By Michael Newman

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It is seldom that you see any freshman finish in the top 25 at the IHSA State Cross Country Championships regardless of classification. The 2018 1A Boys State race had three freshmen finish in the top 25. Miles Sheppard of Hamilton/Warsaw led that group.

I was told to keep an eye on Shepard early in the year. He finished 14 seconds behind Quincy freshman Fiker Rosen at the Tom Oakley Invitational in Quincy at the end of September. The stock grew for Sheppard at the end of the year as he finished only five seconds behind Rosen at the Liberty Invitational two weeks later. Shepard was only two seconds behind one of the state favorites Leland Sumer of Tremont in the Elmwood Sectional race. His state race was his best as he finished seventh running a personal best of 15:11. He showed no fear in that race staying with the leaders for most of the race. We will be talking a lot about Sheppard in the next three years.

We will also be talking about Herscher’s Drew Rogers and Paxton-Buckley-Loda’s Ryder James who finished side by side in 11^th and 12^th at state just five seconds behind Sheppard in the next three years. This is a special group that could push each other to some impressive times by the time they graduate.

Congratulations to Miles Sheppard of Hamilton (COOP) as the 2018 ILXCTF.com 1A Boys XC Newcomer of the Year.

Photo Credit: © 2018 Laura Duffy