March 29, 2024
Sports - Kane County


Sports

Boys Cross Country notes: St. Charles East's Micah Wilson ahead of last year's schedule with falling times

St. Charles East junior Micah Wilson has certainly had a lot of fun on the cross country course the past number of weeks.

"This year, [is] just racing to compete," Wilson said. "It's a lot different. I like it, but at the same time, I definitely miss last season racing: more for times, racing with more competition at faster courses [with] lots of people."

Wilson was recently named MileSplit Illinois' Athlete of the Week on Sept. 15 after his then-season best time of 14:54 in a race against Naperville Central. He later followed that up against Lake Park with a 14:46 finish last Saturday.

"My times have been going down as the season has been going, which is the goal," Wilson said. "...I feel like I'm ahead of where I was last season at this point, so hopefully by the end of the season, I'll pull some PRs out."

"Our team has definitely been holding steady," Wilson said. "There hasn't been a ton of changeups...at least toward the front of the group."

Wilson has seen solid improvement from teammates Mitch Garcia and Tyler Tobin this year.

"Last year, we were expecting our top-four runners to be the same guys like they have [like] they were," Wilson said. "Tyler Tobin, he's been having a fantastic season. He's definitely in our top-five and we were expecting him to be No. 6 or 7."

Garcia, seemingly made a huge impression to even crack the varsity roster.

"Now, he's out here and he's No. 5 or 6 consistently," Wilson said. "He's made a lot of improvement and I'm really proud to see him [do that]."

Aaron Lodwig makes jump for Kaneland

Kaneland senior Aaron Lodwig has made the jump from being the No. 11 runner for the Knights a year ago to now being close to the top five.

"[He's] just consistently stepped up his game all season long – leadership, everything – it's been nice to see him having a good season thus far," Kaneland coach Chad Clarey said. "We''ve really relied on his leadership, his strength and his position points."

"Coach told me the whole goal this summer was just to take it a little easier than I had been," Lodwig said. "Because the past few years, I started off really hot and burned out pretty quickly. So, I just listened to him and its working out so far."

In a triangular with Marmion and Sandwich, Lodwig kicked it into high gear with 150 meters to go and notched his first varsity win in a personal-best 16:42.

"With smaller meets and all, you just have to really get out there and compete," Lodwig said. "And match the moves of everyone else in the race. When [Marmion's top runners] made a move around 3/4 of a mile, me and Nolan [Allen] just followed them and hit our surge points; it just worked out for us."

Jacob Bartelson

Jacob Bartelson

Jake is a full-time sports reporter writing primarily for the Kane County Chronicle covering preps. His collective work is featured across several Shaw markets and platforms, including Friday Night Drive and Bears Insider. Jake began full-time in 2017.