Richard Spring Recap

Getting a chance to race in Peoria is always exciting. Toeing the line of the state championship course in a field of 50 plus teams brings lots of energy and excitement.

The day started for us with the varsity team. The guys were led by Austin Emrath and his season best time of 16:10. Austin got out hard in the first 800 and had to battle tough the last mile of the race. This will be a great learning experience for Austin moving forward. Dan Hale stepped up as the second man today. He has been battling a knee issue this week, but still managed a strong race. Ryan Bonomo and Dean Eubanks had some work to do after getting caught up in the pack early in the race, but they were able to move up well the second half of the race to finish strong. Tommy Adelmann rounded out the top 5, Tommy moved really well during the 2^nd mile but paid a little bit of a price for it late in the race. Both Patrick Kacena and Jayson Matula stepped into the varsity line up for the first time and raced very well, two PRs and under 18 for the first time for both of them. Both of these guys have improved so much in the last year, its all about consistent smart training and loving the process. Great work guys.

The frosh/soph crew was up next. The guys were ready for a great challenge to get to see where they stack up against some of the best programs in the state. Deerfield, Palatine, Sandburg, and Naperville North all got the best of the Wildcats, but to finish 5^th in a field of 54 teams is a great accomplishment. These guys know they belong with the best in the state and they are excited to have a crack at Sandburg again in two weeks. Aaron Wyckoff who has not really run in the last week due to injury returned to racing with a strong effort to lead the guys with a 22^nd place finish and just off his season best time. Then the pack of 3 came in within 2 seconds of each other this time the order was Mike Forbear, Cam Mulyk and then Paul DeAvila. All three guys ran tough, each taking turns all the lead. Alex Rojo rounded out the scoring with a strong race. Tanner Torri was hot in pursuit of Alex and was just off his PR in his first big race atmosphere. Kyle Schick finished up the day for the frosh/soph crew.

The open race saw some strong efforts across the board. Last year our top finisher in the open race was 20:11, this year we had 6 guys run faster than that. Jack Obman broke 18 for the first time running 17:56. Colin Graefen ran a very tough race, getting out really aggressive, he battled tough to keep the pace hot but faded a bit the last half mile, with Colin’s toughness next week he will keep that momentum all the way through the line. Asher Bradley coming off a hip injury was next in running a smart race. Michael Kawa has been working so hard at practice the last few weeks and that work paid off as he ran a big time PR in a gutsy race! Luke Edmondson continues his steady growth as a runner, just off his PR. Henry Matson was next in running just off his PR, but breaking 20 for just the second time. Josh Kodura took no prisoners in the first mile today coming through under 6 minutes, and he was able to fight through the line to run a big PR. Richie Ruane has some great strides in the last few weeks and ran a strong race today. Dylan Ensworth ran shoulder to shoulder with Jonah Almawi for about 2.5 miles before a strong close. But Dylan’s race set Jonah up to run almost 5 minutes faster than his debut race on Tuesday. Last year Justin Irizarry ran 30 minutes, today he ran 20! 10 minute improvement! Justin has worked so hard to improve this much, great job Justin. Connor Koukou continues to learn more about racing as he has been consistently in the low 20 minute range for the last few races, he his ready for a big break out soon. Diego Herrera has been steady as a rock this season and today was no exception just off his PR but very consistent racing. Josh Irizarry is not going to be out done by his brother and his 3^rd PR of the year is part of that, great work Josh. Hunter Porn ran a gutsy and tough race today and he is ready for a big one in the coming weeks. Aiden Fannin closed his race like a man possessed with an epic kick. Luke Konow got lost in the shuffle early in the race and had to work back into the pack but he did just that and ran a very tough race. Nathan Weyer has been banged up all week and done almost all of his training on the bike but that didn’t stop him from putting in a great effort on the course today.

Overall the day had some good and some areas that could be improved. Hopefully the guys are proud of the effort they put out on the course and enjoyed the chance to race. With Patrick, Jack, and Jayson breaking 18 that gives us 15 guys under 18 on the year more than any previous season for the Wildcats.

Here are some team improvements we saw from year to year:

F/S top 5 in 2018 in Peoria 18:17 this year 16:50

Varsity top 5 in 2018 in Peoria 17:30 this year 16:44

Open race top 5 finishers in 2018 Peoria 21:09 this year 18:47