Nitz finishes strong, gains all-state

HUNTLEY — Huntley senior Tommy Nitz completed his cross country career with back-to-back IHSA Cross Country State Meet all-state honors.

Nitz finished in 11^th place at the Class 3A Boys State Meet with a time of 14:25.70, at Detweiller Park in Peoria Nov. 9. The time was a personal best and beat his pre-state meet goal of 14:30. Nitz had finished 21^st last year, also an all-state honor.

HHS cross country head coach Matt Kaplan commented on Nitz’s state meet performance.

“The plan is to be prepared for a fast start and Nitz did a great job getting out in the 1st mile,” Kaplan said. “With a half mile to go he started to move up and with the final 400 you just go as hard as you can go. Nitz ran a great plan and ran a new best.”

Girls state meet

Huntley finished in 10^th place with 363 points at the Class 3A Girls State meet.

“The girls’ 10th place is the best finish in team history,” Kaplan said. “We had almost every girl run a new personal best on the day. The girls did a great job competing and finished as hard as they could. Finishing top 10, gives this team a lot of confidence moving forward to next season.”

The Red Raiders girls team finished in 10^th place at the Class 3A Girls State Meet with 363 points.

Isabella Ciesla, a junior, was the first finisher for HHS with a time of 17:42.90 for 46^th place.

Junior Cori Kilvinger ended in 74^th place with a time of 18:00.50; sophomore Haley Rahman was 108^th, 18:18.40; junior Aspen Maldonado ran a personal best 18:21.40, 113^th and senior Mackenzie Billard finished in 18:29.40, a personal best 137^th.