In the Frosh-Soph race, two of our top sophomores, Ben Giblin and Sam Rodgriguez, were representing the Eagles. Ben has been a huge highlight this season. We expected him to be a big contributor on the f/s level and maybe push to get into our Top 12 State meet group. Instead, he ran on our varsity squad in the championship season, ending up as our 5th man at the State meet. He continued his remarkable season in the Foot Locker race. Behind a group of 3 or 4 leaders, Ben pushed with the chase pack. With a nice kick at the end, he grabbed 5th place with a time of 16:56. Very excited to see what Gibs can do next year as a junior!
Sam Rodriguez was also on his way to a superb sophomore season. Unfortunately, an illness right before sectionals derailed him - if only for a short time. Rather than giving up, he came back and raced at both NXN regionals and Foot Locker. At Parkside, Sammy ran a solid race and finished in 36th place in 17:47. He will be even better next year.
In the Boys Seeded race, seniors Robbie Sieczkowski and Dylan Jacobs toed the line for the Eagles. Robbie has made the most of his senior season, culminating in a sub-15:00 performance at the State meet. At Foot Locker, he closed out his senior year with another nice race, finishing in 107th place in a time of 16:28.
Coming off a gutty performance at the NXN regional, Dylan Jacobs was finally able to return to training after a two-week illness. The goal for the Foot Locker regional was to get back into the routine, make a race of it and qualify for the Finals in San Diego. With the best of the best from 13 states, that's not an easy task.
Thru 2 miles, Dylan was feeling good and holding his own with the front pack. Over the last mile, Danny Kilrea made a move to put the pressure on everyone. He eventually opened a gap on the field and pushed ahead for the win. Zach Kreft tried to close on Kilrea, but ended up in second. The remaining 8 qualifying spots were a mad dash to the finish with only 5.5 seconds separating 3rd place from the non-qualifying 11th spot. Dylan sprinted to the finish with the pack and nailed down 5th place with a time of 15:07.
Mission accomplished - on to Portland for NXN and then San Diego for the Foot Locker finals. Should be an exciting two weeks!
Race results are here.
Tony Jones post-race interview with Dylan Jacobs.
Mike Newman post-race interview with Dylan Jacobs.
Mike Newman's RunnerSpace race highlights video.