Congrats to the winner of September’s leader of the pack, senior cross country captain, Patrick Holbrook.

Holbrook did not expect the win, especially because the poll was hacked.

“I was surprised that I won the award because I didn’t tell many people about it. But the loyalty and support of my team helped spread the word and lead me to a win,” Holbrook said.

Coach Michael Grossman  believes Holbrook deserves the victory more than anyone because of his hard work before and after practice as well as his stellar performance at meets.

“Patrick deserves this award because his hard work, dedication, and leadership reflect well on our program. Given that Patrick could not run freshman year due to medical reasons– he has placed himself as one of the best distance runners in Niles West school history,” Grossman said.

Holbrook is hoping to continue his running career beyond high school as well.

“Right now I’m deep in the college application process, and I’m not totally sure where I will end up, but I hope to run. D1 would be hard; however, I’ve looked at a couple D3 schools such as Emory University where I would be a great fit for the team. Even if I end up at a school where I do not fit the program, I will definitely pursue running outside of a competitive team through a running club or something of the sort,” Holbrook said.

After a staggering 21,113 votes to the poll, the winner ended with a total of 11,068 votes. Although the votes had been compromised due to an unfortunate hacking incident, the person who was ahead vote-wise before the results were discredited will be named the winner.