Champagne was a Class 5A all-state selection, with two-way lineman Jack Anderson an honorable-mention pick.
Seniors Tim Jochum and Jaden Frederick, and freshman Tom Jochum, Tim’s brother, all placed in the top 27 runners at the Class 2A cross country meet. Tim Jochum placed eighth overall.
In boys track Bryan Harper took second in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. Tim Jochum placed sixth in the 800-meter run and returned to anchor a second-place 3200 relay with Paul Quint, Lucas Newman and Michael Bailey. Frederick finished sixth in the open 3200.
Key stats
Williams averaged nearly 22 yards a catch last fall.
The last time the Raiders finished second in boys cross country was 2011. A 19-time state qualifier, the team finished third in 2022.
Glenbard South’s fourth-place finish in 2A boys track and field was the Raiders’ best finish since a tie for ninth in 2013.
Both 3200 relay winner Payton and Glenbard South beat the existing Class 2A record. Glenbard South ran it in 7 minutes, 45.55 seconds.
Key fact
At the 2023 state cross country meet, the spread between Glenbard South’s first and fifth scorers was only 1 minute, 3 seconds.
They said it
“I’d love to start Day One, but I’m not going to say, ‘I’m here to start Day One.’ It’s more like I’m here to do the things that can get me to eventually start, whether that’s Day One or Day 90.” — Williams on his freshman season at Notre Dame.
“Most of our guys PR’d (personal record), there were a lot of fast times, and the game plan was to get out fast and find our pack.” — Doug Gorski, boys cross country coach, after the Raiders’ second-place finish.
“Hurdles is always a tossup, because you could always make mistakes.” — Harper after his state track preliminary heats in Charleston.