Kankakee Valley High School

Kankakee Valley High School boys' cross country team placed six runners in the top 12 to win the KV Invitational on Saturday, August 30, 2025. In the nine-team field, 8 teams scored, with KV at 39, Twin Lakes at 72, and Tri-County in third place with 97. Senior Matt Hoffman led from the gun with only one other runner following his pace. Just past the half-way mark, he picked up the pace to open up what became a 27-second margin. Hoffman's time was nearly identical to his late season time from last year on KV's home course. Junior Markus Terborg 6th with a near-PR effort, followed by Owen Sharp in 9th. Luke Ehrhardt chopped more than a minute off of his time last week -- and a minute and a half off of last year's effort -- to set a new PR. "Markus' performance is no surprise," commented Coach Adams, "knowing the miles that he ran over the summer. He will surprise some competitors this year, though not his teammates. Luke crossed the line in near disbelief of his time. He's starting to figure out the mental component of racing." Super-frosh Milo Herz and Noah Knoerzer continue to show early promise, each lowering their times from last week. Herz's 13th place and Knoerzer's 15th place positioned them as the first and second freshmen in the field of 64 runners. "Both of these guys placed ahead of all but the number 1 or number 2 runners of all of the other teams." Along with Knoerzer, junior Trent Hooper (19th place) -- in just his second race of high school -- proved his worth. Both runners served as "pushers," placing ahead of other teams' scoring runners to give those teams a higher score. Garrett Boer regained some health to run 21:50; Chase Vander Meer set a new PR at 22:21; and Grant Duttlinger ran 25:01, more than 2 minutes faster than last year. Cross country competes this Saturday at the Harrison Invitational at the Tippecanoe Amphitheater.