On Your Own Challenges: Fireworks Week Edition

Fireworks Week: On Your Own Challenges

The idea is to continue your training so that you’re ready to go on July 8. Between now and then, try to complete some of these On Your Own Challenges. These #OYOChallenges have been modified and adapted from a list that another local high school is going to attempt. Your goal is to complete as many of these challenges as possible, and document them with this sheet. Runners who complete ten of these challenges in the 9 days we have away from one another (6/29 to 7/7), and document them, will receive their choice of KXC shirt.

**Use social media to promote your endeavors by tagging Coach Clarey on Twitter @coachclarey and also add #OYOChallenges on the Tweet. Or use kanelandxc on Instagram

Challenges:

1. Attend the Saturday Morning Breakfast Run @ Stuart Park on 6/29. 
2. 

         Go on a run with someone who is not in your usual training group.
3. Go on a run at sunrise.
4. Go on a run with an alumni of KXC.
5. Go on a run with a member of the opposite gender XC team.
6. Go on a run in a Kane County Forest Preserve.
7. Go on a run in a forest preserve/park of another county or state.
8. Complete a surge run where you run 3 minutes easy, then surge hard for 15 seconds, and repeat ten times (3 easy, :15 hard, 3 easy, :15 hard, etc).
9. Complete two long runs per the pink sheet of training.
10. Run to a restaurant for a meal (get a ride home).
11. Go on a run and say “good morning” to every person you see (wear your Kaneland shirt! Good PR).
12. Make a shirt that says “Honk if you like running!” and wear it on your run.
13. Wear something unique for your run (costume, silly hat, pajamas, etc.).
14. Go on a run with a family member.
15. “Stars and Stripes” run on July 4^th. Show your enthusiasm for our Independence Day.
16. Do a 5K road race.
17. Run somewhere you never have run before (don’t get lost!)
18. Go on a run where you pass two different public playgrounds.
19. Run by a different local high school. All you do is run… nothing else.
20. Go for a run in the rain (no lightning).

***EACH RUN MUST BE SEPARATE FROM ANOTHER CHALLENGE NUMBER, MINIMUM TWO MILES IN DISTANCE

Your Letter - Our Book

KXC Families and Fans,

Please use this link for a special project with a deadline, this week.

Your Letter - Our Book

Remember that any and all entries are guaranteed to be in the book, if submitted by noon on Thursday.

Regional Championship for the Knights

The poise and strength of this collective team is superb. Riding momentum from a conference title the week before, the Knights claimed a narrow victory over a surging Benet Academy team. Daniel Occhipinti claimed his third consecutive individual win by outlasting a tough pack of All State runners. Occhipinti’s 15:42 was a :40 PR on the BC course.

Austin Adams continues to climb up the ranks of 2A competitors, working from a solid sixth place, past two, to a medal position at 4th overall. Adams ran a career best 15:55 time on the spongy course filled with turns. Ethan Walker also ripped his career PR to pieces by surging up into the scoring pack of Knights and Redwings of Benet. Walker ran a :56 course PR, finishing 12th at 16:17.

Aidan Lodwig and Jacob Wielgos extended their senior season another week when they trailed Walker’s lead by just :05. Once again, the seniors ran identical times, ending the day just ahead of BA’s #5, at 16:22. Lodwig’s time was a :23 PR over last year’s Regional effort. Wielgos was better by :31. This is particularly impressive as the weather was much more of a factor in times this year.

Ethan Neal also had a career PR on the BC course, running 18th (16:43), and finishing just behind BA’s #6, but ahead of Burlington’s #3 and 27 other scorers in the field. 

Isaiah Dallal entered his first IHSA State Series race with no pressure and an open chance at building on his momentum from conference. Dallal ran a :22 course PR (:01 career PR), and was ahead of BC’s #5, as well as 24 other scoring runners from the field.

The last time a Kaneland team hoisted a Regional plaque, it was 1995. The challenge ahead of us is cleanly running our home course, and surging into position versus a motivated Benet team. Expect their best at the Sectionals.

KXC Volunteers Needed for Final Home Meet of the Year

KXC Families,
We are looking to close out our home meet schedule when we host the Sectional this coming weekend. We really need your help! In addition to seeing our programs run two great races, we are hopeful that we can enlist the help of our biggest fans in making this a meet that new schools (to us) will be talking about and thankful for in the next few weeks.

