Cross country: Downers North’s Eddington siblings, in last race together, lead teams with high state hopes

For the Eddington family, the best cross country meets are where the Downers Grove North boys and girls teams both compete. That means extra support for senior Ryan Eddington and sophomore sister Lily.

“Those meets are good. My parents like it, too, so they don’t have to go two separate places,” Lily said. “We’re a family of runners.”

The most memorable meet could be their last together Saturday – the Class 3A state championships at Peoria’s Detweiller Park. Ryan is a returning top-25 all-stater for the boys, who have been ranked No. 1 in Illinois all season and No. 12 nationally by DyeStat. Lily is an all-state contender and No. 1 runner for the top-five rated girls, seeking their first top-three state trophy since 1988.

“We’ll just run the race on the day and we’ll go after it working together,” Ryan said. “We don’t really pay attention to (rankings). Keeping it in as a pack has been really good and working with all of the younger guys and integrating them, it’s been really fun.”

The boys should battle for the title with Plainfield North, defending champion Plainfield South, O’Fallon and Barrington. Other top-rated girls teams are No. 1 York, defending champion Prospect, Barrington and Naperville North. The Trojans swept team titles at the Hinsdale Central Sectional Oct. 28 and both Eddingtons finished a team-best third. Also earning top-10 all-sectional honors were junior Grant Schroder and sophomore Philip Cupial for the boys and juniors Ava Gilley and Alayna Todnem and senior Sarah Paul for the girls.

The Downers North boys have been third at state the past two years. Ryan made his state debut as a sophomore and finished 100th. Last season, senior Caden Weber and Ryan were an all-state 13th and 14th as the Trojans’ top finishers. Returning from injury, Weber was 15th at the Hinsdale Central Sectional, his first competitive race since Sept. 9 in Peoria.

“(Ryan has) grown a lot as a leader and all of that stuff,” Downers North boys coach John Sipple said. “He’s fallen in love with the sport early on and that passion and competitive drive has just really helped propel him from season to season. He continues to just want to do more and be more to the team.”

In her state debut, Lily was a team-best 40th for the fifth-place Trojans even after being injured since running with one shoe the latter half of Naperville North’s Twilight Invite. She sat out regionals Oct. 21 with hopes of being her healthiest for this state race.

“I feel like I’ve gained a lot more speed (this season), especially through track,” Lily said. “Just overall I’m feeling a lot better racing and more aware. Strategically I know what I’m doing more.”

Both have made significant strides since 2022 state. The following Sunday, Downers North boys runners were third at the Nike Cross Midwest Regional and earned an at-large berth to Nike Nationals in Portland, Ore. They finished 11th as the No. 2 team from Illinois.

“Going there showed us we can really compete with anyone on the state level and also on the national level. It kind of showed us we belong,” Ryan said.

At state track in May, Ryan was second in the 800-meter run and with the 3,200 relay. Lily’s track season included breaking 5:00 in the 1,600 and helping the all-state, third-place 3,200 relay.

“I’ve felt a lot better moving up with faster people in races because of track,” Lily said. “I feel like track was a big stepping stone, not just for me but the whole team as well. That has just really fueled our excitement into cross country.”

The two train occasionally, sometimes doing shake-outs in the parking lot waiting for team buses. They receive additional competitive and training insight from their father, Mark, who ran at Marquette and at Kaneland for their grandfather, Larry. Larry Eddington was Kaneland’s boys cross country and track coach until his death in 1994 at age 49. Kaneland’s annual cross country invitational is named after Larry Eddington. Ryan, who first attended as a preschooler, won this year’s invite Oct. 16.

“I wasn’t going to lose that day. I wanted it to so bad because that was my last shot at it,” Ryan said. “That was one of the coolest things I ever got to do. I got to see my grandma after the race because I knew that meant a lot to her so that was cool.”