50th Annual Eddington Invite: Varsity 3rd, Frosh Soph 6th

Despite the threat of storms, our KXC Families helped us pull off a memorable and fun (yet soggy) Eddington Invitational. This being the 50th running of the event, it was particularly important to try and get the full slate of races completed.

Our Open Dogs kicked off the day with some great PR races on the wet course. Getting the best conditions of the day, Brady Johnson wasted no time earning his first ribbon of the season by placing 33rd overall in a PR time of 19:46. Evans also got the best of the day by running a new :25 PR at 21:05.

Senior Alex Johnston a career best :35 improvement for three miles at 21:34.  A minute later, Brazee clocked in at 22:30, with Lindow chasing the diamond jersey ahead of him for a huge PR. Lindow finished the day in 22:34. Matt Conley bettered his results from Peoria by :09 for a PR, and his brother Andy completed the day at 25:55.

In Varsity, Senior Daniel Occhipinti turned in another Top 5 finish at home, on a sloppy day that led us to a second consecutive third place finish at the Eddington Invite. His pack followed closely behind, putting our 1-4 on the day at :22 apart. That’s lethal!

Dallal continued to surge with Walker on his hip, and Durbala driving forward to complete an effort of 4 in the Top 16. Isaiah ran a 1:17 course best. Walker was :07 faster than 2018. Durbala put up a new career best at home, and finished the day in 16:22, and ahead of 2A #2 ranked Benet’s second runner.

Without some familiar faces in the lineup, we needed a different #5 to step up and complete the scoring. Lodwig filled that vacancy, and ran a course best PR of :31 to finish 49th in 17:11. Nosek stood tall in the mud and rallied for a 17:31 finish, and was a huge asset to Parker Malone’s career best 17:34 finish.

Fountain also ran a career best when he crossed the line in 92nd place at 18:02. Ramos got his first taste of a true 3 mile course, and ran a 19:00; ready to smash that next week.

Our frosh soph team finished the day closing in on a Top 5 finish. Placing two in the Top 8, we had a good start to scoring. Nolan Allen ran a course PR at 17:21 to earn 5th overall. Phillips was next in, :15 later for a course PR and 8th. Cunz dropped 1:14 on his career best to step up for 27th overall at 18:18. Freshmen Adam Smith (19:43) and Aidan Bruhl (19:59) each ran career best times for 3 miles, to complete scoring and landed us in 6th.

Fiedler clocked a :44 career PR for 3 miles at 20:17, with Lechocki on his heels a second later, again at PR pace. Neal suffered a setback mid-race, and finished the day in the top 100. Farmer leaped past his previous PR by :10, and Hwang crossed six seconds later at 21:44.

Nicholas Allen smashed his PR by 1:37 with a huge run testing his toughness. Scherden continues to settle back in, racing to 22:30. Gannon bettered his best by :27 for 23:44, while Casey knocked off a huge chunk of time from his KHS course best to end at 26:30.

Following awards and clean up, the Thorguard system detected lightning as the last stakes and flags were deposited under the press box. What a blessing this day turned out to be. Thank you to all who made this day possible, special, and memorable.

Knights Run First to the Finish... For First Time Ever

We returned to the State course with a bit of a chip on our shoulders, it appeared. Pairing up and racing to terrific times on a dusty and warm day, our team demonstrated why we might be one of the elite teams in 2A this fall. Our pair of aces up front used friendly competition with a rival to stay in contact with the top 5. Austin Adams ran a career PR on the day with a 15:05 finish in third place. Occhipinti held down a finish in the top 5 as well, running fifth with a:06 meet PR under far warmer conditions than 2018.

Our 3-5 runners helped us secure the first of two times we hit our milestone when they finished :14 apart. Dallal ran a career PR of 15:53 to net 15th overall, and 1:24 faster than 2018 in this race. Walker started a bit faster this time, and the results were equivalent of his career PR from State last fall. Ethan ran 15:57, and finished 20th overall as our #4. Durbala, in just his second race of his career, ran 1:39 faster than last week for a new PR of 16:06 when he crossed the finish line in 28th overall. Pushers were Neal (:03 meet PR) at 73rd/16:41 and Nolan Allen, who ran a :50 career PR on the State course.

The varsity race included ten runners, and those who ran in the diamonds were equally awesome. Seth Nosek gave us a program best 8 runners in the Sub 17 Club when he crossed in the top 100 at 16:57. He also happens to have some good jokes to keep it light in the huddle. Phillips ran a 1:04 meet PR, and :41 career best time of 17:01 (114th). Lodwig also had a career best day when he capped our day with a 17:06 effort, finishing 127th out of more than 500.

