Final mile surge nets Neuqua Valley 3A Boys state championship.

By Michael Newman

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Peoria – When he was younger, Soren Knudsen would borrow his dad Jim’s state championship that he won back in 1981. He would wear it around the house wanting to know how it felt and looked on him. Practice makes perfect. Knudsen pulled away from the pack in the final kilometer to win in 14:02 in what was deemed one of the craziest fast paced races in recent state meet history. Soren duplicated his dad’s win in 1981 when Jim ran 14:22 for the win. The two become the first father and son to win state championships in the IHSA State Cross Country Meet. It has only happened four times ever in United States high school state meets.

“It was a dream that we had. We tried not to talk about it this year,” Jim said. “It was something that he wanted to do and that we wanted to share together. He is a smart kid. He has done this all himself. He has learned a lot from me over the years. He just makes great decisions.”

He needed to use those decisions in this race that went off to a crazy fast start. Joey Black (O’Fallon HS) went through the first 800 in a blistering 2:08 with the pack only two seconds back. Black was in a group with Knudsen, Lake Zurich’s Brian Griffith and Matt Pereira, Blake Evertsen (Hinsdale Central HS) and Dylan Jacobs (Sandburg HS) that led going through the mile in 4:35.

With 12 runners in the front of the pack, something had to give. The moves started happening at the end of the triangle portion of the course. The thing was that pace was not even slowing down.

Danny Kilrea (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange) started to push up the incline after the group passed 2 miles in 9:28. Jacobs, Knudsen, and Brian Griffith were just three seconds back. York’s Charlie Kern and Lyons Township’s Vince Zona were close behind trying to be in position to counter the moves.

It was Knudsen that made the definitive move as he made the left turn onto the Route 29 part of the course with a little more than a kilometer left. Knudsen passed Kilrea just before 800 to go pushing the pace even faster than before. He come up the incline knowing that Kilrea was close behind. He did not let up at all. Knudsen’s time makes him the ninth fastest runner in state meet history.

“It’s tough during the season. The workouts that I did before the races were super hard. The biggest thing for me was remembering what the big picture was at all times,” Knudsen said. “I’m super competitive and passionate about my running. It was tough not to be at my best early in the season. It was the big races that count at the end that I was focusing on. I went through a bunch of scenarios in my head but I did not expect this one (about the pace). I was just hoping the final 1000 meters that no one had an extra gear."

Kilrea finished six seconds behind Knudsen crossing the line in 14:08. Jacobs, who missed last year’s state meet due to an injury, finished third (14:10) just missing Tom Graves’ junior class school record by 2 seconds. Kern closed the gap in the final straight away to run 14:12 to finish fourth. Lake Zurich’s Brian Griffith and Matt Pereira were next finishing fifth and sixth.

It was Neuqua Valley that found an extra gear in the final mile. As the leaders were going through the first mile in 4:35, their pack was comfortable seven seconds back. At the first mile check point, their team was not even listed in the top three. They were listed at the end when it counted the most. The Wildcats, led by all state performances by Jackson Jett (8^th), Zach Kinne (17^th), Jake McEneaney (21^st), and Matt Milostan (23^rd), won the state championship with 83 points. Josh Mollway was the team’s fifth runner as he finished 34^th. The split on their scorers was only 23 seconds.

“The guys did exactly what we wanted them to do. Get out in position, relax, and make their move the last mile,” Neuqua Valley Coach Paul Vandersteen said. “They implemented it to perfection. We did not have any race plans the last three weeks. The only thing that mattered was today. I’m convinced that we only have so much mental energy. We wanted to apply it to today’s race.”

Downers Grove North continued their great racing this season with a 2^nd place finish and also a 23 second split on their top five. Ale C Danner led the team with a 12^th place finish as well as Jacob Ridderhoff finishing 15^th. Lake Zurich finished third (186 points) led by the two all-state finishes by Brian Griffith and Matt Pereira.