Entering Finals, we had the depth and strength to land in the Top 5 at Detweiller. We did that and more on a fantastic day for racing.
Freshman Evan Nosek mingled with the top tier 2A runners early, and the rest of the pack stuck close to one another to afford a fourth place team finish at the State Finals. Nosek found familiar runners that he knew would pull him to the final mile where he would need to hang on for 25th place or better. Evan ran a career best 15:17 to earn 21st overall and an All State medal.
Seniors Christian Phillips and Nolan Allen made up ground on the field, and history, by racing just :04 apart through the three mile course. Phillips finished his high school career running 15:46 for 45th overall in the Finals. Allen crossed the finish line at 15:50 (53rd overall) to surpass his career best time by :10.
Sophomore David Valkanov continued to show progress all season long, and kept his eyes on familiar jerseys to reach a career best mark on the finals course. Valkanov broke 16, running 15:59, to place 70th overall in 2A.
Junior Trevor Neal grabbed the final scoring position for the Knights when he crossed the finish line at 16:08, which was our fifth career best race of the day. His finish also completed the tallying of our score at 185 points, which was a fantastic finish in a very balanced field of teams.
Senior Logan Cunz closed out his final race of his high school career with a course best time of 16:24. This time was good for 134th overall. Logan was the fifth fastest #6 in 2A at Finals, and he bettered 50 scoring runners from other competing teams.
Junior Brady Babka battled allergies and more throughout the week and ended his season running a course best time of 16:44. He finished 166th for the Knights. Babka pushed past 26 scoring runners from other state qualifying teams.
The 2021 season marked the first time since COVID that a State Finals would be held. Battling to stay healthy and prepared for a full season on a truncated schedule in the offseason proved to be quite a challenge. We were up to the challenge!
Since 2018, there have been hundreds of teams qualify for the State Finals on both sides of the ledger. In that time span where three Finals were run, Kaneland is the only program to place in the Top 4, three times in a row at Detweiller. Our seniors did a fantastic job of harnessing the role of the pack, and striving to help our team stick together.
Nosek’s All State performance was the 23rd in program history. Evan’s time of 15:17 was the sixth fastest All State race by a Knight, and the fastest race by a Kaneland freshman, ever, at Detweiller Park.
The team made its own history all season long by sticking together throughout their races. The 23rd chapter as a team at State was epic!
