Folders |
IL Amboy Invite: Nykaza in league of his own in setting course recordPublished by
By Michael Newman
Shulette, Ill — The boys varsity race at the Amboy Columbus Day Invitational was delayed close to 30 minutes from the original starting time of 11:10 AM. As Grant Nykaza of Beecher did strideouts past his dad, he shook his head and said, “Why haven’t they started this race yet?”
“Everyone else is going through the same thing,” his father, Henry said. “Do not worry about the little things and focus on the big picture.”
At some points in his 2011 cross country season, the big picture became out of focus. One of them was last year at this same invite where the lead golf cart almost blocked the path of Nykaza, slowing him down and contributing to his missing out on the course record that he wanted so bad.
His focus was clear Monday as the gun finally went off and Nykaza traveled through the hilly first mile in 4:56. He had already opened up a 16-second lead over a pack led by Nick Hess of Champaign St. Thomas More and Connor Ehnle of Tremont. The second mile on the course is “grass on a track.” Nykaza knew if he would get the record, he would have to take off at that point.
“The first mile is a little bit slower. I had to work that second mile to get as close to 9:30 as possible,” Nykaza said. He sizzled his second mile in 4:42, passing by the 2-mile point in 9:38. His lead of 16 seconds at the mile had more than doubled to 34 seconds. This was his race. The question would be if that elusive record would be his.
This invitational is one of the biggest small-school meets in Illinois, having been around since 1973. The record in this 40-year-old meet is 14:11 for the 2.9-mile course. Nykaza continued to push through the last portion of the course. His lead grew at the finish line to 48 seconds as he crossed in 14:10, a new CR.
“Last year I was chasing the record, but this year was my last year and I was definitely going to give it all I had,” a happy Nykaza said afterwards. It gives him a good indication of what he has in the tank. The old course record holder, Jeremy Stevens of Winnebago, went on to run 14:18 at the state meet in 2005. It kind of shows what Nykaza could do. Time, however, does not matter to him at state. “I’m ready to run my race and no one else’s. Obviously Jeremy is no slouch. He was a great runner. To break one of his records just gives me a lot of confidence.”
Nykaza will run again Saturday at Detweiller Park in the Patriot’s Invitational, where he will try to run between 14:15 to 14:20. Could this be a prelude to a fast time at state? “I do not care if I run 15:00 at state. As long as I win the state championship.”
Watch the full interview with Grant Nykaza here In the boys team race, Champaign St. More traveled north to this meet for the first time, mainly to see how they stacked up against some of the top teams in North Central Illinois. The 1A #1 Sabers had command of the team race at the mile, with five runners in the first 30. They rolled from there, placing three runners in the first eight to win the team championship, 53-134 over 2A Wheaton Academy.
“We have been training pretty hard and we are still a little flat. We wanted to run against some guys that we have not run against,” said St. Thomas Coach David Behm. “I think we met our goals. We just came off of homecoming weekend. A rainy football game. I thought we did pretty good.”
The girls race was a surprise in both the individual and team competitions. The individual race had a pack consisting of Chloe Marshinski of Westmont, Reagan Weidner of Bureau Valley, Theresa Walle of St. Thomas More, and Maria Brauer of Petersburg PORTA. Brauer charged up the hill at the 2-¼ mark and started to force the pace from there. She went on to win in 17:48, five seconds ahead of Marshinski. It was the first major invitational win for the freshman, according to her coach and father Jim Brauer. “She usually stays with her teammate senior MacKenzie Griffin and paces off of her (Griffin finished 6th on Monday). Today she just went after it in the last mile,” the coach said.
That was not the only surprise that this Springfield area school would have. The 1A #14 Bluejays won the team competition with 140 points, 22 ahead of 1A #6 Winnebago.
“I did not expect them to place that well. That was kind of the times I thought they would run,” said PORTA Coach Jim Brauer. “I was happy that we had five runners up there. But we have a long way to go.”
Watch the full interview with Maria Brauer here
More news |
