Welcome to the team history of Neuqua Valley at the IHSA State Cross Country Meet. Neuqua Valley opened its doors in 1997 and we qualified our first team for the IHSA State Meet in 2001. Since then, we have qualified a team for State every year except 2019, while also finishing in the top 15. We have finished in the top four, eleven times, with three State championships. We hope you enjoy reading about our different teams, each one facing unique challenges along the way.
2021 - 10th place - 289 points
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A lot of doubt was cast on this team from the beginning. The only consistent top seven guy returning from the year prior was senior Noah Schalliol, and he had been plagued with frequent injuries. Only he, Rook, and Palmer had broken 10:00 for 3200m and it was not by much. One pre-season poll had us ranked 16th, and this was an accurate assessment based on who we had returning. To make matters worse, it looked like we had a big gap between our 5th and 6th man, and one of those top five, Nick Rohlwing, came down with a 4th metatarsal stress fracture in mid/late August. The guys worked hard and Nick did everything he could in the pool and on the bike to stay in shape. Eventually, Nick was able to run again and we took 5 guys down to the Peoria Invitational in early October where we tied for 2nd place. We went into the DVC meet knowing we had our work cut out for us against a very good WV team. We ended up losing to WV in the last 300m, but the guys understood that the State meet was our main focus. The IHSA Sectional presented a huge challenge, with 7 of the top 9 teams in the State in the Sectional along with some other top 15 teams. We waited an hour to find out we placed 7th and would be competing in the State meet again. In the State meet, Nick ran the race of his life, taking over 30 seconds off his season best to become our 1st man. We had a 30 second gap between one and five, and placed 10th as a team. This marked the 17th time in the last 20 years where we have been top ten in the State meet. 2021 State Meet Results
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2020 - NO state meet (pandemic) - 2nd at ihsa sectional
2019 - DNQ as a team - qualified two individuals
2018 - 3rd PLACE - 159 POINTS
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In early June, we learned that our team leader and 9:03 3200m runner, Zach Kinne was moving to Pittsburgh. This was a shock to us all. With this adversity, we decided that we were going to continue to fight to see what we could accomplish. With the mantra, "No Names", we focused on what we could control and worked tirelessly through the summer. After not performing well in summer workouts, it was looking like we may not even place in the top ten. However, after the Hornet-Red Devil meet was canceled due to T-storms, the following weekend we traveled to St. Louis. In the mud, we fought hard to win, and we began to realize our potential. We were a surprise winner of Twilight, and won the DVC and Regional before succumbing to St. Charles East at the Sectional meet. The night before the State meet, was the most emotional team meeting we have had in our history. We knew at this point that something special was going to happen. The next day, the guys ran fantastic, finishing third, only 3 points from second. It was a great celebration at Alexander's afterwards, knowing we had done everything possible to achieve what we did. 2018 State Meet Results
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2017 - 2nd PLACE - 149 POINTS
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Even though we lost six of our top seven from 2016 due to graduation, we had enough guys ready to step up and fill those spots. Heading into the season, we were ranked 3rd in the State. The guys worked hard during the summer, and after some serious discussions about being a good teammate, we started the season establishing a legacy of extending our hand out to others by lining up at the finish line to greet all runners. We were challenged early by a young, Wheaton Warrenville South team at the Hornet-Red Devil and Peoria Notre Dame Invitationals. And, as early October approached, we looked like we were going to make a run at a State title, losing to eventual State champion DGN at the Twilight Invitational by one point. Unlike past Conference meets, we squeaked by WWS to win our 12th straight title. We went on to easily win Regional and Sectional titles before taking 2nd in the State, the first 2nd place finish in our history. The guys finished 4th at the Nike Cross Country Regional meet and did not qualify for the Nike Cross Country National meet. 2017 State Meet Results
