Herald-News Athlete of the Week: Plainfield South cross country runner Dylan Maloney

Dylan Maloney, a junior on the Plainfield South boys cross country team, was voted the Herald-News Athlete of the Week.

Maloney received 190 votes to win the honor ahead of the runner-up, Romeoville soccer player Julian Arreguin. Lemont cross country runner Niki Tselios and Lockport girls tennis star Martyna Kalinowska were also on the ballot.

Maloney won the Southwest Prairie Conference boys cross country championship with a course-record time of 14 minutes, 26.9 seconds at Channahon Community Park.

Here is Steve Millar’s Q&A with this week’s winner:

Millar: You won the conference championship race and broke the course record. How fun was that?

Maloney: It meant the world to me. I was super happy to do it. It was something I looked forward to for the last month. It’s something I wanted to do. I didn’t know if I’d be able to get it done, because it was supposed to rain and everything, but it meant a lot to get that done for me and my team.

Millar: What was your strategy going into the race and did it play out how you expected it to?

Maloney: My plan was just to go out fast and lead the entire race and see if anyone wanted to go with me. It went pretty much exactly how I wanted it to. I expected some people to hang around with me longer, but it worked out pretty good for me.

Millar: Now that you can reflect back and know that you’re a conference champion forever, what does that mean?

Maloney: It’s a good feeling. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I want to do it again next year, and I want to do it during track season too. It’s not like my end goal, but it’s a good milestone.

Millar: This was your first race win of the season, and you’re always competing with your teammate, Camyn Viger, one of the best runners in the state. How good it feel to win one?

Maloney: One of my goals was to beat him this season, which is good for an inner-team rivalry. It’s truly a blessing to have someone that good on my team to push me the last three years. He’s always been someone to look up to, not just as a runner but as a person. I’ve been glad to be able to work out with him, and now to be kind of at his level, it’s awesome.

Millar: You guys won the Class 3A state championship last season and are having another great year. What makes this team special?

Maloney: The culture is the most simple answer. We have a really good culture with people who want to put in the work no matter what number guy you are on the team.

Millar: What’s your favorite TV show?

Maloney: “Breaking Bad.” I love the concept and how interesting the reality of the show is and how deep the characters are.