Coaches: John Weigel (Head Boys Coach) Matt Horan (Head Girls Coach) Stephanie Aspan (Assistant Coach)
Week of 8/24
Cross Country Athletes and Families,
Welcome to KJHS Cross Country 2026! As of now, we have 138 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. We 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.
Here is the link for our spirit wear store. https://waistupstores.com/kennedy_cross_country/shop/home (Orders must be in by the Monday of Labor Day.)
Week ahead:
Monday 8/24: Practice 3:00 - 4:30
Tuesday 8/25: Practice 3:00-4:30
Wednesday 8/26: Practice 3:00-4:30
Thursday 8/27: Practice 3:00-4:30
Friday 8/28: Practice 6:30 am-7:15 am (We will hand out uniforms at this practice)
We have had a great first week of practice (4 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 18th to October 13th. 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 through this communication platform. 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.**
Order of Events at Meets:
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.
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 a 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!
Coach Weigel, Coach Horan, Coach Aspan