After a season filled with questions, Kaneland returns to state with hopes of another team trophy

To say that Kaneland’s 2024 season has been a bit of a roller coaster would be a bit of an understatement.

After losing two of their top-five runners early in the season to foot injuries, the Knights found themselves uncertain of what it would mean for their hopes of bringing home a team trophy in the Class 2A state race.

But with the postseason on its final leg, and their top five fully returned, Kaneland finds itself in a prime position to try to improve on its fourth-place finish last year on Saturday in Peoria.

“We can’t do any more than what our best is,” Kaneland coach Chad Clarey said. “We’re going to go try and bring it, and I don’t think we’re going in there trying to overdo what we do. We just need to go out there and run our race plan and see how it matches up against the rest of the field.”

Expected to lead the Knights again is senior Evan Nosek, who was one of the two runners to fall victim to a foot injury. After not racing for an entire month, the second-fastest returner from the 2023 race looks to be back in his early season form after getting a win at the Kaneland Sectional.

Even if he doesn’t get the win, the senior still has a chance to make history. If Nosek finishes all-state, he’ll become just the 15th boys runner to be a four-time all-stater in Illinois. The last runner to achieve the feat was former Dixon standout Simon Thorpe, who got his fourth in 2013.

“My hopes all along has been for him to be able to have that opportunity and to have that with him,” Clarey said. “We coach him to be the best that he can be, and if he can be in that top-five position, those small points help our team points. But I think he feels good about where he’s at and where he’s been for the last four weeks and where he is right now.”

While Nosek hasn’t been racing, another racer has emerged as a big threat for the Knights in freshman Carson Kaiser. The freshman stepped in as the Knights’ top runner during the stretch, and even broke the 15-minute mark at the Interstate 8 Conference meet, being only one of two freshmen in the state to achieve that feat. Clarey described the freshman as a second-coming of Kaneland graduate David Valkanov, who finished ninth at state a season ago.

“We don’t want to place that pressure on Carson, but he pays attention to his watch and knows where he is at and what he has left,” Clarey said. “He’s very exciting to watch, and he’s grown a lot under the leadership of Nosek and (junior Evan) Whildin about how to handle cross country at the high school level.”

While Whildin fills out the front three for the Knights with a personal-best of 15:08.9, Clarey knows that his team will need a big performance from his four and five runners in seniors Liam Lentz and Zach Murdock, as well as from sophomore Joey Schuch.

Lentz, who also suffered from a foot injury earlier in the season, has wasted no time getting back into form, running a personal-best time of 16:14.2 at the sectional. But even with that, Clarey knows that the gap between their 1-5 needs to be small in order to have a shot at a trophy.

“We’re trying to keep the right emphasis on what we’re trying to accomplish,” Clarey said. “We know that there are giants in the field that have really good pack splits of 25-45 seconds, while ours is around 80 seconds. And that doesn’t bode well for us when it’s big like that. So we’re hoping for small points from our front three, and that our other scorers push up into scoring positions that allow us to have a good enough raw score to keep us in contention.”

Joining Kaneland in the battle for the Class 2A team title is Marmion, which is coming off a third-place finish at the Hinsdale South Sectional. The Cadets have been consistent throughout the season, with their 1-6 runners usually finishing no more than a minute apart in races.

Seniors John Daffenberg and Matthew Sullivan have been the top finishers for the Cadets during the postseason, with junior Joseph Dorando, Michael Whitacre and Jonah Sartain following close behind.

In Class 1A, Aurora Central Catholic will be looking to make its case for the team title, coming in as the fourth-ranked team. Leading the way for the Chargers has been the trio of junior Jack Swiatek, sophomore Ben Bohr and freshman John Reinbold. The trio finished 13 seconds apart in a 1-3 finish for the McNamara Regional title, and followed a similar game plan for the sectional title, with the three finishing just 14 seconds apart. Trailing close behind is senior David Valencia and sophomore AJ Viveros.

In Class 3A, Batavia will be racing as a team for the second straight season. Leading the way for the Bulldogs is senior Francesco Benelli, who’s emerged as a dark-horse candidate for the individual title with a win in the DuKane Conference championships, as well as a fifth-place finish at the Naperville Twilight race where he ran a personal-best time of 14:32.55. Behind him is a pair of sophomore twins in Eddie and Will Polaski. Both brothers ran personal bests at the Lake Park Sectional, with Eddie Polaski running a 14:53 to get seventh, while Will Polaski ran a 15:09.6.

Five individuals will be competing at the state meet. St. Francis will have senior Gavin Grover and junior Michael Coco racing in Class 2A. In Class 3A, St. Charles East senior Greyson Ellensohn will be making his third appearance, but as an individual for the first time. His teammate, senior Ryan Tobin, will make his second and St. Charles North sophomore Samuel Hill will be making his first.