2024 Kane County Chronicle girls cross country Athlete of the Year: Batavia’s Avery Hacker

Batavia’s Avery Hacker knew she didn’t have the best finish to her freshman cross country season.

After coming in 192nd in the Class 3A state cross country race at Detweiller Park in Peoria to end her first high school cross country season, the now-sophomore knew she was more than a little burnt out from the stark uptake in mileage she had taken.

But when it came time for her second take on cross country, she hit the ground running.

And nothing was going to stop her.

“I just felt like the more racing I did this year, I felt like I was able to gain confidence after every race,” Hacker said. “Being able to place highly in the small races at the start of the year, it just helped me want to place high and do my best in all my races.”

In her sophomore season, Hacker picked up four individual wins, including the DuKane Conference individual title and the Harlem Regional title, while also finishing in eighth place in the Class 3A state race in 16:52.4 to lead the Bulldogs to a fifth-place finish as a team.

Considering the accolades, Hacker has been named the 2024 Kane County Chronicle Girls Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

“She really just raised her level in every aspect of the sport,” Batavia girls cross country coach Chad Hillman said. “Right from the get-go, she knew that she was at a different level, and that set the tone for her right away. And with each passing week, it felt like she got more and more confident.”

Both Hacker and Hillman pointed to her freshman track season as a turning point. As the season progressed, Hacker said she found some changes that helped her improve as a runner, and those changes would lead into training for the change from track to grass.

“Throughout track season, I started incorporating strength training into my workouts, as well as making sure I’m getting enough sleep and all the important stuff,” Hacker said. “I just felt like I was more prepared for cross country season this year than I was last year.”

“She gained so much confidence from the track season, which led into a great summer of consistent training, and she didn’t miss a beat,” Hillman said. “And then when you have that great of a summer training block, it just frees more confidence.”

The changes Hacker made became fairly evident from the start of the season. In her first four three-mile races, the sophomore picked up two victories and set personal-best times in each race, with a 17:04.9 at the Naperville Twilight meet for third place being the peak of that stretch.

“That is just an elite-level meet that had elite-level kids that she was beating on a regular basis by the time we got towards the end of the season,” Hillman said. “Her progression throughout the season was just phenomenal.”

Her magnum opus of the season came at the state meet, when she became just the third Batavia girl to finish the three-mile race in under 17 minutes to earn all-state honors.

“It’s really amazing to be able to meet my goals that I’ve set for myself,” Hacker said. “It’s kind of crazy looking back at the improvement that I’ve made, but it’s just been really fun and amazing to see.”

Hacker’s stark improvements didn’t just affect her, but the Bulldogs team as a whole. Junior Madeline Cassidy and sophomore Gwendolyn Krodel also helped ensure that not only their times would drop, but the intensity at practice would be increased daily.

“Avery would always push out in front a little bit, but Maddie and Gwenny were right with her early on, and that added intensity to our practices and workouts,” Hillman said. “It just pulled everybody even a little bit quicker and the standard is raised, and that’s what ended up happening.”

That upped intensity was proven at the state meet. After finishing 18th at state a season ago with none of their girls finishing in under 18 minutes, all five of the Bulldogs’ scorers ran the Detweiller Park course in under 18 minutes to secure a fifth-place team finish, just 18 points away from first-place Barrington.

“There’s such a great feeling this year to be able to have the whole entire team improving,” Hacker said. “We’ve all just had such great improvement, so it’s really great to see all my teammates like improving their time too.”

With Hacker – along with the rest of Batavia’s scorers at state – returning to the lineup next season, the sophomore is hoping that the Bulldogs can continue to improve on the feats they achieved this season with a top-three finish at state next season.

As for her own goals, it’s a little bit more simple.

“I want to be maybe top five in the state,” Hacker said, “but more importantly, I just want to be able to compete with the girls at the very top. And I just need to keep on training hard, and I just hope to be able to keep on competing with those girls.”