Summer Speaker Series
Each Sunday, the team will hear from exceptional speakers who will provide guidance on training, racing, mental preparation, nutrition, healthy living, and injury prevention.  Speakers will include accomplished coaches and collegiate athletes.
Dr. Stephen Almada
Dr. Almada has been a Chicago health psychologist and consultant since 1986. He began his consulting services while completing his post-doctoral fellowship in Preventive Medicine at the Northwestern University Medical School. Dr. Almada developed the Mindfulness Eating Training Program and the Stronger Than Stress Training Program. He has used these programs working with individuals from a variety of professional backgrounds, families, and athletes. He has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as professional journals. He has also served as an exercise and health consultant for Chicago television news stations including WBBM, WLS, and WGN. In addition to television, Dr. Almada has presented lectures to organizations including the Chicago Area Runners Association and Citigroup.
​
Ryan Doorhy
Ryan competed for Hinsdale Central High School on both the track and cross-country teams. He was a member of multiple State-qualifying teams. Ryan ran collegiately for George Washington University in Washington, DC. Ryan holds PR's of 1:57 for 800M and 3:59 for 1500M.
​
Dylan Jacobs
Dylan graduated from Carl Sandburg High School in 2018. During his time there, he was all-state five times on the track, including three state championships. He won the 1600 his senior year and was a part of a state champion 4x800 team two times, including a state record his sophomore season. Dylan was also a part of a national championship team in the 4xmile his sophomore season at New Balance Indoor Nationals. Moving to cross country, Dylan was a two-time all-state runner and a four-time cross country All-American. He is most well known for winning the Footlocker National Championship in 2017 and breaking the 14-minute mark on the historic Detweiller Park.
​
Dylan has competed at Notre Dame since 2018 and was a part of one ACC championship team in cross country, one national champion Distance Medley Relay team on the track, and one national runner-up in cross-country. He also was an All-American in cross country in 2019 and 2020. He has been an all-ACC two times in cross country and once on the track.
​
Noah Lawrence
Noah Lawrence graduated from York High School in 1998. He was captain of the Cross Country team his senior year, and was teammates with athletes who would later go on to be Olympians and National Champions. Lawrence attended Grinnell College and competed in Cross Country and Track there before graduating with a degree in History in 2002.
After brief stints as a teacher at Lamoni High School and as a graduate student and volunteer assistant XC/Track Coach at University of Iowa Lawrence began teaching at Hinsdale Central in 2005. He is a social studies teacher and assistant coach for the Cross Country and Track and Field teams. In this capacity, he was able to experience winning state championships in 2013 and in 2014. Lawrence still runs with the team he coaches during most practices. He lives in Willowbrook with his wife Megan and daughters Clio (5) and Alexis (3).
​
Margaret O'Brien
Margaret runs Division I cross-country and track for Saint Louis University, part of the Atlantic 10 Conference. She graduated from Fenwick in 2018, winning All-State awards in the 3200M. At SLU, she competes in 5ks and 6ks during cross-country, the 3k and occasionally the mile indoors and 5k outdoors. During her college career, her team’s highest place finish has been 5th in Atlantic 10 Conference, and 22nd in the NCAA Midwest region. SLU is nationally ranked for team GPA, and has been named to the NCAA All-Academic team for the past two years. Additionally, Margaret is the chair for the SLU mental health sub-committee on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, and does work to address student athlete mental health at the college level.
​
Kevin Roche
Being a John Wooden buff, Coach Roche strives to teach life lessons through the sport of distance running. And since he is a distance runner himself, he recognizes the value of the 'trial of miles' that all distance runners face. Helping runners mature into young adults as they struggle with the hurdles that they face with the sport is one of his greatest joys. Coach Roche is also a student of the sport as he continuously reads books, listens to podcasts, and networks with other coaches to discuss leading practices. He has volunteered at university camp, is a certified Cross Country Specialist through USATF, and through USTFCCCA an Endurance Specialist, a Strength and Conditioning Coach, and a Level 1 Track Coach. He also is Reflexive Performance Reset and Shoe Fit certified.
Coach Roche has coached 11 All State athletes in his 10 years of coaching. His teams have also placed 4th, 5th, 17th, and 18th, in state cross country in his 10 seasons. He also takes much pride in watching kids in the back of the pack find tremendous progress - He has had three milers drop from 31:09 to 23:57, from 26:53 to 18:50, from 30:44 to a 21:03, and an astonishing 32:29 to a 21:38.
​
Kevin Salvano
A 2016 graduation of Buffalo Grove High School, Kevin was All-State three times in cross country and won the 2015 3A individual title as a senior, leading his team to sixth place. On the track, he ran 9:10 for 3200m indoors and 9:04 outdoors.
​
Kevin competed for the University of Notre Dame from 2016-2021. He was part of two ACC Championship cross country teams, a top ten team at NCAAs, and a national runner-up at NCAAs. He was Great Lakes All-Region in cross country and ran 28:54 for 10,000m on the track. This season, Kevin received All-ACC honors for his 4th place finish in the 10,000m.
​
Vince Zona
Vince graduated from Lyons Township High School in 2017, where he was All-State in cross country twice, including a 2015 6th place individual finish as a junior, while leading his team to 2nd place overall in the State and 9th place overall at Nike Cross Nationals. On the track Vince was All-State 4 times, highlighted by 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the 4x8 and a 6th place finish in the 4x4. He also ran 4:14 for 1600m as a junior.
Vince has competed for the University of Notre Dame since 2017. He was part of the 2018 ACC Championship Cross Country team and the 2019 ACC Championship Distance Medley Relay. In the 2019 indoor season, Vince was the 13th fastest 800m runner in the ACC. He has run 1:51 for 800m, 4:07 for a mile, and 24:34 for 8000m in Cross Country.
​