Welcome to Kaneland Cross Country!

The purpose of this blog site is to allow full access to the team, practices, history, and future events. Please check back with this blog throughout the summer and fall for new updates on the team. Feel free to share it with friends and family who follow the program!

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Silver Bone Goes to 'Dogs, but Throwback Knight Complete with 18 new PR's

The third annual Silver Bone Classic was one to remember. Not for the magnificent weather, or the vintage jerseys being worn. Rather, it’s for the epic night of PR’s on our “slow” course. You all made the most of the lack of wind traditionally found at Kaneland, and the tough competition.

Webster kicked things off, battling the Bulldogs the entire way, and avoiding a sweep of the top 5 places to Red. His was the first of 18 course PR’s on the knight. (pun intended)

Nosek and Messina finished off in a similar manner, both notching top 10 placement. Heiser and Wells pushed from the back to complete scoring, each better than 1:00 over their time at Eddington.

Wojak measured up a :43 PR, and Nance established a new career best for 3 miles in 19:41. Girolamo equaled his PR from Eddington, and O’Sullivan put up a huge PR, running 2:11 better than in September.

Cole Rutter demonstrated the courage that most knights would dream to have. There is no place he would rather be than in the lineup, and despite the pain and discomfort that comes to him, he refuses to let the Battle of 6 take him down. Proud of you, Cole!

Our JV runners met the challenge that a :20 pack split from the Bulldogs provided. French set a :48 PR, and Kurz pulled off a new career 3 mile best in 18:03. That’s a heck of a first season of cross for Zach. Murri had painful doubts at the starting line, was given 1000 meters to decide if he could finish. He nearly matched his PR on the season, missing by :02. Great heart!

Smith crushed his Eddington time by 2:37 and his PR for 3 miles. Gale bettered his ‘13 Silver Bone time by :35. Moses rocked his PR by :59 and Kasap once again annihilated his PR for the course.

Piazza was the biggest winner of the Knight, with a course PR of almost a half mile. Gingrich followed suit, nearly matching a career best. Wolfe dropped 1:29 on the season best effort at home, and Osborne was just :04 off of his PR pace, without the benefit of teammates or Bulldogs to pull him along. THAT is a hard thing to do! Way to go, KO. We are very proud of you!

Excellent effort from all of you. You should be very proud of your finishes. Your coaches are. Special thanks to our new Kaneland AD on seeing how much tradition matters to our program. He realizes how Kaneland celebrates its past, and thrives in the present. We'll get him in orange and black, one day.... 

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Silver Bone Classic on Wednesday - Come join us!

We will once again host the Batavia Bulldogs on Wednesday, Oct. 22, beginning at 4:40pm. We've invited the State Qualifiers from the IESA State Finals to join us for some quick introductions. At 4:45, we will have a frosh soph race. Immediately following at  5:20, we plan to have a JV Open. The combined scores from both races will determine who brings home the Silver Bone trophy. Should be a beautiful fall evening, so come out and watch the future of our program compete!

Monday, October 20, 2014

White Knights Close Gap on NIB XII State Ranked Teams

Good cooks will always tweak a recipe to make it even better. Such is the case when evaluating the changes in our workouts, annually. Once again, you’ve proven to have a savory conference meet.
Kintz and Park notched their first ever All Conference Cross Country performances by settling into an elite pack, and taking advantage of their surges. Kintz made a great move to the front of his pack, and rode the wave of energy. Park battled from behind and willed himself to the equivalent of his PR at Peoria.

Reger nearly met his PR as well, and had a courageous run in 21st place. Spaetzel is getting better at just the right time and net 25th, with Kuipers on his heels in PR fashion. Walker and Lesak had the most impressive results as pushers, beating #10 Ranked Sterling’s 5th runner. Walker, his career best 3 mile run.

In our next course, the FS squad gave a great run at the Foxes, with Richtman cruising to the overall title, and Kantola surging his way to 2nd in the last mile of the race. Webster used a tremendous surge before the mile mark to put himself in front of the chase pack, and Nosek followed suit. In the end, they ran new PR’s, earning Top 10 ribbons. Messina rallied late to complete scoring with 5 in the top 12 finishers. Wells and Wojak took new PR’s on the day, both finishing in the top half of all runners.

In the dessert portion of our menu, the Open Runners feasted upon the conference foes, racking up 6 Top 15 finishes and 9 new PR’s. French led the crew’s :43 pack split with a 5th place run. Kurz followed shortly after with a :31 PR. Jared Murri ran a very tough 8th in just his third race of the season. Gale earned a Top 10 ribbon, and Heiser crushed his PR by 1:55 to earn 13th. Huge finish for Smith, also took 1:04 off of his previous PR.

