2016 Meet The Team Mahomet-Seymour Boys Cross Country

   As a Freshman, Ben joins us with junior high cross country experience. Ben ran 8th grade cross country and was part of their 4th place State team. Ben showed us right away that he is a talented runner, but even more so a mentally tough runner. He ran early workouts in times that were some of the best we have ever seen out of a 9th grade runner. Ben ran over 300 miles in the summer and joined our team's 300 mile club. Ben opened up his high school career with a solid time of 18:42 at the Charleston Invitational. This is a very strong time for a freshman. He earned a spot on our top 18 fastest freshman times list for the Charleston Invitational. Ben ran a lifetime best at the Springfield Invitational in the 2 mile freshman race. His time of 11:28 earned him the 12th spot on our team's all time fastest freshman times list for this invitational. He earned a medal by placing 7th and helped lead his team to the team championship. Ben also earned a spot on the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in September. Ben had a major person lifetime best at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. He cut off 1 minute and 37 seconds to run a 17:06. He helped his team place higher than we have ever had a fresh/soph team place in this invitational. His time was fast enough to earn him the 12th fastest spot on our all time fastest freshman list for this invitational. Ben earned enough varsity letter points after this invitational to earn his first varsity letter. Ben ran a lifetime best at the East Peoria Invitational. His time of 17:00 was one of the highest finishes that we have ever had at this invitational. His time earned him the 10th fastest freshman time ever at this invitational for a Mahomet runner. Ben made his way onto the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in October. Ben ran an amazing race at the Metamora Invitational. He broke into the 16s for the first time with a 16:19. His time earned him the 4th fastest Mahomet freshmen time for the Metamora Invitational. He also earned the 7th fastest freshmen time ever in our 44 year history of our program. Ben had another great race at the Conference meet. He helped his team win the open race for the first time in 28 years. He proved himself to be one of the best runners in the area and on our 2nd in the State ranked team. Ben earned a spot on our top 12 State meet series roster. This is quite a feat for a freshman runner. Ben ran a solid race at Conference. He ran a 17:25 on a slow course. He placed 4th in the open race to help his team win the race for the first time. His team had a low score of 16. Ben earned his way onto our team's old dog club by running a sub 5 minute mile in practice. Ben ran a 4:53. Ben earned his way onto our team's sub 30 South Mahomet loop club with a 28:56. Ben earned his way onto the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in November.
    As a sophomore, Ben entered the season with a solid base. He ran over 500 miles in the summer and joined our team's 500 mile club. Ben opened up his sophomore year with a lifetime best of 16:03. He improved 1 minute and 39 seconds from his last year's Charleston Invite time and 1 minute and 3 seconds from his lifetime 3 mile best time. Ben's time was fast enough to earn him the 4th fastest Mahomet sophomore time at the Charleston Invitational. Ben placed 9th overall and earned a medal. Ben helped his team run the fastest top 7 average of any Mahomet team at the Charleston Invitational. Ben made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in September. Ben ran the best race of his life on a sluggish course. He broke into the 15s for the first time in his life with a 15:57 in the Springfield Invitational. Ben placed 8th overall and helped his team win the invitational with the lowest score earned at this invitational. Ben's time and place earned him a spot on our fastest top times sophomore list for the Springfield Invitational. He helped his team run the fastest top 5 and top 7 team average ever run by a Mahomet team at the Springfield Invitational. His time earned him Illinois Elite Status at the Springfield Invitational by dyestat.com. He earned a medal for his 8th place finish. Ben also earned his second varsity letter after earning enough points at the Springfield Invitational. Ben ran very well at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational despite being a little sick. He ran a solid 6th for our team helping our team place the highest we ever had at this invite. Ben helped his team place 2nd beating out 19 state ranked teams and 3 nationally ranked teams. Ben ran a 16:15 which was fast enough to earn him the 6th fastest sophomore time we have ever had at this invitational. Ben helped our team run the fastest top 7 runner average we have ever had at this invitational. Ben ran a solid race at the East Peoria Invitational coming off being sick. He ran a 16:25 which was strong enough to earn the 7th fastest sophomore time Mahomet has ever had at this invitational. He helped his team win the invitational. Ben helped his team earn a national ranking of 36 for the week. Ben earned our team's scholar/athlete award for his strong academic success. Ben made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October. Ben had a great breakthrough at the Metamora Invitational. He broke 15:30 with a time of 15:29. Our program has very few athletes under the 15:30 mark. Ben helped his team win the invitational. He also helped his team run the fastest top 5 and top 7 runner average at this invite that any Mahomet team has run. Ben earned a medal by placing 14th. His time was the 2nd fastest sophomore time we have ever had at this invite. Ben is showing himself to be one of the strongest runners in the State. His Metamora time was a 50 second improvement from his 2013 