Greetings from Herbert Philstead! It is I, winner of the M&M counting contest! I apologize for the delay in this report, but it has been a busy weekend of craving various ice cream treats, and not eating them.
Introduction and Thesis
The other night, Dave Getz called Steve Gifford and asked him for a play by play report from the Mid-Illini Men's Track and Field Championships of the Year Two Thousand and Nine, which Steve promptly delivered while driving home in his 1999 Toyota Camry CE 4 cylinder automatic transmission 4 wheeled horseless motor carriage. Unbeknownst to Steve and Dave - but knownst to us - I, Herbert Philstead, was dropping some eaves Samwise Gamgee style on that conversation, and I will now preemptively strike to deliver the race report to you, the fans of the MHS Runners!
So I will now state two things of note from this evening of racin'. Although there were many great performance, and I'll do my best to mention them all, two trends stood out.
- This was an evening for the Potter two lappers
- This was an evening for Potters who were running longer than their regular event
The Body
Sadly, Steve did not realize the F/S 3200 ran earlier than the other finals and did not catch this race. Or at least that's what he claims. There is a very high probability that he actually was present and simply was distracted thinking of DQ Blizzards. Nevertheless, he walked into the stadium (or started paying attention) just in time to see Nick Piper deliver a stinging kick to a Limestone athlete, henceforth known as 'The Guy Who Always Wears the Shades". Nick came from a good 10-15 meters back to just nip this guy at the line, good for second place in the F/S 3200. Word on the street is that his time was 10:51, which is a new PR. Isaac Ackerman also had the honor of being selected to run this race for the Potters, though Steve was too busy dreaming of soft serve (it's not ice cream!) to know how he did.
During the Varsity 3200, Joe Zeller apparently thought there was some kind of fire drill happening instead of a race, but failed it miserably as he managed to drop and roll, but did not successfully stop. That's only 2 out of 3 steps and almost only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades. Oh, and maybe the wintersport of curling as well? This occurred about 125 meters into the race, and when Joe realized his error, he rejoined the lead pack and continued the race with an knee aching from the fall. Joe dueled with a Redbird for the 5th spot and ultimately ended the race in 6th, scoring points for the Potters and running one of his better times of the season. Dan Ruder ran a solid, even effort, splitting 5:18 and 5:24 to run a PR 10:42.
Three of these same men of manly Potter men, having already run the 3200, came back to run the 1600 as well. Joe and Nick were entered in the F/S 1600, and Joe felt he had something to prove after being disappointed with his fire drill antics. Nick Piper was also prepared to make an assault on the 5 minute barrier. Both Potters went out just behind the lead pack, and started gaining on some of the early leaders near the end of the second lap. At the beginning of the third lap, Zeller came alive, and started surging like mad, catching those who were falling off of the front. I say accelerating, but in actuality, his splits were supposedly pretty even, but other athletes were coming back after starting too fast. I like to think he learned a thing or two from watching Dave and Nathan last year. Zeller finished in around 5th in the race with a 4:54. Piper similarly gained on the faders the last two laps and just missed sub 5 with a time between 5:00 and 5:10. I want to say 5:03, but I had trouble overhearing Steve as I was spying on him at this point in his conversation with Dave.
In the Varsity 1600, Austin Bradford and Dan Ruder competed. The race started out somewhat slow, going through halfway in 2:23-4 with a good 8-10 athletes still bunched very close together at the start of the third lap. They were really tight, as Pekin's Tyler Veerman did his best to impersonate Joe Zeller and did a drop and roll about 825 meters into the race. He pretty much nailed the impersonation as he forgot to stop as well. Later in the third lap, things started to heat up near the front, and the pace quickened. As the front guys started to stretch it out, Austin tried gamely to hang on, with Dan a few seconds back behind the main pack. Austin finished in 4:53, with Ruder just a little ways back in 4:56.
