Milesplit senior editor Cory Mull caught up with Dylan Jacobs and Danny Kilrea on the first day of NXN festivities.
Currently two of the best distance runners in the country happen to be future University of Notre Dame student-athletes Dylan Jacobs and Danny Kilrea. The seniors from Sandburg and Lyons Township High Schools have some unfinished business to conduct over the next two weekends. This Saturday is the Nike Cross Nationals and an opportunity to earn All-American honors as a starter kit. Both runners are ranked in the FLO 50 Individual rankings. If all goes to the form charts we could see some serious hardware brought back home to Illinois.
For Kilrea, he is ranked #2 in the US and will have his left out teammates when he toes the line on Saturday. The Lions missed out making the dance as an at-large entry. Kilrea will be competing in his third straight title race and will look to massively improve from his 13th plade finish last year.
Jacobs will also be in his 3rd championship race on Saturday. He placed 189th as a sophomore and 11th last year. If Jacobs is on his game on Saturday he could challenge for a top 2-3 spot. Those who have followed cross country this season will know that he ran 13:57 for three miles. That attention will still means something and will be on the minds of his competitors entering the race on Saturday.