Jane Addams Cross-Country Teams Finish Record-Breaking Season

BOLINGBROOK, IL — This year, the cross-country program at Jane Addams Middle School had its most successful season in the program's history.

For the first time, the district sent a boys and girls team to the IESA state championship meet.

“It was our white whale for years.” Coach Adam Thas said. Thas has been a coach of the program, along with Mark Setchell, since the program began in 2003. “We’ve gotten over 150 kids to state,
and over a dozen teams to state, but the thing that eluded us all these years was two teams to State the same year.”

“It was getting frustrating. We’ve sent over 150 kids to State and over a dozen teams through the
years, we’ve come close a few teams, but this was the year," Setchell said.

The boys team also qualified last year, and this year's team included returning state qualifiers
Yonathan Tsegay, Owen Jones, Alex Zuniga, Jewan Garner, Yorachukwu Ifeajekwu and Brayan Segundo.

"We knew the boys were going to be good, we were surprised by how good though," Thas said. The boys team captured seventh place overall at the state meet.

Thas said the biggest change for the boys this season was the emergence of eighth grader Yonathan Tsegay as one of the top runners in Illinois, who remained undefeated during the entire regular season.

Yonathan also finished in sixth place individually at the state championship meet.

“After our first home race, Yonathan beat Minooka’s top guy by 50 seconds, I pulled him aside and asked him if he cut the course. When he said he didn’t, I knew he was going to have a special season," Thas said.

Yonathan broke the school and district records this season, by running two miles in 10 minutes and 34 seconds, Thas said.

“We’d put our top four boys against any other top four in the state," Setchell said.

The girls team also had quite the successful season.

“We knew we had a good 1-2 punch but weren’t sure how our 3,4,5 would pan out," Thas said of the team. The team included seventh grader Jett Garner and returning state qualifier and team captain eighth grader Adrianna Johnson. This year, newcomers eighth graders E’niyah Emery and Aleyna Manis and sixth grader Michaela Curin also joined the team.

“All the girls did their part but E’niyah joining the team was our turning point,” Setchell said. The girls finished 16-5 during regular season, but knew they would have to battle for a qualifying spot at sectional competition.

Woodridge and Oak Park were likely to grab the first two qualifying spots, so Addams needed to battle with 12 other teams, including Lemont and Evanston for third place.

“When I saw Emery finish in front of Evanston’s second girl I thought we had it but when Aleyna came in at the time she did, I knew we qualified," Thas said.

The two teams competed at the state meet on Oct. 15.

Led again by Adrianna Johnson, who finished 61st; the girls team ended the season in 24th place.

“The hard part for the girls was getting there, the boys goal from day one though was a State trophy," Thas said.

Unfortunately, Addams fell slightly short of that goal, missing fourth place by only 40 points and finishing seventh at state.

"When you get to that level, you need to be perfect to get a trophy, and we weren’t perfect," Thas said. Addams still finished higher than any team in school history, and Yonathan finished higher than any boy runner in district history.

"It has been an all-time great season here. These kids worked their tail off and deserve all the praise. We couldn’t be prouder," Setchell said.