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2016 - 1st place - 83 points
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Ranked by every poll as a top five team in the country, we still started the season with many doubts due to injuries and team unity issues. The Monday of Hornet-Red Devil, we had only two of our top eight guys complete the workout for one issue or another. Luckily, we were able to come together as a team and were deep enough to overcome the season-ending injury to Danny Winek and the month-long injury of Scott Anderson. We won Hornet-Red Devil and went on to finish unbeaten in any race where we put together our full varsity lineup. We won the State Championship with four all-state runners and the fastest 6th and 7th man in IHSA history. Our total team time of our scoring guys ranks 6th in IHSA history. After the IHSA season, the guys chose pink-striped uniforms (forming the Naperville South club team) and ran the fastest team time in history to win the Nike Cross Country Regional in Terre Haute. They went on to run at the Nike National XC Meet in Portland and finished 5th. Overall, it was an amazing season with the usual great competition from teams like Downers Grove North, Lake Zurich, and Lyons Township. 2016 State Meet Results
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2015 - 3rd place - 171 points
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Unlike last year, this time we were fortunate enough to be on the other side, placing 3rd. We tied with Elmhurst York with 171 points, but were awarded the 3rd place trophy based on the 6th man tie-breaker. Our 6th runner, Jackson Jett, placed well ahead of York's 6th man. This team was known for its depth. We became the 2nd team in IHSA history to receive a trophy without an all-state runner. Our top finisher was Scott Anderson in 34th place and we had a 1-7 spread of 19 seconds. During the season, we lost Scott Anderson, Austin Kinne, and Connor Horn at some point to injury. Scott and Austin were able to come back to finish the season, but all-state runner, Connor Horn could not compete towards the end of the season due to a stress fracture in his talus bone. Even without Connor, we were able to go 1-7 at the DVC meet, go 1-5 at the IHSA Regional Meet, and score a paltry 26 points at the IHSA Sectional meet. The Naperville South Club team earned a trip to the Nike National Cross Country Championships by finishing 2nd in the Midwest Regional Meet and finished 19th in the nation. This was the deepest team in our history. One had to run the equivalent of 15:13 or faster to make our top 12! 2015 State Results
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2014 - 4th place - 181 points
L-R: Jake Mceneaney, Matt Horsley, Patrick Wolak, Caleb Ferguson, Max Rainer, Aidan Livingston, Daniel Weiss, Michael Widmann, Austin Kinne, Matt Milostan, Connor Horn, and Dominic Dina.
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To get 4th by one point at the IHSA State Meet is always hard to swallow. This means we do not get a trophy, or get recognized by the entire school at an assembly we call "The Red Carpet Rally". However, overall, we had an amazing season. We had two All State runners in Connor Horn (7th) and Michael Widmann (18th), and a third runner, Daniel Weiss who finished 28th. All three guys broke 15:00, something that has only happened one other time in our history (2007). Our coaches loved this team. They were easy to coach and did everything we asked to get better. With 15 of our top 20 guys returning, this attitude will permeate into next season, and that's what makes champions. We ran in our last Upstate Eight Conference Meet (we go to the Dupage Valley Conference next year) and were champions for the 10th consecutive year. We also did something never done before in our history - we ran our #8-12 guys at the IHSA Regional meet, and were fortunate to win. The IHSA Sectional meet was the toughest we have ever seen, with the four top ranked teams in the same Sectional. We finished a close 3rd behind eventual State champion, Hinsdale Central. After the IHSA season, the guys went on to finish 5th overall at Nike Midwest XC Meet. 2014 State Results
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2013 - 10th place - 288 points
Michael Widmann, Nick Bushelle, and Daniel Weiss
