2014 Ben Craw
Ben Craw - Sophomore

Ben is a second year high school cross country runner and two year letterman. 

Son of Stephen and Donna Craw.


2013 & 2014 Letterman

300 Mile Club in 2013
500 Mile Club in 2014

2014 Scholar/Athlete
2013 & 2014 Sub 30 South Mahomet Loop Run Club
2013 & 2014 Old Dog Club

2013 16 Minute 3 Mile Club
2014 15 Minute 3 Mile Club

2013 Personal Best Time 17:06 (16:19*)
2013 Personal Best 2 Mile Time 11:28
2014 Personal Best Time 15:37 (15:29*)

 #50 Most Improved over a Career List with a 3:05 improvement

2014 Medalist at the Charleston Invitational
2013 & 2014 Medalist at the Springfield Invitational
2014 Medalist at the Metamora Invitational
2014 Medalist at the Conference Meet
2014 Medalist at the State Meet

2014 All-Conference - 5th

2014 State Qualifier - 67th

2014 Il Elite Status at the Springfield Invitational, Conference, & State Meets

Fastest Freshmen Times List for the Charleston, Springfield, PND, E Peoria, & Metamora Invitationals
Fastest Sophomore Times List for the Charleston, Springfield, PND, E Peoria, & Metamora Invitationals, Conference, Regional, & State Meets

