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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!

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Kaneland Sweeps Team Titles at Freeport Pretzel Invite

“Challenge Your Own Excellence” was the theme of the week, and you rose to it when the Cheesemakers of Monroe, WI entered the course. This powerful Class 2A team (ranked #8) returned to Freeport for the first time in almost 20 years. In the varsity race, their red team aggressively pushed through the first mile with excellent pack placement. Our own pack in black and white checks used surges and strong race strategy to team up and run through their presence within the top 20.
Richtman out leaned an all state runner from Rock Falls, and Kintz earned his second big snack in 2 years, running a :27 PR.

Spaetzel rallied late to hold off more Cheesemakers, and set a :66 PR of his own. Within 19 seconds of Sean, our #4-6 runners came sprinting through. Kainrath and Kantola medaled for the first time this year with nearly matching times at 11th and 12th. Will Kuipers set an :18 PR for 13th, and ahead of Monroe’s #4.  Kurz notched a :65 PR to finish right at 17:00, giving us 8 runners at or under that standard for the day.

Messina led our next wave in with a strong finishing kick. Every week, he’s making progress because he’s challenging his own level of excellence. Wojak and Smith (18:20 and :21) were tremendous, with Smith earning a :25 course PR. French stayed out of “no man’s land” throughout and ended the day defeating 18 other scoring runners.

Gingrich continues to torch his previous year’s best races, this time with a 2:19 PR. For all you new runners, understand that this season has its own learning curve, and you’ll get to experience similar highs. Osborne battled sore legs and still ran :21 per mile faster than at ACC.
Webster gave a winning effort, and took a salty second. Every race teaches us a lesson. You all need to pay attention to it.

Nosek improved :72 to earn a Pretzel, and Wielgos surged to 5th to eat his own snack. Heiser  (1:38) and Girolamo (1:54) smashed their PRs at Freeport with 8th and 11th place efforts to seal the team title. Lodwig ran his fastest race of the season in 6:10 mile pace. Purcell surprised the coaches by jumping into the lineup following a late week injury. Ben demonstrates courage and desire to train hard and compete even harder. Very proud of you, B.

Our freshmen looked fantastic this week with season best performances. Orczykowski had his best run thus far, finishing 35th and under 19:00. Klingensmith, Babula and Petrik managed season best mile paces. Jablonski put on a big surge in the final 200m to run a personal best 7:05 mile pace. This is not easy! Way to go, Kevin.


Strong day. Sustain this effort.

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