Our open runners put up some great stats of their own, with many racing the regular 3.0 mile distance for the first time. Mile paces looked great, and we will get to focus on those particular stats later this week in interval training. Our results were kicked off by Parker Malone, who ran a 1:04 meet PR, and career best split at 136th overall. Fountain was next to the finish line, a gritty run coming back from injury to be just :07 off his best at 18:32. Trevor Neal notched a new PR at 19:34, and starting another 3-5 split near :20. He was then followed by Smith to the chute at 19:51. Brady Johnson took major time off his previous race to finish in 19:57. That split was :23 from 3-5, which is still exceptional. Bruhl was right on Brady’s heels, at 19:59, at 475th overall in a race that included more than 1200 runners.

Lechocki was next to complete the course in record time, running 20:17, and about six seconds ahead of Jack Holder. Huber was next to cross, just under 21 minutes (20:59). Fiedler knocked :14 off his previous Detweiller Park best, and tied his career PR (21:01). Scherden took a modified race plan, simply to get a good run in on the State course and cranked out a 21:16. Evan was next to cross the finish with a big PR, running nearly 4:00 faster than last week, at 21:30. Farmer’s first three-mile effort was a great one, when he broke 22, to run 21:49.

Nick Allen led a new string of PR races, using the big crowd of races to help himself to a new 3-mile best of 24:02. He was chased to the finish by Finn Gannon at 24:11. Andy Conley led a pack of Knights to the line next, running 24:57, and followed by senior teammate Andrew Lindow at 25:00. Matt Conley used his GPS watch to his advantage and had it beeping ahead of pace the whole way, en route to a new best of 25:07. Casey Walters put up another career PR, racing a full 1:32 better than his previous career PR.

Since the start of the season, with all the rankings and positive projections for our team, we have carried the mantle well. What is critical for this team to see is that our work is not even close to complete. We have a lot of work left to do. Our best isn’t yet good enough to be worthy of November hardware. We must keep our focus on being tough in our workouts, relentless in pursuing our teammates in races, taking advantage of opportunities to recover in the right ways, while maintaining a highly-positive mindset in the process. It’s a long season, and we need to be doing the little things that make the big differences: better diet, more hydration, championship sleep with screens out of the bedroom, and icing all that aches. Every bit is critical.

Be prepared to continue that excellence which is required to sustain this day's efforts.

Varsity Takes Team Title at Crystal Lake South Invite, FS Team Runs 8th

There are great things happening all around us, and we need to capitalize on them each week in order to go as far as we can this season. We demonstrated that we indeed have two #1’s at the top of the lineup, behind the power of Adams and Occhipinti. Austin improved 1:48 to grab 2nd, with Daniel also rocking a course PR to take 4th. These small points at the top are a great start to what we are doing as a varsity team.

Dallal led the important scoring pack of 3-5 runners when he outkicked a taller RM runner to take 8th overall at 17:08. Walker was next to cross, just 9 seconds later for 12th overall. Senior Ethan Neal also had a career best performance on the course, running 17th and completing our pack split at 1:15. Neal dropped :49 from last year, and bettered our 2018 scoring pack split in the process (:05 faster).

In his first-ever XC race, Ben Durbala broke 18:00 on one of the toughest courses in Illinois. Ben earned 19th overall and provided great depth for our lineup, pushing 68 other scoring runners. Lodwig was next in the chute, taking 30th overall at 18:14. Sophomore Nolan Allen earned his 34th place medallion with a strong run at 18:24, with Nosek on his heels in 35th, just two seconds back. Malone was the last Knight to glean a medal, racing to 49th overall, running a PR for mile pace at Veteran’s Acres. Malone was in 85th place before the first mile mark.

Fountain picked up many along the way as well, racing to 20:04. Ramos had his first taste of cross country running in a meet, placing 95th overall of 231 finishers. Huber toughed out a 21:51 for his first race of the season, and Brady Johnson was right behind him in 144th. Great start, Brady!

Seniors Jack Holder and Alex Johnston each ran career best times on this course, with Holder dropping :32 and Johnston at :08 faster. This will be a trend all season for these hard-working men. Follow their lead, younger runners. Brazee has been under the weather of late, but wanted to race and turned in a gutsy effort at 25:10. Lindow did the same, despite a sore ankle and finished with about :50 better mile pace than the scrimmage. Matt Conley knocked out his first run on the long course at 30:42. Good work, Matt.

In the FS race, Christian Phillips took the T.O.P. spot for us when he crossed in 10th, a full :50 faster than 2018. Cunz also took home hardware in 24th, 2:18 faster than last yr. Neal and Bruhl were :06 apart for medals at 66 and 69. Smith closed scoring when he finished the day at 83rd overall (13:48).

