As freshman Tommy Nitz slipped off his warm-up jacket and sweatpants, he took a deep breath and glanced down at his bright blue spikes to make sure the laces were nice and tight.

‘This is it,’ he thought.

The IHSA 2021 cross country state meet. He stretched his legs one more time and headed to the line. The whistle pierced the air. He prepared himself and got in position. It was so quiet that the faint breeze sounded like it was screaming. BOOM. The gun went off, and the race began. 

Nitz is the second freshman in Huntley High School history to individually qualify for boys cross country state. 

“Honestly, I was in shock for most of it,” Nitz said. “I can’t even really put how I feel about it into words.” 

Nitz ended up placing 111 out of 233 in the varsity boys 3A race, with a time of 15 minutes, 37 seconds.

Nitz was the only boy who qualified, but the entire varsity girls team also qualified for the state meet. The team consisted of seniors Delaney Cairns, Madison Grubbs, and Genevieve Collatz; juniors Breanna Burak, Brittney Burak, and Molly Allen; and sophomore Ava Allison.

The girls placed 19th out of the 28 schools that competed with Allen coming in the lead with 33rd place and a new school record of 17 minutes, 32 seconds. This record was previously broken by Breanna Burak earlier in the season. 

“Going into the race I did not expect to [break the record], but then I got to the mile and I saw the opportunity to go for it,” Allen said. “There were a lot of personal records and everyone did amazing.”

According to Allen, the girls all went out there to accomplish something, and most of them succeeded with flying colors. It really was something to be proud of. 

“I’m really proud of the girls and Tommy,” coach Matthew Kaplan said. “We had a great season.”