Methner shines in rain at Nike Cross Nationals

Hersey State Champion finishes second in Boys race; Liking, David earn All-American honors

By Michael Newman

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Portland – The cross-country gods looked down at the athletes running the course at the Glendoveer Golf Course on Friday and noticed that the conditions were too sunny, too perfect for a national championship quality race.

So they opened up the clouds Friday afternoon which produced rain soaking the course for the Nike Cross Nationals on Saturday morning.

This was a national championship race. Why not make this tough course even more challenging?

This was Portland in December. There had to be some rain and sloppy conditions.

The steady rain throughout the meet did not seem to bother the runners from Illinois. As Caleb Brown of Shelby OH said after the race, “This did not bother us. We are from the Midwest.”

Josh Methner of Hersey IL made the best of the conditions running a great race in finishing second overall in the Boys race. Methner’s time of 15:06.1 was 14 seconds behind the wining time of Nico Young from Newbury Park CA who ran an incredible 14:52.1 considering the conditions.

Illinois also had Bob Liking of St. Charles East and Tatum David of Olney Richland County finish in the top 21 earning themselves All-American honors. All four Illinois teams ran some of their best races of the season all finishing in the top 12.

MEET VIDEOS | MEET RESULTS

THE BOYS RACE

Methner’s strategy was simple according to his coach Kevin Young who was there to watch his star pupil run. He wanted to stay as close as possible to Nico Young and see what would happen in the end.

That strategy changed in the first 600-meters of the race when Young bolted away from the rest of the pack. Young passed the 1-mile mark in 4:38 with Methner, Ryan Schoppe of LaPorte TX, Cole Sprout of Valor Christian, and Ohio’s Caleb Brown leading the pack three seconds behind.

“Right away, Nico got a five-meter gap on us and just took off. That was one of the things that I thought might happen today,” Methner said. “I did not want to catch up to him too fast and burn myself out trying to catch him. I just tried to stay within striking distance. I had my foot on the pedal (at 2-miles) running my own race but trying to catch him.”

Methner was making small surges in the middle mile of the race. Young had opened up an eight second lead on the Hersey runner at 2-miles going past in 9:29. Methner had a one second lead on Schoppe at that point.

The little surges that Methner was making in an effort to catch Young were also breaking the pack that was trying to stay with him. The group started to fall farther and farther behind.

“The last kilometer I was giving it all that I had to try to get him. I just could not get him,” Methner added. “I was proud the way I ran.”

Methner’s second-place finish is the third All-American honor that he has won in his high school career adding on to the two that he earned in 2018. He is entered in next Saturday’s Foot Locker Nationals where he is expected to be the favorite in that race.

Bob Liking’s 19th place finish helped his team St. Charles East finish a dream season by finishing fourth overall in the standings. The two California team favorites in the race were separated by only four points. Newbury Park CA, led by Young’s championship, scored 128 points to capture their first national title. Great Oak CA had only a 10.5 second split on their top five runners as they finished second with 132 points. Corner Canyon UT scored 142 points to finish third. The top three teams were separated by only 14 points.

“I did not know what place All-American was until my coach yelled at me that I was an All-American,” Liking said. “It’s pretty cool.”

St. Charles East finished fourth with 162 points. They were an at-large team entered into the field a week ago. Their finish was the highest for an-at large team in the Boys race.

Micah Wilson had a strong finish of his sophomore season in placing 57th. Aidan King was 10 seconds back of Wilson as East’s third runner placing 74th. Luke Schildmeyer (93rd) and Zach Loomis (96th) were the team’s fourth and fifth runners. Connor Murphy also finished 140th and Johnny Olenek placed 183rd in the race.

King had a lot to say about his coaches Chris Bosworth and Michael Kososki after the race was all said and done. “We recognize all that you have done for us the past four years,” King said. “We know that this was just not a job for you and the work that you put in for us showed today.”

Wheaton-Warrenville South got in a good position early and maintained that by finishing ninth overall with 253 points. Billy Hauenstein just missed All-American honors as he led his team with a 27 place finish. David Zeller (85th), Jacob Kluckhohn (94th), Jared Peaslee (108th), and Ethan Seng (142nd) were the team’s other scorers as the group was only separated by 32 seconds. Michael Atkins (154th) and Carson Rewiski (194th) also contributed for the Tigers.

“I think the state of Illinois has done a great job of supporting each other,” Kluckhohn said. “We’ve gotten a lot of texts from guys all over the state. I think it is really great to have that support too.”

York made their first appearance in this meet since 2012 a successful one. The Dukes finished 12 (275 points) led by Colin Hill (49th) and Daniel Klysh (92nd). Mickey Vreeland, who did not run on the team’s top seven in the state or regional meet, was the team’s third runner placing (116) followed by Michael Moriarty (118th), Brian Pratt (124th) and Will Yasdick (136th). Ethan Kern, despite reaggravating an injury from earlier in the season, still ran with his teammates one last time as he finished 179th.

“I think the best memory of this season is being with your best friends,” Kern said. “It’s all the stupid and funny things that we have shared together three to four hours every day. It is great to share things like that with your friends.”

THE GIRLS RACE

Tatum David of Olney Richland County ran in her first of what should be many national races. She earned All-American honors finishing 17. David was in the top 15 in the first mile of the race and maintained her position after that.

She was the second freshman to finish in the race trailing only Kate Peters of Lincoln OR who finished ninth overall.

“I was just hoping to be an All-American today,” David said. “I went out how I expected it (5:24 first mile). I wanted to go out fast, but not too fast considering the conditions. That part went good too.”

Naperville North went out under control and built that momentum moving up during the race. The Huskies finished 12th overall led by Maggie Gamboa who finished 36th. The split between their next four runners was only 13 seconds led by Audrey Mendrys (118th) followed by Campbell Petersen (125th), Molly Morton (126th), and Kate Donaldson (136th). Sophie Golobitsch (141st) and Lucy Westlake (166th) were the team’s sixth and seventh runners.

Things look great for this group. All seven runners are underclassmen and will return in 2020 for another trip to Portland and chase after their fifth straight Illinois state championship.

Saratoga Springs NY won their second Nike Cross National Championship, their first since the first meet in 2004, crushing the field scoring only 78 points placing their top four runners in the first 40 overall places. 2018 champion Summit OR scored 160 points to finish second. Niwot CO qualified for this meet with an at-large berth by finishing third in the Southwest Regional. The Colorado 5A state champion finished third with 171 points.

Katelyn Tuohy of North Rockland NY won her third straight NXN championship but had to work to get this one. Tuohy held off Taylor Ewert of Beavercreek OH and Sydney Thorvaldson of Rawlings WY in the final 100-meters of the race. The three runners were separated by one second with Tuohy across the line first in 17:18.4.

The conditions worsened throughout the meet which effected the performances with some of the runners in this race.

Things like that happen in every race. Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West did not have her best race of the year but still finished 50th overall. The class runner that she is, Hart congratulated the rest of the runners immediately after she finished.

(Writer’s Note: I did not effort to do an interview after the race with her. There are moments where you do not need to know what is going through the head of a young runner after a race that maybe they would not want to remember or discuss. I am sure she will use this experience to do even bigger things starting with this Saturday’s Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego.)