By Michael Newman

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As we enter into a new year, it is always good to reflect on what has happened in the last twelve months. There are several things that I will save for another article. The “Time-Trials” at the IHSA State Cross Country Meet last November is something that I want to dive into. There are a few other topics that deserve more time rather than being in a year end retrospective.

Here are a few things that crossed my mind from the past year.

The Rain Year

There is usually some points in both the track and cross country seasons where Mother Nature will have an effect on an event or two. 2015 was a year where when the heavens opened up, meets were effected. It started on May 8 when there were a ton of meets that were cancelled because of huge thunderstorms hitting the Chicago area including the DuPage County Championships at York High School and the McCarthy Memorial Invitational at Hinsdale Central. That weekend is slotted for Girls conference meets that had to be pushed back to Saturday. The Mid Suburban League Girls Championships started three hours behind scheduled but were completed in less than ideal conditions. The schools from that league were refused to be “bullied” by the weather.

The Boys State Track & Field Meet also hit by the rain bug. After the 110 Meter High Hurdles were completed, the meet was put on hold due to thunderstorms that were in the area. This was not like a couple of years before where the IHSA sped up the schedule because of “alleged” thunderstorms when the closest lightning strike to the stadium occurred in Wichita, Kansas. As you could look to the south of the stadium, lightning was in view. Some drizzle hit the area during that delay. When the IHSA gave the all clear to continue the meet, the schedule was set on a rolling process where event after event was held. There was a huge storm that was heading to Charleston. Radar confirmed that. As the 4 x 400 Meter Relay took place, the sky above became almost pitch black with thunder rumbling above. I was standing next to an IHSA official. “Did you hear any thunder,” he said to me with a smile. “I didn’t hear anything.” I am glad he said that. We would have been in Charleston until midnight if we stopped on the final event. As the finish of the 3A 4 x 400 Meter Relay was happening, the clouds opened up and the rain pelted down on the track. It was a good thing that the IHSA did on that day speeding up the competition.

A couple of weeks later at the Midwest Distance Classic, the same thing happened. Lightening sensors went off thirty minutes before the start of the meet. The stadium was emptied as meet officials waited for the all clear. I hid in the meet’s guest lounge with announcer Matt Piescinski. We did get to watch the Blackhawks in Game 5 for that two hour delay. Once the meet got started near 9:00 PM, there was a window where the meet could be held. The 2.5 hour scheduled meet was crammed into 90 minutes. I wish it could have been run in a relaxed state. Another storm hit 30 minutes after the meet was over. I am hoping that the meet this coming June can be run where we can enjoy the moment.

Halloween will always be remembered as when if you went to an IHSA Sectional Cross Country Meet, odds were excellent that you were going to get soaked. I was at the West Aurora Sectional and it was raining. Not hard at first. By the time that the gun was supposed to go off for the Girls Race, the rain was coming down. It did not let up for the rest of the day. That was the case for all of the meets in Illinois on that day. You were going to get wet. It was a fact you would have to accept. When I finally got home after the Lake Park Sectional, my shoes were beyond wet. I had to throw my socks out because even if they were soaked in bleach for a week, they still would not be clean again. It was the worst conditions for any kind of meet that I have participated in or watched. My parents told me about the 2014 State Meet when they changed their clothes three times as the rain came down just as hard. I did not experience that. I was up in Rock Island at the D3 Regionals where it was snowing.

The Foot Locker Midwest Regional Meet was effected by the weather. Two inches of rain had fallen the day before making portions of the course un runnable because of how wet and sloppy the trails had become. There was a stream that had developed just before the start of the hill 400 meters from the start. The hill was usually packed with spectators. On this day, no one wanted to cross that swamp. I did. I figured I have gotten wet all year, it did not matter now.

When it rained the following week at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, it did not matter to me. I knew I was going to get wet.

So my wish for the 2016 track & cross country seasons is that we do not have that kind of rain for meets this year.

With my luck, we will have a snow storm at the end of April and a blizzard at Detweiller Park in November.

Moments

I really do not keep track of how many meets I attend during the season. If you ask me that question, the answer will be ‘A lot”. My job is a blessing and that is how I approach it every time I get out of the car at a meet location.

There were so many great moments during this past year. Here are a few of my favorites:

·         There are landmarks that you always remember when you compete in athletics. I remember the first time I ran under 5 minutes for the mile, when I went under 10 minutes for 2 miles. It is something that you always a memory that you carry in your mind. The same moment happened for Warrenburg-Latham’s KD Young at the Illinois Top Times Championships on March 27. She had the event won basically on her first throw. Young had one goal for this meet. That was to move into the #2 position nationally in the Shot Put. On her final attempt, her shot flew into a territory that she had not been close to all night. There was a few moments after they took the measurement so that the meet referee could verify that throw. While they were waiting, one of the officials called Young over to the ring telling her to bring a camera. The official allowed her to take a measurement of that mar. Young looked down and broke into tears. She had thrown 49-1 ¼ achieving her goal moving into #2 nationally. She shared that moment hugging her father. Those are the moments that you treasure the most.