A wave of career best races came in order, from Girolamo (:10 faster), Moses (:29), O’Sullivan (1:18) and Kasap (2:33). Josh shrugged off a sore knee and simply raced like a senior, winning his own Battle of 6.

Parks finished his season in 39th place, with Gingrich (:36), Piazza and Wolfe (:02) netting new PR’s. Osborne had another inspiring finish, and Cole Rutter established his new full 3 mile PR.
Your recipe for success includes determination, dedication, a will to compete, and a camaraderie which has been present all season. Keep it up.


Award Winning Day at Byron

It was well worth the wait for KO! Strong team performance with numerous medalists in Varsity and Open races.

Zombie Run a Huge Hit!





Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Directions to Byron

 Meet is at the Byron Forest Preserve.  Address is:  Jarrett Center, 7993 North River Road, Byron .


Take Interstate 88 WEST to Interstate 39/51 North in Rochelle.  I 39/51 North  to IL Route 72.  Take 72 WEST to Byron.  There will be a four-way stop where you could turn right to go to downtown Byron, GO STRAIGHT!  About ¼ mile down on your left, you will see the entrance to the Byron Forest Preserve.  Turn LEFT into the park.  Stay on the driveway all the way to the end, up the hill.  Look for the buses and the Jarrett Center.

Boys Varsity is scheduled to run at 5:15pm, and Open will run at 5:45. There is an inconsistent history as to the actual starting time, and it's entirely possible that we could run a little earlier than that. Just wanting to be clear, the paperwork received shows 5:15 start. My gut tells me it could go earlier, but then, I still owe Coach Franklin a steak dinner from a bet I made on timing of the race last year.

Varsity line up is: 10 - Moses, 9 - Smith, 8 - Murri, 7 - Nosek, 6 - Kurz, 5 - French, 4 - Webster, 3 - Messina, 2 - Lesak, 1 - Kintz

All others who are racing are in the Open.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

4 Freeport Pretzels, 2 Team Trophies, 9 Individual Awards, 1 Great Day

Heading into Freeport, the team needed a shot of confidence. If the cold winds and snow showers on Saturday didn’t wake us up, then perhaps it will be the fact that our 2014 defeated the 2013 version on team time, and in 40 degrees less comfort.

Kintz and Park managed to hang with the experienced veterans who returned to this meet, netting 5th and 7th respectively. Park was a :44 PR on the course. In just his 2nd career race, Kintz is in the 15’s Club. Wow.  

We knew we needed to get the work done with runners between 10 and 25 in order to seal a trophy winning performance. Reger, Kuipers and Walker were :16 apart, completing a 67 second pack split, and nailing down 2nd for the team.  Pushing up the scores of the rest were Lesak and Spaetzel. Lesak mile pace was :23 faster than at ACC a week ago. It takes time, but he’s winning that Battle of 6!
French ran a :15 PR on the course, and Kurz was strong in reserve as well, :07 faster on mile pace than at ACC. Smith made the top half of all finishers with :20 better mile pace. Moses raced valiantly and will continue to improve. Kasap was nearly 2:00 faster than last week at ACC in far worse conditions. Gingrich and Wolfe were :13 apart, with stronger runs and Kyle Osborne continues to shine, with a :05 stronger mile pace than a week ago.

On the FS side, the team title was won as much up front as it was from the excellent pack running from the middle. While it takes 5 to score, the whole frosh soph team should feel great ownership in the team title. While Kantola, Messina, and Webster earned pretzels, Nosek notched an individual medal. The team was challenged with racing 10 seconds or less from the next teammate. Heiser, Wojak, Nance, Wells, Girolamo, Wilk and O’Sullivan all raced within :45 of one another, sealing the team win and making a great checkerboard statement. Cole Rutter had runners to battle the whole way, and raced 3:45 faster than a week ago at ACC.

Despite the huge swing in temperatures between last weekend and today, the team’s temperature is getting warmer. We’ve not yet hit our stride as a full unit, but we’re certainly looking to get some fresh legs, stronger aerobic capacity, and more wins in the Battle of 6.


Feeling Warm in Freeport

Despite the cold winds, we were feeling pretty warm in Freeport following a FS team championship, and the Varsity's 2nd place run. 4 pretzels, 2 trophies, 9 medals and 1 happy bus ride home.


Pasta Party With the Duffey's and Garcia's


Thank you to the Garcia and Duffey families for hosting a pasta party for the team on Friday. Great way to spend a Friday night, ahead of a successful Saturday in Freeport.