MINOOKA — Coming into the 2012 cross country season, a lot was made locally about Minooka boys runner Joey Santillo, a senior who had placed 12th at the state meet the year before as a junior.

Senior Alex Pierce also garnered a lot of attention as well. Although he didn't place high at state like Santillo, he did manage to place 65th, giving a lot of promise for the two runners to come back next season and have even bigger senior years.

"I knew Joe and I had to be leaders as we were the top seniors coming in," Pierce said. "We had to do the right things to make ourselves successful as a team."