David steps ahead of the rest in Class 2A race

Richland County freshman runs fastest Girls time of day in her win; Benet pack difference in Girls team win; All about faith for Smith Boys win; Kaneland’s perseverance nets them Boys title

By Michael Newman

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Peoria – It just looked effortless just after 11 AM when the 2A Girls race started. Here was Richland County’s Tatum David bounding ahead of the rest of the pack in the first 400-meters of the race.

What was supposed to be a great individual race between David, Latin School’s Ava Parekh, and defending 2A state champion Brooke Stromsland of Lakes Community never materialized. Instead, David made sure that this race was an assault against the clock in winning her first of what is expected to be many state championships.

RACE RESULTS | 2A GIRLS RACE VIDEO

We are in a “Golden-Age” of Girls High School distance running in Illinois. We consider Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West as a once in a lifetime runner which she is. You can enter this freshman from Olney into that kind of stratosphere.

David’s race strategy was simple: I’m going to start out fast. Follow me if you dare.

Parekh had raced David at the First to the Invitational in September and let David get away early in the race. She could never catch up as David won by 30 seconds.

The start of Saturday’s race was different. David burst out of the pack 300-meters into the race. Parekh, to David’s left, looked to the right and saw what was happening. She burst out to catch up.

The pace was frantic as David passed 800-meters in a mind blowing 2:21 with Parekh and Stromsland a couple of strides back. As David approached the mile, fans around that spot were amazed. She was approaching the timing mats and the clock had not turned to five minutes. Someone in the crowd shouted out “ARE YOU KIDDING ME” as she passed in 5:03. That time was just nine seconds off her mile personal best on the track.

It seemed like Parekh and Stromsland were light years back and running slow. But they passed that point in 5:16!

All attention was on David at this point. How fast could she go? The freshman covered the second mile in 5:26 crossing 2-miles in 10:29. She had opened a 26 second lead on Stromsland who had passed that point in 10:55. Parekh was holding on but starting to fade 11 seconds behind Stromsland.

Her pace was strong, but it did not show on David. There was no strain on her face and her arm carry was at the same point when she started the race.

She took advantage of the near perfect conditions on this day. Her winning time of 16:04 was the fastest time ever for a freshman at the state meet. It was also the fourth fastest time ever at the state meet regardless of class trailing only the iconic names of Pendergast, Hart, and Perez. The time was also a Class 2A State Record.

“It was definitely the adrenaline that pushed me that first 400,” David said as she passed that mark in an incredible 65 seconds. “I did not expect the mile to be that fast. I was hoping to be between 5:10 to 5:15. I was nervous. I just wanted to get out fast.”

“I didn’t expect my 2-mile to be that fast,” added David. “I was amazed when I went through. I don’t know how what my feelings are like right now. It’s exciting.”

Stromsland ran a second off her time from last year as she finished in second running 16:33. Parekh was next running 17:00 to finish third.

Olivia Rosenstein of Urbana, who did not run in this race last year due to an injury, finished strong as she ran 17:18 to finish fourth. Kaylee Politza of Lemont missed most of the season due to a stress fracture. Her time of 17:22 was an amazing way to finish the season as she placed fifth.

Benet Academy entered this meet as the team favorite along with Latin School. The Romans fell out of the chase when their normal fourth runner McKenna Fellows had breathing problems in the triangle and could not finish the race. They finished eighth overall.

It was the 50 second split that they had on all seven runners placing in the top 57 to win their first team title under Scott Brooks. The team scored 110 points for the state title.

Emily Spellman led the Redwings as she finished 12nd. Teammate Meaghan Andrews was a second back in 14th. Then followed Joy Jackson (26th), Amelia Parisi (44th), and Louisa Diamond (55th). Elisabeth Camic (56th) and Mary Weber (57th) were next in line.

All seven of the Benet Academy runners in this race are underclassmen and should be back in 2020.

Lakes Community finished their season on a high note placing second with 177 points. Stromsland led the team followed by Olivia Schmidt (43rd), Rebecca Runyan (52nd), Madison Perez (61st), and Alex Bryant (81st). The split between those four runners was 40 seconds.

