Cross country: Kaneland's Richtmans doing it right, on and off course

Two weeks ago when Kaneland's Rachel Richtman won the Knights' 48th annual Larry Eddington invitational, the sophomore had the unique distinction of being the first runner into the chute and also one of the last to leave.

Except for Richtman, and her older brother Matt, it's not that unique.

That's because as soon as Richtman finished winning the race, she didn't turn to celebrate with her teammates, coaches, family or friends.

She stayed at the back of chute and congratulated every runner she could who finished after her. It was an especially hot day, and if any runner was struggling after finishing the race, Richtman would go grab them a water.

For the couple runners who were about to collapse, Richtman put her arm around their shoulder and helped guide them to the medical staff.

“Nice job, way to go, there's water down there if you need it,” Richtman would say to one runner after another, even runners finishing a good 10 or 15 minutes after her winning time of 17:58. 

When asked where she learned such an impressive act of sportsmanship, Rachel credited her brother, a senior who also won the boys Eddington race that day and did the exact same thing after winning.

“I learned it from my brother, he likes to help the guys,” Rachel Richtman said. “Because everyone needs a little something after the race especially these girls who have already cleared out and their teammates have found their other teammates. I just like to cheer them on and ask them if they need anything because cross country is definitely a hard sport and you need a lot of support.”

Matt Richtman, who won the Eddington boys race in 15:14, said he wants to build support and camaraderie for every cross country runner, not just himself or his own team.

“At Sycamore, the first meet last year, I just came across the line and was really looking for teammates and see how my team did, and I figured while I was there why not congratulate everyone,” Richtman said. “They all had a good race, they should all get good encouragement. I've just kind of followed that.”

“That's been Matt's moniker for a season-and-a-half,” Kaneland coach Chad Clarey said. “Last year after every race he would stop, turn around and greet all the runners when they came in. He does that, and his teammates follow that lead.”

The Richtmans are the second and third in their family to run at Kaneland following their older sister Becca, who is now at Winona State. They also have a couple uncles in California who are avid runners.

“Both my parents were not runners when they were in high school,” Matt Richtman said. “My mom runs now for fitness. My dad's side of the family I do have a couple uncles who run. When Becca started track in 7th grade and loved it, I decided to try and loved it.”

And that passed on to the youngest of the three, Rachel.

“Once he said ‘Oh, this is fun,' I thought I'd like to try,” Rachel Richtman said. “It's more of a rivalry with my sister and I with times but it's more of a friendly thing. It's all friendly and no hard feelings.”

Matt Richtman finished fourth at the 2A state meet last year. Rachel Richtman also made all-state last year, taking 18th as a freshman.

In addition to the Eddington championships this fall, Matt won over a big field earlier this month in Peoria, and Rachel owns a championship at Wauconda.

“He's (Matt) racing hard,” Clarey said. “He had opportunities for other elite runners to be out in front of him and for him to challenge and run them down at Peoria which is how we practice with him because we don't have anybody else that can run with him.

“At the Eddington he was in the lead the entire time and had to use that mindset and different race strategies to be willing to hold him (runner-up Zach Albrecht from Jacbos) off which he did.”

Kaneland heads to the Pretzel Invitational this weekend. However the season ends for the Richtmans — and a couple more high state finishes look quite possible — you can bet the good sportsmanship will continue.

“That's what my dad really likes about it (cross country),” Matt Richtman said. “He always comments in football the other team, you never say good job or anything like that. You end the game with a feeling that I really want to come back and beat them next time. Cross country you can finish a race, whether you win or lose, you've had a good race, you enjoyed running with them, so it's really a whole group. You are all running together to get a good time.”