Darren Kinnard/River Radio Sports Central
MARION — The 2022 cross country season ended with a bang for Marion’s Dylon Nalley, as he won the 2A individual state championship at Detweiller Park in Peoria with a time of 14:44.
If ‘22 ended with a bang, then the ‘23 season has started with a full blown explosion.
Nalley opened the season by running a 14:08 to win the Granite City Invitational. Not only was it a course record, it was the top high school 3 mile time in the country.
And Nalley keeps breaking records.
He won the Forest Park Cross Country Festival in Missouri, not only setting another course record, but becoming the first runner in the event’s 18 year history to break 15:00 in the full 5K event.
Then Saturday, Nalley won the Richard Spring Invitational in Peoria, lowering his national-best 3 mile time to 14:00.20, breaking the meet record previously held by five-time NCAA All-American Jon Davis by 10 seconds.
Nalley certainly grabbed the attention of the running world, especially college coaches. He says his number of Instagram followers has jumped, with many being college coaches. Nalley says Ole Miss, Iowa and Tulsa are currently his top 3 schools, but added that he’s not in a hurry to make that decision just yet.
