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To say that Reiser dominated his competition this cross country season could be an understatement. In every big meet that he was in, it looked like he was playing with his competition choosing the moment to win the race. He as undefeated against Illinois runners this season regardless of classification.

He started the season waking up the national eyes when he ran 14:53 on the fast Lippold Park 5k course to win the McHenry County Championships. A week later, he ran a great 16:16 on the rugged Veteran Acres Park course to easily win the Crystal Lake South Invitational. His next race was the First to the Finish Invitational. He pulled away from Ryan Clevenger (North HS, Downers Grove) in the last mile to run 14:20.5 to win the race by 12 seconds.

It was another tactical race at the Palatine Invitational on September 27 when a final sprint in the final 400 meters held off Yorkville’s Jake Hoffert to win by less than 2 seconds. That was his closest race against an Illinois runner this season. In less than optimal conditions the following week at the Peoria Central, he held off conference rival Keagan Smith (Huntley HS) to win by 7 seconds running 14:39. He defeated Smith two weeks at the Fox Valley Conference Meet by 23 seconds.

The next three weeks it was a matter of disregarding time instead just focusing on the win. He pulled away from promising Lake Zurich sophomore Matt Pereira to win by 7 seconds at the Palatine Regional. The next week at the Schaumburg Sectional, he met Zach Dale (Conant HS, Hoffman Estates) for the first time. The two were labeled as the pre-season favorites for the state title. In a tactical race where it came down to the final 400, Reiser won on the kick winning by 6 seconds ahead of Dale and Pereira.

The 3A state race had the same familiar runners up front until 1200 meters left in the race. Reiser’s 4:27 final mile finally pulled away from Dale in the final 400 to win the 3A title in 14:11, 10 seconds ahead of Dale.

The will to win continued at the NXN Midwest Regional Meet where again a final kick was enough to defeat Michigan’s Ryan Robinson by a little more than a second. Two weeks later at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional, he was not 100% but still finished third in the race qualify for both nationals for the second straight year. He is the first runner to accomplish this.

He was still recovering but managed a strong sixth place finish in Portland. The following week at San Diego, he finished 8^th making him a double All-American. Reiser announced this fall that he will attend the University of Illinois in the fall of 2015. I can’t wait to see what he will do on the track in the spring of 2015. The combination of great talent and incredible inner drive could lead him to do some great things.

Other runners that were considered were Jon Davis (Oakwood HS, Fithian), Zach Dale, Matt Pereira, Ryan Clevenger, and Jake Hoffert.