Eagles Test Their Mettle Against Midwest’s Finest
On November 17th, Sandburg XC traveled to the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional at the LaVern Gibson Championship XC Course, Terre Haute, IN to see how they stacked up against the best teams from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri. Coming off an exciting 7th place finish at the Illinois state meet, this young Eagle team represented Illinois in fine fashion finishing 13th in the Midwest .
Proud…….That’s what I am. Proud to be associated with Sandburg Cross Country. What I learned while being a part of the state series experience and then coaching the team along with Mike Keane and Jeremy Borling at Nike Midwest Regional, was that it isn’t just about showing up and throwing on a pair of spikes and hoping good things happen. It’s about long term dedication, being prepared and representing our school and team in a fashion in which Sandburg students, teachers, coaches, parents and alumni can all be pleased and honored to be a part of. If you have been involved with the running community as a whole, you have heard it and experienced it for yourself. It takes a certain kind of person to go out and accumulate the miles that are necessary to compete at a high level. Runners as a people tend to be hardworking, dedicated individuals who take these steadfast qualities and spread them into every aspect of their lives - from their family and friendships, to their studies and everyday habits. They know when to have fun and get a little crazy. But they clearly see the line and know when to conduct themselves as polite adults who care for each other and the people around them. I saw these qualities in the elite community of athletes at NXN in Terre Haute during the pre-race party, on the course and afterward, genuinely congratulating one and other for a job well done. I saw this during the season with the 60 plus athletes that are part of the Eagle pride, who gathered after every meet and unselfishly heaped praise on their teammates, not just for a good performance in that particular race, but for their good performance in life. “They were tough, they gutted it out.” “He was prepared.” “He led the team this week.” “He said the right things and inspired the team,” were the types of comments we heard. I saw it during the highs and lows of the state series. From the domination at the Regional, to the disappointment at the Sectional and then the ability to brush it off and finish seventh in State.
But I especially saw it on our trip to Terre Haute. We took 11 athletes: Matt Benz-Weeden, David Gleisner, Max Lehnhardt, Will Becker, Martin Skucas, Sean Torpy, Chris Torpy, JJ Adams, Dan Laskero, Tom Brennan and Greg Burzinski (injured). We had the difficult task of choosing the top 7 to run the Nike Midwest Regional race. Although all ten were qualified to fill those spots, we chose our 7 knowing the other three would put their disappointment quickly aside and focus on their job at hand. JJ qualified for the Championship race as an individual based on previous times accumulated throughout the season. So that put 8 runners in the Championship race and Matt and David in the Open race. There were no complaints, they all simply put their noses to the grindstone, trained hard in the week leading up to the race, and came out and performed at a top level. They showed up promptly at every place and time we asked them to. They executed their routine leading right up the gun with precision and confidence and little prompting from the coaching staff. They conducted themselves like gentlemen all weekend. They treated their teammates like brothers, and their entire Sandburg contingency like family. The top seven and JJ were there at the line to send off Matt and Dave in the open race and those two were there to send off the boys in the Championship race. And Greg took it all in and offered his support and intellectual approach to running and racing like only he can.
Conditions were less than stellar with a soaked course, 30 mph winds and the threat of rain and tornadoes in the forecast. Officials moved the race up 1 hour to try to beat the weather and it was the right decision as conditions broke down soon after the championship race. This became a race of strategy with all thoughts of pace and times being thrown out the window. Get out fast into the wind and gut it out against the top runners in the nation. And that they did while enjoying a top rated collegiate cross country venue in the Lavern Gibson Championship XC Course.
Every single athlete reached their goal, which was to run a gutsy race and experience the elite competition which is certainly in their future for the next several years. One of the highlights of the day was JJ Adams' fine performance in the Championship race finishing 82nd and third among the Sandburg runners. He was focused and certainly showed the coaches that we made a mistake by leaving him out of the top 7. He was beaming afterward and certainly had to be satisfied with his final cross country race of his senior season. Much like State meet, our top five Eagle runners had a stingy split of just 21 seconds. That is fabulous among the competition that they faced. It is perhaps easy to brush off a 13th place finish, but to put it into perspective; they were competing against the best teams from five Midwestern states. Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri each sent their best among at least 100 different programs in each state. So taking 13th out of five hundred schools or so with cross country programs in the midwest…………pretty impressive!
Congratulations on capping off an excellent cross country season. I know I can speak for Mike Keane and Jeremy Borling in saying we thank each and every one of you for allowing us to have our role in such an exciting event. We were all super impressed with the whole experience.
In closing, I think it should be mentioned that there was another deserving runner which we badly wanted to be a part of the NXN experience. Harry Becker could not recover from an injury in which he suffered at State meet and was extremely disappointed that he was not going to be allowed to train and run with his teammates. Although we tried to talk him into being with us for his support and general upbeat attitude, he knew since he couldn’t run, he had another important responsibility. His father had just lost his good friend. Harry made arrangements to travel by himself to Kentucky to be with his father at a time of loss and to represent and share the condolences of his family back in Illinois. But then again, he’s a runner. Meeting responsibility, doing what’s right. Proud……..That’s what I am.
**Please see Coach Borling’s excellent race re-cap for the details of the race.