Week of 10/6
Cross Country Athletes and Families,
It's hard to believe, but we only have one more week of cross country before the Conference Meet. All four levels have been running hard and running smart. We're looking forward to a strong finish to our season.
Here's a look at the week ahead:
Monday 10/6: Meet @ Granger vs Granger and Madison (Race Order: 7G, 7B, 8G, 8B) 2721 Stonebridge Blvd, Aurora, IL 60502
Tuesday 10/7: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Wednesday 10/8: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Thursday 10/9: No school
Friday 10/10: No school
Long Weekend Workouts:
Students have 5 days off of school before the Conference Meet on Tuesday, October 14. Our runners have been working hard all season to prepare to run their best race of the season at Conference. With that in mind, we want our runners to get in a few miles over the long weekend. We suggest that teammates try to connect with each other for at least one of the runs; it's much easier to find the motivation to put in the miles when you're running in a pack! Here's the plan:
*Thursday 10/9 - Sunday 10/12: Go for two over distance runs; 2-4 miles apiece. Treat these runs like a normal over distance practice like the Sun Vally Loop or Surrey Ridge Park. Runners should run about 75% of the distance they normally run.
*Monday 10/13: Go for a 1 mile run. No more. The purpose of this workout is just to shake the legs out. We want runners feeling fresh and ready to go at the Conference Meet on Tuesday, 10/14.
Pizza Party
We handed out pizza party permission slips at practice on Thurday and Friday last week. You'll also find the form attached to this email. Please return the form by Monday so we know how much pizza to order.
Conference Meet
The Conference Meet is Tuesday, 10/14 at Frontier Park. You can expect a more detailed email about what to expect next week.
Have a great week!
Coach Weigel, Coach Horan, Coach Aspan
Week of 9/29
Cross Country Athletes and Families,
As we wind down to our last 3 weeks of the season, the coaches are super excited about how the kids are running. Kids are fine tuning race strategies and many ran their best races of the season this past Thursday at the Franklin Invite. We had a large number of athletes earn ribbons for their efforts and had really strong team performances. We will hand out ribbons for those that did not receive them yet at Monday’s practice. The hard work is paying off for sure. We only have one meet this this next week and our last morning practice on Friday.
Week ahead:
Monday 9/29: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Tuesday 9/30: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Wednesday 10/1: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Thursday 10/2: Meet at Gregory vs Gregory and Crone (Race order 7G, 7B, 8G, 8B) 2621 Springdale Cir Naperville, IL 60564
Friday 10/3: Practice 6:30 am - 7:30 am
Have a great week!
Coach Weigel, Coach Horan, Coach Aspan
Week of 9/22
Cross Country Athletes and Families,
Before discussing the week, we wanted everyone to know that our meet on Wednesday at Granger has been rescheduled for Monday, October 6th. We have a meet at home on Monday and the Franklin Invitational on Thursday (more information below). We are also giving the kids Friday off of practice as Thursday is a little later due to the bigger meet and 6 races.
Week ahead:
Monday 9/22: Home Meet vs Still and Gregory (Race order 7G, 7B, 8G, 8B)
Tuesday 9/23: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Wednesday 9/24: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Thursday 9/25: Franklin Invite (Race order Top 7 7G, Top 7 7B, Top 7 8G, Top 7 8B, Open Girls, Open Boys) at Northside Park: 1300 N West Street Wheaton, IL 60187
Friday 9/26: No Practice
Franklin Invite: Link To Franklin's Cross Country Site
This is a great meet and one of our athletes’ favorites each year. There will be a total of 6 races and everyone will have the opportunity to compete. We can only enter our top 7 runners into each of the first 4 races. (7G, 7B, 8G, 8B). We will let those kids know on Tuesday who will be competing in those first 4 races. The rest of the team will run in either the Open Girls Race or the Open Boys Race. Here is a very pencilled in version of the approximate timetable for our races:
7G Top 7: 4:30 (1.6 miles)
7B Top 7: 4:50 (1.6 miles)
8G Top 7: 5:10 (2 miles)
8B Top 7: 5:30 (2 miles)
Open Girls: 5:50 (1.6 miles)
Open Boys: 6:10 (1.6 miles)
These are approximate times and Franklin would prefer to get races in earlier if they can. We anticipate being back to Kennedy with the buses around 7:00 - 7:15. Top 35 kids in each of the 6 races receive ribbons for their efforts.
Have a great week!
Coach Weigel, Coach Horan, Coach Aspan
Week of 9/15
Cross Country Athletes and Families,
We have a fun and busy week ahead. We have two away meets, including one on Wednesday that allows kids to run as their future high school (Naperville North vs Naperville Central). See below for more details about this meet. On Thursday, we have our annual Dairy Queen run, as well.