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If you asked our coaches in June who would have been in our top 12 at State, five of our guys would have never been mentioned. The men did all the right things to prepare for the fall. Some performed better than expected, others did not for one reason or another. In the case of Connor Horn, we did not have him at all due to a navicular fracture from the prior spring. Our season started off with a 5th place finish at a loaded Hornet-Red Devil Invitational. After winning this meet many times, this was a shock to our system but we did not dwell on it. I guess it made us feel better that traditional powerhouse, Palatine, was in the same boat. What matters to Coach Quick and I is that we train hard, have fun, and hold on to our integrity. We did just that. There are many stories I will share about this team with future teams. Alec Monovich proved that when you set your sights high, anything is possible. Colin Weidman showed us you don’t have to be a top sophomore performer to be a top varsity runner your junior year. We also found out that proper nutrition is critical, and we learned about saving some willpower for the end. This team persevered to win another Conference title and we finished 10th at State to continue our streak of 8 straight years of a top 10 finish. Senior Nick Bushelle showed everyone what four years of hard work and determination can do, with an All-State finish of 15th place. With only two seniors in our top 12, and only 4 seniors in our top 20, our future looks bright. 2013 State Results
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2012 – 7th Place – 274 Points
L-R: Robbie Hohlman, Brendan O’Connor, Nick Bushelle, Alekh Meka, Alex Stowers, Daniel Weiss (hidden), Mike Whaley, Connor Horn (not pictured)
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We went into this meet knowing it was going to be a battle to get a trophy based on our Sectional performance. We were running solid, but not engaging the competition like we would like. This proved to be the case at the State meet too. Even if we had run our best, I am not sure we would have beaten a Lyons team (they took 3rd) that was on a roll. However, we had the capability to be 4th, something that we regrettably did not achieve for one reason or another. In past State meets, we have had one runner not run up to their potential, but not since 2002 have we had more than one not run their best when it counted. The highlight was Connor Horn running the 8th fastest freshman time in the history of the State meet. Overall, it was a great season based on athletes that were willing to work hard and keep a positive attitude. 2012 State Results
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2011 - 3rd Place - 144 points
L-R, Top Row: Nick Bushelle, Alex Stowers, Mark Derrick, Ben Cederoth. Middle Top: Drew Smith, Kyle Blacker, Shelton Boclair, Steven Krauklis, Xander Jacobson. Middle Bottom: Coach Woolley, Coach Rossi, Coach Vandersteen, Coach Janota, Coach Saul, Coach Ragusa. Bottom: Alekh Meka, Robbie Hohlman, Taylor Soltys, Mike Whaley, Brendan O’Connor
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It was another epic Illinois State Meet. The course was a little soft from a lot of rain the prior Thursday and the temperatures were in the mid 60′s with a steady 15mph wind. The course ran about 10 seconds slower than the year before. We ran well, but not well enough to win another State championship. However, we considered ourselves fortunate to be on the trophy stand with a 3rd place finish. It was the 3rd lowest point total (144) in our history. Mark Derrick and Taylor Soltys finished 9th and 10th to lead the team and become All-State runners. Our 3-7 men had never run in this meet before but still ran smart races and ran with a lot of determination. If anything, we may have tried too hard and we tightened up a bit. We had to practically carry Alekh to the awards ceremony because he was hurting so bad after the race. This season defnitely had it’s ups and downs. We started the year off by beating #1 Palatine at the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational but followed that with a 3rd place finish at the Peoria Woodruff Invitational (Taylor did not run and Nick Bushelle dropped out of the race). We managed to win all the rest of the races leading up to the State meet. 2011 State Results
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2010 - 3rd Place - 180 points
Front row (L-R): Josh Ferguson, Matt Hill, Taylor Soltys, Alekh Meka, Brendan O’Connor, Joel Lynn. Second Row (L-R): Hirsh Gaikwad, Josh Antonson, Mark Derrick, Nick Graham, Adam Maltby, Vincenzo Dal Pozzo, Andrew Tout. 3rd Row (L-R): Coach Brian Wurtz, Coach Arnoush Javaherian, Coach Jaime Janota, Coach Paul Vandersteen, Coach Steve Saul, Coach Mike Rossi, Coach Kyle Brady
