Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week: John Daffenberg, Marmion, cross country, junior

Name: John Daffenberg

School: Marmion, junior

Sport: Cross Country

Why he was selected: Daffenberg helped pace Marmion to a Class 2A sectional title. Individually, he placed seventh with a time of 16:03.80 and qualified for his third consecutive state cross country meet in Peoria. Daffenberg is the Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week in an online vote. Here is his Q&A with Jacob Bartelson.

Bartelson: This is a team that won the Chicago Catholic League meet, regionals and sectionals. You guys continue to win. What is it about this team?

Daffenberg: I still don’t really know. At the beginning of our season, our coach [Andrew Lifka] had big dreams and hopes for us, but not a lot of us were fully on board. We were only starting to realize this at around conference. We were seeded behind St. Ignatius, so we knew we had a job to do and a lot of us delivered. We had basically our top seven in the top 20 ... and everyone has just been hyped, motivated and they’re willing to fight. You can see it in everyone’s eyes. Not just the runners, but those watching: The parents, [too], you can see it in their eyes that they’re excited and ready to fight.

Bartelson: Beyond Athletic.net, is there something about your individual season that doesn’t tell the story? Beyond the times, specific meet, anything unique about your season?

Daffenberg: I wouldn’t say about the season, but over the past year, I’ve put in close to 3,000 miles. I ran over the last winter instead of playing basketball and that contributed to a great track season. Then I had a solid summer. No injuries or nothing major. So it’s really nothing about specifically this season, but more just all the work I’ve been putting in the last year. That’s really what’s contributed to this. I’ve been getting better sleep, I’ve been eating healthier. Everything has just been going great for me compared to last year. ... Just continuing the work, putting in the miles, putting in the effort [and] just having fun.

Bartelson: Running 3,000 miles, getting up early and everything else, what motivates you to do it?

Daffenberg: The first thing that jumps to me is that I can never do it alone. I can tell you, last summer, I did all my running by myself because I took a summer class. So I had to get up early, run and go to class. I was never with the team and that definitely really affected me as I noticed. It just really wasn’t that fun. ... Over the last winter, me and my teammate, Rob Gramley, we ran the entire winter together and then we ran the entire summer. We run the same mileage. We’ve just been putting in that work throughout the past year. Really, he’s been amazing to run with and he’s one of my close friends now. ... I just love running with him.