Reflections of High School Running in Illinois in 2012: Some of my top moments

By Michael Newman

One of the perks of covering a state meet is talking to each state champion. This time, it was state record holder Madeline Perez of Glenbard West. Thanks to Madeline for sending this picture in.

We are getting near the end of 2012. What a year it has been in running in the state of Illinois. I have been fortunate to see many events in so many places throughout the state of Illinois. I never have done a year in review before. I thought it would be a unique thing to do to end the year for Illinois Prep Harrier.

I started the year covering Boys running throughout Illinois for Dyestat Illinois. I ended the year in a different place, a creation of mine, Illinois Prep Harrier. I was able to cover everything in Cross Country this fall both Boys and Girls. It stretched me a couple of times but it was worth it.

I tried to summarize my highlights month by month. I think if would have done it in that format, I would still be writing this in 2014. Instead, I want to take a look at some of the top moments of the year in both track and cross country.

I did not rank them. I am just doing this in random order.

1                     The rise of Madeline Perez and Girls Distance Running in Illinois

The junior from Glenbard West caught my eye in the first race of the season at the Hornet Red-Devil Invitational in Hinsdale. Madeline Perez was a runner that in the preseason I thought would be a runner that may challenge for the top 5 in November. When she ran 16:59 on the rolling course at Katherine Legge Memorial, I thought that she may be running much faster by the time of the state meet.

Perez did not have a perfect season by any means. Early in the year, she was defeated in consecutive weeks by Kaylee Flanagan of Lake Park. The second race at Detweiller Park, Perez finished second running 16:29. Flanagan broke the course record running 16:20.3. Fans started to talk of what Flanagan could run in November. No talk about Perez and what she could do. She came down with an upper repertory and sinus infection that slowed her down for the next month.

When she recovered, she had found the gear that she was missing earlier in the year. She just missed the course record that Flanagan had set earlier in the year at Lake Park by one second. The big thing was that she defeated Flanagan by over 40 seconds. Two weeks later at the state meet, I was on the lead truck watching Perez move away from the pack. When she passed by the 2 mile in 10:36, everyone at the park on that day knew something special was going to happen.  She shattered the course record by 18 seconds. She just missed breaking 16 minutes by two seconds, but considering that she is a junior, she will have a couple of chances to take the record down further in 2013.

The improvement in Girls Distance running had a staggering effect which I think will continue to grow during this track season. Four years ago, the winning time in the girl’s 3A race was 17:09. In 2012, that time would not have even placed in the top 25. Perez improved her state time in one year by over one minute. The same improvement could be said about runner up Emma Fisher of York where her time was a minute faster.

We could see some special times this spring. Could the 4 x 8 record be broken after it was only set a year ago by Wheaton-Warrenville South? Are we looking at low 4:40 times in the 1600? Last year, the 3200 was won in 10:28. I would not be surprised if it goes under 10:15 at the end of May at state.

2                     A grand way to send a track to retirement

The plans for O’Brien Stadium in Charleston were to put a new football surface in after the conclusion of the Boys state track meet. As always, the state meet brought many exciting finishes and outstanding performances.

The one race that will be etched in my mind forever was the last race on that blue oval: the Class 3A 4 x 400 Meter Relay. It wasn’t who won the race but how the race was run. If you were to ask me which school was crowned the champion in that race, I would have to go back and look at my notes. I did not remember that Belleville West held off Minooka and Bloom to win the race. I did remember the sacrifice that Derek Suss of Plainfield North made for his team. This is what I wrote in my recap of the meet starting with Suss in the third leg:

James Cole had the baton for Belleville West, Tevin Hopkins for Minooka, and Derrick Suss for Plainfield North. Coming around the first turn, Suss made a move to try to take the lead. All of a sudden he slowed down and popped into the air. In 2011, he was out all season with a hamstring injury. That injury hit him again. He crumpled to the ground in pain.

The announcer called for a trainer as the rest of the race moved by Suss. The young man got up and waved everyone away from him. This was the senior’s last race and he was going to finish it. “I was going to finish that race. In my mind, no one was going to stop me,” Suss said while he received medical attention.

The race was still going on, but it seemed that all the attention of the remaining crowd had their eyes on Suss. Bloom Townships Kaleb Williams made a move on the outside to get his team into contention. The final leg had Tevin Suggs of Belleville West holding off Chris Wilson of Minooka and Micah Frasier of Bloom Township for the win. It was the first win in this relay for Belleville West. It was also the first for Belleville West coach Patton Seagraves. When he ran at Harrisburg, he anchored their 4 x 4 relays all 4 years, but could never win the title. On this day, Suss delivered to give Seagraves that winning satisfaction.

