Kaneland Claims 2nd in Home Regional, Opens State Series

 Kicking off the State Series at home was a great blessing for the team. The Knights demonstrated both strong firepower up front as well as great personal grit in racing to multiple personal record times.

Evan Nosek spent another week of taking control of the race early and charging forward to an individual win in a time of 15:24. This was Evan’s third consecutive invitational championship. He is definitely looking forward to the many big challenges ahead.

David Valkanov is starting to heat up, racing to a ten second PR on the home course while notching a 2nd place effort at 15:36. He has been working at race consistency in the third mile, and appears to be getting back to form. 

Evan Whildin has been such a solid performer for the team all season long. This week, he posted a :29 career best time on the home course and surged to sixth overall. Whildin ran 15:52, and was joined at the finish line by his uncle, Michael, who ran for the Knights back in 2005. It was a special day to come home.

Zachary Murdock has been turning heads of other coaches lately with his progress and surging up toward his teammates. This week, he was able to land in the Top 15, racing to 16:18. Murdock’s time was a :33 improvement on the home course, and his points were an important tally in the final score.

Liam Lentz found his training from the week to feel exceptionally good in the first mile of the race. Liam pushed himself through the next two miles to complete the three miles in a PR time of 16:58. Lentz was 26th overall in the race, helping secure 48 points for second overall.

Collin Reutimann shook off some early rust on his gait and was able to push ahead of scorers from seven of the Regional field teams. Collin’s time of 17:23 net him 40th overall in the meet. He will look forward to leading his team and  running in his second Sectional, next weekend at Woodstock.

Joey Schuch got his first taste of running at the Varsity level. The freshman settled in early with Reutimann, then came up with a cramp midway through the race. He finished strong and his ever-present smile was rewarded with a :28 home course PR. He is eager to get back to work with his teammates and try to help them advance to State.

Knights Take Interstate 8 Conference Titles, Nosek Repeats as Conference Champion

 The course conditions were more fun than fast, but the Knights splashed their way to a team title in both the varsity and frosh soph divisions of the Interstate 8 Conference Championships. Led by Evan Nosek’s third conference championship in the sport, Kaneland placed four in the top 8 to net 31 points for the win. A smaller field made for an exciting race with some great times by all competitors on a slippery course that included about 3/4 of a mile on wet mud and leaves, as well as four crossings of a water filled ditch that made for some trouble.

Nosek took the early lead and then extended his efforts (15:33) to win by about 20 seconds. David Valkanov came off a finish of the week with an illness to take fourth in a solid time on the sloppy course at 16:00. In close proximity the whole way was teammate Evan Whildin who took 5th at 16:06. Zachary Murdock was the next Knight to the finish mats, running a very strong 16:36 for 8th overall. All of these points would be crucial in holding off strong team efforts from Sycamore and Morris.

In a difference making run, Liam Lentz hung close to important scorers to run the team tally to 31 points. Lentz ran 17:23 to finish 14th overall. Collin Reutimann built momentum in the second half of the race and ran 18th overall with a time of 17:56, which was a :45 course PR. Devon Kowalczyk joined his varsity teammates in celebrating a strong team effort. Kowalczyk was vying for the dirtiest uniform in the race when he fell in the water-filled ditch. Washed virtually clean, he got out to finish 26th overall at 18:56.

The frosh soph squad was next to Box 2, and they put up a strong team effort to take first with 28 points. Joey Schuch was the first Knight to the stripe, earning a runner-up finish with a career best time of 17:31. At Morris, they have a bell mounted to a post for any athlete to ring when they race to a personal record. It was a timely race to drop his career best below 18 minutes, and ring the bell. Jessub Hardy overcame a painful foot strike in the depths of the ditch that rocked his knee. Hardy kept his momentum moving forward depsite the discomfort and held on for fifth overall (18:36). Hardy finished just ahead of his hard charging teammate, Nathan Kowalczyk who finished with an identical time at 6th. Ricky Anderson had one of his best individual performances of the season, racing to 9th (19:12).

Jack Nevenhoven took some time to get into the scoring mix, but when he did, he kept charging right to an 11th place – ribbon earning – finish. Jack closed the scoring for the team at 28 points, just narrowly defeating a talented Sycamore squad by 5 points. Sahel Torres pushed to 14th overall, breaking 20 minutes at 19:55. Elijah Fiedler also put up a top time at 20:41, for 19th in the race.

