Kankakee Valley High School

Kankakee Valley High School boys' track and field team opened the outdoor season with a win over host Rensselaer Central on Thursday, April 9, 2026. KV won 12 of 16 events with multiple Kougars posting PR performances to start the season. "We came into this meet excited to compete," stated Coach Adams, "after having our first opportunity canceled due to the cold this past Tuesday." Veterans and rookies both showed that they were ready to compete, with a number of the latter figuring into the scoring. On the field events side, Dylan Adams, Ian Swart and Braden Huff, a trio of KV sophomores, won the shot put, high jump, and pole vault respectively, with a pair of third places from junior Max Lyskava in discus and frosh Jackson Tomich in shot put. Freshmen and rookies continued to score for KV in the track events, starting with Noah Knoerzer (1st in 3200m relay and 2nd in 1600m run). Bryce Moore gave KV one of its firsts in the 400m dash followed soon after by Milo Herz with a 3rd in his first ever 3200m race. Other rookie scorers included Matt Ritchie with a 2nd and 3rd place in the 100m and 200m respectively. Ritchie joined teammates Van Kooistra, Tyson Whittington, and Nolen Kooistra for victory in the 400m relay. Van Kooistra, in his high school hurdle debut, topped the field in the 110m high hurdle event and finished a close second in the 300s. Sophomore Joey Patton nabbed third in both hurdles events in his first outing in both. From the veterans, KV earned first from Matt Hoffman in the 1600m run, Owen Sharp in the 800m run, Nolen Kooistra in the 200m dash, and Luke Ehrhardt in the 3200m run. Whittington, Sharp, Hoffman, and Nolen Kooistra joined forces in the 1600m relay to top the field. "We had many, many more PRs, some from veterans, and some from first timers. Yes, first timers are guaranteed a PR in their first outing, but they didn't just go through the motions in establishing their initial mark; they pushed themselves. Hard." KV competes next at Lowell on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.