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With 7 of our top 8 graduating from our 2009 team, it looked like we were in a rebuilding year. Harsha Torke would have been a senior, but he moved to Florida. Super soph, Alekh Meka, had IT issues shortly after our first invitational (he was our 4th man at that meet), and our only returnee from 2009 (Josh Antonson), could not quite get on track due to an iron deficiency. Somehow, we overcame the odds, and were able to put together an amazing season. We were able to do this because of an amazing senior class and two talented juniors. The seniors were academic and aerobic monsters. They put in the miles and their ACT scores will never be matched by another team. Of our top eight seniors, six of them had an ACT score of 34 or 35! We started the season by losing by 1 pt. to Palatine at the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational. We then won every race leading up to the State meet. The State meet saw cool temperatures and a rock, hard course that ran like a track. Our strategy was to go out in 4:53 and slowly pass other runners. We went out a little slower (4:57) and four of our guys ran negative splits from the 1.5 mile mark to the finish. Taylor Soltys was all-state, Mark Derrick ran with one shoe after the mile, Josh Ferguson just dipped under 15:00, and Vincenzo Dal Pozzo passed at least 20 guys the last 600m to run 15:04. Our 5-7 guys ran solid but were not able to replicate the negative splits of the top 4 to take home the top prize. However, it was not a day to hang our heads. We got another trophy and no one considered us a contender when the season began. What was possibly even more amazing, was we were able to qualify for the Nike Cross Country National meet as a team (3rd time) and we were again the top team in Illinois, finishing 12th like the year before. 2010 State Results
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2009 - 1st Place - 99 points
Front row (L-R): Billy Klimczak, Alex Merkley. Second row: Jaffar Mahmoud, Josh Ferguson, Matt Hill, Jordan Lagomarcino, Josh Antonson, Aaron Beattie. Third row: Coach Javaherian, Coach Janota, Coach Vandersteen, Coach Saul, Coach Rossi. Fourth row: Luke Verbus, Carlton Folster, Andrew Tout, David Wing
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We gathered at the River Run subdivision country club house in early June to talk about why we train the way we do and to establish some common goals. Repeatedly, I heard the guys say, ‘we want to win the State championship’. We trained smart and consistently all summer and the team bonded like no other I have ever coached. Running Times magazine decided to follow us throughout the season and a story appeared in their magazine and updates were provided online. Before our first race we made a commitment to run in a pack. At the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational, the guys ran well and won the meet, but we did not run together. We re-committed ourselves to doing so and at the Peoria Woodruff Invitational the next weekend we had 6 guys within arms length of one another at the two mile mark (Beattie was in the front pack). From there on out, we ran as a TEAM. We made history by placing 1-7 at the Upstate Eight Conference meet and that momentum carried us through the State series and some illness to the State meet. Loyola (Chicago) was ranked #1 in the nation going into the State meet. The weather was warm and humid and we stuck to our usual race plan of running together. We were over 100 points out of first at the 1.5 mile mark but we continued to pick guys off as we picked up the pace the latter half of the race. It was not until Phil Lockwood (Illinois Valley Striders) told me we had won, almost 30 minutes after the race, did we know the results. Aaron Beattie (4th) and David Wing (20th) were all-state and our fifth man (Billy Klimczak) finished 35th to enable us to win by 12 pts. What an incredible season capped by a 12th place finish at NXN in Portland, OR. 2009 State Results
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2008 - 4th Place - 146 points
Danny Pawola, third from right, battles for the lead at the State meet
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I learned a lot as a coach during this season. I learned one can never take anything for granted and I was reminded that hard work has no substitutes. We finished this season as possibly the best fourth place team in the history of Illinois. Again, we ran this race with our second man running his first race in over a month. This time, it was Aaron Beattie who was overcoming IT issues. He still managed to run 15:03. During the season, we won three major invitationals and repeated as conference champions. We raced inconsistently throughout the season. Luckily, we did what was possible on the day of the State meet. We were only 4 points out of first at the two mile mark but faded to finish a distant fourth. No regrets. We competed but a trophy just was not in the cards this year. Danny Pawola finished fifth overall to earn his second all-state honor. Only he and Chris Derrick have ever achieved this distinction in our program. 2008 State Results
