2025 Times Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year: Ottawa’s Weston Averkamp

Throughout his successful prep track career, recent Ottawa High School graduate Weston Averkamp said he had a simple plan of attack since the day he decided to make the hurdles his passion.

Focusing on a smaller goal right in front of him instead of a bigger one far off in the distance.

One hurdle at a time, so to speak.

“As a freshman and sophomore, my goals were short-term and day-to-day, like just running a little faster time than the time before or have better form than the time before. If I could do that, I was happy,” Averkamp said. “I think if you only have big picture goals as your only focus, you’re going to be discouraged, because those goals take a while and a lot of work to achieve.

“All of those little victories I had started to add up, and with that my confidence started to grow as well. Even though I didn’t know it back then as a freshman when I decided to try track, it has been the perfect sport for me. I love working out, and I love that in track you get out of it what you put in it. There aren’t really any shortcuts.”

In his senior season this past spring, Averkamp capped off a tremendous career as a Pirate — winning a pair of Class 3A medals at the IHSA State Finals on Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field. He ran a personal best 38.35 seconds to finish third in the 300-meter hurdles, the program’s highest state place since 2006, and took seventh in the 110 hurdles at 14.44.

Averkamp is the 2025 Times Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year, an honor he also received in 2024. He will continue his academic and track career at EIU in Charleston this fall.

As a junior, Averkamp captured a Class 3A sectional championship in 300 hurdles and also earned a sixth-place medal at the state finals while also recording a sectional runner-up and qualified for state in the 100 hurdles

“Just like my first two years at state, I was nervous this year, but I didn’t really have the adrenaline rush this year when I got there,” Averkamp said. “I started to wonder why, especially with knowing how great of times the other guys had put up in the sectionals. I was calm, and I think it was I just knew I had the ability and the trust that my training would take over.”

During the regular season, Averkamp combined to finish in first place in 13 of 15 races, including winning both hurdles events at the Sterling Gene Shipley Invitation and the Illinois Valley Invitational, as well as the Interstate 8 Conference Meet for the second straight year.

“Knowing I would be more of the hunted made me train harder last offseason,” Averkamp said. “I like being the hunter, but most of this year I had to use being the one that everyone else wanted to beat to my advantage. I was hunting for finishing first instead of catching someone that I felt was faster.

“Then at state I was able to get back in the hunter mode, which helped me run even better. That said, I also had to stick with what has worked for me and not overthink or change anything.”

At the Class 3A Minooka Sectional, he finished first in both the 110-meter (14.48 seconds) and 300 hurdles (39.33). Then in the state preliminaries, he placed sixth (14.44 seconds) in his 110 and third (38.06) in the 300.

“I’d say I accomplished my goals,” Averkamp said. “Would finishing first have been great? Sure, but even if I had, I would have been looking online to see what times state champions from other states ran. I ran well at state and earned medals, but that’s not going to stop me from wanting to get even better. My form can still be better, so that’s something that will always drive me.”