James Janota
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Mike kennedy
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James Janota has been active in Cross Country and Track and Field since the age of 10. He graduated from Holy Cross High School in 1994 and remains one of the most accomplished runners in that school’s history, earning most improved and most valuable honors four out of his eight total seasons. He earned two degrees from Dominican University; a Bachelor’s degree in English Education in 1998 and a Master’s degree in Educational Administration in 2002. He completed a Master’s degree in Educational Technology from Concordia University in 2013.
Coach Janota began his professional career at Saint Patrick High School in Chicago where he served as both an Assistant Cross Country Coach for two years and an Assistant Track and Field Coach for four years. In 2000, Dominican University, his alma mater, sanctioned its first Cross Country Team in its over 100 year history, and James was tapped to head up both the men’s and women’s programs. Since 2002, he has coached Cross Country and Track and Field at Neuqua Valley. During his tenure for all of these schools, he has coached numerous athletes who have become state medalists and dedicated runners. |
A National Board Certified Physics Teacher at Neuqua Valley, Coach Mike Kennedy has served as Head Track and Field Coach for over a decade. During his tenure, Kennedy has seen the team grow so large that a tryout process had to be instituted. In 2009 and 2014, he saw his team aloft on the trophy stand with a second place trophy; he also has a couple 4th places and a 5th place occur during his tenure. Coach Kennedy was named as AA Track and Field Coach of the Year in 2005. During his time with the Neuqua Valley team, Kennedy has coached numerous state qualifiers as well as All-State relays and athletes. In 2005, Kennedy coached Prince Riley in the 400 m to become the first Track and Field State Champion for Neuqua Valley. He has also coached two state champion 4 x 400 m relays and 4 x 800 m relays, and Ty Moss, the 2015 state champion in the 800m.
Kennedy competed in Track and Field for Marist High School and for the University of Chicago mainly as a 400m hurdler. He also coached Track and Field and Cross Country at Marist High School from 1997-2000. |
kendric cornelius
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Matt ragusa
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Biography coming soon!
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Coach Ragusa enters his seventh year teaching Chemistry and coaching Track and Field. Coach Ragusa graduated from the University of Illinois – Urbana / Champaign in May of 2009 with a Bachelor of Science degree, specializing in Chemistry. While at the University of Illinois, he also worked in a research lab focusing on applications with nanotechnology.
Having grown up in Naperville, Coach Ragusa is an alum of Neuqua Valley who began his Track and Field career as a sprinter and pole vaulter. By the end of his high school athletic career, Coach Ragusa held school records in both the indoor and outdoor 4 x 200 Meter Relay, the outdoor 4 x 100 Meter Relay, and the outdoor Pole Vault. He qualified in his senior year for the Illinois State Track and Field Championship in both the Pole Vault and 4 x 200 Meter Relay. Coach Ragusa continued his athletic career at the University of Illinois where he vaulted for the Fighting Illini for four years, earning Academic-All-Big-Ten awards and vaulting a personal best of 4.91 meters. He even helped coach his younger brother Nick to break his own school record. |
David ricca
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jared righter
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A 2003 alum of Neuqua Valley High School, Coach Ricca has been a teacher of Physical, Health, and Driver Education for the past six years. In addition to being the longest tenured Throws Coach for the Track and Field team, he has coached Football at the freshman level, now serving as their Head Coach. Coach Ricca graduated from Taylor University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and Health Education. He coached three years at Taylor University, working with the Football team. His class was the only one at Neuqua to ever be present all four years with all four classes in the same building.
He played Football while he was a student at Neuqua for two years before an unfortunate ski accident that left him unable to play Football. Coach Ricca threw for the Track and Field team during his freshman and sophomore year as well. He finished high school helping coach the varsity Football team. |
Biography coming soon!
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Michael Rossi
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Paul vandersteen
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Coach Mike Rossi has been stealing office supplies from Neuqua Valley since 2004. Now in his tenth year as an assistant coach, Rossi is well on his way to realizing his dream of getting kicked out of every high school running program in Naperville. He is our esteemed freshman coach. Coach Rossi is the 2008 NVHS team leader in bad haircuts and still holds several Naperville records for getting turned down for a date by Tara Grodowski (15 times in 2002—a personal best!). He enjoys cellular respiration and making up witty comebacks in his head for taunts that happened to him 10 years ago. Oh, and his mother tells him he’s handsome, so in your face, former NV Coach, Steve Saul!
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Coach Paul Vandersteen is in his 23rd year at the helm of the NV cross country program. Since the program’s inception in the fall of 1997, it has grown to consistent numbers in the 130 range (120 men are part of the summer program, grades 7-12) and is regarded as one of the top programs in the State. The Wildcats have placed in the top fifteen 19x at the IHSA State Meet. NV has also had a streak of 14 straight top 10 finishes and ranks as the top team in Illinois the last ten years. The Wildcats have been fortunate to win three State titles (2007,2009,2016); place 2nd in 2017, place 3rd in 2010, 2011, 2015, 2018, and 4th in 2003, 2008, and 2014. Under the Naperville South name, The 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016 teams also qualified for the Nike Cross Country National competition in Portland, Oregon, and were national champions in ’07, placing 12th in ’09 and ’10, 19th in 2015, and 5th in 2016. The 2016 team had the fastest cumulative 1-5 time in Midwest NXR history.
An avid runner since the age of nine, his age-group performances ranked him nationally in all distance events. As a 6th grader, he ran 4:58 for a mile and he was the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Champion in Longview, Washington at the age of 14. In 8th grade, he ran a 4:42 mile and ran 33:00 for a certified 6 mile race. As a high school sophomore, he was an All-State performer in cross country (12:29 for 2.5 miles) while attending Bloomington South High School in Bloomington, Indiana. After moving, and graduating from Sterling H.S. in Sterling, Illinois, he went on to compete at Northern Illinois University his freshman year before the program was eliminated due to budget cuts. He went on to compete briefly at The University of Iowa where he received his degree in exercise science with an emphasis in science education. Coach Vandersteen has thirty three years of coaching experience. His coaching resume includes the head women’s track and field coach and assistant cross country coach at Peoria Notre Dame High School and the assistant women’s track and field coach at Pekin Community High School. After moving to the suburbs of Chicago, he coached the hurdlers, sprinters, and distance runners during his tenure at Waubonsie Valley High School before transferring to Neuqua Valley. While at WV, he had three different hurdlers run 14.7 or faster. Overall, he has had numerous state qualifiers in track and field, including a State champion 4 x 8 in 2016. He has coached twenty one different all-state runners in cross country, including two Footlocker All-Americans. |
