Daniel Occhipinti and the Knights crew are on the verge of a championship after not making the state final in 2016 to 6th in 2017, and finishing 4th last year.
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Head Coach/Coaches: Chad Clarey, Andy Franklin, Tom Beck, and Clayton Brundige
Last Year's Finish: 4th- State Championship
Key Returners: Daniel Occhipinti (Sr.), Austin Adams (Sr.), Ethan Walker (Sr.), Ethan Neale (Sr.), Isaiah Dallal (Jr.), Seth Nosek (Sr.)
Projected Top 7: Occhipinti, Adams, Walker, Neale, Dallal, Nosek, Aaron Lodwig (Jr.)
Key Additions: Ben Durbala (Sr.) Marcus Ramos (Sr.), Brady Babka (Fr.), Elliot Lechocki (Fr.), Braden Farmer (Fr.), Trevor Neal (Fr.)
Unexpected Losses: None
Coach Clarey's Outlook:
We see a solid core group of runners in our summer workouts, doing all the little things to be successful. Coming off of a superb track season and working along with distance coach Drew Sterkel, these boys found new ways to build their speed.
While we bring back a nice nucleus of runners with State experience from 2018, we are equally excited to see what our newcomers bring to the table. We need to make up for the big hole left from our consistent 3-4 punch of Lodwig and Wielgos.
How the front runners (Occhipinti and Adams) maintain health and improve, coupled with the new wave of 3-5 scoring runners keeping our pack split down, will factor in an exciting season to watch for our program. Freshmen are showing early promise to the potential for a shot at our Top 14 come State Series time. We appear to be about 10-11 deep in candidates for the Top 7, which is a huge blessing.
When every man is fighting for his spot on a weekly basis, it only makes us stronger. Getting to see how our new runners blend in and learn the "ropes" of a full cross country season will be enjoyable. One intangible component to our fall campaign that will be a huge factor for our success comes in welcoming Eric Baron back into the fold as a coach. Coach Baron was an integral part of our cross country program for about a dozen years and then took some time to be with his family during the fall athletic season. He's blending himself back into the coaching life after great successes with Kaneland's boys track program (2010 and 2014 state runner up team finishes). Having two head coaches in camp each day will be a huge blessing for our program. The boys are genuinely excited to have Coach Baron back on the cross country course this fall.