And now on to point 2, which will precede point 1, because that's just how I, Herbert Philstead, roll. The guys running up to longer distances put on quite a show. First up was "I Can't Remember His First Name So I'll Just Call Him German" Fernandez. This was Fernadez' first race over 400 meters all season, and he made it a doozy. He was entered in the F/S 800, and immediately bolted out to big lead, having probably 30 meters by the 200 meter mark. Steve reports having feared that the young man was pulling a rookie sprinter mistake, but also being hopeful he could hold it, knowing Fernandez had some distance success in Junior High School. Hold it he did, and he made it look easy. Fernandez never relinquished his lead, nor even let it shrink, as he held on for 2:12.0 win, with probably a 4 second margin of victory. This was his frist 800 all year. This kid has the build and speed of a sprinter, but needs to explore the longer distances, as he might be a great 800 runner.
Next up in the overdistance category is DJ Zahn. DJ had been running 100s and 200s all season, along with assorted jumps. Last week, he was called upon to run a leg on a 4x400 and did superbly. This week they enter him in the 400 at the Mid-Illini meet and he almost wins the thing, just losing in a lean at the line. I didn't get his official time, but heard reports of around 51 flat, which is not too far off of a state qualifier. Let's see what he can do next Friday in Bloomington.
Now on to point #1. The two lappers! What a night they had! The line up for the Varsity 4x800 was, in this order, Austin, Dale Domnick, Dan Getz and Nathan Smith. And they ran in that order too! (That is I, Herbert Philstead, attempting to use Dave Getz style humor, which is kind of ripped off of Dave Barry and a few other comedians too.)
Austin lead off, and was up against the big boys, with guys going out quick and rubbing and whatnot. He hung onto the front pack as long as he could, through about 600 meters in 1:31-1:32 and did a pretty good job of holding on to handoff in a PR of 2:05, in about 5th spot. Dale ran a smart, patient leg, slowly eating up ground on people and I believe he made up a spot on Pekin's 2nd man, but am not sure, handing off in a PR of 2:10. Next up was Dan Getz, who was promptly passed by Pekin's 3rd man. Dan kept his cool, however, and slowly chewed the dragon up over the next lap and spit him back out the final 200 meters, catching up to East Peoria's 3rd runner in the process, and running a PR of 2:05. He gave the baton to Nathan Smith a half step ahead of EPs anchor, and those two runners had a great duel all the way around the track (twice!), with Nathan finishing in a PR of 2:09. Though he just got outkicked by the EP athlete, this race was a PR for Nathan, and showed a solid return to form for him after being sick.
Oh, and the Potters ran a season best relay time by 20 seconds. Let me say that again, 20 seconds!
Finally, in the Varsity 800, Nathan came back, and was joined by Jordan Thomas. Fresh with no races under his legs that day, Jordan went out quick with the leaders, while Nathan went out a little more cautiously, feeling the effects of the relay. JT held on after the fast start and suffered home down the last 200 to a 2:12, while Nathan came back in with a 2:14.0.
The Conclusion (with no thesis restatement)
In other news, the Lady Potters had their sectional the next night, and sent two qualifiers to the State meet, one Melissa Kirck in the high jump, and one Ashley Pribble in the 3200. Way to go ladies! Next up for the men is the sectional meet at Bloomington H.S., on Friday the 22nd.
Oh, and if you're wondering why this says it was posted by "I'm Steve", it is because I, Herbert Philstead, hacked his accounts while I was dropping eaves on Steve and Dave. That's right, I can multitask. And I'm l33t.
Peace out
Peace out, dawgs!
1 comment:
I did not rip my humor style off of Dave Berry. He ripped his off of me, and the case is still in court to this day because Judge Judy keeps calling for recesses so that she can watch Judge Mathis, who is busy ripping his judging style off of Judge Joe Brown who is a direct copycat of Judge Ludwig who is indirectly copying Judge Jay Jannsen who, in his latest case, ended up accidentally suing his pet collies on the accusation that they claimed that Judge Ludwig did not even exist but Judge Ludwig retaliated with a counter suite but lost when Judge Landis declared that his existence was unconstitutional, and in an astonishing bold judicial manuever, Judge Landis, in all the confusion, accidentally sued himself*.
*and lost
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