The Benet Boys Cross Country team has been enjoying a fun and successful season so far. The team’s hard work from the summer has definitely been paying off. They have been training hard since the middle of June, and put in many miles over the hot summer months. The team has had a few changes from last season, including moving from class 2A to 3A for State competition, the loss of seniors including 2024 IHSA State champion Finn Richards, and a new head coach.
After 23 years of coaching, Mr. Kevin Renicker retired as head coach. This paved the way for a former Benet runner and current Benet religion teacher, Mr. Kevin Veselik, to lead the team. He has big shoes to fill, as the Redwings have won the ESCC Boy Cross Country Championship for 25 consecutive years. He agreed that it will be a challenge to follow such a successful coach, but he said that he trusts that Jesus will help him as the leader of the team. Additionally, Mr. Veselik said, “I’m very fortunate to coach at my alma mater. Benet XC was my favorite part of high school, and it’s awesome for me to be a part of making Benet XC a great experience for a new generation of Redwings.” When asked about how his first year of coaching was going, he said, “I’m really enjoying my first year of being the Boys Cross Country head coach. It’s been very fun to work with such a great group of guys and to see their hard work pay off as they all continue to improve. Benet XC is blessed with a great group of senior leaders this year, and I’ve enjoyed seeing them lead the team.” Mr. Veselik’s running philosophy is to put in a lot of easy miles in the summer, while also incorporating some harder runs. Additionally, he said he values being tough when it gets challenging and doing the little things like stretching and core exercises well. Also, he places a lot of emphasis on getting HPS (hydrate, protein, sleep) and being TTT (tough, together, thorough) during workouts. He tells his team these phrases at practically every practice. So far, his coaching has helped Benet run fast at their meets.
The Redwings kicked off their season at the Hinsdale Central Boy Triangular Meet at the end of August. The race took place at Katherine Legge Memorial (KLM) Park in Hinsdale. The meet was highlighted by freshman James Barney winning the frosh/soph race in his first ever cross country meet.
Up next was the Kane County XC Invitational at Settler’s Hill XC Course. The day of races was kicked off with a very successful open race. In the 2.4 mile race, senior Colby English placed 2nd. Additionally, Robert Strugala and Ryan Kukulka placed in the top 15. In the freshman/sophomore race, freshman Damian Schulz placed 2nd. In the same race, the Redwings took 2nd in the team standings. In the final race of the day, the varsity race, senior Bob Johnson ran a personal record of 16:02 for 3 miles in a 5th place finish.
For their next meet, Benet returned to KLM Park for the Hinsdale Central Red Devil Invitation. In the largest meets of the season for the Redwings, sophomores Liam Hruby and Ben Marks made their varsity debuts. Hruby finished the 3 mile race in 17:19, while Marks completed it in 17:46, respectively. The freshman/sophomore race was highlighted by Alex Bane running a huge 40 second personal record. In the open race, junior Jeremy Konieczny led the Redwings.
The following Saturday, Benet traveled to Channahon for the Joliet Central Steelman XC Invitational. The day started with Liam Hruby, Damian Schulz, Alex Bane, and Ben Marks all placed in the top 20 in the fresh/soph race. Kevin DeBoni rounded out the Redwings top 5 for a 4th place finish as a team. Senior John Pogue finished 2nd for Benet in the varsity race. Right as the varsity race concluded, rain started pouring down on the course. After a rain delay, the open race started. On a very wet and slippery course, junior Aaron Huang placed 19th, and freshman Josh Kroupa placed 33rd, respectively.
The next week, it was off to Kaneland for the Larry Eddington XC Invitational. The varsity race saw seniors Declan Diamond, Will Schaeffer, and Jonas Frangella all run personal records. In fact, over two-third of the Benet runners ran personal records at Kaneland. In the freshman/sophomore race, freshman Gage Ross broke the 18-minutes mark for the first time. The open race was filled with personal records from the Redwings.
At the end of the season, Benet will return to Settle’s Hill Cross Country Course for the conference championship. There they hope to keep their conference championship streak alive. Following that, they will run their regional at Waubonsie Valley High School. If they run well at the regional, they would return to KLM Park for their sectional. Finally, if they can make it out of one of the most challenging sectionals in the state, they will run at Detweiler Park in Peoria for the IHSA State Cross Country Championships.