time at the invite. It was a 28 second improvement on his season best. He is helping his team to continue to earn the ranking of 2nd in the State and 35th in the nation the week following the Metamora Invite. Ben ran a lifetime best 3 mile best at the Conference meet with a 15:37. This time was fast enough to earn him Illinois Elite State by dyestat. He also earned our team's fastest spot ever for a sophomore at the Conference meet in the past 45 years. He placed 5th overall earning himself a medal and all-conference status. He helped his team run the fastest top 5 runner average, fastest top 7 runner average, and lowest score at the Conference meet in the past 45 years with a 22. Ben had such a strong season that he earned a spot on our team's State meet roster. Ben made his way onto our team's most improved over a career list by improving over 3 minutes from his first race to his best 3 mile race. He opened up his high school career with a 18:42 and ran a 15:37 in the Conference meet giving him a 3 minute and 5 second overall improvement. Ben ran a 16:11 at the Regional meet to place 16th. He helped his team win the Regional meet. He helped his team run the fastest top 5 runner average and the fastest top 7 runner average we have ever had a Mahomet team run at the Regional meet. Ben's time was the 4th fastest time we have ever had a Mahomet sophomore run at the Regional meet. Ben made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in November. Ben was held out of the Sectional meet to rest his legs for State. Ben had a great race at the State meet where he ran a few seconds of his lifetime 3 mile best. He ran a 15:41 which earned him the 67th place. Ben ran the 4th fastest Mahomet sophomore time ever run at the State meet. He helped his team run the fastest top 5 and top 7 runner average we have ever had at the State meet. Ben earned Illinois Elite Status for his great time. Ben ended his sophomore year by earning a medal for helping his team win the 2nd place team trophy.
    As a junior, Ben ran just shy of 500 miles in the summer. He earned a spot on our team's 400 mile club. Ben used restraint and wisdom as he worked through soreness and injury in the first month of the season. Ben opened up his junior year with a solid performance at the Charleston Invitational. He earned his way onto our team's 16 minute 3 mile club by running a time of 16:43. His time also earned him the 17th fastest junior time we have had at the Charleston Invite. Ben earned a medal by placing 17th.   He earned a spot on the New-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders list in September. Ben improved 21 in just one week to run a 16:22 at the Springfield Invitational. He placed 15th overall which earned him a medal. He helped his team win the invitational with the lowest seven runner average we have ever had at this invite. Ben earned enough points after this race to earn his third varisty letter in cross country. Ben earned his way onto our sub 30 South Mahomet loop again as a junior. Ben had a big break at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. He improved 25 seconds off his season best. He ran 15:57 to earn a spot on our team's 15 minute 3 mile club. Ben earned Illinois Elite Status by dyestat.com for his great race. He helped his team place 4th out of 69 teams. He helped his team run the fastest top 7 runner average we have ever had at this invitational. Ben Craw ran the 31st fastest junior time ever run by a Mahomet runner at any meet in 46 years. Ben ran another strong race at the East Peoria Invitational. He placed 16th overall in a tough field of runners. He earned a medal for his high finish. Ben ran a 16:09 which earned him the 13th spot on our team's fastest top junior times list at the East Peoria Invite. He helped his team win the invitational with the lowest top 7 runner average we have had at this invite. He improved 16 seconds from his time last year at this invite. He earned himself a spot on the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders list in October. Ben joined our Old Dog club by breaking 5 minutes in the mile. Ben had a big improvement at the Metamora Invitational where he ran a season best of 15:26. He improved 31 seconds for the year. His mid 15s earned him Illinois Elite Status by dyestat.com. He placed 13th overall earning a medal. Ben helped his team run the fastest top 7 runner average our team has run at this invite with a 15:07 average. Ben earned the 9th fastest junior time on our team's top fastest junior list at the Metamora Invitational. He helped his team win the invitational. Ben holds the 18th fastest junior time for any Mahomet junior in any race in the past 46 years. Ben ran a very strong race at the Conference meet. He helped his team win the meet with the fastest top 5 runner average we have run. Ben ran a 15:11 to place 5th. His place earned him a medal and All-Conference honors. His time was a 27 second improvement from his last year's conference time and a 15 second improvement from his season best. His time earned him the 4th spot on our team's fastest top times list for juniors at the Conference meet. Ben made his way onto our State series roster. Ben raced well at the Regional meet. He helped them win with the lowest top 7 runner average we have had in 46 years at the Regional meet. He ran a 15:45 to place 9th. This was a 26 second improvement from his 2014 Regional time. He earned Illinois Elite status by dyestat for his race time. Ben also earned a spot on the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in November. Ben and his teammates earned at medal at the State meet for placing 2nd. Ben placed 68th in State with his season best 3 mile of 15:46. He helped his team win the 2nd place State trophy. He earned elite Status by dyestat for his time. He ran the 11th fastest Mahomet time for a junior at State.
