2020 Meet The Team Mahomet-Seymour Boys Cross Country

   As a freshman, Joe joined us after being one of the best runners on his middle school track and cross country teams. He quickly adjusted to high school running due to his determination and work ethic. He ran well in the summer to prepare him for the jump up. He opened up his high school career at the Charleston Invitational. In this varsity race he placed 61st out of 146 runners. He beat many junior and senior runners. He beat half of the team's #5 runner which showed he would be the best on their team. Joe ran a 19:07 which earned him the 32nd spot on our fastest top times list for freshman for the Charleston Invitational. Joe raced well at the Springfield Invitational where we entered him in the freshman 2 mile race. Joe and his teammate established themselves in the lead pack from the start. Joe ended up beating some amazing runners to place 10th. He earned a medal by placing so high. He ran a personal best 2 mile time of 12:01 on a tough course. His fast time earned him a spot on our team's fastest freshman times list at the Springfield Invitational. Joe earned a spot on the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in September. Joe ran a solid race at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. It was so hot that the meet officials moved up the meet to avoid heat issues. It slowed everyone's times down, but Joe still managed to run a 20:06. He earned enough letter points to earn his first varsity cross country letter. Joe continued to show he was a great runner in practice throughout the season. Joe ran a 19:47 at the East Peoria Invitational. His time was fast enough to earn him a spot on our team's fastest freshmen times list for the East Peoria Invitational. Joe ran a season best by a minute at the Metamora Invitational. He ran a 18:07 which was fast enough to earn him the 25th spot on our team's fastest freshmen times list for the Metamora Invitational. Joe earned a spot on the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October. He earned a spot on the News Gazette Area Cross Country Leaders List in November. He earned a medal for being part of our State championship team. Joe won the fastest freshman award. Joe also won our team's coveted Brent Johnson True Grit award. He was voted to get this award by he teammates. It is given to the runner they feel runs with the most intensity and guts in practice and meets.

   As a sophomore, Joe had a solid summer of running. He ran over 300 miles earning our team's 300 mile club award. He opened up his season by placing in our team's top 7 runners. He helped our team win the 12 team invitational. He ran a 18:38 to place 38th overall. He earned a medal for his high place. He also earned the 31st spot on our team's fastest top times list on our sophomore's fastest times list. This was his lifetime best 3 mile time. Joe earned a spot on the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in September. Joe ran a 19:16 at the Monticello triangular meet. He placed 21st overall at this meet. Joe helped his fresh/soph team place 15th in the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. Joe ran a lifetime 3 mile best of 18:08. This placed him 174th in the invite. He earned a spot on our team's fastest sophomore times list at the PND invite with his strong performance. Joe had a 31 second improvement from his previous season best time. Joe earned his second high school varsity cross country letter after the PND meet. Joe had an incredible race at the East Peoria Invitational. He had a 50 second improvement. He placed 7th in the fresh/soph race earning a medal. He led his team to a 4th place finish. His time of 17:18 was the 26th fastest Mahomet sophomore time ever at this Invite. Joe earned a spot on the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October. Joe ran a 17:30 at the Metamora Invitational. He helped his team earn the 4th place trophy in the 28 team meet with his top 7 finish on our team. Joe improved 37 seconds from his last year's time at this meet. He earned the 27th spot on our team's fastest sophomore times at the Metamora Invitational with his time. Joe had a top 20 performance at the Conference meet. Despite it being a horribly hilly course he still managed to run a 18:58. He ran 6th for the team and helped them place 2nd in the meet. He earned a spot on our State team roster as a sophomore. Joe ran a lifetime 3 mile best at the Regional race. He ran a 17:40 in a 20 plus mph wind. He placed 4th for our team helping our team qualify for the Sectional meet. Joe earned the 35th spot on our team's fastest sophomore times list at the Regional meet. Joe ran 4th for our team at the Sectional meet. He helped our team place 6th in the meet. Joe tied his best at 17:18. He earned the 45th spot on our team's fastest sophomore times list at the Sectional meet in nearly 50 years. He earned our team's fastest sophomore award. He earned our team's most improved fresh/soph award his sophomore year. He earned our team's most improved Varsity award his sophomore year. He improved 1 minute and 27 seconds in his 3 minute from one year to the next. Joe won our team's Sportsmanship award his sophomore year.

