Kankakee Valley High School

Kankakee Valley High School boys' cross country competed in the Rennselaer Central sectional race on Saturday, October 18, 2025. After a lightning delay, KV took the course and finished second in the field of fourteen schools behind defending champions DeMotte Christian. The top five teams advance to run in the Regional race next Saturday at New Prairie. Senior Matt Hoffman pulled away mid-race to take individual honors, posting a decisive 32 second margin over the nearest competitor. "We got some life back in Matt's legs today," explained Coach Adams, "so that he had something left in that last mile. Today, he closed in nearly the same pace as he opened." The victory is Hoffman's first sectional championship in cross country. Knowing that his team was down its second man today due to illness, junior Luke Ehrhardt stepped up. By the 1k mark, he carved out a spot in the top ten and then dug in to place fifth in the field of 83 runners. "Luke was 33rd last year. He has matured physically, mentally, competitively. He is a poster-child for the value of being a multi-sport athlete. Luke proves that one does not have to specialize in one sport to become a better athlete." Other runners for KV: Milo Herz, freshman, 20th place in 18:05; Markus Terborg, junior, 21st place in 18:20; Noah Knoerzer, freshman, 24th place in 18:38; Trent Hooper, junior, 30th place in 18:55; Grant Duttlinger, sophomore, 70th place in 23:05 "We still aren't where we want to be as a team to compete for the top spot," cited Adams. "Five of our eight runners today had no sectional experience, three of them rookies to cross country. I'm very proud of how they didn't fold under pressure in today's race; I'm proud that from the beginning they told themselves that they could do the hard work and would trust the program to bring them along. We continue to grow athletes. They gave proof of that today."