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!

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Kaneland Packs Net Pair of Seconds at Sycamore Invite

It was the best opening meet we could have asked for in starting the 2017 campaign. The varsity squad nailed a solid pack split, putting 5 in the Top 28 to earn a second place finish among some strong teams in Class 2A.

Richtman held off a surging Sterling superstar to earn the individual title with a time of 15:20, a meet record. Daniel Occhipinti cracked the top 12 with his own strong effort against Sycamore, running 16:42 on the hilly course.

Our team sealed an elite finish when the pack of checkerboards began pushing into the chute a few seconds later. Wielgos, Webster, and Heiser raced :15 apart to earn medals. . Lodwig just missed a medal but net a terrific 32nd effort in 17:25, as the top 6th man in the meet.

Petrik poured in a very good 18:39, as our seventh runner, bettering 27 scoring runners from other schools.  Finn nabbed an 18:59, good for 66th. Purcell came in just 8 places later with a course PR of 19:07. Orczykowski celebrated his birthday in style by running 19:13, and a finish in the top half.  Klingensmith was on his heels just 5 seconds later, keeping the checkerboard in his sights the whole way.

Drew Occhipinti smashed the 20:00 barrier in his first three mile race, crossing the line at 19:40. Warriors and courage take on many forms in races. Keep watching Drew’s improvements. Jablonski completed the day for varsity at 24:11, remaining positive and committed to excellence. Matt Konrad began his XC career with great effort in 25:04.

The frosh soph crew wouldn’t let their older brothers have all the fun today. These Knights put up more medal winning performances and met their Milestone with a top notch split.

Neal started scoring by racing 6th in a season’s best 5:50 mile pace. This was :20 faster per mile than in the scrimmage. Seth Nosek and Dallal teamed up for 13 and 14 with a second between them. Popovich was our next Knight into the Top 20, placing 16th in 14:45.  Aaron Lodwig completed our scoring split by finishing 31st in 15:14, good for the :65 pack split. This is a great start!

Abruzzo and Fitts were in next, just two seconds apart, both with big PR mile paces over last week. Dunne was :07 per mile faster in this meet, finishing 43rd to get into the Top 1/3. Fountain was next at 57, :19 per mile better than Friday. Huber was right behind him (:21 improvement for mile pace).

Malone raced hard through the finish, another improving performance for  PR pace and intensity. Holder had the “finish of the day” by hammering home his sprint to run 17:28 (2:13 PR from ‘16). Conley and Sussland stood up to the challenge and were brilliant in their efforts on the longer course. Woods raced competitively throughout and ran sub 24:00.


Solid effort and great Knight!


Sunday, August 27, 2017

Silver Steals Scrimmage Title with 5 in Top 13

This event does many things for our team, including: gives a small glimpse of what’s to come, challenges our limits on a hilly course, gets us the chance to finally compete, brings some excitement to what we have been doing all summer long.
Silver used a strong push up front, and some surprises along the way to earn their victory against Brothers.

Webster and Heiser showed that the pack we believe we will have in the scoring mix is going to be tight all season. Each net personal record (PR) runs on the 2.4 mile course. Dallal was the first freshman across the line, cracking into the Top 10 in his first HS run. Just behind came Orczykowski, pulling a 1:14 PR. Rounding our Silver Team scoring was Finn at 15:27. Fountain chipped in a championship effort at 16:47. Jablonski and Sussland did the exact same with a 2:15 PR for Kevin and a 19:20 race from Trev, while posting his strongest mile pace of the summer.

Richtman won individual honors with a :41 improvement over last fall’s results. Black Team got equally good efforts from Seth Nosek, who posted a 1:58 PR, Petrik notching a :56 PR, 18th overall from Purcell, and Aburzzo on his heels with a 1:27 PR. Huber and Wells ran much of the way together as teammates, which is something we want to see from the whole team. Wells had the finish of the day, finding one of the many holes in the turf at the Woods. Pay careful attention to the way Wells approaches his season. Although injured, he gutted out yet another strong effort.

The Occhipinti Orange Team used some young power to net good results as well.  Daniel took some skin, and some time, off of his race from last year, posting a :12 PR. Neal showed he’s game for leading the FS team this fall with a solid 14:48, virtually running alone much of the way.  Popovich crossed next for Orange in 15:09, just out-kicking Petrik. Walker and Fitts, two more newcomers to KXC, paired up and finished 4 seconds apart and in the Top 15. Senior Drew Occhipinti and Parker Malone each ran their first races at Elburn Woods and looked tough in the process. It’s a long season, and we all got some good experience with hill running today.

White Team good a boost from Wielgos and Aidan Lodwig up at 4th and 6th. Both running 1:00+ PRs. Aaron Lodwig was next in for White, 2:00 back of his brother, and teammate Dunne immediately after, netting a 2:30 PR, second biggest drop of the day. Klingensmith and Tiv were White Teamers only a second apart, Dalton with a :29 PR, and Tiv on his third day of XC. Holder had the biggest PR smash, crushing his 2016 scrimmage time by 4:49.

Can’t wait to see this crew race as a full team, at both levels. It’s going to be a fun season for us all.


Friday, August 4, 2017

KXC Spirit Pack and Warm Up Jacket Orders Due 8/10

It's time for all of our boys to connect to the BSN Team Store, so they can order their new meet warm up top. These Holloway Raider tops were selected by our seniors and can be personalized with an athlete's name by going to bsnteamsports.com and then entering the following team code:  zCfRHJkPRq

KXC BOYS ONLY should order one jacket at the price of $48. After the team store closes on Sunday, BSN will credit all accounts who purchased the warm up top with $24. BSN has dictated that this be the easiest process for all families to only pay $24 (in the end) without coaches hunting down families for $24 checks.  The other half of the cost of the jacket is being paid by the coaching staff through our activity account with fund raised monies and remaining monies from our summer conditioning camp. In the ordering process there is an opportunity to add your name to this garment for no additional cost. This is the jacket you're looking for on page 2 of the flyer.

KXC Families should consider piggybacking on the order by grabbing any new t-shirts, sweatshirts, and other apparel. The orders for such garments can be made simultaneously with the warm up jacket order. Please keep in mind that the team warm up jacket is for the team only.

This fall, our team is getting some new equipment via the uniform rotation. The boys will have new jerseys and shorts for racing, and new backpacks to carry equipment on meet days only. The same shorts and backpacks will be on sale, on the Team Store, should an athlete wish to purchase any of them.

If you have any questions regarding the order, please contact Coach Clarey. Our window is short for orders so that we can get the equipment back to our team and families earlier in the fall. THE TEAM STORE CLOSES AT 11:59PM ON SUNDAY, AUG. 13. There can be NO exceptions after the deadline. When it's closed, it's closed.

You can see the flyer in the PAGES connection in column to the right.