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Thoughts and Thanks

Published by
ILXCTF - Mike Newman   Apr 24th 2020, 1:00pm
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Thoughts and Thanks

 

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

 

 

Today would be the start of my favorite weekend of the track regular season. I would be at the top of the press box at Downers Grove South to watch top-flight athletes compete in the Bob Cohoon Invitational Friday night.

 

I would have been freezing my butt off up there. I would receive a text from Minooka Coach Nick Lundin that has a picture of me that he took from a far. Any meet that we are both at I get that text. It would not be a real meet without my phone buzzing with that pic. I will miss that.

 

I would get little sleep after getting home. Upload videos, write a recap, post results.

 

Saturday would start with a 10 minute drive to Glenbard West to watch the Sue Pariseau Invitational. There are only two types of conditions at this meet. The first would be a pleasant day with the sun kissing the athletes and fans. The other would be white caps rolling off Lake Ellyn.

 

It would have been one of the last times that we would see Katelynne Hart run on her home track. I have seen and was able to get on video some of those memorable races.

 

That meet would end and I would head north to Palatine High School for Distance Night in Palatine. There is some type of electricity that comes from that meet. You can feel it standing on the floor of the stadium. When I was recording the races last year at the top of the stands, you still get that special feeling running through your body of what those runners were doing.

 

I would get home about midnight. Probably would not sleep as results would need to be posted, videos from the two meets that I would be at needed to be uploaded, and then writing recaps from those meets through blurry eyes as the sun would come up.

 

Three meets in 30 hours. I would arrive at Distance Night and Palatine Coach Chris Quick would ask me did I go to Glenbard West. Before I would get a chance to answer, Quick would say of course you did. That is crazy. I am a running nerd. Quick would understand. He is a running nerd like me. So many coaches that are still involved in this sport have that “track nerdiness” running through their veins. The athletes that are coached by them are better people after leaving their programs.

 

The middle of March and the onset of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic hit most of us like a hammer slowing the pace down of this sport. I avoided my pain that hit me. I buried my feelings deep in my work with projects that I was doing and now had a chance to complete. I had to stay on neutral. I could not get too high emotionally. I could not get too low emotionally. In this new normal that the world was going through, the new normal for me was keeping emotionally calm, keeping hope in my runner’s heart.

 

When Illinois Governor JD Pritzker announced last Friday that physical attendance at schools would not happen and schools would be closed for the remainder of the year. I knew the inevitable announcement would happen. After the IHSA Board of Directors met and decided that there would be no state meet in Charleston on Tuesday, I was still in neutral emotional state.

 

As I was waiting for a response from an e-mail that I had sent to IHSA Assistant Executive Director Kraig Garber, I clicked onto my Twitter app on my phone. I had not been a frequent visitor on social media during this period of time. Avoidance of negative tweets. Avoidance of what was happening. What else could be said that was not already said?

 

Abby Lopez, a senior from Argo, had posted a video on Twitter of her racing last year in Palatine. She ran such a great race. I unmuted the volume of the video. There was my voice describing that race.

 

Then the emotions flooded out over my borders like a springtime thaw along the Mississippi River.

 

The reality hit that this season was over. The bigger reality was that this high school class of 2020 would never run a high school race again in their school colors. My runner’s heart felt their pain.

 

It would have been fun to see what would happened at the end of May. It would have been fun to see what events Katelynne Hart would have run. Would Hart and her teammates walk away with a state championship? Josh Methner of Hersey had such a great cross country senior season and looked to be ready for a memorable run to state track titles in the 3200 and 1600 Meter Runs.

 

I can imagine the roar of crowd, the standing ovation that Hart and Methner would have received and deserved on their final strides on the Big Blue Oval.

 

Now it will not happen. Dreams will have to remain dreams for this Class of 2020.

 

We have memories of races past from this class. But we will not have the positive feelings that we would have received from this track season. It hits me hard every year watching a senior run their final race knowing that most likely I would never see them run a race again.

 

In shooting videos, I would look at the reactions of the athletes after their race. The joy or sorrow that was shared between athlete and coach is something that hits me now. The joy of sportsmanship between fellow competitors after a race makes being at a meet all the worthwhile. Finally, the athlete going to the stands to greet their parents or grandparents after a competition. The hugs of joy or consoling. Those visions are powerful.

 

It hurts when I look and see the social posts from coaches to their athletes. There is no normal closure for both of them. There is no what ifs in their conversations. More so what was.


I miss the feelings in my heart when I film these videos. The excitement of seeing what we thought was impossible that they made a reality. Their team knew. They knew.

 

I miss the feelings of the interaction. But don’t we all?

 

It is walking into a stadium knowing you had to get ready to cover a meet and you end up talking to coaches, then athletes, then parents, and then beating yourself up to rush to get ready to do your job. In your heart you would never give away those moments. The smile on my face from those memories never leaves me.

 

I am thankful for what I do. What makes this powerful are the thanks to every athlete, every coach that I interact with that I give at this time. I am thankful that coaches give me the permission to talk to your athletes. I am thankful for the athlete that instead of taking that moment to celebrate, I get the privilege to talk with them. I am thankful to the parents of those athletes that have raised such quality children.

