Northwest suburbs Male Athlete of the Year: Hersey's Josh Methner

He was supposed to be just a spectator, cheering on a friend.

But Josh Methner couldn't help himself last fall. Eventually, he found himself doing what he does best. Running.

"It was just for about eight miles," Methner said with a laugh. "That's all."

Methner, a star cross country and track runner at Hersey and one of the best of all time in Illinois state history, was at the Chicago Marathon in October, watching his former Hersey teammate Quinn Cunningham run the race.

But as Cunningham approached, Methner felt compelled to do more for his friend than just cheer from afar.

"I decided to jump in so that I could help pace him," Methner said. "I had no idea how far I'd go, but it ended up being around eight miles. It was probably at the 12-mile mark through the 20-mile mark, which are some of the toughest miles.

"I held his water bottle for awhile. I helped him keep his pace and just ran along with him. I think it helped him. It was fun."

Running has always been fun for Methner since he tried out competitive running as a sixth grader.

He was a natural talent and by the time he entered high school, he was one of the best runners on his team, placing seventh in the state cross country meet as a sophomore.

Last fall, as a senior at Hersey, he won his second straight IHSA cross country state championship (with a 13:49.86 for the 3-mile course), and broke a 47-year-old record in the process.

Methner's sustained greatness and his record-setting efforts set the stage for him to be named the Daily Herald's 2019-20 Male Athlete of the Year for the Northwest suburbs.

Some of Methner's other notable accomplishment's include a national championship at the Footlocker meet in San Diego last fall and a national runner-up finish at the Nike meet in Portland. He won a state track championship in the spring of 2019 and was a favorite to defend his title this spring but was unable to do so due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's very easy to get caught up in Josh's results, but what people don't see is his passion for excellence on a daily basis," Hersey cross country coach Kevin Young said. "He was truly a student of the sport. He continually improved upon his craft, whether it be nutritionally, his auxiliary systems, his strength, his mental fortitude, his race strategy, or his leadership. Accomplishing that record-setting performance at this year's state meet took turning over every rock, and Josh was up for that challenge."

The next challenge for Methner is the college circuit.

He accepted a scholarship to Notre Dame after an intense recruiting process in which he could have gone to virtually any school in the country. Methner's other two finalists were North Carolina and Wisconsin.

"It was hard to choose, there are so many nice college teams out there," Methner said. "Notre Dame is a great school and the team is really good. Last year, they placed eighth at the national meet and they've got all their runners coming back. We're looking to win a national championship. I think at least a top four finish is very attainable."

Methner, who will likely major in finance or business technology, isn't sure what his exact role at Notre Dame might be this fall, but he's looking forward to starting over.

"I'm looking forward to being one of the slower kids on the team, one of the youngest. I'm looking forward to training with guys who are faster than me and better than me," Methner said. "There is always more to learn and I want to be around some guys I can look up to and who can help me improve.

"I know I won't be the best and I'm looking forward to that."

All Methner needs to do to remember when he was the best is to look back to the not-so-distant past.

His record-breaking run at the cross country state finals last fall will be ingrained in his memory forever.

"A mile into that race, I saw my split and then I saw the second-mile split and I was doing the math in my head and I realized that I had a chance (to break the record)," Methner said. "The last mile, the last 1,000 meters, the last 50, I just got these second winds and I was really pushing it and it helped because there were fans on each side at the end, three rows deep and they all knew (about the record) and they were cheering like I've never heard before and it was so cool. It's on video and everything, and that helped me finish hard.

"I will always remember that. It was a really cool feeling. That record has a lot of weight to it, and it gives me a lot of confidence for my future that I can hang with some of these older guys in front of me."