Suss was still trying to make it around the track as the rest of the runners finished. And he was going to finish. He was moving slowly. But he was getting encouragement. Man he was getting encouragement. All the athletes on the infield waiting to get their medals from previous races were lining the infield cheering for their fellow athlete. The crowd was standing giving him encouragement to get that final exchange off. If he got the exchange off, his squad still would receive a medal and attain all-state recognition.

I do not think there was a dry eye in that stadium as Suss approached his teammate Evan Flagg with the baton. I think it was a requirement of those who were still in that stadium that there was not a dry eye. Who could not be moved by this?

Suss finally made the exchange to his teammate and fell to the track. His teammates and his coach Tony Holler rushed around him. His coach gave him a tearful embrace. Plainfield North finished the race with a time of 5:47.44, perhaps the slowest final time ever for the 4 x 400 Meter Relay. That time did not matter. It was a matter of perseverance and desire to do something for his teammates that kept Suss going.

“He has been accepted to the Air Force Academy. He has a 32 ACT. He pulled a hamstring last year and missed his entire junior year,” Holler said after the race was over. “He did not get to run at the state meet. He made it through his entire senior year because he worked so hard. It was really eerie when he went down and pulled that same hamstring. In our pre meeting of today, I told them a story. The most heart wrenching story that I have ever seen about Derek Redmond in the 1992 Olympics. He pulled a hamstring and his father came along side and helped him across the finish line. I told our men that was the type of team that we wanted to be. And it happened. I am so proud of that kid.”

The effort of Suss should serve as an example of what athletics should be. There is glory in doing your best and winning the competition, but there is more glory in persevering and completing the goal that you set out to achieve.

For those who left the Stadium of that day, I am sure that vision of Suss limping around the track to finish will stay in their minds hopefully forever. It was a forever moment for Suss. It was a forever moment for Holler and the Plainfield North track team. It was a forever moment for this blue oval and the legacy of great moments in Illinois high school track history.

3                     Multiple Distance Races in the heat

I wish I could comment on the great double that Jessica Ackerman of New Trier accomplished with two all state performances in the 3200 and then less than an hour later in the 800. I still regret not going down to the Girls State Meet last May. There were many performances that I would have loved to have seen and written about.

I can, however, tell you about the great distance doubles that I saw the following week at the Boys State Meet. The temperature at O’Brien Stadium on the day of the final was 96 degrees. The temperature on the track approached 115 degrees. It was hard to believe that anyone would be able to accomplish a distance double. Don’t tell that though to Steve Schroeder of Monticello and Michael Clevenger of Decatur MacArthur. Both seniors were state champions in cross country the previous fall. The hot conditions would only be a slight deterrent to their goals.

Schroeder’s task would be a little more difficult. With Monticello in the hunt for a team trophy in Class 1A, Schroeder announced after the prelims on Thursday that he would run on his team’s 4 x 800 Meter Relay team, then run the 3200 Meter Run and the 1600 Meter Run.

Clevenger would coast in his heat of the 1600 Meter Run on Friday. Meanwhile, Jamison Dale of Jones College Prep set a Class 2A record in his heat of 4:15. Clevenger’s task of doubling in the 3200 & 1600 would be tough with Dale and Will Brewster of Grayslake Central in both of the races.

Schroeder’s teammates would keep them close to race leader Elmwood as they handed the baton off to Schroeder. His 1:55.1 anchor would secure the win for Monticello and ten points. He went off the track immediately afterwards to find some shade. He would return less than a hour later to run the 3200. The hot temperatures took its effect on the field but it did not seem to faze Schroeder. He moved away in the last 800 for an easy win. “This race was more of an endurance test for me. The race was mostly tactical. I know the time wasn’t impressive, it was just getting the points for the team,” he said.  His luck ran out a couple of hours later as he ran against a fresh Grant Nykaza of Beecher in the 1600. Schroeder tried to stay with Nykaza and he did…for 1400 of the 1600 meters in the race. Nykaza made a race winning move in the last 200 that Schroeder had no energy to stay with him.

“I was telling myself over and over again I was ready for it and I just had to keep myself mentally upbeat that I could do this,” Schroeder said. “I just tried to stay with Nykaza. I waited to make my move and he made his even stronger.” Still, it was a great day for the mentally tough Monticello senior. Monticello scored 31 points, 28 of those were accounted by Schroeder. That was enough for Monticello to take home a third place trophy.