The boys who raced in the Open were hungry for their chance to perform. The rains came back to make the finale something fun to see. Senior Ben Broz lost one shoe in the first mile, ditched the other, and raced to second overall at 18:58. Jack Polloway joined him in the chute, :26 later to finish 3rd overall. Sean Meagher took a different approach to racing today, and jumped out with the eventual winner from Sycamore. This strong start got him in a great position to challenge himself and ultimately led to a ringing of the PR bell. Meagher ran 19:34 and took 4th. Lucas Fiedler was our final competitor to cross the mats at the finish, and did so in dramatic fashion by ringing the same PR bell at 20:15, a career best.

Kaneland Varsity Boys Win Antioch's Pat Harland Invite

 Kaneland took the long bus ride north into Burlington, Wisconsin to run the hills of Fox River Park. The 3.09 mile course was the challenge needed to prepare for a hilly Sectional course in just four weeks at Woodstock. The Knights placed 4 in the top 11 and took a narrow win over Libertyville, while also seeing some of the tough 2A competitors of the northern portion of our Sectional complex.

Junior Evan Nosek raced to :37 course PR to earn the win on the winding and hilly course. Nosek posted a 15:59 on the day. Senior David Valkanov took third for the second week in a row, this time bettering his course PR by :50 to run 16:25. Sophomore Evan Whildin took his first lap of the Fox River course in 16:33 to earn 4th overall, and more small points for the team.

Junior Zachary Murdock roared back into his fourth position in the lineup by surging into the top 11, bettering his course best time by :49 for 17:20. It’s good to see Zachary moving back to a position we need to see him reaching for each week. Senior Collin Reutimann also notched a big course PR, running :58 better than his best here, and completing the race in 17:52 which was good for 22nd overall. Junior Liam Lentz had the biggest time drop for a varsity runnner, when he crossed the finish in 18:23, which was a 2:20 course best time (32nd overall).

Next up, the Frosh Soph Knights raced against the JV competitors of other programs and took 3rd overall in this event. Joey Schuch took 7th in 18:42 with his best mile pace of the season. Jessub Hardy was next to cross at 19:06 (12th), followed by Nathan Kowalczyk (19th, 19:52). Jack Nevenhoven took the last ribbon in the event at 20:10 (30th), with Sahel Torres close behind in season best mile pace (32nd, 20:13) and Ricky Anderson a few clicks later in 20:16 (36th). Elijah Fiedler had another strong effort for the team, racing to 53rd at 21:22.

The Boys Open saw five Knights in the top 13 to score 27 points as a unit. Senior Devon Kowalczyk hung tough for the 3.09 miles and took individual honors at 19:52. This was a course best time for Devon by :05. Jack Polloway was second for Kaneland, running 19:57. Senior Ben Broz took a :14 course PR home with a third place ribbon in the event. Junior Sean Meagher in his first season in the sport raced to 21:19 and was 9th overall out of 92 competitors. Junior Lucas Fiedler shaved more than 6 minutes off his previous best to take 13th at 21:43. Brayden Cattero battled the entire route of dust, dirt, hills, and heat to complete our strong team day with a 25:15 effort at 66th.

The Knights come home to host the Twilight Handicap Run with East Aurora and Morris on Tuesday evening for our Senior Night.

Valkanov, Reutimann Lead Way to Sterling Rock River Title

 There’s an old adage that “seniors get the job done.” Kaneland seniors David Valkanov and Collin Reutimann each posted solid efforts to lead the team to the 2023 Rock River Run boys varsity title.

David Valkanov shook off morning car trouble to push out to a top 5 spot in the race and found himself with no company and cruised to :15 meet PR for third (15:57). Evan Nosek and Evan Whildin took a team approach to the day and worked at pacing teammates through the first two miles, then used a progression run to blitz the field on the last mile. Nosek (12th, 16:30) and Whildin (16th, 16:41) each put up crucial points in the scoring.

Collin Reutimann is starting to build some momentum to his season. Today the senior finished 21st in 16:51 on a course that was slowed by mud in the woods. Reutimann still managed a :34 course best time. Junior Liam Lentz rode an early wave of motivation to a 17:10 overall time to complete the Knights scoring in the 29th position. Next to the chute was Zachary Murdock, running 17:21 for 33rd overall, and the final pusher for the race scoring was Jack Polloway, who finished the run in 18:49 (94th overall).

Ben Broz (98th, 18:57), Devon Kowalczyk (104th, 19:10), Johnny Neville (107th, 19:13) got in on team win as well. Sean Meagher (146th, 20:34) set a course best mark for himself and Lucas Fiedler (162nd, 21:15) ran a :41 meet best time to round out the day for varsity.