Please use THIS LINK TO SIGN UP FOR A SPOT.

In advance, your coaches and meet manager, thank you for the efforts you put forth to help make our program and Kaneland shine.

If you have questions, please use the numbers on the links to reach Karen and Tom Richtman, or Sheila Albano.

Varsity Claims First NIB XII Title in Last Championship Meet for the Conference

The meet was a close as we thought it would be, with 21 points separating the top four teams. Our varsity runners stepped up to the challenge, and when we surged, we took advantage.

Daniel Occhipinti became just the fourth Kaneland harrier to ever win an individual conference championship. He was shadowed through much of the first lap of the course by a pack that included teammate, Austin Adams who was back from a layoff to lend critical support. Adams placed 7th overall, in 16:21, nearly a career PR.

Lodwig and Wielgos teamed up once again to help make history; locking down 10th and 11th places, separated by just :00.5 seconds. Walker closed out our scoring, coming across the line 10 seconds later, in a strong 15th place; also good for All Conference honors.

Ethan Neal fought through adversity on the hilly course to secure 23rd place, and pushed the critical scoring on  Dekalb’s fifth runner. Isaiah Dallal took his first turn in the varsity Top 7 lineup, and raced to 26th overall. He beat scoring runners on five teams in the varsity race. The last time Kaneland’s varsity boys hoisted a conference team title award, it was 2001.

The frosh soph team fired off the line and out onto the hilly course with ferocity. The unrelenting course proved a formidable foe, in addition to a loaded field. The Knights took fourth, highlighted by Top 18 performances by Aaron Lodwig and Christian Phillips, who crossed one second apart.

Fountain was next to cross the finish line, :18 later to grab 25th. Allen was our next finisher at 26th, at 18:20. Popovich completed a stellar pack split of :30 (1-5), in 18:24. Fitts flowed in five seconds later in 29. Malone was our next Knight to the chute, in 32nd, bettering 16 scorers of four teams.

In the final race of the NIB XII Conference, it was Kaneland who had their name at the top of the standings. Our mixed group of young and experienced Knights showed their depth, and shined for the last time in a league meet. Our senior leadership shined bright on this otherwise gloomy looking fall day.

Blake Finn captured the individual title in the Open when he chased the Gator for a career 3-mile PR at 17:24. Petrik took second at 17:31, with another fine  run. Klingensmith took home a seventh place ribbon at 18:22. Orczykowski matched up with a runner from Yorkville, and used his character to help both that runner and himself to a Top 10 finish.

More teammates building momentum through the race, and working together included Cunz and Scherden. Both ran :52 PRs for three miles, and Cunz finished with 27 points to help the team outlast  YHS by a score of 45-59.

Huber raced to 40th overall, running 20:13. He was followed by Brazee, with a blazing kick to notch a 1:38 PR at 20:20. Sussland repeated the PR effort, knocking :32 off his previous best, on this hilly course. Fiedler didn’t want to be left out of that group, so he set a new career PR too, knocking :14 off his previous best.

Rovinsky kept the PR train rolling, and bettered his best by :20, ending at 21:20. Hwang took more time off his best, finishing ten seconds later. Webster showed great toughness despite the aches to complete the run in 21:38. Johnston also had a big PR run, knocking 1:20 off his career best. Walters was relentless in his pursuit of the competition and was rewarded with a new PR time of 27:59.

Big time effort displayed to close out a very tough regular season. State Series, next!

Knights Rock the River in Sterling

With nearly identical team totals, the varsity and frosh soph teams demonstrated poise, confidence, and strength.  Occhipinti raced to a runner up finish, and a :50 course PR. Wielgos also smashed his course best by 1:14 en route to a sixth place performance, and a career PR. Aidan Lodwig wound up with a :16 course best time as our #3, and was trailed shortly after by Nosek in a career best 16:38. Right on Seth’s heels was Walker, running 22nd overall (16:39)who completed our pack split at :61, and a team point total of 67.

