2013 Meet The Team Mahomet-Seymour Boys Cross Country

    As a freshman, Daniel comes to our team with 2 years of jr. high cross country experience under his belt. He started the training season by running 3 mile time trials in over 30 minutes, but drastically improved by the first meet where he ran a 25:01 at the Charleston Invitational. He was a member of the freshman meet championship team at the Springfield Invitational freshmen race. Daniel was part of the Eureka Fresh/Soph Invitational meet championship team. He went on to run a personal best time at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational where he represented our team in the Varsity race. Daniel had the biggest break through of the year for our team at the U-High Invitational. Daniel improved almost 3 minutes from his personal best to run a time of 21:57. His time earned him a spot on our most improved over a career list with a 3:04 improvement from his first high school race to his best 3 mile race. He earned his way onto the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in November.
    As a sophomore, Daniel came into the season strong after dedicating his summer to running. He ran 250 miles in the summer before his sophomore year and it paid off. He opened the season by improving over 3 minutes from 1 year ago at the same meet. Daniel ran a 21:51 for a lifetime best at the Charleston Invitational. His team won that invitational. He was also part of the meet championship team at the Springfield invitational. Daniel helped pull his teammate and friend, Nathaniel Cebulski, to a lifetime personal best at the Springfield invitational. Daniel had a major breakthrough at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational where he ran a 19:57. Daniel's time bumped him up to our 13th most improved over a career with a 5:04 improvement. He followed this performance up with another solid run at the East Peoria Invitational with a time of 20:08. Daniel had another great break out performance at the U-High invite where he improved his time another 43 seconds with a time of 19:14. This time bumped him up to 9th in our most improved over a career list. Daniel earned enough letter points to earn a varsity letter during his sophomore year. Daniel helped pull his teammates at the Metamora invitational with a 20:17. Daniel ran a lifetime personal best in his final race of the season at the Conference meet with a time of 18:54. This moved him up to #6 on the most improved over a career list with a 6:07 career improvement. Daniel had a 3:03 improvement from his last year's best time to this year. This earned him our team's most improved award for the season.
   As a junior, Daniel really dedicated himself to his summer running. He ran over 400 miles to earn a spot on our team's 400 mile club. Daniel came into the season stronger and with a lot more experience. It paid off right away as he ran a 19:35 at the Charleston Invitational. His time was fast enough that it earned him a spot on the News-Gazette prep cross country leaders list in September. Daniel ran a season best at the Springfield Invitational. His time of 19:11 was 5th for his team. He helped push his team to win the open race championship for the 2nd year in a row. Daniel's hard work over the years has helped him run in the top five of a trophy winning championship team. Daniel ran another season best at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational where he ran a 19:01. He earned enough letter points after his 3rd race to earn his 2nd varsity letter. He also earned high enough grades to earn a spot on our team's scholar/athlete award list for his great sophomore grades. Daniel ran a lifetime best of 18:28 at the East Peoria Invitational. This was a 33 second improvement from his last meet and a 1 minute and 40 second improvement from his East Peoria Invite time just one year before. Daniel ran a lifetime best at the Metamora Invitational where he broke into the 17s with a 17:44. Daniel earned a spot on our team's fastest 15 junior list for the Metamora Invitational. His time placed him 12th on the list. Daniel also earned a spot on the News Gazette's Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October.
    As a senior, Daniel increased his summer miles to 500. He joined our 500 mile club. Daniel not only stepped up his miles, but he started to run with great confidence. He was often seen running in the top pack in the first weeks of practice. Daniel is a great example for our younger runners in not limiting yourself based off where you start. Daniel opened up his senior year with another lifetime personal best of 18:33. This bumped him up to #7 in our all-time career most improved list with a 6:28 career improvement. His time was a 1 minute and 2 second improvement from his last year's Charleston Invite time. Daniel ran another lifetime personal best at the Springfield Invitational. He ran a 17:48 and placed 4th for his team. He helped lead his team to win the open team championship. His time was fast enough to earn him a spot on our team's fastest times list for the Springfield invitational. He also improved to #5 on the most improved over a career list with a 7:13 career improvement. He earned his 3rd varsity cross country letter early in the season. He was recognized on the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in September. Daniel ran yet another lifetime best at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. He ran a 17:35. His time was fast enough to earn him a spot on our team's fastest senior list for the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. His time also moved him up to the 4th spot on our most improved over a career list with a 7:26 improvement. Daniel ran a 17:53 at the East Peoria Invitational. His time was strong enough to earn him a spot on the fastest senior list for this invite as well. It has been amazing to watch him go from last on the team as a freshman to our top times lists as a senior. Daniel made his way onto the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in October. Daniel was selected as athlete of the week for the MahometDaily.com for the week of October 2, 2013. Daniel ran an outstanding race at the Metamora Invitational. He ran a 17:02 just barely missing the 16's. Daniel ended his senior year by helping his team win the open race team title at the conference meet for the first time in 28 years. He ran 6th for his team and pushed his team to the win. His time of 17:52 was very strong for this course. Daniel earned his way onto the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in November. Daniel earned our team's most improved runner award for the 2013 season.