Coach: Paul Vandersteen
Last Year’s Finish: 4th at 3A State
Impact Runners:
Connor Horn (Sr.): (14:36,9:12,4:21,1:58)
Jake McEneaney (Jr.): (15:20,9:27,4:28)
Aidan Livingston (Sr.): (15:16,9:52,4:37,2:00)
Dominic Dina (Sr.): (15:18,9:40,4:29)
Austin Kinne (Jr.): (15:27,9:55,4:37)
Scott Anderson (Sr.): (15:26,10:09,4:51)
Caleb Ferguson (Sr.): (15:30,4:34,2:00)
Patrick Wolak (Sr.): (15:25,9:51,4:29)
Matt Milostan: (Jr.): (15:41,9:52,4:32,2:03)
Zach Kinne (Fr.): AAU National 3000m Champion
Ray's outlook: After a few years of flying relatively under the radar (relative to Neuqua Valley standards), the Wildcats finished only 1 point from the podium, clipped by the tighter packing Lyons. No reason to worry, however: Neuqua Valley returns five of their seven runners from that fourth place team. Connor Horn is now a senior and has trained without injury for over a year, and he will be prepared to lead the Wildcats while running to compete for a state individual title. Dominic Dina (81st), Austin Kinne (107th), Caleb Ferguson (120th) and Aidan Livingston (162nd) all return from last year’s team and Neuqua continues to provide depth past these guys as well. Patrick Wolak and Matt Milostan are both 9:50 3200 runners. Zach Kinne is an incoming freshman and has a national AAU 3000m title to his name already. Neuqua also welcomes back Jake McEneaney who ran throughout the season but missed state. He is a 9:27 runner and will likely be running for an All-State position along with Horn.
The Wildcats also provides ample depth beyond these names as well and will continue to power this experienced squad from the back end. Coach Paul Vandersteen, with several thoughts about the season: “I think everyone has been inspired by Hinsdale Central’s commitment to improvement all down their roster, and we’ve tried to follow their example by more carefully recording and discussing everyone’s progress, from the top performers to the greenest freshman. It’s been a very rewarding journey so far, and we’re excited to see how it continues as we move through different phases of our training. We are blessed with a senior class that has always taken ownership of their improvement all down the line. Guys like Camden Lahey, Matt Murray, Tim Fanelle, Anand Haran, Ethan Ohlhausen-- they’re not training for the State Meet, but they’ve really bought into the values of our program and know that their work matters. Their enthusiasm is contagious. They have fun when it’s time to laugh, and they run great workouts when it’s time to get serious. The goal is for every single guy to run his fastest at the end of his season. We’re tweaking a few workouts here and there based on our past experiences, but the fundamental goal stays the same. If we remain focused on that, the races will take care of themselves.”