Cross country: Kaneland’s Evan Nosek wins challenging Kane County Meet, Batavia girls place 1st

GENEVA – It was a very competitive start to the 2024 boys cross country season Saturday morning at the Northwestern Medicine Kane County Meet held on the challenging 3-mile Settler’s Hill course.

Marmion Academy’s depth proved to be the difference as the Cadets outpaced runner-up Kaneland 56-78 for the championship, followed by Batavia (87 points) in third and St. Charles East (93 points) in fourth.

Kaneland senior Evan Nosek (sixth in Class 2A) rolled to first place in 15:20.70 to outdistance St. Charles East runner-up Greyson Ellensohn by 23 seconds.

Marmion’s troops were led by John Daffenberg in sixth, Matthew Sullivan in 10th, Joseph Dorando in 11th and Jonah Sartain in 12th.

“I’m super proud of them. We kind of know that pack running is going to be the thing, and they knew what they needed to do,” Marmion coach Andrew Lifka said. “[Daffenberg] was great. We know our top five is going to be like a power-five together with a 26-second split, which is really what we were trying to do.”

The very hilly course can be a bit intimidating, not to mention tough for the spectators to navigate, but Nosek handled it with grace. Evan Whildin was Kaneland’s No. 2 runner in fifth place.

“I’m happy I got a race under my belt, and it ‘s looking pretty good for the team too so I was very happy with the results we put out today,” said Nosek, whose team placed fourth in the state last year. “We did lose one of our top guys and some other seniors, and we just have to pay attention to the coach’s workouts and not going out and doing your own stuff.”

Batavia was led by Will Polaski in eighth and Cody Rummel in 14th. Dundee-Crown’s Joseph Hillyer placed fourth followed by St. Charles East’s Michael Wilson in seventh and Hampshire’s Jack Sheets in ninth.

“We held out our top three guys so we had a lot of young guys that stepped up,” Batavia coach Bronco Meeks said. “We’re just waiting for next week to put everything together, and Will Polaski looked awesome with about a 30-second PR.”

Girls race: It was an impressive start to the season for the Batavia girls cross country team. Led by sophomore individual champion Avery Hacker with a winning time of 18:19.60, the Bulldogs’ pack running was unstoppable as they took home the team title with 21 points to outdistance St. Francis (51 points) in second place and Hampshire (84 points) in third. Burlington Central edged St. Charles East 109-111 for fourth place.

After Hacker, Batavia teammates Madeline Cassidy and Gwendolyn Krodel placed second and third, respectively followed by teammates Claire Deppe and Nora Koziol taking seventh and eighth.

“It’s definitely a tough course, but we train a lot of hills in practice, so it trained us for this and I like the challenge,” said Hacker, whose team placed 18th in Class 3A last year at state. “We’re ranked 11th in the state, so hopefully we can do better than last year and I’m just really excited for this season.”

Batavia coach Chad Hillman also is very optimistic heading into the early stages of the new campaign.

“Our training has been great. They are figuring each other out quite a bit, and it’s always a challenge for any team to run together and make sure you maximize what you can do as an individual,” Hillman said. “Avery Hacker did a great job. Some different girls are stepping up into our top 10, and there is a lot to look forward to.”

Senior Abby Burke was Burlington Central’s top runner in ninth place while junior Annabelle Haskins was Hampshire’s top runner in 12th. St. Charles East was led by sophomore Nicole Mayer in 14th.

“They’re two really good teams who beat us. Our girls ran well as a pack, and it’s a hilly course on a hot day,” said Hampshire coach Ryan Hollister, whose team got an 18th from Natassa Papadakis and a 19th from Hannah Jones. “[Haskins] ran a really strong race. She’s got a lot of determination, and she put in a lot of work in the offseason.”

Dundee-Crown’s top runner was sophomore Delilah Kissane in 29th while sophomore teammate Ashley Leon placed 36th.