Week ahead:
Monday 9/15: Away Meet at Hill (vs Jefferson and Hill) 1836 Brookdale Rd Naperville, IL 60563 (Race order 8G, 8B, 7G, 7B)
Tuesday 9/16: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Wednesday 9/17: Away meet at Settlers Hill Cross Country Course. 1996 S. Kirk Road in Geneva (Race order 8G, 8B, 7G, 7B) See Link
Thursday 9/18: Practice 3:00-4:45 Dairy Queen Run (Bring $5 - $10 if you want to participate) (see below for more details)
Friday 9/19: Practice 6:30am-7:30am
DQ Run:
We will run to Dairy Queen (about 1 mile run) and kids will wait in line to buy something to eat for the walk home. We recommend $5 - $10 depending on what they want. Since we have such a large team, we anticipate practice for some kids to run a little long. The kids in the first third of the line, we anticipate, could get back to Kennedy as early as 4:00, but the kids in the last third may not get back until 4:45. We have had kids get back as late as 5:00, depending on how efficient the workers are at DQ.
Cross Town Race on Wednesday:
This is the first year for this event. Kids will wear a Naperville Central or Naperville North t-shirt for their race. All races are 1.5 miles and will compete for their future high school. We are trying to start the meet as close to 4:30 as we can, but it all depends on when we can get buses and we have to wait for all 5 District 203 schools to arrive. I have copied all the information I have received from the race director below. We are super excited about this meet and I think it will be fun for the kids.
From the Meet Director:
The best address for the Course is 1996 S. Kirk Road in Geneva. This is the address for the Fox Valley Ice Arena, and the Course is directly behind the Ice Arena. You can also tell people to go to our website www.chicagotrack.org for full information on the Course. The Spectator Info page has an interactive map for people to get driving directions. Please note that this page says there is a $4 spectator admission fee. We will NOT be charging your spectators. This fee is normally only for our weekend meets.
Use this link to view information about Settlers Hill, Parking, and access to the course. The site mentions an admission fee, there will be NO admission fee for anyone attending the meet. https://www.chicagotrack.org/parking
Finish line & Scoring:
Scoring will be done by John Weigel from Kennedy. We will email the results of each grade level, stating if North or Central won that race.
Finish line/timing: As runners enter the shoot, they will be given a small, circular white, sticker with their place on it. They are responsible to give pass that information on to coaches.
Timing results: I will email PDF’s of each race to everyone that supplied an email. It will give you places and the time, you just need to match the number students give you to the numbers on the document. The document will NOT have names/schools/NCHS/NNHS listed.
We will start the meet once all teams are present and warmed up. Our goal is to start by 4:30 at the latest.
Water: The facility will provide cups and water for the finish line; we are responsible for filling them up. Please remind your runners that we should be leaving no garbage on the course!
Timer: We will have a digital timer at the finish line
Start: there will be a starter at the meet, using a starters pistol to start each race
Food: Kona Ice and a Hotdog vendor will be present at the meet
Have a great week!
Coach Weigel, Coach Horan, Coach Aspan
Week of 9/8
Cross Country Athletes and Families,
We had another great week of cross country and a pretty busy one ahead. Friday morning may have been our best practice yet as kids are starting to challenge themselves and run farther than they ever thought they could. This next week, we have another home meet on Monday and our first away meet on Wednesday. (more information below about that). Our spirit wear store has been open but will close in two days, so get your orders in if you want something!
Week ahead:
Monday 9/8: Home Meet vs Scullen and Washington in the back field at Kennedy (Race order 8G, 8B, 7G, 7B)
Tuesday 9/9: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Wednesday 9/10: Away meet at Lincoln (vs Lincoln and Madison) 1320 Olympus Dr.Naperville, IL 60565 (Race order 8G, 8B, 7G, 7B)
Thursday 9/11: Practice 3:00-4:30
Friday 9/13: Practice 6:30am-7:30am
Wednesday’s away meet:
Transportation:
We provide bussing to and from all meets. When at all possible, we ask that students ride the bus to and from the meet with us. We want students to root on other runners before and after their own race. The time on the bus is also a nice opportunity for building team unity. With that being said, we understand that there are sometimes circumstances that prevent your student from returning with the team. In instances where you need to take your student-athlete with you from the meet, we ask that you communicate with one of the coaches AND sign your student out in the sign out binder we will have with us at all meets.
Have a great week!
Coach Weigel, Coach Horan, Coach Aspan
Week of 9/1
Cross Country Athletes and Families,
I hope everyone has had a great holiday weekend. Below is information about the week ahead. We have our first meet on Wednesday and picture day is Thursday during practice. We handed out uniforms on Friday, so if your son/daughrer was not at practice on Friday, they can pick one up from us at practice on Tuesday.
Week ahead:
Monday 9/1: No Practice
Tuesday 9/2: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Wednesday 9/3: Home Meet in the back field at Kennedy (Race order 8G, 8B, 7G, 7B)
Thursday 9/4: Practice 3:00-4:30 (TEAM PICTURE DAY- BRING UNIFORMS) Ordering Information
Friday 9/5: Practice 6:30am-7:30am
Meet on Wednesday:
The most asked questions about the meets is about when it will start. The short answer is that we start as close to 4:00 as possible, but we cannot start until after all schools arrive and have had a chance to warm-up. Races go off approximately every 20 minutes after we are able to start the race.
