2023 Times Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year: Streator’s Kody Danko

As a sophomore, Streator’s Kody Danko had his first, albeit short taste of the IHSA State Track and Field Finals.

This year as a senior, especially after not having a chance to return to the blue track at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field as a junior, Danko – The Times Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year – made the most of his opportunities and closed out his fantastic season and standout running career as a Bulldog with a Class 2A state medal after a fourth-place finish in the 800-meter run.

“It was just one day, one race, no prelims, so to be honest, I finished a respectable 13th, but it was tough to really enjoy the experience because how rushed everything felt,” Danko said of his trip to state as a 10th-grader with the meet altered because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This year was such an opposite feeling. I was still nervous, but I think knowing things were back to normal and I was going to get the full experience was exciting.”

A year removed from missing a chance to qualify for state after contracting COVID just prior to sectionals, Danko placed sixth in the preliminaries before breaking his own school record with a time of 1 minute, 54.58 seconds in the finals race that saw champion Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic break the state record (1:50.49). Danko was seventh for much of the race but was able to pick off three competitors on the back stretch of the final lap.

“The field this year for the 800 was crazy fast with so many fantastic runners from top to bottom,” Danko said. “The time I ran this year was a winning time two years ago. I was very happy with my placement and super happy to be able to break my own school record in my last race.

“To have my last race be at the state meet and to earn a medal on top of that was a pretty satisfying ending for me.”

Danko, who was also selected The Times Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year last fall, said he originally started running two years ago when COVID had put a hold on other sports at the time.

“I always played soccer before starting to run cross country and track my sophomore year,” Danko said. “I have always been pretty fast, so I feel like I could have run the sprints, but I think starting out back then in the sport the coaches, and I thought the 800 was the best fit for me. It just seemed the event that I could be very strong and competitive in at a high level.”

“You are always going to look back and say, ‘I could have done this better,’ or, ‘If I’d done this, I’d had a better time or finish,’ but I can honestly say I’m happy with how the season went.”

—  Kody Danko, The Times Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year

Over the season, Danko also participated in the 200, 400, 1,600, 3,200 and relays at selected meets along with the 800. In the 24 individual races he ran, he finished in first place 17 times.

However, his bread and butter was the 800, where he crossed the finish line first at Hall’s Rollie Morris Invitational (1:55.3), the Illinois Central Eight Conference meet (2:07.73) and the Illinois Valley Invite (2:03.74), the first breaking the 42-year-old record of 1:56.2 set by Mark Vagasky in 1981.

His efforts also helped his team capture first place at all three events.

“There were ups and downs throughout the season, but it’s really hard for that to not happen as a runner, I feel,” Danko said. “I had standards I wanted to reach, so I put a lot of pressure on myself to reach those. I felt like I was in a good spot after running at Hall, but then the very next week I ran at a meet in Palatine, and that did not go well. That race also had some very good runners in it, but I didn’t run well (2:02) and finished (14th) dead last. It was rough.

“I knew sectionals were right around the corner, so I really focused even more on getting myself back to where I needed to be mentally and physically.”

At the sectional in Geneseo, Danko did just that as he posted a championship time of 1:56.22 to finish two seconds ahead of the runner-up and qualify for one final shot at the state meet.

Danko said he will be attending Illinois State University in the fall, adding, “I’m done with running.”

He’ll start the path to a degree in engineering technology, which he says can be used in numerous ways and places in the working world.

“You are always going to look back and say, ‘I could have done this better,’ or, ‘If I’d done this, I’d had a better time or finish,’ but I can honestly say I’m happy with how the season went,” Danko said. “I enjoyed the competition that went along with running, but now I’m ready to concentrate on my education, just enjoy being a student and work on the goals I have set for myself with that.”