Kaneland Squishes to Second at Fenton Sectional, Advances to State Finals

 

The road to State is never an easy one for Kaneland teams. For the 23rd time in program history, the Knights jerseys will be worn by a full seven lineup.

Meeting up with multiple Top 10 programs, we found a greater challenge with not the runners, but the saturated Fenton course. Runners won’t love the times on this course, but they’ll remember the challenges in the mud.

Evan Nosek wasted little time finding the front runners in this race, splashing into the top 5 for much of the run. In the final turns, Evan finished as an All Sectional runner with an 8th place medal, and an uncharacteristic time of 16:50.

Christian Phillips found himself working from the 30’s up to a teen position and held his own at about 15th for much of the run. Phillips cemented his important #2 scoring position at 16th overall in the meet, in a time of 17:21. Every single finisher at Fenton had at least a minute of extra running on this muddy morning.

Nolan Allen ran just like a senior would in the Sectional meet. Nolan worked his way from the 20s in the first half of the race up to high teens. In the final quarter mile, he turned it up a few notches to net 17th, running just :06 back of Phillips at 17:27. This is the type of push to the line that only a senior running at the end of a season makes.

Trevor Neal proved yet again that we have an arsenal of talent where there are no specific scoring places that our runners must fulfill. This week, Neal took aim at a top 5 scoring spot, and led David Valkanov through the muck for much of the race. Trevor kept pushing forward and held a spot in the low 30s through most of the race. In the final 800m, he moved up to score 27 points with his finish at 17:40, and just 13 seconds back of Allen. This was such a pivotal performance for our pack.

David Valkanov, also competing in his first Sectional like Neal, showed great valor and toughness while using everything in his tank to net our final scoring tallies. David maintained his position in the 30s to grab 36th overall at 17:49. He lay in an exhausted heap at the finish line, mud or no mud.

Logan Cunz found joy in the fact that he helped us earn another chance to run next week on drier grounds in Peoria. Cunz wasn’t pleased with his 49th/18:10 day, but he is grateful that he gets a chance to give this another shot in Peoria. Logan was able to push the score up on every single team below us on the final results including 7 other ranked teams.

Brady Babka also gave every  bit of his energy for the team on a very tough course when torn up with six sloppy loops of long spikes on long grass. Brady raced to 58th overall (18:29), and was ahead of 38 scoring runners from other teams in the Sectional. We remember that not every day is going to be a “10” like it felt at the Regional.

 

Knights Use Power of the Pack, Net 2nd Behind #2 Fenwick

What a difference a week makes. We took full advantage of our home course and matched up very well with #2 Fenwick’s elite team. MileSplitIL came out to watch our Regional because it was the most loaded field in Illinois for 2A. That being said, we had our work cut out, and we responded very well from Conference to Regionals.

Our seniors stepped up to match the hard charging freshman in our lineup, and our juniors and sophomore did exactly what they intended to do, racing to their strengths and finding the pack to shore up a phenomenal split for 1-7.

Evan Nosek jumped right into the top 5 with Fenwick’s powerful 1-2 punch. The pace through the mile was very manageable, and helped Evan secure a career best time for three miles at 15:42, with a 5th place medal.

Christian Phillips dropped :40 from his Regional race a year ago. He took solid control in a loaded field and secured 7 points for our score, and a pumpkin as well.

Nolan Allen moved up to a top 10 position as well, and was less than a half second from hitting Sub 16 for three miles. Allen’s 9th place effort was a career best time of 16:00. What better motivation than to have another week to hit that coveted Sub 16 mark?

Logan Cunz was waiting for the perfect time to drop both a new career PR and course PR. He delivered today by racing to 18th in the field, and boasting a new PR of 16:18. Cunz found company when he looked over his shoulder as Brady Babka steadily worked his way up through the mid pack to reach the finish at 20th in 16:20. Brady notched a career PR by a few seconds and bettered his course PR by nearly :20.

David Valkanov and Trevor Neal kept excellent pace with their peers and each finished off course best times. Trevor edged David by less than a second, with Neal getting a :36 course PR, and Valkanov dropping his best time at home by 1:02.

 

 

COME JOIN THE ZOMBIES!! Treat Race and "Run for Your Life" on October 8

 This Kaneland HS Cross Country program tradition, our Zombie Run, will have our student athletes play the kind and scary roles of Zombies. Of course during the first run of the evening, they are very kind to our younger runners by offering sweet treats ahead of Halloween. Runners as young as kindergarten are welcome to participate, but may want an older sibling or adult to guide them through the course. All these treat runners are encouraged to wear their favorite Halloween costumes as well. The run is short and walking is absolutely fine!

The "Run for Your Life" is an absolute blast! Our Zombies get a little hungrier from the first race and will be prepared to chase brave flagged runners who might escape with all three of their flags. Awards for this 1.2 mile run are available to all runners who survive!