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2007 - 1st Place - 86 points
2007 State Champions. L-R (front) Luke Verbus, Bryan Winek, Jimmy Riddle. L-R (back) Coach Vandersteen, Mike Ruff, Coach Rohde, Brian Morenus, Connor Shields, Robert James, Kevin Grady, Josh Budnik, Aaron Beattie, Chris Derrick, Danny Pawola, Coach Rossi, Coach Saul, Coach Janota
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A storybook season! We worked our tails off during the summer and entered the season with optimism after some of the guys put up some great times during the track season. We started the year off with a bang, winning the Hornet-Red Devil and Peoria Woodruff Invite in convincing fashion. We then encountered the obstacle of not running with our number two guy, Jimmy Riddle, who was diagnosed with a stress fracture. Aaron Beattie, a sophomore, took his place and we ran the best team time in Culver Invitational history the third week of September. We would go unbeaten. At the Conference meet, we went 1,2,3, against WV and StCN who would later finish 4th and 6th at the State meet. Jimmy ran in the State meet but ran out of gas the last 300m. Luckily, Josh ran his usual steady race and we were able to out-distance York by 19 points. Three guys finished all-state and Kevin Grady ran the race of his life to narrowly miss this honor. Chris Derrick was also the individual champion, running one of the fastest times ever run at Detweiller (13:51.8). His time ranks 2nd all-time at Detweiller and the best time ever run since the course was changed in 2005. After the IHSA season, the guys ran under the club name, Naperville South, and won the Nike Team Regional Meet in Terre Haute, IN. and qualified for the NXN meet in Portland, Oregon. Ranked #1 in the nation, they did not disappoint by winning the national championship and capping off an unbeaten season that may never be matched by another Illinois team. 2007 State Results
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2006 - 9th Place - 300 points
L-R: Jimmy Riddle, Mike Ruff, Danny Pawola, Chris Derrick, Kevin Grady, Josh Budnik, Brian Morenus
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Wow, what an amazing performance considering we only returned our first man from the prior year (Chris Derrick). Senior Tony Parast (5th man on the 2005 team) injured his hip early, and was never able to contribute. We had two All-State performances and four of our top five set pr’s to enable us to finish 9th. All seven men return for the 2007 season! Junior Chris Derrick ran a perfect race to finish 3rd overall running the fastest time (14:21.6) in District 204 history by 25 seconds! Junior Jimmy Riddle also broke the all-time District 204 mark by running 14:44.2. Jimmmy came down with the same virus as other team members, but still managed to run well. Junior Kevin Grady and sophomore Danny Pawola were on their way to recovery while junior Josh Budnik still had the virus during the race. Sophomore Brian Morenus had the greatest improvement from early season meets, running a solid 5th man for us. Junior Mike Ruff ran a great race to finish under 15:30. We won Conference in dramatic fashion 3 weeks earlier, only to have WV and StCN kick our tails by taking 5th and 2nd respectively. As I preached to the guys through the State series, “anything is possible in one week”. Regardless, I was proud of our effort on this day, especially when I reflected on how far we had progressed in one year. 2006 State Results
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2005 - 10th Place - 313 points
Seniors on the 2005 team. L-R back: Ryan Donahue, Brian Rooney, Matt Britten, Ali Kagalwalla, Steve Arves, Joe Murphy, Mike Winek, Andrew Heinz, Sean Parker, Dan Murphy, Jon Peters, Eric Olen, Alake Kashyap, Andrew Dunham, AndrewDonivan, James Nuxoll L-R front: Zach Splan, David Duncan, Spenser Murakami, John Rusch
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The 2005 team was led by the closest and largest group of seniors to date. Their presence was felt as this team surprised everyone. Senior Mike Winek came down with a stress fracture in late June but seniors Matt Britten and James Nuxoll trained hard during the summer and became consistent top-5 performers. Sophomore Chris Derrick mimicked their work ethic and improved by over 3 minutes from his freshman year to emerge as our number one man. The conditions were ideal for the race with temperatures in the high 40’s. Chris Derrick ran an extremely gutsy race and senior Alake Kashyap took a chance and pushed the 2nd mile. The greatest mystery was Spenser’s inability to get out of the race doldrums, but his work ethic will rank him as one of our all-time greats. 2005 State Results
