Track Blog #3 – My Indoor Home Away from Home

By Brenna Cohoon

Right in the middle of the indoor track season, North Central College in Naperville gets a lot of action from the local high school teams in Illinois.  Things change from year to year, but the NCC Girls HS Invitational and Mustang Relays are usually held within a few days of each other, calling for some late nights, fast times, and lasting memories.

The NCC Girls HS Invitational was just last Thursday, 2/28, and featured 17 teams.  Each event displayed some incredible talent.  I ran in the 3200 Meter Run and 4x400 Meter Relay.  Both races were very competitive and provided me with some great challenges.

It was my first 3200 of the season, and the last time I had raced that distance was last spring at the state finals.  Since it had been a while, I simply wanted to make the best of this opportunity and get back that feeling of racing the 3200.  The constant, controlled pumping of arms and legs.  The strategizing and mental toughness for (almost) two miles.  The satisfaction of finishing and appreciating your hard work that led you to toeing the line (and crossing it).

As I said before, the competition was amazing.  I was pushed by a great group of girls and fought hard the entire time.  I fell back a bit during the middle of the race but focused on keeping those who were ahead of me in sight and finishing strong.  Like I’ve mentioned with prior races this season, I am pleased with the results, but not satisfied.  I’m happy that I’m off to a stronger start than last season and I am so excited to keep on working towards my goals.  Additionally, I am so proud of my teammates’ performances throughout the indoor season thus far and cannot wait to continue celebrating their triumphs with them.

The 4x400 Meter Relay was a fun way to end the night.  Even though I’ve run in it every meet so far this season, it had a different feel at the NCC Invite.  Perhaps it was the large field house, filled with spectators from above and around the track.  Or maybe it was the elevated level of competition.  I think it was a combination of both!

Monday evening was the Mustang Relays meet, which is one of my favorite meets of the entire track season.  16 years ago, Coach Plunkett (the DGS girls head distance coach) wanted his team to race in highly competitive relay races in order to provide better opportunities to qualify for the Illinois Top Times Championships.  That got him to thinking about how there wasn’t a meet on the schedule where teams could compete in a relay-only event.  Now, the Mustang Relays have turned into one of the biggest meets of the track season.  This year, more than 30 girls and boys teams participated in the high-energy event.

There is something about Mustang Relays that gives me the chills and a rush of adrenaline just thinking about racing in it.  I have had the privilege of competing in this meet since my freshman year, and I remember that first time I set foot in North Central’s fieldhouse.  I caught a glimpse of everyone preparing for their respective races; my heart began to race, and I was filled with nervous excitement.  I did not know exactly what to expect.  I had been told by my coaches to believe in myself, and by my teammates that I should have fun because I deserve to be competing.

I do not remember the precise details of my first 4x800 Meter Relay at Mustang Relays, but I remember shaking as I watched our first two legs do their thing.  Katie Stapleton, a former Mustang who was a senior at the time, was our anchor and gave me a reassuring look before I stepped out to receive the baton.  We ended up placing third and we were pleased with the results.  Our cooldown that evening was full of giggles and happy chatter, thanks to those post-race endorphins.

Fast forward to last year’s Mustang Relays, and I was racing in not only the 4x800 Meter Relay, but also in a slower heat of the 4x400 Meter Relay.  After our strong performance in the 4x800 the year before, we knew what we were capable of.  Our goal was to win, but we knew that the competition would put up a good fight.  It was an exciting race to both compete in and watch.  Ultimately, we won with a time of 9:25.32, just a few seconds off of both the meet record and our school’s indoor record.  As exciting as this performance was, we knew this was just a continuation of our hard work paying off and the beginning of many opportunities.

Fast forward once more to this past Monday.  I stepped into the fieldhouse and got those same butterflies I’ve felt every year at this meet.

Heading into the race, we wanted to defend our title from the previous year.  We knew that because of that, we would have a big target on our backs but needed to respond to this pressure in a positive way.  Olivia Duax ran an excellent first leg for our relay team, and Becky Versaskas raced an incredibly strong second leg.  I ran our third leg and received the baton in second place.  I knew that I needed to close the gap on the lead that first place had on us, so that is just what I set out to do.  My split was not what I had hoped for, so I was slightly disappointed in that sense.  However, I did what I could to keep our team in a good position to finish well.  Erin Reidy ran a fantastic anchor leg, winning the race in 9:20.49. 

We knew that we had achieved the school record and meet record, so the moments following the race were exciting!  We found out later after the meet that we had run the second fastest indoor time ever for a Girls team in Illinois. To know that each of us did this for each other and shared it together was special.  Our teammates had won the heat before us, so it was a proud moment overall for the Mustangs.

As always, the 4x400 Meter Relay was a fun way to end the meet and work on some speed.  My teammates in the last heat of the 4x400 ran a successful race themselves, finishing in third place.

The past few meets have set us up for an exciting end to the indoor season.  This Friday is Batavia Distance Madness, offering some amazing opportunities to succeed by racing against some top-notch competitors.  After that, we only have two more weekends of this indoor track season, which is hard to comprehend.  The outdoor track season will be beginning soon, and before we know it, we will be preparing for the end of the entire season in late May.  These next few months are going to be exciting, and I cannot wait to see what is in store.