First, they'd have to deal with a challenging course at Katherine Legge Memorial Park. And with six teams ranked in the Top 14 in the State, the competition was going to be fierce. Only 5 teams would be qualifying for the State meet, so several very good teams were going to be left out. We wanted to make sure that the Eagles were not on the wrong side of the dividing line.
The conditions were a bit on the cold side, with a variable wind. The course was a little soft in places, but there were only a few inches of water in the infamous KLM creek.
Dylan Jacobs was not going to be leaving anything to chance. He jetted to the front right from the start, showing his rival, Danny Kilrea of Lyons Township, that he meant business. He opened up a 5 to 10 second lead early and just kept pounding thru the course - a man on a mission.
He maintained his lead thoughout and crossed the finish mats with a time of 14:39 - besting Kilrea by 8 seconds and breaking the course record by 9 seconds.
With a single point for our first runner, it was then up the remaining six Eagles to finish the job. Our goal was to put at least the next four runners in the top 35. Robbie Sieczkowski has been really looking good and came thru at Sectionals with a 26th place finish in 15:59. Sophomore Ben Giblin ran his greatest race yet, taking 30th place in 16:01 - absolutely HUGE!! Right behind him was junior Nico Calderon in 32nd with a time of 16:02.
All we needed was our fifth man to cement our place at State. Further back than we had hoped, Xander Furmanek crossed the line in 44th place (16:17). Junior Eddie Slack grabbed 50th place in 16:23. Seventh man Sam Rodriguez had been a little sick leading up the Sectionals and struggled during the race - collapsing short of the finish line. He was helped across the line (getting DQ'd) and was subsequently taken to the hospital (he's recovered and is fine this week).
Waiting for the official results is always nerve-racking - especially when the stakes are so high. In the end, the Eagles grabbed the last spot - finishing in 5th - 7 points behind Downers Grove South and 21 points ahead of Plainfield South.
With their ticket punched for the 15th year in a row, the boys are heading back to Detweiller!
Post-race Dylan Jacobs interview by Bob Hahn.
Post-race team interview by Bob Hahn.