The Prairie Ridge team was in tears when they were found out that the squad finished third with 179 points. The Wolves had finished third the week before at the Belvidere Sectional. This is the second year in a row that they had surprised the experts with another third-place finish.

Two runners from their team earned all-state honors. Colette Janik led the way finishing 16th followed by freshman Rylee Lydon (22nd). Rachel Soukup (33rd), Alaura Busch (82), and Bridget Jewell (86th) were the team’s other scorers.

2A Boys Race

If it came down to a sprint at the finish, Antioch’s Charlie Smith knew that he would have the win.

“I just wanted to draft on whomever was in first,” Smith said after his win. “I have faith in my kick. I knew if I were in good position entering the final straight, I would be able to outkick those guys.”

The paced slowed down from 4:44 for the opening mile to 9:45 and a 5:01 second mile. Pre-race favorite Sam Lange had the lead with Smith running right on the fence line of the course. Andrew Farmer of Burlington Central was third but was closing on the two runners.

Farmer caught the two with less than a kilometer to go in the race The pace did not speed up as the three runners were content to wait for the final moments of this race.

That strategy fell right into the hands of Smith who made his move 100-meters from the finish separating himself from Lange and Farmer.

Smith started celebrating 30-meters from the finish knowing his dreams were about to come true. His time of 14:46 ended up three seconds ahead of Lange (14:49) with Farmer another second back (14:50).

Brock Dregenberg of Dixon was fourth (14:58) as the only other runner in the race to finish under 15-minutes.

Kaneland was overcome with emotion after they found out that their dream came true winning the 2A State Team championship. They had missed out on a trophy in 2018 finishing fourth.

“It’s like a weight lifted off our chests,” Daniel Occhipinti said after the race. “We were so happy for everyone and so glad we could do this for everyone part of this program.”

Kaneland had entered this meet as the top ranked team in the state as well as being challenged by Dixon the week before at the Belvidere Sectional. The two teams were separated by seven points in that race. It was a different story on Saturday.

The Knights, helped by four all-state performances, scored 74 points for their state championship win. Austin Adams led the team placing eighth. Then followed Daniel Occhipinti as the team’s second runner as he finished 18th. Ethan Walker (21st) and Isaiah Dallal (24th) were next running their best races of their lives. Ethan Neal (51st) was the team’s fifth runner. The top five split for the Knights was 41 seconds.

Dixon ran strong as well as they finished second (95 points) with two all-state runners. Dregenberg led the way in fourth followed by teammate Christian Seagren (9th) who also finished in the top 10. Cadyn Grafton (33), Logan Griswold (37), and Thomas Sitter (68) were the other three scorers separated by 25 seconds.

St. Ignatius Prep, in their first year in Class 2A, picked up their first state team trophy placing third with 141 points. Jacob Flynn led the Wolfpack as he finished all-state in 17th. Michael Lesak (38th), Lian Linnen (39th), Zach Kiley (63rd), and Brian Moore (66th) were in their top five that had a top five split of 41 seconds.

Two other runners in this race deserve mention.

Craig Hundley of Grayslake Central was not on anyone’s radar entering this season or this meet. He had finished 44th in his sectional meet in 2018 not qualifying for state. He made it to Peoria after a ninth-place finish in the Belvidere Sectional. He led at the mile (4:42) ahead of the pack. He finished in fifth-place running a lifetime best of 15:05.

Wilson Georges of Bartonville Limestone. He felt terrible after his conference race three weeks ago and was diagnosed suffering from pneumonia. He did not run in regionals, but his team qualified to advance to sectionals. He advanced to state by finishing sixth at the Bloomington Sectional. I was shocked as I saw him cross the line as an all-state runner placing seventh overall.

“This was so tough,” Georges said about the past few weeks. “I didn’t think that this would happen.”

The heart can sometimes do the impossible and drive you to do things that you could never believe to happen.

It did for these two runners.