Jake and Luke Hoffert become first brothers to finish 1-2 in IHSA State Meet; Yorkville holds off Mahomet-Seymour and Illiana Christian for back to back titles.

By Michael Newman

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Peoria, Ill – In most of the races that Jake & Luke Hoffert (Yorkville HS) have run against 2A competition this season, they force the pace and dare you to come after them. It was the opposite for the two in the 2A Boys race on Saturday afternoon at the IHSA State Cross Country Meet at Detweiller Park. In the end, the outcome was the same.

Jake Hoffert broke away in the final 500 meters to capture the individual state championship running 14:30. His brother Luke was close behind only one second back. “He just outkicked me at the end,” Luke said of his brother Jake.  “The one ending race of my career I wanted to beat him.”

The two Yorkville runners again took the lead going by the half mile in 2:15. Caleb Hummer (Danville HS) and Shane Williamson (Vernon Hills HS) followed behind. Jake & Luke along with Hummer went by the mile in 4:43 with one second back. It was evident that Hummer was not going to go away quietly. The race pack was three seconds behind the quartet.

Williamson was starting to fade but only two seconds back behind the trio as passed the 2 mile in 9:43. Instead of the Hofferts pushing the pace, Hummer went ahead to force the issue. As they turned north along Route 29, Hummer took off using the gentle decline to his advantage opening up a 15 meter lead. “I didn’t think I was going to catch him. He made a strong move with 1200 meters to go,” Jake said.

Hummer still had that 15 meter lead as he passed the entrance and exit of the triangle. Just before the he made the final three point turn on the course to head for home, Hummer’s lead started to shrink as he was feeling the effects of his early move. The Hofferts moved as the made the s-curve to head down the final stretch. Hummer did what he had do in the race. Now he was paying the price in the final stretch. Williamson, Alex Keeble (Mahomet-Seymour HS), and Colin DeYoung (Illiana Christian HS, Lansing) all passed Hummer in the final 20 meters as he finished. It was still all-state but not the place that he wanted.

“I went out there and gave it my all,” Hummer told Chad Dare of the Danville Commercial News. “I was the only one that wanted to compete with the Hofferts today. So I was force to run their race. I tried as hard as I could. I tried to win it, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case today.”

“The twins ran a patient race, their race, and didn't panic when Hummer made his moves.  They are great leaders and veteran runners that set a great tone for the rest of the boys this week,” said Yorkville Coach Chris Muth. “It was a joy to see the Hoffert boys develop over the last four years. It's very rare to get a pair of such hard working kids who are so humble and come with such a great family. They are a great pair and any college that gets them next year will be better off because of them.”

The 1-2 finish by the two brothers was a big plus for the fortunes of the Foxes. Yorkville won the Boys Team title to compete the 2A team sweep in Boys and Girls. They scored 105 points to out distance Mahomet-Seymour and Illiana Christian. Trevor Willis (29^th), Zack Price (53^rd), and Alexx Nauman (64^th) were the other runners in the top five that helped Yorkville their second team title in a row.

“In the past two weeks Trevor as our three, has really broken out and established himself as a quality runner in his own right and  nothing was different at the state meet, he ran within his abilities and was strong throughout,” added Muth. “This week's 4 and 5 runners were both very young runners in freshman Zack Price and sophomore Alexx Nauman who have worked really hard all year and it was just a matter of time before everything started to click for them.  We knew they were upcoming talent, but were extremely excited to see the times they posted on such a big stage, as well as it being their first state experiences.”

Mahomet-Seymour capped off a great season with a second place finish scoring 134 points. The Bulldogs had two all-state runners leading the way with Keeble’s 4^th place finish and William Wolf finishing 18^th. “Our 2014 team did well in my opinion because they genuinely care a lot about each other,” said Mahomet-Seymour Coach Neal Garrison. “They encourage and motivate each other all year.  As a coach it was tough to limit our State team to 7 runners as we had 9 runners who had run in the top 5 throughout the season.”

Illiana Christian captured their second consecutive top three trophy with a third place finish paced by all-state runs by Colin DeYoung (5^th) and Nick Wondaal (9^th). Springfield did not get on the podium but ran their best team race of the season to place fourth scoring 187 points. They were 15 points behind Iliana Christian.