Lechocki pushed as our #6, ahead of 22 other scorers, at 92 overall. Fiedler split at 14:41, good for :16 PR here. Gannon smiled across the finish line with his best run ever, at 15:13. Lodina was chipless at 174, just ahead of Nick Allen who tallied 175 in 15:31. Caleb Hwang was in shortly after at 15:39, good for 178. Casey Walters seems to love this course, as he crushed his previous PR here and raced to 218th.

The frosh soph team finished 8th, and there’s a nice nucleus for the future. Continue to challenge yourselves in practices and keep the pack tight.

KXC Parent Events For Help and For FUN!

We have some memorable, necessary, and a few FUN events coming up for Kaneland XC Families.

Please see below, mark your calendars, and join us as much as you are able.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 -KXC Families Work  the Booster Barn at the football game. Please use this LINK TO SIGN UP for a time slot. Between both boys and girls programs, we hope to fill this quickly.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 - KXC Family Picnic in Henry, after the races in Peoria. Please check out this LINK TO DETAILS for the family picnic after our races at the First to the Finish meet. This will be a boys only meet, and each grade level has something to cover for the meal.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 - KXC Family Gathering for Memorial and Eddington Volunteer Meeting.  Please plan on attending a meeting starting at 5:55pm to discuss details on hosting our Eddington Invitational. A link to sign up for your spot on the course or with other jobs that day will be coming to this web log soon.
***Dinner at Schmidt's in Elburn afterward for any KXC parents interested in joining friends for food.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 - Eddington Invitational at Kaneland HS. Please remember to get signed up on our Google Doc (coming soon) to lock down a great role at the meet.

***THAT NIGHT.... join Coach Clarey and others for the Steven W. Chidester Scholarship Fund Raiser at The Pub in Maple Park. We will celebrate the life of a former KXC runner and have 50/50 raffle chances as well as auction items that benefit a scholarship to a Kaneland XC runner (awarded in May). This is a great night out with live music, friends, and fun. This event starts at 5pm. Coach will get there closer to 7. Come when you can, if you are able. It's a really fun night.

If you have any questions about any of these events, please contact Coach Clarey

Team Black Victorious in Final Scrimmage of Year

It’s been a long summer grind, and we are finally on the cusp of getting a chance to race together, in one uniform. In the last tune-up before we start the regular season, our colors blended for a terrific night in the heat.

Team Black wound up taking the honors of champion, fueled by the strong run by Chris Fountain. Adams led off with a course best 12:30, nearly a minute faster than his 2018 time. Nosek and Phillips nothced Top 10 performances and important points at 8 & 9. Fountain moved up from the previous scrimmage, roughly five places which made the difference on the team total. Fiedler was the final tally for Team Black, at 17th overall, completing an pack split of 3:35. Nick Allen pushed as #6, at 18:59.

The Orange Team kept if very close, with Elliot Lechocki breaking his mile pace from last Friday night. Occhipinti was paired all the way to the finish with Adams, scoring two points for Orange. Ethan Neal moved up the depth chart from last week as well, finishing 4th overall, about :50 faster than a year ago. Ramos joined the lineup and moved into the 12th spot on the depth chart. Lechocki wound up 15th overall, with a faster pace, and Adam Smith made his debut at 18th to finish scoring. Johnston was the next pusher who actually did the job of pushing a score up when he placed ahead of another scoring runner. Gannon and Lindow came up next to the line for Orange, ending the day at 23:35 and 23:48.

Dallal was the first to cross the line for the White Team today. Just 12 seconds off of Occhipinti, it was exciting to see the group so close to our two #1s. Lodwig came through next for this team, at 6th overall, and :45 off the lead. Cunz made the Top 10, and is looking better by the day when he pushes up into that next pack. Brady Johnson had the team best reduction in mile pace, knocking :12 off his mile pace on a longer course, and in markedly greater heat. Farmer closed out scoring at 21st overall. Walters dropped more than a full minute off of his mile pace from a year ago, and nearly 2:00 in overall time.

Team Sliver matched White on the total points, which included a big mile pace drop from Trevor Neal. Durbala was the first Silver runner to complete the longer course at 12:55, completing an overall team pack split of just :25. Nolan Allen helped his team with 7 points on his finish, and make our team pack split 1-7 rest at :54. That would be HUGE for us to continue! Parker Malone kept pace with his previous race time and is gaining ground on his goal of remaining in the realm of post season position. Trevor Neal moved up to snag 14th overall, and improved his mile pace by :07, a Silver team best. Holder joined us for his first run of the year and he completed scoring at 19th overall. Andy Conley carried his team(mate) to the finish as the sixth runner, and ending Silver’s day.

The best part of about this day wasn’t in the race results themselves, but in how the seniors relayed their expectations for how this season will run. Keeping to the mantra of “Humble and Hungry.” It will work well for this team.