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34 | December 1, 2016 | The Lockport Legend LOckport lockportlegend.com Athlete of the Week 10 Questions CLASSIFIEDS Help Wanted · Garage Sales · Automotive Real Estate · Rentals · Merchandise Sell It 708.326.9170 | Fax It 708.326.9179 Charge It | DEADLINE - Friday at 3pm Automotive Real Estate $52 4 lines/ 7 papers Help Wanted $50 7 lines/ 7 papers Merchandise $13 per line 4 lines/ 7 papers $30 4 lines/ 7 papers with Christian Schultz Christian Schultz is a senior at Lockport Township and a member of the Porters boys basketball team. How did you start playing basketball? I first started playing basketball in second grade, and I loved it ever since. What do you love about it? I love playing with my teammates and working hard, making everyone around me better. What is your favorite memory of playing? It was an AAU game. I caught a fast break, dunked and everyone went crazy. FREE FREE FREE CLASSIFIED MERCHANDISE ADS!!! In this tough economy, we'll give you a free merchandise adtotaling $100 or less. · Write your FREE ad in 30 words or less. · One free ad per week. · Same ad may not be submitted more than 3 times. · The total selling price of your ad must not exceed $100. · Ads will be published on a space available basis. · Free Ads are Not Guaranteed to Run! GUARANTEE Your Merchandise Ad To Run! Ad Copy Here (please print): $30 for 7 Papers Free Merchandise Ad - All Seven Papers What are your goals for the season? I want to win a regional and take it from there. I want everyone to play good. As a senior, how would you define your role on the team this year? I want to do whatever it takes to win. Whatever coach [Brett Hespell] wants me to do, I’ll do it. Do you have any pregame rituals? I listen to my favorite album, “Temple of the Dog.” It’s a great album. Do your teammates have any nicknames for you? “Slim.” Who is your biggest role model? I look up to LeBron [James] because he came from nothing. To see where he is now, it’s just a great story. What is the mostplayed song in your music library right now? Erin Redmond/22nd Century Media I listen to so much music, but I love the song “Kitchenware & Candy Bars” by the Stone Temple Pilots. Do you play any other sports? No, but I think I might do track or volleyball in the spring. I don’t know which one yet. Interview by Assistant Editor Erin Redmond Merchandise Pre-Paid Ad Name: Address City/State/Zip Phone Payment Method(paid ads only) Check enclosed Money Order Credit Card Credit Card Orders Only Credit Card # Signature ® $30! 4 lines! 7 papers! Exp Date Please cut this form out and mail or fax it back to us at: 22nd Century Media 11516 W. 183rd St, Suite #3 Unit SW Orland Park, IL 60467 FAX: 708.326.9179 Circle One:
lockportlegend.com SPORTS the Lockport Legend | December 1, 2016 | 35 LTHS grad watches youngest child match his cross country greatness Father-son duo makes history as Minooka runner wins 2016 state title Randy Whalen Freelance Reporter When Jim Knudsen won the Class AA individual cross country state title as a senior at Lockport Township on Nov. 13, 1981, it was a great moment in his life, but it was nothing compared to what happened Nov. 5 of this year. That is because Knudsen was once again on hand at Detweiller Park in Peoria — the same site of his triumph 35 years before — but this time it was to watch his youngest son, Soren, capture the state title. They are the first fatherson state champions in the 70-year state history of the sport. Soren, a senior at Minooka Community High School, won the Class 3A individual state championship in a time of 14:02 to beat Lyons Township junior Danny Kilrea by six seconds and become the Indians’ first individual champion in the sport. His time was the 10th-best on the course dating back to 1971, and he beat his dad’s time (14:22) by 20 seconds. It was an emotional experience for the elder Knudsen to watch his son accomplish the same feat he did. “I started crying when I saw him at the two-mile mark,” Jim said. “That’s because I could see how he was running, I could see it developing. “There was definitely no comparison. It was an accomplishment for me, but [to see his son win it] was something to dream of. You want it, but to witness it was just surreal.” Soon after the race, Jim, his wife, Sally, and Soren all got to embrace. For Soren, that was the best part. “When I hugged my parents, that was pure happiness,” Soren said. “That was the best moment of my life. To share that, it’s really special, and it was just a pure moment.” Soren knew of his dad’s accomplishments at Lockport more than three decades