If someone three years ago told Danny Kilrea ‘18 that every day after practice he’d be hooked up to a sequential gradient pump to reduce the amount of lymphatic fluids in his legs, he would have given you a bizarre look. However, knowing full well his potential and capabilities, Kilrea came into this cross-country season ready to take care of his body and make sure that he didn’t have another season-ending injury.

Just as Kilrea was hitting his stride as an elite runner about halfway through his freshman year, he found out that he had two stress fractures in his left leg and couldn’t finish the season. This year, coaches have brought in pumps, such as the one Kilrea uses, to help reduce injuries by pumping blood through the body.

“It was hard to adjust from middle school to high school,” Kilrea said. “I kept working even when I was injured. I did a lot of swimming and really rebounded during track.”

That hardship didn’t slow him down in the slightest but rather made him only faster and stronger. Going into the year with a personal record at 16:43 for the three-mile, Kilrea managed to shatter that with a 14:47 pace at the Peoria Central Invitational on Oct. 3. This skyrocketed him into a second place ranking in the nation for his age group, just behind a runner from the York High School, Charlie Kern Jr.

“He’s been more confident in his running,” Coach Tom Stukel said. “Confidence goes a long way when it comes to the pain you have to endure to do three miles in under 15 minutes.”

Some of the more experienced upperclassmen varsity runners such as Matt Begeman ‘16, Connor Madell ‘16 and Vincent Zona ‘17 have helped in mentoring Kilrea as far as being a smart runner with precaution to injury while also noticing his hard work ethic.

“[Kilrea] doesn’t care who is in a race with him or if he went out too fast or if he is in a bad position,” Zona said. “He just does what we need him to do.”

One of the biggest goals for the team going forward is being able to finish as high, or better than the team did last year with a third in state run, according to Kilrea.

“I like finishing something that I’ve started,” Kilrea said. “It hurt that I didn’t get the chance to improve on my times last year and it’s really become an open book now.”