Danny Kilrea after his fifth-place finish at the NXN Championships (Michael Danner Photo)

By Michael Newman

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Congratulations to Danny Kilrea of Lyons Township High School in LaGrange as he has been chosen as the 2017 ILXCTF.com Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year in the state of Illinois.

It was extremely difficult to choose just one runner for this honor. Kilrea, Dylan Jacobs of Sandburg, and Clayton Mendez of Whitney Young had memorable national races in December earning All-American honors in both the Foot Locker Nationals and the Nike Cross Nationals.

It came down to Kilrea and Jacobs, who was named the top Illinois runner in 2016, for this award. The win for Jacobs in San Diego claiming the Foot Locker National Championship was one for the ages. But looking at overall resume for both runners, Kilrea had the edge. After state, Kilrea finished second while Jacobs finished fourth in the NXR Midwest Regional. Two weeks later at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional, Kilrea won that race while Jacobs finished fifth.

Kilrea was with the lead pack for most of the Nike Cross Nationals before finishing fifth overall. Jacobs was up front early, but ended up finishing 13^th. It was then the following week when Jacobs pulled away in the final mile to capture the national title, Kilrea finished third.

Jacobs win was important in deciding this, but it was Kilrea’s overall finish with top five finishes in both national races that gave him the slight edge.

Acknowledgements also need to go out to Clayton Mendez. His last five races of the year were memorable. After starting out slow the beginning of the season, Mendez finished second in the IHSA 3A State Meet. He then qualified for both national races finishing fifth at the NXR Midwest Regional and third in the Foot Locker Midwest Regional. He stepped it up in the national races by first finishing 18^th at Nike Cross Nationals. Mendez was 15^th in the Foot Locker National race with 800-meters to go. He moved up to finish ninth overall.

Kilrea, Jacobs, and Mendez will all represent the United States by being chosen to the National team that will compete at the Great Edinburgh Cross-Country Challenge on January 13 in Scotland. It is the first time that three high school runners from the same state have chosen for this race. It is just a reminder of how well these three student/athletes ran this fall to earn this honor. We may never see a moment like this again. That is how special that these three young men ran this fall.