As Head Coach Andy Derks addressed the Plainfield North Cross Country team on the first day of practice, I looked around the circle of our athletes attentively listening to Coach Derks. I saw senior Jack Sebok, our diligent top returner who will play a major role in our success this year. He does everything right and will look to be an elite in the state of Illinois this year. I saw another senior Paul Aclibon, a kid you will never hear about in the results but he is one of the most important pieces of our team because of the intangibles he brings. I saw junior Patrick Willhalm, an intense competitor vying for a spot in our top 7. I’d pick him first every time we play Ultimate Frisbee because of his competitiveness. Freshman Carter Thurman, a virtual clone of his older brother who was an outstanding runner for our program, stood tall eagerly soaking in every word of Coach Derks. I saw the ultra talented sophomore Ethan Prior who moments ago was riding a skateboard because he forgot we had practice, he ran home, grabbed his clothes and got to practice. I looked around at every guy standing in the circle and thought about the season to come and I said to myself, wow, this is the start of something great!
Expectations have never been higher at Plainfield North. As a program, we’ve created noise not only by how we’ve ran but also by how visible we are as a program. We know we’re doing the right things and others can see that and if you do the right things for a long enough time, the only option is success. Coach Derks has worked hard making so many sacrifices to create an awesome running culture at Plainfield North. I’ve worked hard to create a strength and injury prevention program that will keep us injury free and running as close to 100% as possible. However, we are optimistic about this year. We certainly have a shot at making state for the first time in our program’s history. But, we also have a significant amount of work to do before that can become a reality. The team that came to practice the first day is not a state capable team but a lot can change in a short time with consistent, smart training.
We had a great summer as a program putting in the miles, being consistent with our training, strength work and doing the little things. We also had a lot of fun! We ran on the beautiful Chicago lakefront and visited Navy Pier. We went canoeing down the Fox River. We went camping at Blackwell Forest Preserve. We did scavenger hunts that included wedding proposals and dance offs with strangers. We played a lot of Ultimate Frisbee. Our team really bonded through these activities and I’m very thankful to all the parents that helped us throughout the summer to give their sons an awesome summer of running and adventure.
My goal for this season is simple. It isn’t to win conference. It isn’t even to make state. It isn’t to see Sebok place top 10 in the state individually. Although all of those would be nice! My goal is simply to get every one of our runners to be the best runners that they can be. As legendary North Central Coach Al Carius puts it best, “run for fun and personal bests.” I’m big time pumped for the cross country season, to see where things go, to see how good we can get, it’s an awesome feeling. This is certainly the start of something great!
-Dr. Brian Damhoff