Blog #9 - Conference Meet

By Brenna Cohoon

 It was wet, chilly, and windy last Thursday evening when the seven schools in the West Suburban Conference - Gold Division gathered to compete.  Thankfully, this kind of weather wasn’t anything we aren’t used to, but we did get very lucky and only experienced minimal rain showers.  Our team used this little bit of adversity to prepare ourselves for what we might be met with over these next couple of weeks during the postseason when the stakes are high.

Our conference championships were held at Morton West High School in the same facility as the conference meet my freshman year.  Like two years ago, only a few loyal parents and siblings occupied the large stadium’s seating, shivering under winter jackets and blankets.  The supporters at track meets often get overlooked, but without their support, a lot would not be possible.  Therefore, I want to express my gratitude towards everyone who spends hours on end watching high schoolers run around an oval.

All of that being said, I was excited to get out there and race in my first 3200 Meter Run of the outdoor track season.  Afterwards, I was scheduled to run in a speedy 4x400 Meter Relay, which is quite a contrast from the two mile.

I raced in the 3200 Meter Run with my teammate Melissa Weidner hoping we could run one last strong two-mile before our sectional meet.  Our goal was to run under 11:00, so we knew that we would really have to push ourselves and each other.  We felt ready: our watches were set, shoes were laced, and arm sleeves were pulled high.  After all of the workouts we’ve completed together, we knew we could do this. 

The gun went off, and the race began.  Melissa and I quickly fell into our anticipated position, one behind the other.  With the strong wind blowing head-on in the back straight, we decided to switch off each lap with drafting off of each other.  It gave me more of a mental boost than a physical one, honestly.  Simply knowing that I had one of my best friends near me throughout the race was motivating whenever things started to get tough.

We checked our watches diligently, doing our best to hit the splits we prepared in advance.  Whenever we fell behind pace, we would pick things up in the next lap to compensate for the time we lost.  Our plan included negative splitting, so we wanted to go out fairly conservatively in that first mile.  This was quite different from my typical strategy of going out fast and holding on for dear life.  We ended up falling behind our intended pace in that second mile, but there was a glimmer of hope.  Both of our eyes were glued to the clock on the scoreboard in that last straightaway as we pumped our arms and lifted our knees through the finish. 

11:01 was what everyone’s watch read.  We came close but didn’t quite achieve our goal.  That didn’t change how proud I was of the work that both Melissa and I put in throughout that race.  One official joked that if there was a bigger crowd near the finish line, we would have broken that 11:00 barrier.  Taking some solace in the fact that the poor weather conditions (rain, wind, and cold), there was nothing else we could do except learn from this race and move on.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Brenna’s winning time of 11:01.14 broke a 38-year old meet record of 11:11 set in 1981. Melissa ran 11:01.21 to finish second. They were 68 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.)

I had a large amount of downtime in between my two races, much different than some of the doubles that I have done in the past.  What I thought would feel like an eternity passed like the blink of an eye, and I quickly found myself lined up, waiting to receive the baton as the third leg of the 4x400 Meter Relay.

I was given a small lead that I tried so desperately to maintain and increase.  Less than 100 meters into the race, I was passed by one of our opponents who ran as though she was shot out of a cannon.  Initially, I was disappointed in myself for giving up the lead.  I could not let this get to my head, though.  I focused on maintaining my composure and gradually closed the gap.  Unfortunately, I did not regain the lead, and even after an awesome anchor leg, our 4x4 finished in second place.  I would have liked to have done better to contribute more adequately to my relay team, but like my race earlier, I need to use it as a learning experience.

Seeing the excitement on my teammates’ faces after it was announced that we won our 15th straight WSC Gold Championship was so fulfilling.  This is a meet where we really emphasize our values of working together as a team.  We want to perform our best so we can not only benefit as individuals, but more importantly, make a positive impact on the team.  Even the girls who did not compete helped us win this meet.  Why?  Because their support and encouragement helped those actually running, jumping, and throwing feel more confident.  To some, their role on the team may not seem significant, but everything truly causes a ripple effect.

Now that the regular season has concluded, our sights are set on Thursday’s sectional meet hosted by Naperville North.  As a distance runner, I feel so unbelievably fortunate to be racing against the competition at this particular sectional.  Hinsdale Central, Wheaton Warrenville South, Glenbard West, and the host team Naperville North are some of the strongest distance teams in the state of Illinois and will all be at our meet. 

I know that some people may feel nervous about racing against such amazing athletes, but I am only using this to excite me.  I cannot wait to push myself alongside this competition and perform at the highest level possible.  I will be channeling my inner energy that I felt while racing around Naperville North’s track during the Naperville Twilight Invitational in the fall this Thursday evening, and as always, cannot wait to see how things unfold.

Photo: Melissa Weidner and Brenna Cohoon in the front at the WSC-Gold meet at Morton West (Laura Weidner photo)