·         There was almost a two hour delay because of lightning in the area of the 2015 IHSA State Track & Field Meet on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. As I was walking around the grounds waiting for the meet to start up again, I was hearing coaches complaining that sprint doubles would be tougher now that the meet schedule would be sped up. It did not affect Plainfield Central’s Kahmari Montgomery as he settled into the blocks after the delay. He had set in his mind after the Illinois Top Times Championships in March that he was going after the 100, 200, and 400 Meter Championships in the 3A meet. In a 90 minute period of that meet, he would achieve those goals. He won the 100 Meter Dash in 10.50. It was his fastest time of the year in that event. Thirty minutes later, he was back on the track for the 400 Meter Dash. He destroyed a meet record that was 30 years old when he crossed the line in 46.24. He had a short period to relax before he would go after the 200 Meter Dash crown. The crowd was standing as he crossed the line in 20.96. All three winning times were the fastest in the state that season. All performances were ranked in the top 25 nationally including his 200 time being the tenth fastest time nationally and the 400 time eighth fastest nationally. It is a performance that I doubt we will ever see again in our lifetime. Montgomery did not say a word after the 200 quietly leaving the stadium not even accepting his 200 championship medal. He had done his talking on the track that day.

·         One of the best parts of my job is the privilege of getting to interview athletes after their race and then sharing them with you on video. I received a question a couple of weeks ago on why I did not interview athletes that may have placed outside of the top two or three in an event. I wish I could interview everyone that competed (a long term goal). I wanted to talk to Judy Pendergast after her race at the Nike Cross Nationals. That opportunity never happened. We talked to her with her teammates after the race. Her interview I had with her after her win when she broke the state record at Detweiller Park was a memorable one. You could see the emotions of the moment hitting her as we talked. The same could be said about Jon Davis after he set the 1A record at that meet and going under 14 minutes. Jon is very analytical in post-race interviews. I enjoy that. In his mind, he is figuring how he could run better the next time. He was disappointed that he did not run faster than what Craig Virgin had run. I could tell that he was treasuring that moment in his eyes. Not too many runner have run under 14 minutes and won three state championships in a career. Davis is one of the few.

·         There are not many times that you get the chance to see a high school athlete run under 4 minutes for the mile. After the Michigan State Track & Field Championships, Grant Fisher decided that he would go after that magical barrier. He had run 4:00.28 to win the 1600 at his state meet so he knew that he was ready to break through. All I know on that track on that night was the electricity that was in the air was incredible. The people that were along the fence of the track, in the stands, and along the back stretch knew that something special would happen. Fisher passed the ¾ in 3:00.95. I knew in my heart that this was going to happen. I stood on the home stretch as Jordan McNamara led the pack home. There was Fisher pushing as hard as he ever had before. My camera was on as Fisher approached the line. A large scream came through the crowd as he crossed the line before the clocked clicked to 4 minutes. His coach Mike Scannell came up and hugged his student. McNamara urged Fisher to come with him as they ran back down the home straight to receive the applause of the fans. The one thing that I remember the most is after all the interviews that he gave, he sat at a table taking pictures with younger runners and giving runners autographs. “He’ll stay there until midnight if he has to,” Scannell said as we watched the scene. Fisher understood what was going on. Many years from now, those young runners could be at that moment of time that Fisher had taken on. It could be that one moment that those youngsters watched inspired them to get to that point. I am glad Fisher gets it. I wish there were more athletes that would get that passion and be less selfish.

And finally…

My personal moment of the year happened at the Leavey Invitational at Leroy Oaks Forest Preserve on September 5. The temperatures were not the best as it got close to 80 degrees at race time. Not optimal race conditions. My daughter Meghan was in the Varsity race. It was her real first varsity race and I was wondering how she would handle it. She went out under control knowing the conditions were not the best.

I stood by the 1 ½ mile point and waited for her. I saw her struggling towards the back as the race gator was following behind. I wanted to yell at her to get out but I just cheered for her. I remembered her freshman year when I told her to get out when she was struggling. She pulled herself together and finished that race. Afterwards she told me in a stern voice never to tell her that during a race. I was regretting those words as she passed by me. I waited at the finish but she did not come in. As I started to go through the final mile looking for her, I heard an announcement from the meet’s PA system asking me to come to the parking lot. Meghan was waiting inside the ambulance with her mother and grandmother.

I know that some of you have gone through this before. 3 ½ hours in an emergency room is not how I wanted to spend a Saturday afternoon. I was told this when I was running and probably something that you have heard before. The most helpless feeling in the world is a parent watching their child compete at something. When raising them, you do have some control factors where you can protect them. In a race, it is all about them and if they can finish that race without your help. It’s their first step as an adult. It is your first step in letting go.

Have a great 2016.