ago. Now not only did he join him as the first father-son state champions in Illinois history, it is believed that only four other father-son duos have won championships in the U.S. “I heard a lot about it,” Soren said of becoming the first father-son pair in the state to pull off the feat. “But after the finish, it took and hour or so to set in. Then I realized the magnitude of two state champions in the family, and it was really cool. “We hadn’t talked about [Jim’s state championship] that much beforehand, but I certainly gained the knowledge of how good he was and what it meant to be a state champion.” While Soren won by six seconds, the split between the Top 5 runners was the fastest ever. Sandburg junior Dylan Jacobs (14:10), York junior Charlie Kern (14:12) and Lake Zurich senior Brian Griffith (14:14) rounded out the Top 5. In many other years, including last year, any one of them would have won with those times. “There was no clear favorite, and all five of us could have won the race,” Soren said. “Actually, the first five minutes or so of the race, I was uncomfortable. I can’t put my finger on why; it might have been due to the speed. But then things came to me, and the second half was picture perfect.” Picture perfect is a term his dad used, too. “Soren understands that bond between us,” Jim said. “[His junior year] he missed six weeks beforehand with a stress fracture and another two weeks in season, but this year he was focused and on track. He barely missed a day, and his training was about picture perfect.” When it comes to running, the Knudsen family has also been picture perfect. Sally ran cross country and track at Joliet West. Jim not only won the cross country state title, he placed second in the 3,200-meter run in track in both his junior and senior seasons at Lockport. He then went on to run at Kansas State. Jim and Sally’s oldest son, Cam, is a redshirt junior at the University of St. Francis. There, he has garnered All-American honors in track this past spring in the 1,500-meter run and also helped the Saints to a fourth-place finish in the nation at the 2015 NAIA Cross County Championship. “They are both into their craft, and each has different ways of going about things,” Jim said. “Cam is calm, and I was more intense. Soren is calm but can bring is up a notch. Both played multiple sports when they were younger, but Soren started running a little earlier.” While Soren started running at a young age, he did not really concentrate on the sport until two years ago. “I started in fifth grade,” he said. “But I didn’t take it seriously until my sophomore year. I made it to state that year in cross country [placing 163rd in class 3A with a time of 15:48], and after that I told myself to either do it or stop wasting my time. I have a chance to be good, and it’s time to get really serious.” That is what he did, improving dramatically his junior year to place 11th (14:36) in the state. That was nearly identical to Jim, who placed ninth his junior year. After coming this far in two short years, Soren is not stopping. He recently signed his letter of intent to run at Northern Arizona University next year. As of Nov. 1, the Lumberjacks were unanimously ranked No. 1 in the nation. In the winter, Soren swims at Minooka. Then it is track season, and he has lofty goals to finish his high school career on another high note. “I’ve been swimming since sophomore year,” Soren said. “I have fun with my teammates while staying in shape, but I don’t have the pressure to win every race.” Although he has put pressure on himself to win a couple of races in the spring. “I want to win two races at state in track season,” Soren said. “The mile is for sure one of them, but I’m not sure yet if the other is the 800 or the 3,200.” One thing is for sure Former cross country state champion at Lockport Township, Jim Knudsen (right) poses for a photo Nov. 5 with his son, Soren (middle) — who won the state championship this year at Minooka Community High School — and his wife, Sally. Photo submitted though — the Knudsen family all love and support each other, but they will not be running together in training. “We’re all too competitive,” Jim said. “We don’t run together, and we don’t play board games together. We could all be training in the same place, but we’d all go out and run completely different paths.” That has proven to be a winning formula for the Knudsens. Attention Builders: Advertise with 22nd Century Media Reach 92,000+ Southwest Suburban homes. ® Contact Lora Healy 708.326.9170 ext. 31 l.healy@22ndcenturymedia.com
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