Mike Kennedy

(Head Coach) Email Coach Kennedy

A National Board Certified Physics Teacher at Neuqua Valley, Coach Mike Kennedy is in his 5th year as the Head Track and Field Coach and his 9th year with the program. During his tenure, Kennedy has seen the team grow so large that a tryout process had to be instituted. In 2006, the team placed 5th in the state of Illinois, the highest in team history. That same year, Kennedy was named as AA Track and Field Coach of the Year.

During his time with the Neuqua Valley team, Kennedy has coached numerous state qualifiers as well as All-State relays and athletes. In 2005, Kennedy coached Prince Riley to become the first Track and Field State Champion for Neuqua Valley.

Kennedy competed in Track and Field for Marist High School and for the University of Chicago mainly as a 400m hurdler. He also coached Track and Field and Cross-Country at Marist High School from 1997-2000 in addition to Cross-Country for Neuqua Valley from 2000-2003.

James Janota

(Assistant Coach – Distance) Email Coach Janota

James Janota has been active in Cross Country and Track and Field since the age of 10. He graduated from Holy Cross High School in 1994 and remains one of the most accomplished runners in that school’s history, earning most valuable honors four out of his eight total seasons. He earned both of his degrees from Dominican University; a Bachelor’s degree in English Education in 1998 and a Master’s degree in Educational Administration in 2002. James was recently awarded National Board Certification by the National Board of Education in November 2008.

James began his professional career at Saint Patrick High School in Chicago where he served as both an Assistant Cross Country Coach for two years and an Assistant Track and Field Coach for four years. In 2000, Dominican University, his alma mater, sanctioned its first Cross Country Team in its over 100 year history, and James was tapped to head up both the men’s and women’s programs. During his tenure for both these schools, he has coached numerous athletes who have become conference champions and state qualifiers.

Now in his eleventh overall year of coaching, James begins his seventh year at Neuqua Valley as both a member of the Men’s Cross Country and Men’s Track and Field coaching staffs. Coach Janota is responsible for the success of the distance runners in the Spring. He also loves funnel cakes and spicy chickens from Wendy’s.

Steve Saul

(Assistant Coach – Sprints) Email Coach Saul

Coach Saul is in his third year of teaching English and coaching cross country and track at Neuqua Valley High School. Coach Saul graduated from Illinois State University in May of 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in English education. A native of Lisle, Il, Coach Saul attended Benet Academy and graduated in 2001. Initially, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with an aspiration to be an architect, but switched majors and schools after an introductory education class evoked a passion for teaching and working with youth.

Coach Saul’s competitive running career spanned from a race he entered “just for fun” in fourth grade to his junior year of college. At Benet, he was a freshman/sophomore captain for his first two years and a varsity captain as a junior and senior. Senior year, Coach Saul led his team to an East Suburban Catholic Conference championship and qualified for the state cross country meet as an individual. His best 3 mile high school time was 14:34. Also an avid track runner, coach Saul was a varsity track captain in high school and qualified for state with his 4×800m relay team and as an individual in the 1600m run (personal best 4:24).

A competitive collegiate running career at UWM provided Coach Saul with a wealth of Division I experience as he participated in meets that featured perennial powerhouses such as Colorado, Wisconsin, Stanford, and Michigan. As team captain during his sophomore cross-country season, Coach Saul earned all-league honors as he led his team to a fourth place finish. After transferring to Illinois State to pursue his degree in education, Coach Saul ended his collegiate running career with personal bests in the Mile (4:17) the 8000m run (25:30) and the 5000m run (14:53). He is currently training for the Boston Marathon this spring.

Coach Ragusa

(Assistant Coach- Jumps/Pole Vault) Email Coach Ragusa

Coach Ragusa is in his first year teaching Chemistry and coaching track and field. Coach Ragusa graduated from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in May of 2009 with a Bachelor in Science, specializing in Chemistry. While at U of I, Coach Ragusa also worked in a research lab working on applications with Nanotechnology.

Growing up in Naperville, Coach Ragusa is a Neuqua Valley Alumni who started his track and field career at Neuqua Valley as a sprinter and  pole vaulter. By the end of his career as a Neuqua Valley athlete, Coach Ragusa held school records in the 4X200m Relay indoor and outdoor, the 4×100m Relay outdoors, and the Outdoor pole vault record.  He qualified down to the Illinois State track meet in both the polevault and 4×200m relay. Coach Ragusa continued his track career at the University of Illinois where he pole vaulted for the Fighting Illini for 4 years, earning Academic-All-Big-Ten awards and jumping a best of 4.91m in the pole vault. Coach Ragusa helped coach his younger brother, Nick, break his pole vault school record, and he now also jumps at the college level for Illinois State University.

Coach Ricca

(Assistant Coach – Throws) Email Coach Ricca

Coming Soon!

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