Please go to the LINK TO THE RIGHT AND DOWN to find details pertaining to our Oct. 8th Zombie Run. If you're a minor, your guardian will need to sign a waiver in order to participate. Parents of participants can sign up the day of the event.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Zombie Run this year! Registration opens at 4pm. DON'T MISS THIS fantastic event that supports our program.

Third Consecutive Top 5 Finish for Both Levels at CLS Invite

 

While we went a little longer, we achieved something terrific at the varsity level this week. Running flag to flag as instructed, our team showed resilience and commitment. We lost places in the final results, but we gained an understanding that our pack is really alive and  strong. Christian Phillips was first to notice runners streaming off the path, but he held to his convictions. Phillips was 11th in the results at 18:04. Neal came into the chute just 8 seconds later at 18:12 for 15th. Allen turned in 17th for points, running the only course PR of the day (and he ran longer!) at 18:23. Brady Babka was next in, just 6 seconds later to make the pack split of 1-4 stand at :25. Brady finished 21st overall.

Scoring needed to be complete, and Lechocki was up to the task. He finished the day in a medal position at 63rd overall. Bruhl was the next Knight to place, finishing as a pusher at 70th and a time of 20:34 on the long course. Fielder was just out of the medals, but still ran a solid effort, finishing 74th (20:40). Nolan  Hosking, not feeling 100% still came to run and put up sub 7:00 mile pace to grab 91st (21:17). Brayden Farmer was closing on Nolan, and finished up his run two places later at 21:26. Smith also broke 7:00 pace, to end the day at 21:46. Scherden ended our varsity competition when he crossed in 23:42, for 131st. While the results said we finished 5th, we have a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks if we stay healthy, hungry, and humble.

Our frosh soph squad took to the rocky trails next and used some very fine grouping up to show they will be a force for the whole season. Evan Nosek clocked in at 11:56 on the rolling hilly course to take home a bobblehead award and 2nd overall. Teammate Zach Murdock was just into the chute ahead of a solid pack of Knights. Murdock ran 15th (12:49) followed by Brennan (16th, 12:52), and then Reutimann at 17th with a 12:59. Ten seconds between those finishers is just awesome! Keep making that pack “unbreakable.”

More solid and close placement for scoring came from Polloway, who ended scoring in 34th place at 13:52. Jack was quickly followed by Ramos at 14:04 (37th), and then Blickem just four seconds later (14:08, 42nd). Lentz was chasing diamonds all day, and closed to just :06 back of Blickem, earning the 46th place medal (14:14). Ben Broz didn’t want to go home empty handed, so he emptied the tank and finished strong at 14:25 for 54th. Neville was on Ben’s heels at the finish and also crossed to earn a medl at 56th (14:29). This pairing and packing up in racing is so powerful in results.

Jude Mullins rocked 7:07 mile pace on the 2.15 mile course of hills, rocks, and occasional pavement to end his day in 81st place, overall. Ryan Moreno had the absolute finish of the day, coming from behind to outlast a Rolling Meadows finisher at 127th, and 17:08. Lucas Fiedler kept up his pace and dropped his mile pace to 9:04, and finished 144th at 19:31. Lucas continues to work hard like his teammates, showing grit and guts.

If we are intentional about pack running, we will become “unbreakable.”

 

Varsity Takes 5th, and Frosh Soph Knights Win Sycamore Invite

It was the best weather and team performance of the season thus far, with loads of PRs to celebrate. The Knights took to the field against quite a few pre-season ranked squads, and took home a Top 5 finish in both races.

Christian Phillips stepped on the accelerator at the start and never moved his foot until cruising past the finish mats in a career best 15:59, good for 7th at the varsity level. Nolan Allen hopped off the late bus and with little warmup time was still able to manage a very solid 16:33, to earn the 25th place medal. Shortly thereafter, Cunz crossed, running sub 17 at 16:47 which landed him 27th.

Pairing up was an important strategy for success with Neal and Babka. They also were two places apart, with Trevor our #4 at 17:04 (36th) and Babka done in 17:05 (38). Bruhl powered through the new, flat course to set a new :09 career best time of 17:47 as our first pusher at 67th. Lechocki also managed a PR effort, best of his career by :26 and good for 74th. The change in weather and course helped Hosking to a new PR, smashing last Saturday’s time by :48 and running 18:32 (90th). Fiedler also took more than 2:00 off his Saturday effort to race in 18:39,  at 93rd overall. Smith chased Dom’s diamonds and ended the run 9 seconds later with a season’s best 18:48 (97th).

Farmer net a career best :50 on the day, running 103rd at 19:03. Scherden capped our varsity day not feeling great, but grinding out a 20:48 effort with loads of heart.