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2004 - 14th Place - 435 points
L-R: Joe Bergelin, Eric Olen, Matt Britten, Mike Winek, Mike Nutt, Alake Kashyap, Ryan Miller, Kevin Pojman, Spenser Murakami
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The 2004 team had no superstars. They lived via a strong pack and they worked their tail-ends off under the leadership of senior Kevin Pojman. Our 1-5 split was 20 seconds!!! We returned 3 guys from our 4th place 2003 team, but the evil IT Band Syndrome prevented seniors Joe Bergelin and Ryan Miller from doing their best. Add a bad sinus infection to Kevin’s plate, and this team did not have any full-strength returnees from the year before. A core group of juniors and senior Mike Nutt stepped up to lead us to a 14th place finish. We almost stole the conference crown that year with Kevin running the race of his career. Junior Spenser Murakami emerged to become our #1 man through the State series. The State meet temperature was relatively warm and the ground was very soggy; subsequently, the times were slower than most State meets. 2004 State Results
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2003 - 4TH PLACE - 195 POINTS
L-R Dan Box, Geoff Houtman, Nick Dunn
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The seniors on this team were determined to do great things. Junior Joe Bergelin had recovered from last season’s stress fracture, senior Geoff Houtman was learning how to run xc, and senior Rick Burke ran an amazing race to become our 5th man. The season was defined by senior Dan Box’s determination to not let history repeat itself. Senior Nick Dunn was our most vocal and effective leader to-date and senior David Krist rebounded from a leg injury to give us momentum going into the State meet. We were conference champions and ran a phenomenal race at Sectionals after a poor showing at Regionals the week before. Naperville North again beat us for the Sectional title but we beat them at State. Lyons and Palatine had great races from a sophomore to beat us by 18 pts. for 2nd place. Nick Dunn ran faster than any District 204 runner in history to finish All-State. Geoff Houtman broke 15:00 to narrowly miss All-State honors. Another defining characteristic of this team was that we were 8 guys strong. I had to make a very difficult decision to replace junior Kevin Pojman, with junior Ryan Miller, after he ran poorly at the Sectional meet. Kevin’s enthusiasm and support for his teammates was another reason we ran well at State. 2003 State Results
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2002 - 15TH PLACE - 368 POINTS
L-R Kevin Pojman, Nick Dunn, Ben Barron 2nd row: Rob Long, Dan Box 3rd row: Will Fortin, Bryan Kruszka
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This team started off the season ranked 4th in the State! And, unlike the year before, we almost won the Rich East Sectional title while being edged out by Naperville North by 4 pts. At the very least, we were hoping for a top 7-8 finish. Obviously, this did not happen. The men can attest that I have never been more disappointed after a race. Ben and Nick ran great and the other five had very poor races. It was because of this race that we were determined to turn it around the following year. Ben Barron was our first all-state runner and Nick Dunn passed 80 guys the last two miles to almost finish all-state. 2002 State Results
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2001 - 10TH PLACE - 326 POINTS
L-R Front: Rob Long, David Krist, Nick Dunn, Greg Wittendorf, L-R Back: Dan Box, Ben Barron, Evan Roberts
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Our first team to qualify for State was in the fall of 2001, the 3rd year with seniors on the team (NVHS was founded in the fall of 1997). We easily qualified by placing 5th in the Rich East Sectional meet, beating Andrew by almost 40 pts. Ben Barron, our #2 runner, had a serious sinus infection and the State meet was his 2nd race back. We were determined to turn it around after others on the team also battled illness earlier in the year. It was the leadership of Greg Wittendorf and the determination of Evan Roberts that was largely responsible for the turn-around. We beat 3/4 teams that beat us at Sectionals to finish a very respectable 10th. 2001 State Results
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