2020 ILXCTF.com XC Season Awards - Boys Most Improved XC Runner of the Year

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

2020 was a season unlike any other that we have seen. No track season leading into the fall campaign. No state meets at Detweiller Park to finish the season for these runners.

This is the one category that I take the most time to figure out. It is always interesting to see who made the biggest step from one season to the next season. It is also interesting to see who did the work during a spring of no track to get to the end of the season.

Class 3A

This was extremely difficult to decide in this category. There were so many runners that were worthy for the honor.

Jake Phillips of Marist was one of the top runners for his team in 2019 but did not make it to Detweiller Park finishing 42nd at the Hinsdale Central Sectional. That changed in 2020 as he was the top runner for Marist in his junior season. He finished second at the East Suburban Catholic Conference Meet. He then finished third at the Marist Regional and fourth at the Whitney Young Sectional. Phillips’ junior season ended by finishing 17th at the ShaZam Meet.

One of the biggest surprises of the 2020 season was the improvement from Brandon Kamp of Naperville Central. Kamp finished 165th at the Class 3A State Meet in 2019. He was one of the top runners for his team this fall which ended with a 5th place finish at the ShaZam Meet. Kamp also finished sixth at the Naperville Twilight meet, fifth at the Oswego East Regional, and 27th at the Whitney Young Sectional.

Ryan Watts of Edwardsville went from one of his team’s top five runners as a sophomore to one of the top runners in the state his junior season. Watts ran 15:30 to finish 114th at state in 2019. He did not have the competition to run against this fall until state series races. Watts won the Granite City Regional and Normal Community Sectional. He finished third at the ShaZam meet to end his season.

Two York runners were considered in this category. Mickey Vreeland did not make his team’s top seven in 2019 when York finished third at Detweiller Park. Vreeland stepped up in December in Portland as his team’s third runner finishing 116th. This year Vreeland was among the top runner’s for York finishing third in his regional meet, fourth at the Lyons Sectional, and then 12th at the ShaZam Meet.

York’s Ethan Summer was not even a top 12 runner for the team in 2019. He was the team’s sixth runner in the frosh/soph race at the WSC-Silver Meet. He ran 17:45 at Palatine earlier in the season. Hard work during the spring extended to the summer. During this fall’s season, he was one of the top runners for the Dukes. The junior finished fourth in the regional race. He did not have his best race at the Lyons Sectional placing 19th. Summer rebounded at the ShaZam meet placing 20th helping his team finish third in the meet.

It could have been Phillips, Kamp, or Vreeland on top of this category. All three runners had great seasons. Watts was nearly untouchable dropping his 3-mile time from 15:30 at Detweiller to 14:41 at Wilson Park in Granite City this fall.

You should look at the improvement that Summer showed during the past year. He did not have a track season to display that improvement. He dropped from 17:45 at Palatine down to 15:43 in what was not his best race at sectionals.

Congratulations to Ethan Summer of York High School in Elmhurst as the 2020 ILXCTF.com Illinois Class 3A Boys Most Improved XC Runner of the Year.

Class 2A

Julian Watson of Hinsdale South started running cross-country his sophomore season and has improved every year. He just missed all-state in 2019 finishing 28th place at Detweiller Park. Watson came on strong this fall winning the regional and sectional championships. He ended his season finishing 7th in the D2 race at the ShaZam Meet.

A runner that made a big jump this fall was Niklas Anderson from Benet Academy. He was his team’s top runner this fall after finishing 55th in last year’s Class 2A State Meet. Anderson’s conclusion of the season was strong finishing second behind Watson at the St. Francis Regional and Latin School Sectional. His final race was impressive as he finished 5th at the ShaZam Meet.

Alex Partlow of Carbondale missed most of the 2019 season due to an injury. He finished 86th as a freshman at the Class 2A State Meet in 2018. Partlow had a spectacular junior season going undefeated during the regular season including running the second fastest 3-mile time of 15:01 in Class 2A in winning the South Seven Conference Championship. He did not have his best race of the season in November when he finished 102nd at the ShaZam Meet.

A successful season was achieved by St. Viator’s Michael Schumacher this fall. His sophomore season ended by finishing 136 at the Class 2A State Meet in 2019. He finished 2020 by finishing third at the ShaZam Meet. He had finished fourth in his conference meet, won the Mather Regional race, and fourth at the Latin School Sectional.

Schumacher impressed me with his race in November. That could be a prelude to a successful 2021 cross country season. What impressed me from Partlow was his consistency in his racing after missing all the 2019 season. One race does not define a season especially one that is after the regular season. Partlow was ahead of his teammate Tucker Poshard in every race this fall. Poshard ended up finishing fourth in the ShaZam race. Both Partlow and Schumacher will be part of a strong Class 2A senior class in 2021.Partlow doing what he did after missing a year of racing made me notice.

Congratulations to Alex Partlow of Carbondale High School as the 2020 ILXCTF.com Illinois Class 2A Boys Most Improved XC Runner of the Year.

Class 1A

There were three runners that I noticed while looking at this classification in this category.

Jack Hiller of Althoff Catholic had a strong junior season that ended by finishing second in the Freeburg Regional and eighth at the Belleville Althoff Sectional. Hiller finished 84th in the post season at the ShaZam Meet.

Sherrard made it to the state meet in 2019 mainly because of the leadership from Jacob Belha. His junior campaigned ended with a 67th place finish in the Class 1A State Meet. 2020 kept teams within their regional area until they got to the state series. Belha was dominant during the regular season winning all eight races he participated in. That dominance continued in the state series as he ran 15:22 to win the Aleman Regional. He came back to win the Seneca Sectional the following week.

Belha chose not to run the following week in Chillicothe at the ShaZam Meet. I am sure he would have been among the top 10 runners in that race.

Congratulations to Jacob Belha of Sherrard High School as the 2020 ILXCTF.com Illinois Class 1A Boys Most Improved XC Runner of the Year.