Ethan Neal rolled an ankle and still kept racing hard, managing a 16:55 on a course that runs about :20 slower than Detweiller. Finn served as our seventh runner and pushed the scores on 9 teams, finishing in 17:44 (:14 course PR). Klingensmith set a career best, breaking the 18:00 barrier for 3 miles.  Petrik was next to cross the blue mats at 18:11, and a course best. Orczykowski raced with much more power, having a season’s best mile pace at 6:09. Holder kept close to his season’s best at 20:29. Webster was next across the finish line, working hard for his mile pace despite the aches of “Peak Week,” which we are all experiencing. Alex Johnston raced to a career best for three miles, when he finished our varsity team performances off with his 23:29. As every man counts in our program, the TEAM should be proud of its collective efforts.

Our frosh soph team nearly  matched the same number of points (68) and looked powerful in their field. Dallal nearly eclipsed the coveted 17:00 mark, and earned third with a career best. Aaron Lodwig also put up a stellar point total, finishing 13th (17:35) and leading a 7-second barrage of “diamonds” across the line. Allen finished two seconds later for a :14 career PR. Fitts (:21 PR) and Phillips (:06) ran matching times of 17:42, each running career bests. Their scoring pack split was just :42. Fountain was on the cusp of the 18:00 barrier and managed a :21 career PR to finish 31st. Parker Malone ran his best race ever, with an 18:23 to finish in the Top 40. Popovich was both enthusiastic and valiant in his approach to the race, running through injury, finishing in the top third.

Cunz set his 3-mile PR at 20:24. Scherden and Sussland paired up and crossed right at 21:00, Trevor nearly breaking his career best. Fiedler as also knocking on the door of his best, impressive on a more challenging course than ours. Rovinsky put up a :54 improvement on his career PR, biggest drop of the day. Brazee returned to the course where his career began, finishing with a mile pace that was more than a minute faster than the two mile race from a year ago. THAT is improvement! Walters found company for three miles and then turned on the burners at the finish to complete the run in 28:59.

We continue to chase our own jerseys, which is equating to great team results.

Pair of Third Place Finishes at Eddington Invite

Riding a wave of momentum to the finish, our two team races ended with equal and unprecedented results. A pair of third place finishes were the perfect ending to a hot and “heated” day.

Daniel Occhipinti dropped a new course PR, remaining a top contender in a loaded field in fifth place. His teammates rose to the challenge, and packed up brilliantly. Adams ran 16:26 to net 22nd. Wielgos ran a :29 course PR for 27th, just 9 seconds later. Jake was followed immediately by Walker, who set a 1:05 course PR, and then Aidan Lodwig capped our scoring one second later with a :45 meet PR of his own. That was a 2-5 split of just :11!

Ethan Neal pushed the scoring of 15 other teams when he beat their runners who score, setting a :30 course PR at 16:53. Seth Nosek notched a :50 course best, and defeated scorers from 13 other teams. Our pack split from 1-5 for varsity stood at :55. 

Adding three other runners to this year’s race, we saw course PRs from Petrik (:09) at 17:42, Finn at 17:43, and Klingensmith (:14), all of who didn’t get to race in 2017 due to the heat.

In the frosh soph race, the temperatures continued to rise. Isaiah Dallal capped a top 10 finish, and earned a new :13 course PR at 17:33. Phillips set a career best time when he passed numerous runners en route to a 15th overall time of 17:48. Next to cross the finish was Allen, in 21st at 17:58, followed five places later by Fitts (running a :29 course PR).

Malone closed frosh soph scoring at 53rd overall, crushing his course best by :51 and  a :70 pack split. Just behind him, Popovich fought through the ache in his back to finish 55th in 18:46. Aaron Lodwig (:48 course PR) and Fountain (:35) paired up at the finish, just two seconds apart. Huber raced :32 faster than 2017, in 20:10. Scherden fought for his spot, running his course best 20:56. Sussland had a huge meet PR, running 2:23 faster than 2017 in equally steamy conditions. Rovinsky set a new career PR, finishing with teammate Fiedler in tow who managed a new standard to beat on the home course. Brazee was the next Knight through, running 23:39 for his first Eddington run. Casey Walters finished our frosh soph day, sprinting to the cooler in 31:25.

Our open runners got their chance to race in the heat, and wound up with some dazzling finishes. Kyle Orczykowski net an award winning finish, placing 15th in a meet best 19:01. A pair of Jacks (in diamonds) raced to a near mirror time with Holder running a 1:27 meet PR, and Webster a career best 20:24. Alex Johnston ran a course best mile pace for 24:46 in 90th overall.