Boys cross country: Yorkville sophomore Owen Horeni is the Record Newspapers athlete of the year

With Owen Horeni, athletic ability is in the DNA.

His parents were both soccer players, and both have run marathons. Horeni joined them on 5Ks as a kid, and took up running competitively in middle school.

The Yorkville sophomore has blazed quite a path since.

As a freshman he ran on Yorkville’s state champion 4x400 relay team, and was eighth at state track in the 800-meter run.

It continued to take a historic turn this fall. With Horeni and senior Jake Younger leading the way, Yorkville finished 16th at the Class 3A state meet – the top team finish in school history. Horeni, 58th individually in 15:07.08, entered the Foxes’ top 20 all-time performance list at Detweiller Park. This, after taking sixth at conference, 11th in regionals and ninth at sectionals.

“With his hard work and competitiveness, it will be great to to see him reach even more of his potential in the years to come,” Yorkville coach Chris Muth said. “Most importantly he is a great young man, very coachable and a loyal teammate.”

For those achievements, Owen Horeni is the Record Newspapers boys cross country Athlete of the Year.

Here is Horeni’s Q&A with Joshua Welge.

Welge: What did it mean to lead your team to its best-ever finish at state?

Horeni: Honestly it felt great through the entire season but I have to give credit where credit is due and give it to Jake Younger for leading us to our highest finish. He ran amazingly.

Welge: I think I saw you had one of the top runs by a Yorkville boy at Detweiller Park. How’d you feel about your run?

Horeni: Yep, fifth in school history. It was really cool to be a part of something like that knowing that my name is going to be on our board for as long as the school stands.

Welge: What were other highlights for you this season?

Horeni: I believe I’m also third in school history for the 5K, so that’s pretty cool too. I also love running the Naperville Twilight. It’s just an amazing experience and we always race good there.

Welge: How did you get started in running? What got you into it and when did you start?

Horeni: My parents used to run tons of marathons so I grew up around running. I ran a few mile races and 5K’s with them when I was young. I started running consistently when I was in fifth grade and I haven’t looked back since.

Welge: Do you have a mentor or role model you look up to?

Horeni: One of my biggest role models is a guy who graduated last year, Ben Whaley. He was my training partner all through track season and without him, I really don’t know if I’d be as good as I am now. My dad, too, he’s the first person who asked me if I wanted to go on a run with him when I was younger.

Welge: Have you played any other sports besides cross country and track?

Horeni: I played soccer for about seven years beforehand because both my parents were soccer players for Oswego. My mom was actually the first person to score on their woman’s soccer team so that’s pretty cool. I also played baseball for about the same amount of time.

Welge: Do you have a race day routine or superstition?

Horeni: I’m really big on doing everything as close as I can to the same on a normal day. I don’t put a focus on race days, other than what I eat, because I feel like my nerves take over when I do that. I also always have a headband on when I race, so I guess that could be considered something I need to have every time.

Welge: What’s the toughest course you’ve run on? Favorite course?

Horeni: The toughest course I’ve run on would have to be the Les Borstad Golf Course in Minnesota, where we run the Roy Griak Invite. It’s a 5K, really hill, it’s all rolling hills and measured just a little bit long. The combination of all those things makes it more difficult compared to the normal courses we run. My favorite course is probably Naperville North because we run on a track for a half mile, and the track is where I normally exceed.

Welge: Outside of cross country...do you have a favorite TV show or movie?

Horeni: My favorite movie of all time is probably Without Limits. It’s a movie about Steve Prefontaine and I really like his mindset and try to replicate it most that I can. Outside of running movies, though, it’s probably Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It never fails to make me laugh.

Welge: What’s the last book you read?

Horeni: The last book I read was Lord of the Flies for school. The last book I read outside of school was Dante’s Inferno. I would love to read Purgatorio and Paradiso but we don’t have them at my house. I love learning about religion and I read the Bible as much as I can.