Benet Academy’s Finn Richards improves on his fifth-place finish last year at state
Finn Richards of Hinsdale set a school record and won first place at the IHSA state cross country meet Nov. 9 at Dettweiler Park in Peoria, but he’s not satisfied. He said he has more to give the sport.
“It was pretty nice to be able to accomplish what I wanted to do,” the Benet Academy senior said. “At the end of the day, I still feel like I can do more.
“I don’t think this is the end,” he added. “I celebrated for a bit, but now I’m back to work. It was good, but it was not the capstone.”
Richards, who placed fifth at state last year, said his goal going into the meet was to set a personal record, which he did with a time of 14:21.30, breaking a school record he set earlier this season. He said he has never trained as hard as he did this year, running twice a day four days a week in the summer and continuing that schedule into the first months of the school year. He also biked in the mornings and lifted weights in the afternoon. Maintaining that rigorous of a schedule was tough, he acknowledged.
“It kind of hurt my grades a bit,” he said. “I was able to find a balance and work on both academics and athletics pretty well. I had to sacrifice some social time and some sleep, but it was well worth the sacrifice.”
Benet cross county coach Kevin Renicker said winning state has been Richards’ goal since he broke a time of 15 minutes his sophomore year.
“He said, ‘I want to be All-State. I want to win it,’ ” Renicker recalled. “I said, ‘These are big goals. We have to approach it carefully.’ ”
In addition to his work ethic, Richards brings a level of self-awareness to his training, his coach said.
“Finn is just a really smart and intuitive athlete. He knows what his body can handle and what it can’t, and he feeds me that information,” Renicker said.
Richards, who lost his younger brother, Sean, two summers ago, said thoughts of his brother inspired him during training.
“Any time I’d be in a good amount of pain, I’d remember I’ve been in a lot more than that,” he said. “Going into the race, I not only realized that Sean would probably be in that race on that team on that day if he were still here, but also that he’d want me to win. He’s cheered for me on the sidelines. I knew I could do it with his help.”
Richards was surrounded by his teammates, who qualified as a team and ended up placing 17th. Richards said they were thrilled with his victory.
“They were ecstatic,” he said. “I don’t think they really cared about their own race as much as they did mine, which is extremely supportive, but also kind of worrisome.”
Richards has had a big influence on younger members of the team, Renicker said.
“He is not the individual that is in front commanding, but his presence commands, and people watch and people listen,” he said. “He really leads by example.”
Renicker praised Richards for his involvement outside of sports. He is about to earn his Eagle Scout rank, is active in his church and coordinates athletes to go to Mass before competitions, Renicker said.
“He’s the whole rounded picture.”
Central girls compete
Six members of the Hinsdale Central girls cross country team competed at the state meet Nov. 9 at Dettweiler Park in Peoria.
Junior Lily Hodneland, who placed 15th with a time of 17:53.60, was the top finisher for the Red Devils, who finished 19th as a team.
Sophomore Ella Satre also finished in the top 20, coming in 16th with a time of 17:54.84.
Also competing for Central were sophomores Morgan Kohn, 34th (18:22.03), and Evelyn Skay, 64th (19:06.45); and juniors Addie Krogstie, 74th (19:19.20), and Grace Gruber, 92nd (19:45.89).