The frosh soph team DID get a full warmup and prep before their run, and made it count with 5 individual medals and a title. Evan Nosek took the individual title, running a young career best time of 16:11. David Valkanov used a fierce kick to earn the 5th place medal at 17:04, in his first Knight race. Brennan passed competitors all day long and took 11th in 17:27, good for a :51 PR. Reutimann also managed a 19th place medal, running a :38 best (17:50). Zachary Murdock dropped a full minute from County to end our championship scoring with his 24th place effort (18:00). Ramos and Polloway paired up as pushers to run a second apart at the finish. Ramos (37th, 18:47) got a :17 PR, Jack ran 1:21 faster than Saturday with 18:48, in 38th place.

Victor Valkanov showed he has some terrific potential, and a load of guts, kicking off his first race in 19:39 (52nd). Shortly thereafter, Lentz crossed in 19:42, a :34 best of season. Neville had a terrific race, passing more than ten runners since the mile mark to grab 63rd. The trio of Blickem, Broz, and Mullins pushed their pack to the finish, with Louis (21:04, 2:02 PR), Ben (21:05, 76th), and Jude (21:10, 2:48 PR). Westfall sizzled in the cool temps at 24:07, season’s best mile pace. Moreno got his first career race in at 3 miles with a strong 24:49 effort. Lucas Fiedler took a huge chunk out of his mile pace from Saturday to run 28:04 for the victorious frosh soph team.

There is a lot to be excited about with this whole team. We need to take care of our bodies, and start getting those morning runs in. They lower places and times! Great job.

 

 

Knights Net Pair of Top 5 Finishes at County

Always finding new ways to make history, it was a special day for all of Kane County when the Knights toed the line on a $3M cross country course that has been a dozen years in the making. Our first runners to reach the finish came in the 2.4 mile Open race.

Farmer took home a top ten finish when he ended his run in 8th overall, at 16:23. Broz was next to grab a medal, finishing 14th on the hilly course in 17:33. In :08, it was Scherden who crossed the blue mats for a 17:41 and 16th overall. Ten seconds later, it was Blickem earning his first medal of the year, with an 18th place effort.

Mullins and Neville were the next Knights to the stripe, with Jude getting 25th at 18:38 and Johnny earning 26th, in 18:48. Both runners finished in the top half of all competitors. Westfall had his first run in a Knights jersey end at 23:24, using a very strong kick! Lucas Fiedler had a season’s best mile pace, finishing his run in 51st at 24:42.

Our varsity and frosh soph teams competed in the same race, with the results split by level. Phillips led the charge, earning a top 10 medal, finishing at 16:44. Cunz was next to the chute, two places and :15 later for a 16:59. While competing in the FS division, Evan Nosek was the next Knight to clock in, running 17:09. Nosek scored two points for the FS team. Allen was another medalist, earning 19th overall at 17:25 as our third man in varsity. Trevor Neal used a strong surge through the middle of the race to lock down 27th in varsity at 17:48. Babka completed our scoring for fifth overall as a team, sprinting to the finish at 18:05 (34th).

Bruhl was our sixth runner on varsity, ending his day with an 18:54 at 46th. Over the next :30 we saw six Knights come to the line. Murdock set a 3 mile HS PR at 19:00, and earned a 17th place medal. Brennan was hot on Zach’s heels and just :04 later, he earned an 18th place medal. Immediately after, Reutimann made it to the ending with a 19:06 (19th place) performance. Nolan Hosking, in his second season with the team finally got to run his first race. Nolan ran to 19:20 in the varsity race, which was good for 54th. Three places and six seconds later, Lechocki crossed in 19:26. Kowalczyk, was the lone three miler who bettered his career best from 2020 when he ran :75 faster for a 19:32 effort, the fifth man for FS.

Smith ran a solid 6:41 mile pace, equivalent of his scrimmage, but on a much longer and hillier course. Adam was 19:51 at the end, with Behrends next to finish up his day at 20:03, good for 30th. Polloway set a career best time, running 20:09. Lentz was in shortly after, also with a career best 3 miles at 20:16 to net 36th. Eric Ramos ended the frosh soph day in the top half as well, at 20:36 and 45th place. On the varsity side, Dom Fiedler  was next in the chute for 72nd overall at the varsity level, and 20:53 to run sub 21.

We did quite well against the heat, and the field. We have a lot of great things to look forward to with this team!

 

TEAM STORE NOW OPEN! Deadline: 8/17 at 11:59pm

 The BSN Team Store is now open for our program. You can order any of the items on the team store, including this jacket. Personalization should be available on the jacket. This jacket is an optional purchase, as are all items on the store. We will use this jacket for two seasons, or more, so it would be an investment long term.

All orders MUST be placed by Tuesday, August 17, at 11:59pm. There will not be any changes to that window as the delay also delays the receipt of the merchandise. Athletes and parents are not allowed to ask about their order until after Thursday, September 16. We give BSN four full weeks to process the items. If you have any questions about the order process, please let Coach Clarey know. Use the LINK HERE to access the team store.