2013 News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in September, October, & November
2014 News-Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in September, October, & November
   As a Freshman, Ben joins us with junior high cross country experience.  Ben ran 8th grade cross country and was part of their 4th place State team.  Ben showed us right away that he is a talented runner, but even more so a mentally tough runner.  He ran early workouts in times that were some of the best we have ever seen out of a 9th grade runner.  Ben ran over 300 miles in the summer and joined our team's 300 mile club.  Ben opened up his high school career with a solid time of 18:42 at the Charleston Invitational.  This is a very strong time for a freshman.  He earned a spot on our top 18 fastest freshman times list for the Charleston Invitational.  Ben ran a lifetime best at the Springfield Invitational in the 2 mile freshman race.  His time of 11:28 earned him the 12th spot on our team's all time fastest freshman times list for this invitational.  He earned a medal by placing 7th and helped lead his team to the team championship.  Ben also earned a spot on the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in September.  Ben had a major person lifetime best at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational.  He cut off 1 minute and 37 seconds to run a 17:06.  He helped his team place higher than we have ever had a fresh/soph team place in this invitational.  His time was fast enough to earn him the 12th fastest spot on our all time fastest freshman list for this invitational.  Ben earned enough varsity letter points after this invitational to earn his first varsity letter.  Ben ran a lifetime best at the East Peoria Invitational.  His time of 17:00 was one of the highest finishes that we have ever had at this invitational.  His time earned him the 10th fastest freshman time ever at this invitational for a Mahomet runner.  Ben made his way onto the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in October.  Ben ran an amazing race at the Metamora Invitational.  He broke into the 16s for the first time with a 16:19.  His time earned him the 4th fastest Mahomet freshmen time for the Metamora Invitational.  He also earned the 7th fastest freshmen time ever in our 44 year history of our program.  Ben had another great race at the Conference meet.  He helped his team win the open race for the first time in 28 years.  He proved himself to be one of the best runners in the area and on our 2nd in the State ranked team.  Ben earned a spot on our top 12 State meet series roster.  This is quite a feat for a freshman runner.  Ben ran a solid race at Conference.  He ran a 17:25 on a slow course.  He placed 4th in the open race to help his team win the race for the first time.  His team had a low score of 16.  Ben earned his way onto our team's old dog club by running a sub 5 minute mile in practice.  Ben ran a 4:53.  Ben earned his way onto our team's sub 30 South Mahomet loop club with a 28:56.  Ben earned his way onto the News-Gazette's prep cross country leaders list in November.
    As a sophomore, Ben entered the season with a solid base.  He ran over 500 miles in the summer and joined our team's 500 mile club.  Ben opened up his sophomore year with a lifetime best of 16:03.  He improved 1 minute and 39 seconds from his last year's Charleston Invite time and 1 minute and 3 seconds from his lifetime 3 mile best time.  Ben's time was fast enough to earn him the 4th fastest Mahomet sophomore time at the Charleston Invitational.  Ben placed 9th overall and earned a medal.  Ben helped his team run the fastest top 7 average of any Mahomet team at the Charleston Invitational.  Ben
made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in September.  Ben ran the best race of his life on a sluggish course.  He broke into the 15s for the first time in his life with a 15:57 in the Springfield Invitational.  Ben placed 8th overall and helped his team win the invitational with the lowest score earned at this invitational.  Ben's time and place earned him a spot on our fastest top times sophomore list for the Springfield Invitational.  He helped his team run the fastest top 5 and top 7 team average ever run by a Mahomet team at the Springfield Invitational.  His time earned him Illinois Elite Status at the Springfield Invitational by dyestat.com.  He earned a medal for his 8th place finish.  Ben also earned his second varsity letter after earning enough points at the Springfield Invitational.  Ben ran very well at the Peoria Notre Dame Invitational despite being a little sick.  He ran a solid 6th for our team helping our team place the highest we ever had at this invite.  Ben helped his team place 2nd beating out 19 state ranked teams and 3 nationally ranked teams.  Ben ran a 16:15 which was fast enough to earn him the 6th fastest sophomore time we have ever had at this invitational.  Ben helped our team run the fastest top 7 runner average we have ever had at this invitational.  Ben ran a solid race at the East Peoria Invitational coming off being sick.  He ran a 16:25 which was strong enough to earn the 7th fastest sophomore time Mahomet has ever had at this invitational.  He helped his team win the invitational.  Ben helped his team earn a national ranking of 36 for the week.  Ben earned our team's scholar/athlete award for his strong academic success.  Ben made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in October.  Ben had a great breakthrough at the Metamora Invitational.  He broke 15:30 with a time of 15:29.  Our program has very few athletes under the 15:30 mark.  Ben helped his team win the invitational.  He also helped his team run the fastest top 5 and top 7 runner average at this invite that any Mahomet team has run.  Ben earned a medal by placing 14th.  His time was the 2nd fastest sophomore time we have ever had at this invite.  Ben is showing himself to be one of the strongest runners in the State.  His Metamora time was a 50 second improvement from his 2013 time at the invite.  It was a 28 second improvement on his season best.  He is helping his team to continue to earn the ranking of 2nd in the State and 35th in the nation the week following the Metamora Invite.  Ben ran a lifetime best 3 mile best at the Conference meet with a 15:37.  This time was fast enough to earn him Illinois Elite State by dyestat.  He also earned our team's fastest spot ever for a sophomore at the Conference meet in the past 45 years.  He placed 5th overall earning himself a medal and all-conference status.  He helped his team run the fastest top 5 runner average, fastest top 7 runner average, and lowest score at the Conference meet in the past 45 years with a 22.  Ben had such a strong season that he earned a spot on our team's State meet roster.  Ben made his way onto our team's most improved over a career list by improving over 3 minutes from his first race to his best 3 mile race.  He opened up his high school career with a 18:42 and ran a 15:37 in the Conference meet giving him a 3 minute and 5 second overall improvement.  Ben ran a 16:11 at the Regional meet to place 16th.  He helped his team win the Regional meet.  He helped his team run the fastest top 5 runner average and the fastest top 7 runner average we have ever had a Mahomet team run at the Regional meet.  Ben's time was the 4th fastest time we have ever had a Mahomet sophomore run at the Regional meet.  Ben made his way onto the News Gazette Prep Cross Country Leaders List in November.  Ben was held out of the Sectional meet to rest his legs for State.  Ben had a great race at the State meet where he ran a few seconds of his lifetime 3 mile best.  He ran a 15:41 which earned him the 67th place. Ben ran the 4th fastest Mahomet sophomore time ever run at the State meet.   He helped his team run the fastest top 5 and top 7 runner average we have ever had at the State meet.  Ben earned Illinois Elite Status for his great time.  Ben ended his sophomore year by earning a medal for helping his team win the 2nd place team trophy.