The Illinois HS XC Journal - August 30, 2020

Blog #4: Patience and Perseverance

By Michael Newman

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Throughout these pandemic times we find moments where we become frustrated about the circumstances that surround us. You can either succumb to those pressures or you find ways to overcome them.

You can travel to Peoria area in the center of the state to find two high school runners that are an example of perseverance.

Jadyn Jacobs of Washington Community High School and Wilson Georges of Limestone High School in Bartonville competed in their first meets of the season Saturday at Black Partridge Park in Metamora.

Both runners were patient in their race strategy when the gun went off. Both runners at the end of their perspective races crossed the line first. The stories behind their successes are quite fascinating.

Jacobs was the top runner for Washington in her first two high school seasons earning all-state honors as a freshman (16th place) and then finishing 31st as a sophomore. She also is an accomplished soccer player. She does not run on the school’s track & field team.

An ACL injury during the spring of 2019 stopped her soccer playing. She tried to run during the fall cross country season running just one race. That made things with her knee even worse.

“I started out a little too soon. I was a little eager to come back,” Jacobs said about her fall experience. “We started with harder workouts. My knee started hurting with every step. I decided to stop.”

She did not run until this summer letting her knee heal.

“I learned that even after an injury and its not the best for your team,” added Jacobs. “It was better for me to slow down at start over. I took that step back and worked from the bottom back up.”

That sense of thinking showed at the start of the race Saturday morning. Katie Lalumandier of Metamora and Kerrigan Vandel of East Peoria forced the pace early in the race. Jacobs was satisfied to let the pace come to her. She made her way to the front just before the mile.

Vandel and Jacobs forced the pace the next half mile with Lalumandier falling off the lead pace. Just before two-miles, Jacobs made a definitive move dropping the East Peoria freshman. The Washington senior looked comfortable crossing the finish line in 19:15. Jacobs won by 28 seconds ahead of Lalumandier (19:43) and another 13 seconds in front of Vandel.

Wilson Georges experienced a different roadblock in his way to the state meet his sophomore season last fall. “At conference meet (last year), I had my best training week. I was ready to break 15-minutes before state” Georges said. “Either those guys were having the race of their lives or I was just running horribly. They ran great. I did not.”

He was diagnosed after the race that he had pneumonia. In a usual case of walking pneumonia, it can take up to six weeks. For bacterial pneumonia, it can be a week or more. Georges did not run in his regional race but came back to run in the sectional race for his teammates.

“It was hard to battle back those next weeks,” added Georges. “I had to give it everything that I had in that sectional race. I did that for my teammates. I wish they were with me at state. Anytime, you make it to state, you make the best of it.”

He fought his way through that state race earning all-state honors. It shows how mentally tough this junior is.

“All glory to God. I was peace going into that race,” he said. “If I do not run well, I have a couple of more years. If I did run well, that would be awesome, and I can bring glory to God through that. I was so happy with that race.”

Georges had his focus on this cross-country season. He thought about some summer races but figured he was in the middle of his training block that he did not want to race. Georges knew he was ready after running a solo and comfortable 9:47 time-trial at the end of July.

Saturday’s race showed his patience and mental savvy. Just like Jacobs had done, he let the race come to him.

Metamora’s Ian O’Laughlin pushed the pace extremely hard at the start putting five seconds between him and Georges in the first kilometer. Before the first mile, the two runners were side by side.

“It was not like I was trying to make one huge move,” Georges said. “I was just making small moves to test him.”

Finally just before two-miles, Georges took off opening up a 10 second lead. It grew to 14 seconds when he crossed the line in 15:05 with O’Laughlin next at 15:19 on the 2.94-mile course.

“I did not run great, but I continued to push,” concluded Georges. “I am just happy the way I ran.”

The examples of Georges and Jacobs show that in life you will discover a challenge and find ways to overcome it. We will not have a state meet this year, but both of these student / athletes will find ways to fight through it. Jacobs showed that with her knee injury and Georges getting sick before state.

Both do know the circumstances of the times and persevere every time they step to the starting line.

“It is really hard knowing that every race could be our last race. Being back in school, our school is half full,” Jacobs said. “We all know every race could be our last.”

So they run smart and run hard at the end finishing the race.

They have accepted the conditions that are upon us. It is great that we have a season for them to run in.

Let us just hope Saturday will not be the last one and 2020 will be a season to look back at with a smile on our faces.