Ideally the time line would look like the following:
4:00: 8th grade Girls
4:25: 8th Grade Boys
4:45: 7th Grade Girls
5:05: 7th Grade Boys
We do have to wait for Fischer and Lincoln to arrive, so realistically the first race usually goes off around 4:30.
Picture Day on Thursday:
Kids will get into their uniforms after school and we will take 4 different groups photos (8G, 8B, 7G, 7B). We will be done with practice at our usual time. Here is the link to ordering information.
Have a great week!
Coach Weigel, Coach Horan, Coach Aspan
jweigel@naperville203.org
mhoran@naperville203.org
saspan@naperville203.org
Week of 8/27
Cross Country Athletes and Families,
Welcome to KJHS Cross Country 2025! We have 150 student-athletes signed up to participate this year! We are excited to begin another season at Kennedy. Each week we will send out information about the week ahead to keep you up to date. I will start with the important information for the week ahead. Below that , we will outline some of our philosophy, as well, and a little bit about the season.
Week Ahead
Monday 8/25: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Tuesday 8/26: Practice 3:00-4:30
Wednesday 8/27: Practice 3:00-4:30
Thursday 8/28: Practice 3:00-4:30
Friday 8/29: Practice 6:30am-7:30am (We will hand out uniforms at this practice)
We have had a great first week of practice (3 days last week) and have a great group of kids that seem eager and ready for the season ahead. Below outlines some of what to expect during the season.
Time Commitment:
Our season runs from August 20th to October 15th. We practice or have a meet every day school is in session. If an unexpected cancellation occurs, that will be communicated via school-wide announcements as well as the Remind App. With the exception of Friday morning practices (6:30am-7:30am), Cross Country occurs after school. We want the kids at practice as often as they are able to. With that being said, we understand that many kids have other commitments on certain days (club soccer, music lessons, religious classes, etc.). If your student is able to stay until at least 4PM, we encourage them to attend practice. If you need to pick them up prior to 4pm, we’d prefer they not attend and get a run in at home instead. (We travel off-campus for most practices. We can’t ensure we’d be back on time).
On practice days, please make arrangements for your student-athlete to be picked up at 4:30PM. Coaches must stay until all students are picked up, so your promptness and cooperation is greatly appreciated. Each coach has kids and familial responsibilities outside of school. Repeated late pickups may result in a student-athlete being unable to continue participating in the sport.
**Information regarding length of meets is detailed more specifically in the “Meet” subheading down below.**
Meets:
Order of Events: For the first half of the season races will occur in the following order: 8th grade girls, 8th grade boys, 7th grade girls, 7th grade boys. We will communicate to you when the order flip-flops to allow 7th grade to run first.
Transportation:
We provide bussing to and from all meets. When at all possible, we ask that students ride the bus to and from the meet with us. We want students to root on other runners before and after their own race. The time on the bus is also a nice opportunity for building team unity. With that being said, we understand that there are sometimes circumstances that prevent your student from returning with the team. In instances where you need to take your student-athlete with you from the meet, we ask that you communicate with one of the coaches AND sign your student out in the sign out binder we will have with us at all meets.
Timing of Meets:
We will inevitably be asked to predict when races will be completed. It is difficult for us to provide specific start times for meets as we are at the mercy of the transportation department. Once a meet begins, please plan on approximately 20 minutes between the end of one race and the start of the next. In an effort to help facilitate communication about when meets are completed and we are on our way back to Kennedy, the coaching staff will be using the Remind app. See below if you’d like more information on how the coaching staff can communicate directly with you during meets.
Remind App:
We will be using the Remind app to send out information during meets. Remind is a free app that can be used to send out large group texts. Your phone number will not be shared with the coaches or other families. We will use the app to let you know when meets are expected to begin (based on arrival of other teams) as well as when buses are departing for Kennedy after away meets. With 130 athletes and race day responsibilities, we are not able to monitor the app. Please DO NOT send us incoming messages as we will not use this platform to respond to you. We do not monitor incoming messages. Our only purpose for using Remind is to send outgoing time-sensitive communication to our large group.
Athletes and families can sign up. Please sign up Here:
Our Team Philosophy:
Cross Country season is something all three of us coaches really look forward to! Our motto is one we have been sharing with North Central College in Naperville for several years. It is “Run for Fun and Personal Best!” We honor personal improvement above all else. Nothing satisfies the coaches (and hopefully the runners) more than an athlete running faster than they ever have before. Personal improvement for all kids is what we focus on. Through goal setting, teamwork, commitment, dedication, and fun, we hope to achieve this for everyone. All we ask is that the kids come to us with a positive attitude, the desire to encourage teammates, and a willingness to work hard to get better.
Communication:
In order to report a scheduled absence or share a question/concern, email is a great option.
John Weigel (Boy’s Coach) jweigel@naperville203.org
Matt Horan (Girl’s Coach) mhoran@naperville203.org
Stephanie Aspan (Assistant Coach) saspan@naperville203.org
We are fortunate to once again have staff member, Mr. Kyle Hall, volunteering to help support our team and act as a volunteer coach this season. We are appreciative of his time and commitment. Please continue to direct any questions, concerns, or absences to the three of us listed above.
All the best and looking forward to a great season!