Kankakee Valley High School

Kankakee Valley High School boys' cross country runner Matt Hoffman participated in the IHSAA State meet on Saturday, November 1, 2025, where he placed 29th overall in the field of 250 runners, representing 91 teams, narrowly missing All-State recognition. He placed 47th last year, in his first trip to a State competition. "I knew that Matt was going to race well today," stated Coach Adams. "He has been ahead of last year's marks for much of the season, and he was feeling well today. He knows how to run a smart race on this course. Many runners get sucked up in the excitement early...and then crash and burn." Hoffman went through the opening mile in 4:52, with more than 60 runners ahead of him. Over the next 2.1 miles, he cut than number in half to post the best finish as well as fastest time by KV male runner in the state meet since 1987. Hoffman's time of 15:46.98 now places him as number 4 in the list of Kougars at State, eclipsed only by John Van Soest (15:39.4 in 1985), Sean Kostelnik (15:35.0 in 1987), and Steve Hoffman (15:34 SR in 1987). Advancing from last week's New Prairie super-regional last week on the strength of his 9th place finish, Hoffman notched the highest finish Saturday of any runner in NW Indiana.