   As a senior, Ben entered the season as an All-State runner in track. He helped his 3200 meter relay win a State medal. Ben ran 400 miles in the summer to join our 400 mile club. Ben has a great start to his senior season by running a relaxed 15:52 at the Charleston Invitational. He ran in a controlled team pack to help his team place 1st-8th in the 13 team invitational. They earned a perfect score with his help. He earned a spot on our team's 15 minute 3 mile club. He earned the 3rd place medal and the 4th spot on our team's fastest top senior times list at the Charleston Invitational. He improved 51 seconds from his last year's time at this same race. Ben earned a spot on the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders list in September. Ben ran with his team in a tight pack to win the Springfield Invitational in a big way. He earned a medal for his high place and a spot on our team's fastest senior times list for the Springfield Invitational. He earned his 4th high school varsity XC letter at this meet. Ben ran in the 15s again at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational despite it being a slow and wet course that day. He helped his team place 2nd in the 70 team invitational. They beat out 23 State ranked teams and 2 nationally ranked teams. Ben earned the 14th spot on our team's fastest senior times list at the PND Invitational. Ben ran in the 15s again at the East Peoria Invite. He ran a 15:47 for a season best time. He helped his team place 1st-6th in the 21 team invite by placing 6th. He earned a medal for his high finish. He earned the 10th fastest senior time on our fastest times list for the East Peoria Invite. Ben joined our team's old dog sub 5 minute mile club by breaking 5 minutes in the mile. He joined our sub 5 for 5 club. Ben broke into the 14s for the first time at the Metamora Invitational. He ran a 14:55 to become one of only 11 Mahomet runners to break 15 in 47 years. Ben won a medal by placing 6th. He helped his team win the 26 team invitational with 20 points. He earned a spot on our team's 14 minute 3 mile club. Ben earned the 5th spot on our fastest senior times list at the Metamora Invitational. He earned a spot on the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders list in October. Ben ran a strong race at the conference meet. He ran a 15:03 to place 9th. He earned a medal by placing in the top 10. He also earned All-Conference honors. He helped his team win the meet. He ran the 5th fastest time on our fastest senior times list for conference. Ben earned a spot on our team's State meet roster. He moved up to 36th on our most improved over a career list with a 3 minute and 39 second improvement in his career. He earned Elite status for his effort at the conference meet by milesplit.com. Ben ran a solid race at the Sectional meet. He ran a 15:19 to place 8th. His high place earned him All-Sectional honors and a medal. He helped his team win the Sectional, earn the fastest top 5 runner average and top 7 runner average we have ever had at the Sectional meet in 47 years. He earned the 5th fastest senior time of any Mahomet runner in the Sectional meet in those 47 years. He qualified for State for the 3rd time. He ran a great race at State. He ran a 15:06 which earned him the 7th spot on our team's fastest senior times list at State. He placed 24th earning a medal and All-State status. He helped his team win State as a team so he earned a second medal for that. He helped our team tie 2 State records. They set the most amount of All-State runners with 6. Only 2 other teams in 71 years have accomplished this. They also ran the fastest top 5 team average of any non AAA team in 71 years. Ben earned our team's most valuable award and Bulldog award along with his State team. He earned our team's Sportsmanship award. Ben earned our team's scholar/athlete award for his high grades. He earned a spot on the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders list in November. Ben earned Elite Status from his performance at State. He went on to earn a spot on the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in December. He earned Second Team All Area Honors. He earned Elite status by milesplit for his time at the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional race where he ran a 16:01 to place 80th. He helped his team place 3rd. Ben's team won an at-large bid to qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland. Ben placed 121st at the Nike Cross Nationals with a 17:07 on a very muddy course. He helped his team place 17th at Nationals. Ben helped his team earn a national ranking as high as 13th throughout the season. In the final rankings his team earned a 17th in the nation spot.