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STATE CHAMPIONS!!!
October 15, 2017
Hello HXC Community,
STATE BOUND….AND STATE CHAMPIONS!!! I’m not sure I’ll be able to find the words to completely articulate this past week, but I’ll give it try. Coming off our sectional victory last week, there was so much positive energy around our team! Everyone was clicking; jokes and laughs were abundant! The theme of week was self-belief. I wanted every athlete to have an unwavering amount of self-belief. If we believed we could do big things….then we would do big things.
Friday, after school was our send-off. Herget Middle School students and staff sent us off with a “champions walk” throughout the school, which was awesome! Classmates were high fiving classmates, and there was a real sense of community and school pride! Our parents, as they’ve done all year, made the experience even better by decorating our busses, decorating lockers, and giving us a proper send off to Normal! The next two hours were filled with laughs, bad singing, and a subtle nervousness and excitement of what the next day might bring.
As we awoke on Saturday, we had our final team meeting before departing for Maxwell Park. I wanted the kids to remember who they were running for. They weren’t running for us coaches or even for Herget. They were running for the teammates that they were sitting next to. The ones who they had sacrificed with in order to get here. The only advice that was given was to run free today. After we set up camp, it was just a waiting game until 12:30. As I looked around, it was clear we had the best camp around! Thank you to all the parents who brought food, drinks, and everything else to keep our team comfortable before the race. As the clock approached 12:30, it was the girls’ time to shine! Heading into the race, we knew the defending state champions, Minooka, were going to be the team to beat. We were going to need an all-time day in order to catch them. As the gun sounded, the girls were off, and the season was down to the final 13 minutes! I was positioned at 1,200 meters to see the girls the first time through. Coming across first was Meg and then 6 Minooka runners before our second girl. Our pack was close behind, and although we were definitely down, there was still time to make some moves. Jenna came through and was struggling a bit. She had a difficult stretch at sectionals as well, and we had talked during the week about not letting the doubt creep in if she found herself in a similar situation at state. As she continued on, I hoped she had remembered our talk. Coming through 1.5 miles, we had closed the gap a tad with Minooka, but they looked to be slightly ahead. Meg and Liv were leading the way, and Devon and Kate weren’t far behind. Jenna had battled back and was now within a few seconds of our chase pack. Tori and Ella continued to keep working and gain every position they could. It was going to be a race with Minooka to the finish! Olivia had a huge kick to lead the way finishing in 10th place and All-State (11:45), Meg was right behind in 12th place and All-State (11:47). Next through was our 3-5 pack with only 2 seconds between them! Devon 33rd place (12:06), Jenna 34th place (12:07), and Kate 35th place (12:08). Tori ran a solid race to finish 43rd place (12:17), and Ella had a strong kick passing many girls down the final straightaway to finish 114th place (12:43). It was too close to call with Minooka, and we were going to have to wait until awards to find out who won.
The boys were up next in the last race of the day. The boy’s field was loaded with great teams and too hard to handicap. Based on sectional results, I figured there could be 5-10 teams that on their best day could potentially win a State Championship. It was going to come down to who had the best day; only time would tell. The boys had drawn an undesirable box all the way to the left of the field. As was the case all season, the boys were unfazed and ready to roll! The gun sounded, and we were off. At 1.5 miles, the big 3 three: Nate, Ryan, and Jay were again leading the way for our team. Aiden came through as our 4th and was having himself the best day of his career. We still needed a 5th though, and I couldn’t find a grey jersey. Then around the turn I saw Ty. Trying to coach during a race is pretty difficult, and in a state meet with hundreds of people screaming, it’s even more difficult. However, Ty and I made eye contact, and I told him we needed him today as he was our 5. He gave me a nod and then went to work! Ty must have passed over 40 people in that last half mile! Brandon and Brock weren’t far off and were trying to steal as many places as possible! When it was all said and done, Nate had led us with an 8th place finish and All-State (10:44), Ryan was also All-State in 16th place (10:57). Jay was 30th place (11:06), Aiden 50th place (11:19), Ty 77th place (11:28), Brandon 96th place (11:35), and Brock 132nd place (11:48). As with the girls, it was too close to call, and we’d have to wait until awards to see how it shook out.
The waiting game for awards at Normal West High was intense! In cross country, they count down teams from 10 to 1. You obviously don’t want to hear your name until the very end, and every school called before means you placed at least one place higher. As the fifth place teams were called, we knew we had both teams bringing home a trophy! This was an incredible accomplishment in itself, but as the 4th place team was called we knew we had both teams were in the top 3! The girls were now holding hands, and the boys had their arms around each other as the third place teams were called, and they were not us. We were now in the final two! As the emcee announced the team places for the second place teams in both fields, we realized it was not us! Our boys’ and girls’ teams had just both won the 2017 I.E.S.A. 3A State Championship in both divisions! A clean sweep! The next half hour was a blur! There were high fives, tears, hugs, and great sense of pride for what we had just accomplished. These kids had worked so hard and sacrificed so much over the past 4 months, it was beyond words to see them get this payoff! As I stood watching the kids celebrate, I couldn’t help but think of the ending line in one of my favorite movies Stand By Me. “I never had any friends later on in life like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
As great as the state trophies are…and they are great! The 2017 season will be defined by more than one day in October. As with most things in life, the lasting memories often lie within the journey rather than the absolute destination. 2017 will be remembered to me as hot day in June, the inside jokes on a long run, pasta dinners, bargaining workouts with 8th graders, shakeouts, and watching teammates pick up teammates after a tough go. It’s staring down a 5 mile run on a 90 degree day, 400 repeats on a Monday, and bad singing on a Saturday morning bus ride. It’s watching a 6th grader stumble through the course in August and then burn it down in September. It’s Halloween in September, being “talentless”, being elite, and watching kids grow up one mile at a time. Thank you to all the friends, family, and athletes who made the 2017 season unforgettable! To the world we were just a team, but to us, we were a family. #runhxc #beelite #statechamps
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