For the 24th time since 1986, the Kaneland Knights will send a boys team to the IHSA State Finals. Running on one of the toughest courses in the State, the team advanced behind stellar front-running from their top 3, a sensational effort from the fourth runner, a tremendous race from the 5th, and gritty performances from the pushers.
Evan Nosek had his nose in the front pack throughout the first two and half miles of the rolling hills at Emricson Park. Racing with some of the best senior runners in Illinois, Nosek took third overall in a time of 15:41. Video lost at the finish line had his time slower, but he battled hard throughout to net a top 3 finish.
David Valkanov ran like a senior, pushing his way up to 6th overall. Much of his race was run solo; and he is excited to have a second run in the State Finals (where he ran as a sophomore in 2021). Valkanov ran 15:57 on the course that basically had 80m of flat ground.
Using the course and his proximity to his teammate as an advantage, sophomore Evan Whildin raced to a 9th place finish in the Sectional. Challenging all day, Whildin raced to 16:10 and punching his ticket to State. With the top ten automatically qualifying, it was only a matter of time in knowing if his teammates would be joining him.
Junior Zachary Murdock rose throughout the race, pushing himself up into the top 30 runners to finish 27th overall (16:38). Zachary has been doing a terrific job of closing the gap on the front three, making a huge difference in team scoring. Murdock will make his first appearance at the State Finals with his team, because of his important impact on the final scores.
Kaneland has been working to shrink the scoring runner split to 90 seconds or less. Junior Liam Lentz has been tasked with this job as the fifth runner, and at the Sectional he smiled all the way to the finish. Lentz pushed with other important scoring runners from competing teams, racing to 64th (17:14). Liam fell with 60m to go, but jumped right back into action and capped the 1-5 split at 1:33.
Senior Collin Reutimann leads this team with his grit and passion for the sport. Continuing to push past runners, all the way to the finish. He took 80th with a time of 17:31, a tremendous effort on the prevalent uphills at Woodstock. Reutimann earns his first trip to the IHSA Finals in the Top 7.
Freshman Joey Schuch continued his season with another solid effort in the varsity. Only his second meet in the Top 7, he broke 18, running 17:50. These are exciting and important days for Schuch to learn the ropes on this level. Getting to run in the State Finals as a freshman is rare for Kaneland runners. Schuch will be only the fifth Knight to compete at State as a freshman.
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