Just like Schroeder, Clevenger was not worried about time. All that mattered was that he cross the finish line on his last lap of both races in first place. The 4:48 mile that the pack went through in the mile was slow but that did not matter to Clevenger.

“The times were not great. The heat had something to do with that. What was I supposed to do? It was a matter at the end of who could run the fastest last 400,” he said. “When we went through the mile, it felt like tempo running and I was feeling really good. When I crossed the finish line, it was like phew, I got through that one.”

He ran his last mile in 4:30, the last half in 2:06, and the last 400 in 58.9…good enough for a state championship.

He doubled his pleasure in the 1600. The only way that he would complete the double that eluded him the year before was that both races became tactical in the extreme heat. He made his move with a 56.4 last 400 to secure his fifth state championship. “It’s unexplainable how I felt getting the 1600 for the first time. It felt like the first time all over again when I won my first state championship. It felt like it was the best conclusion to my high school career,” Clevenger said.

Two weeks later, his kick again proved deadly as he made a move with 250 meters to go to win the Midwest Distance Festival Mile in 4:09. It was the fastest time for that distance in the state in 2012.

4                     And they all cheered…

The last moment was not a state championship performance, but the roar of the crowd during the race made it seem like it.

The Proviso West Invitational at the end of February is just one of the first big indoor meets of the season. The meet does not determine a state qualifier or as a tune up for a big meet. It does give teams a chance to run on a fast 200 meter oval against some good competition.

The one mile run is contested towards the end of the meet. There were some fans that had left this meet by that point. Those who stayed saw a measure of will power achieved by Calvin King of Proviso West.

Now King does not have the typical distance runner’s body. He stands about 6’ 3”, weighs about 300 pounds. There he stood on line waiting for the gun to fire off in the first section of the race. People were asking what was this guy doing in the race. A fan at the race tweeted “From a true fan perspective, I’m all for kids accomplishing goals, but a 300 lb shot putter is a bit too much”

It did not matter what size of a body he had for me. His coach put him in the race…and he ran.

He was there to see if he could beat his seed time of 14:00.

He was lapped early in the race and often. The runners finished in the race and King still had 4 laps to run. Though he was the only runner still on the track, he was not alone. Fans in the stands were standing cheering the young man on. Athletes from all team lined the track to cheer him on. Each step seemed like it took forever, but he would not stop. The cheers got even louder as he closed to the finish line. His time was 11:11. He had run almost three minutes faster than his seed time.

It was not the prettiest mile that I would watch this year, but his desire to finish would stick with me. He did not win this race but that did not matter. He won in the hearts of everyone that was there.

–          –  –

This year was a memorable one for me. ESPN dropped Dyestat in June and it left me with many decisions. One of them was where I would cover Illinois Cross Country this fall. One of the things that swayed my decision was when my daughter was looking at the Dyestat Illinois website. When she asked me how come there are more articles about the boys, I had to think hard what I wanted to accomplish in the fall. I had been the boy’s editor for a long period of time and watched the girl’s races from a far. Not having the opportunity to write about the girls athletes in the past, I wanted that opportunity. The only way that I would be able to do that was if Illinois Prep Harrier was started.

It was a shame that Dyestat had to close down this fall. With Runner Space buying the assets for Dyestat, it will be fun to see what they will do.

One other thing that I noticed was the coverage in the main stream media for cross country decreased. For the first time that I can remember, there was not a reporter that I noticed from the Chicago Tribune at the state meet. There is a need for coverage on the internet and I am just happy that I was a small piece of that. There are more running websites in Illinois that will be starting up in January that will be covering the sport. I think that is a great thing. The more exposure for these young men and women is a plus for track & field.

I am excited for 2013. This will be my first time that I will be covering Girls Track along with Boys Track and I am looking forward to that. There will be many changes that will occur to Illinois Prep Harrier coming up sometime in January which I am very excited about.

I think once you see it, you will be too. At least I hope you will.

When I was running, my coaches would tell me that you were as only good as your next workout, your next race. That is the same philosophy I use when I write. I may think that a piece that I have written is good, but I know I will have to do better next time. It is the force that kept me improving when I ran. It is the same force when I look at this website.

Thank you for your support throughout the last year. I am fortunate that I am able to serve to you with this website.

Have a great holiday season and a blessed Christmas.

See you in 2013!