Coming off his first season running cross country last season where he advanced to the state finals and earned the program’s first-ever state medal, Somonauk senior Landin Stillwell was looking to continue that success this past fall.

He did just that and has been named the 2025 Times Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. It’s the second straight season he has earned the honor.

“My offseason goal was to just put in a lot of miles, pretty much running Monday thru Saturday,” Stillwell said. “I started in the summer with easy miles and just built up to where I felt I needed to be when the season started. I just wanted to stay consistent with what I was doing.

“I feel like the [early-season] Seneca race [Twilight in the Woods] was really great for my confidence. I was feeling really good that day and also felt like I was ahead of where I was at that same time my junior season.”

Stillwell was solid throughout the regular season, placing first in four of the eight events he competed in, including wins at Seneca’s Twilight in the Woods and the Ross Greiter Invitational at Plano, while also finishing fifth at the highly competitive Amboy Columbus Day Invitational.

He then opened the postseason by winning the Seneca Class 1A Regional title for the second consecutive season, crossing the finish line in 16 minutes, 7.3 seconds.

“I went into regionals feeling really good and expecting to win, but I also didn’t want to burn myself out,” Stillwell said. ”I actually went out pretty conservative, stayed really relaxed the first two miles and then pushed it up a notch in that final mile."

The following weekend at the Sherrard Sectional, Stillwell raced the course in 15:40.3 and finished eighth to earn his second trip to the state finals.

“Coming out of sectionals was probably the most confident I’ve been since starting to run cross country,” Stillwell said. “I had dropped like 30 seconds off my regional time and felt strong the entire race. There were a lot of really good runners in that field, and it was a fast pace right from the start, but the pace felt good for me.”

Then at the IHSA Class 1A State Finals at Detweiller Park in Peoria, despite dealing with illness Stillwell — the lone Times-area boys competitor — fought his way around the course in a time of 16:02.3 to place 99th of the 257 entrants.

“It was awful. I began feeling sick with stomach cramps the night before [the state finals] after feeling the best I’d felt all season all of that week,” Stillwell said. “Stuff like that happens, but it was just so unfortunate, the timing of it.

“With all of that, I’m proud of how I ran. It was tough not being 100%, but I wanted to just run the best I could despite all of that. It wasn’t the time I wanted or the place I wanted, but I can say I gave it everything I had.”

Stillwell recently signed to continue his academic, cross country and track career at University of St. Francis in Joliet.

“I had no idea two years ago when I gave up soccer to run cross country that any of this would happen,” Stillwell said. “I’ve come a long way in these past two years, learning what to do to make myself a good runner. I’m looking forward to basketball and track here at Somonauk the rest of the school year, and very excited to see what I can do at St. Francis.

“Figuring things out, hanging with teammates, meeting and getting to know runners from other schools ... it’s all been a blast.”