 

It is those silent bonds between myself and some of these athletes that I treasure the most.

 

The trips to Portland in December end up memorable. You get to know the athletes that make it out there a little better. I was at Hononegah in February and Bob Liking of St. Charles East approached me. We talked for 10 minutes. Liking had a “breakthrough” in his running last fall. I was looking forward to his next act this spring. I cannot wait to see what he does at the University of Wisconsin.

 

I have had many conversations with Jacob Kluckhohn of Wheaton-Warrenville South over the past couple of years. The final time that I saw Kluckhohn was at a meet at North Central College in March before all of this started. He was wearing a North Central College t-shirt. His mom is the head Women’s Track & Field coach at the school. “Did you make a decision” I asked him about a college choice that I was anticipating. He nodded his head and said yes. I cannot wait to see his progress in the next four years.

 

You all know that I graduated from York High School in 1980. When I moved back here from Ohio in 2011, I promised myself I would spend Monday afternoons in the fall watching their practice and talking to Mr. Newton.

 

I have continued that tradition to this day and enjoy those moments returning to your old school. It hurts that this group of seniors will not get a chance to finalize their dreams this spring. It hurts me more that I will not get to chat with them again one more time at a meet or see them in the green and white one last time.

 

At the same time, that feeling applies to everyone that talk to at a track or cross country meet. It feels like I am a hummingbird at times. A quick chat, a thank you, and then move towards my next flower to get nectar or information. You are always moving. It never tires of me. It is that synergy that I receive from the student/athlete that keeps me young. Thank you.

 

I did not look back to see how many times that I have chatted with Katelynne Hart after a race either on or off the record. It is probably the most that I have had a dialogue with any athlete during a four-year period. There were times where I would have to wait so she could get her cool down completed. “Can I get my cooldown in first, then we can talk” is what she would ask me at first. I would nod yes. I would get a thumbs up reply from her.

 

The conversations that we had showed what a champion should act like. Hart handled good times and bad times with class and humbleness. I will miss those moments with KK and look forward to what she accomplishes next as a leader in this world, an athlete, or a talented chef. Thank you to her coaches for allowing the me those moments. Thanks also to her parents that I would have so meaningful chats with. There was something they told me after Magis Miles after Katelynne’s win. I will keep that private, but those words meant so much to me. Thank you KK for taking a little time to chat with me.

 

Brenna Cohoon of Downers Grove South approached me before the start of her junior season asking if she could write a weekly blog on my site. I saw her first blog that she sent to me. It showed promise. Not only was she a great teammate and leader for her team, she was a talented writer that was realizing what she could pen. Two years later, every piece that she has sent has wowed me. She writes her final piece next week. I cannot wait what she expresses at that time.

 

After Cohoon had approached me, I asked a then Illinois High School athlete that had done an internship what they had learned. The reply that I got was “I learned what not to do.”

 

I know that Brenna had learned something from the experience from the improvement of the quality of her writing. It also taught me some things that will make me a better person from her actions. Her love of the sport grew during what she had shared with all of you. I cannot wait to see what she achieves at Iowa State University both on and off the field of athletic competition.

 

We will see The Class of 2020 do many great things in the future. They will learn from what has occurred during this period of time. Preparedness would have to be the biggest thing that they have learned.

 

My mom traveled to Thailand in early January on a trip. She had to fly back through Shanghai, China. She got off the plane and Chinese officials were there to test all the passengers from that flight. They then boarded a flight to Los Angeles all wearing masks.

 

That flight landed at LAX and left the plane into the terminal. No United States officials there to greet them, to check them. I do not buy the comments that this took us off guard. It is a lesson of always being ready for a situation instead of burying your head in the sand. It will be a lesson that this class of young adults will always carry with them.

 

The Class of 2020 will be our future leaders. They will be leaders in schools, in industry, in athletics, in the political fields because of what they have to endure during this time. It will start this November when they will be able to participate in a presidential election for the first time. By the time they are out in the real world, this class will be more prepared than any other group before them.

 

They will be leaders. They will know sacrifice. It was not their choice but a sacrifice they needed to make to keep this country safe. When asked to sacrifice in the future with their job, or a choice they will need to make for their families, this group will look back to this pandemic for the lessons that they have learned.

 

I will miss the final interviews that I would have done with after their final race in Charleston. We would have talked about your race, your biggest memories at your school, and your feelings. What I will miss is what I would have said to those of you at the end:

 

“Thank you very much for spending this time with me. I know you will achieve some great things at the next level. It has been my honor and privilege that I was able to talk to you these past four years.”

 

To the Class of 2020:

Thank you for allowing me to cover you, to chat with you, and to record your moments during your high school athletic life. Your memories will always remain in my heart. You all mean so much to me.

 

Let me know “2020” what I can do for you. You have already given me so much.

 

 

 

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2 comment(s)
Art Georges
Thanks for these aching thoughts Mike! We all appreciate your important role in this passion of ours!
Art Georges
Thanks for these aching thoughts Mike! We all appreciate your important role in this passion of ours!
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