And I'm diggin' a ditch
And I'm gonna fight for this four square feet of land
Like a mean old son of a bitch"
Get Better
Frank Turner
There's nothing like it. The Illinois State cross country meet is just crazy. The crowds are crazy, the races are crazy. The history, the records - just everything about it. There's joy and sorrow, triumph and defeat, winners and losers.
Six great races - starting with the 1A girls and wrapping up with the 3A boys. Along the way there were some incredible performances. Sophomore Drew Rogers of Herscher winning the boys 1A race in 14:30. Frosh Tatum David of Olney running the fastest girls time of the day in 16:04 to win the 2A girls race. And, of course, senior Katelynne Hart from Glenbard West winning her 4th straight 3A girls title. Amazing stuff!
The 3A boys race would not disappoint either.
The Sandburg Eagles qualified for the State Meet for the 17th year in a row. Coach John O'Malley started coaching cross country at Sandburg in 2003 - and he's taken the Eagles to State every year. The only other team to match that is York.
Coming off a sloppy and muddy Sectional title, the team was poised as one of the favorites to battle for a State trophy. Remarkably, we've run the same 7 guys in our Varsity lineup all season long - seniors Ben Giblin, Will Giblin, Sam Rodriguez & TJ Cosler and juniors Ismail Tineh, Griffin Lehnhardt and Ahmad Alhayek. These 7 would toe the line again for the Eagles at Detweiller.
From box 13, the Eagles got off to a good start. Taking the sharp left turn, they went thru 800 meters in position to challenge. At the mile, the Giblins were near the front of the pack in 4:41. Sammy followed in 4:47, with Ismail and Griff together at 4:53. TJ Cosler clocked in at 4:59 and Ahmad was our 7th man at 5:02.
At the halfway point, things still looked solid for the Eagles. Ben and Will went thru the 1.5 mile mark in 7:03 and were definitely in the Top 10. Sam was still running very well and came thru in 7:13. Ismail at 7:21 and Griff at 7:24 were still our 4th and 5th scorers, with TJ closing in at 7:28. Ahmad had faded back and came thru in 7:38.
Thru 2 miles, the Giblins were both running really well and holding onto 8th and 9th places in 9:36. Sam was still a solid third man in 9:49 and on pace for a sub-15 time. Ismail was maintaining his gap at 9:58, but Griff was falling off the pace and came thru in 10:06. TJ was moving up and was closing in on Griff.
Every year, it comes down to the final loop at Detweiller. Who wants it the most? Who is willing to fight for every second and every place?
The race leader, Josh Methner from Hersey, had pulled away early and had a big lead. He was looking very smooth the entire race and as he entered the final uphill stretch, it was clear that he was going to break the magical 14:00 minute mark. As the announcer counted off the seconds over the last 40 meters, Methner was making a run at the ancient Craig Virgin record of 13:50. As the crowd cheered him on, he crossed the line in 13:49 to claim the record and push Virgin down to #2.
The Giblins continued their hot pace and at the finish line Will Giblin edged ahead to finish in 14:34 - good for 9th place. His time puts him in 7th place on the All-Time Sandburg list (you can see the list here). Ben Giblin also finished in 14:34, although he let a York runner slide in between, so he finished in 11th. Ben is now the 8th fastest Eagle.
Sam Rodriguez powered thru to the finish, ending up in 40th place. He broke 15 for the first time, running 14:56 which is good for 25th All-Time for Sandburg. Ismail Tineh lost a little ground over the last mile and finished in 58th place. His time of 15:09 was 10 seconds off his Detweiller best. Senior TJ Cosler battled all the way to the end, moving up to finish as our 5th man. His time of 15:22 was a big PR and was good for 92nd place.
Griff Lehnhardt had been very consistent all year long, but struggled over the last mile, ending up in 167th place in 15:51. Ahmad Alhayek closed things out in 181st place (16:02).
Waiting around for the final results is probably the worst part of cross country. It's very frustrating to finish a competition not knowing who won or in what position your team finished. In the end, Saint Charles East (64) and Wheaton-Warrenville South (68) battled it out for the first two spots. The final trophy came down to Sandburg and York. In the end, York (150) edged the Eagles (153) by 3 points.
Back at the team tent, Coach O'Malley shared the results with the boys. Finding out that they missed out on a trophy by 3 points, you could see the disappointment on all 7 faces. This has been a great season and these are seven great kids. The four seniors had all raced brilliantly as they closed out their last State Meet. But a close loss still stings.
Fortunately, they've got another chance with the Nike NXR Regional race on Saturday in Terre Haute, IN. Let's go boys! One more try!