The Frosh Soph team had another stellar pack split day, running :53 apart, to place 3rd in the field. Joey Schuch led all Knight competitors with a 17th place finish at 18:26, followed by Jack Nevenhoven (21st, 18:46) and his :83 course PR. Jessub Hardy (24th, 18:47), Nathan Kowalczyk (26th, 18:54) and Ricky Anderson (37th, 19:19) all set their new course best times. Sahel Torres (48th, 19:55) had a blistering kick to hold his spot at the finish, and Elijah Fiedler (62nd, 20:31) ran a :85 course best time.

The Knights head to Antioch next weekend for the Pat Harland Invitational.

Knights Race to 8th in 2A Race at First to the Finish, Nosek Sub 15:00

This meet never disappoints with the level of competition we get to see. First to the Finish is a high octane, ranked team rich field of performers. Our Knights rose to the occasion, coming off a very challenging week of rigorous workouts. Junior Evan Nosek wasted little time moving out to the lead pack of runners, and surged to a strong career best performance of 14:57. Nosek is only the second runner in program history to crack the 15:00 barrier for three miles. David Valkanov was the next Knight to the finish mats, setting a :48 course best and :11 career PR (15:28, 17th). Sophomore Evan Whildin could see Valkanov the whole way and surged to his new :43 career PR of 15:34, good for 24th overall. Only meet champion Glenbard South had more firepower from their front three.

Partnering up all week, Collin Reutimann and Zachary Murdock wove through the thick and dusty field of competitors to have great runs. Reutimann smashed a :30 career PR, running 16:43, good for 123rd overall. Murdock had a :06 meet PR, which is exactly what we have been focusing on; one PR meet at a time. Rounding out our top 7 on the day, senior Devon Kowalczyk raced to a new career best time of 18:09 (:10 PR). Newcomer Joey Schuch (fr.) put up a :55 improvement to set his new career best time of 18:15 (309th).

More PR racing for the varsity Knights included Johnny Neville, who ran a course best time of 18:34 (:04 improvement, and freshman teammate Nathan Kowalczyk, who dropped :24 for a young career best time of 18:50.

The Open included an enormous field of 1,023 competitors, pulling more Knights to meet and career best times. Junior Jack Polloway capped off a meet best time of 18:35, which was a :28 course PR. Ricky Anderson (fr.) sped to a new career best time of 18:47, with a :41 improvement on his 2023 time. Jack Nevenhoven continues to build his own momentum, this time running a :37 career best time on the Detweiller course (18:55, 252nd).Ben Broz (sr) took the fourth spot in our Open lineup, running a meet best time of 19:30, a :75 course best. Nolan Reutimann (fr.) took his first race of the season with gusto, starting and finishing fast, with a time of 19:42. Our Open pack split was just :67.

Jessub Hardy was in the ballpark of his season’s best time, finishing Detweiller in 19:58 (408th). Fellow freshman teammate Sahel Torres came to the stripe :27 seconds later (20:25), closing strong at the end. Lucas Fiedler felt he was going to have a big day and didn’t leave without a new career best (:14 CPR) at 21:05. His brother was next in the chute, when Elijah polished off a 3:14 meet PR, running 21:27 (631st). Eli was shadowed by new KXC runner Sean Meagher who ran an impressive 7:10 mile pace for his first career race longer than 200m on the track. Meagher ran 21:28 (633rd). Brayden Cattero was also near his course best time, this despite losing a shoe in the first half mile of the race. Brayden ended the day for Kaneland running a solid individual effort of 22:35 (783rd).

The meet featured 13 of the Top 20 Class 2A teams. 

 

KXC Night Out a Great Success

 For those who joined us in the Bunker at Elburn Legion Post 630 on Saturday, thank you for joining us! It was a great night of rekindling friendships, seeing current families and those who continue to support the program by assisting at our home meets. During the evening, we were also able to showcase the video work of Coach Franklin (and others) who made the end of season videos. Please find the link on the right for access to ALL videos from our last decade plus of seasons. Thank you again for joining us on Saturday. We look forward to doing this again in the future.

Volunteer Sign Up for Larry Eddington Invitational

 

Please use the link below to sign up for positions around the campus on Saturday morning. We are ever grateful for the outstanding support offered each year to help with such an event. Should you have any questions, please use the contact information for Sheila Albano or Coach Clarey.

There will be a volunteer meeting on Thursday evening (9/15) to share details on posts and responsibilities. We will begin this meeting at 5:50, at the finish line of the course. 

LINK TO THE VOLUNTEER SIGN UP