   As a junior, Joe had a great preseason. He ran enough miles to earn our team's 400 mile club award. He ran in our top 5 at the Charleston Invitational. He ran a 18:07 to earn a spot on our team's fastest junior times list at the Charleston Invitational. He earned a medal for his high finish. He earned a spot on the News Gazette Prep Cross Country leaders list. Joe ran strong for us at the Springfield Invitational. He ran a 18:07 which was fast enough to earn him the 44th spot on our team's fastest junior times list for the Springfield Invitational. He earned enough letter points after this meet to earn his 3rd Varsity letter in XC. Joe went on to break into the 17s at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. He ran a lifetime best of 17:23. This was a 44 second improvement. His time was fast enough to earn the 34th spot on our team's fastest junior times list at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational. Joe earned a spot on the News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October. Joe ran a 17:36 at the U-High Invitational. He helped his team place 2nd in the 13 team invitational. His time was fast enough to earn him the 21st spot on our team's fastest junior times list at the U-High Invitational. Joe broke into the 16s for the first time at the Metamora Invitational. He ran a 42 second best to run a 16:41. This earned a spot on our team's 16 minute 3 mile club. He also ran the 28th fastest time at Metamora by a Mahomet junior. He also ran the 68th fastest time by a Mahomet junior in any race in the 50 year history of our program. He helped his team place 3rd in the 29 team invitational. His time was 49 seconds faster than his time from last year at this meet. Joe ran a lifetime 3 mile best at the conference meet on our very challenging course. He ran a 17:12 which was a 1 minute and 46 second improvement from just one. year earlier at the conference meet. He placed 9th in the meet earning a medal and All-Conference honors. He earned the 47th spot on our team's fastest junior times list for the conference meet. He earned a spot on our team's State series roster. Joe ran a lifetime 3 mile best at the Sectional meet on a very wet course. He cut off 17 seconds to run a 16:55. This was fast enough to earn him the 35th spot on our team's fastest junior times list at the Sectional meet. He ran 5th for our team and helped them qualify for State. Joe ran well at State. He ran a 17:09 to place 182nd. His time was fast enough to earn him a spot on our team's fastest junior runners at the State meet. He helped his team place 11th at State.

    As a senior, Joe increased his summer miles again. He ran enough summer miles to earn our 500 mile club award. Joe took charge of his team and helped lead them in practices.   He was often seen pulling his teammates during intervals when everyone was exhausted and needed someone to take one for the team. Joe's strong character sets a high example for his teammates and makes our team better. Joe opened his senior year by winning the #7-8 runner race at the Charleston Invitational. He won a medal as a result. It was his third medal at the Charleston Invitational over the years. Joe won the race with a time of 17:50 . Joe improved 17 seconds from his time at this meet in just one year. He ran fastest enough to earn a spot on our team's senior top fastest times list for the Charleston Invitational. He helped his team win the invitational. Joe cut off 1 minute and 5 seconds in his 2nd race. He ran a lifetime personal best at the SJO Spartan Classic when he ran a 16:45. He earned a spot on our team's 16 minute 3 mile runner club. He ran 5th for our team helping lead our team to win the meet. Joe and his teammate pulled away from the field at the Urbana meet in the flight #3 race. Joe led most of the race and ended up as runner-up. Joe ran a lifetime best of 16:41 showing he is one of the stronger runners in the area again. Joe ran 4th for our team for the day and helped them win the team title. Joe ran a 17:49 at the Conference meet. He helped his team win the team title. Joe ran a 17:00 at the Monticello Invitational. He earned a spot on our team's State series roster. He earned our team's sportsmanship award.   He earned a varsity letter again as a senior. Joe earned a spot on our team's old dog running club. Joe had a very competitive race in the Regional meet. He won the #6-7 runner race with a time that placed him 15th in the meet. He ran so well that he beat most of the runners in the two previous flights. Joe ran 5th for our team and helped them win the Regional meet. Joe ran a 16:57 which earned him a spot on our team's fastest senior times list at the Regional meet. He helped his team advance to the Sectional meet. Joe placed in our top 5 at the Sectional meet.   He earned a spot on our team's fastest senior times list at the Sectional meet. He helped our team place 4th in the Sectional meet and qualify for the unofficial State meet. Joe really set the tone in his final race for the team.   He pushed himself to be in the lead pack of his flight. He ended up 154th overall and helped his team place 2nd in State. He earned a spot on our fastest senior time list for the State meet. He left his mark on our program.