Van Vlierbergen's legacy at Jacobs unprecedented

As salutatorian of the Jacobs High School Class of 2015, Lauren Van Vlierbergen got to make a speech.

"I thought it would be scary, but making the speech wasn't so bad," she said. "I told everybody to think about a memory they had in high school and cherish it. We're all going our separate ways and the four years we had together were unforgettable. We all should appreciate the times we had in high school and look to the future."

And what a time Van Vlierbergen had at Jacobs. A middle-distance/distance running standout, Van Vlierbergen leaves the Algonquin school with 9 state medals between cross-country and track (6 in track and 3 in cross-country), including the 2013 Class 3A 800 state championship, plus the prestigious Wendy's High School Heisman Award this past fall, which values well-rounded high school seniors with top-level performance in the classroom, on the field and in the community. She also leaves as the repeat winner of the Daily Herald's Fox Valley Female Athlete of the Year Award.

"She's the best female runner in school history and probably the best female athlete," said Jacobs cross-country coach Kevin Christian, who also coaches the distance runners on the girls track team. "I don't know if we are ever going to see what she's done again. She set some records here that will be hard to beat."

But with Van Vlierbergen, who will attend Michigan on scholarship, high school track and cross-country were more to her than high place finishes and medals.

"I met so many amazing people along the way who supported me and helped me," she said. "Some of my best friends are the people I run with in cross-country and track and some of the girls from around the area. Lauren Opatrny (McHenry) and Morgan Schulz (Cary-Grove) are two girls I'll get to continue to grow with in the Big Ten because Lauren is going to Iowa and Morgan is going to Michigan.

"And my teammates meant so much to me. They all came Downstate to watch me whether they drove separately or took the bus. They are the best. I couldn't have done anything without them. They made me love running. I wouldn't have accomplished what I did without them."

Van Vlierbergen, who battled injuries earlier in her high school career, cited her friendships in particular with teammates Taylor Bona, Molly Barnes, Courtney Eubanks and boys' team member Alec Bodnar.

"We've trained together the last four years," she said. "We've grown so close. They basically are my family. They are my best friends and mean so much to me. It's sad that we are going our separate ways, but at the same time it is exciting. I will meet some new teammates at Michigan. It feels like I'm getting another support group."

When she was in middle school at Westfield Community, Van Vlierbergen was far from a distance runner.

"I was a 400 sprinter and liked to run the 100 and 200," she said. "When I got to high school Coach Christian encouraged me to go out for the cross-country team freshman year. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. At first I didn't like doing the workouts going three, five and six miles. Now those are nice and easy long runs. It was an adjustment at first to become more of a distance runner."

Barnes, who will continue her cross-country and track careers at Southern Illinois University, recalls running against Van Vlierbergen in middle school. Barnes, who has been best friends with Van Vlierbergen since early childhood, went to Dundee Middle School.

"I remember running the 4-by-4 at the eighth-grade district meet and I asked, 'Can I just go for second place?' " she recalled with a laugh. "I didn't think I could beat her. She was running a 1-flat in the 400 in eighth grade. I still have a picture of us getting ready for a race and it looks like I'm all happy and excited and Lauren is all serious waiting for the baton."

Van Vlierbergen doesn't want to be remembered at Jacobs for only her running dossier, which included three consecutive Top 10 finishes at the Class 3A cross-country state meet (7th in 2012, 4th in 2013 and 2nd in 2014).

"I want people to remember me as a leader who helped influence younger people," said Van Vlierbergen, who won two more track state medals in her final meet this spring (3rd in the 800 and 5th in the 1,600). "I wanted to make sure I left Jacobs a better place than when I got there. I remember looking up to all the seniors when I was a freshman. I hope all the freshmen this year felt the same way."

Christian is quite certain Van Vlierbergen accomplished her goal in that regard. "It's how much she's helped everybody around her in the program," he said. "She was always there helping out her teammates. She worked with everybody. A lot of girls looked up to her because they see the way she works. Younger girls looked up to her and wanted to be that way and they improved because of it."

Jacobs girls' track coach Ryan Lemanski added: "Because of her our numbers went up in general. She attracted a lot of people who wanted to see her run and she inspired a lot of other girls to come and try cross-country and track and field. She leaves as the most accomplished and decorated athlete to ever be part of this program. I've never had an athlete so talented and so capable and able to do the things she did."

Equally awe-inspiring to observers is what Van Vlierbergen achieved away from cross-country courses and the track.

"You usually get a kid who is a great athlete or a great student," said Christian. "She had all of it. I think she won half the awards on senior awards night. It seemed like she was basically involved in every club in the school. I don't know how she did it all or how there were enough hours in the day for her to do what she did. I had her in an AP class and she was unbelievable. I don't know if you can have more of an all-around person. She has it all. I don't think we will see the likes of her again."

Barnes added: "She is probably the only person like that in the school who is on top of everything. Lauren definitely is unique."

Academics have always been the No. 1 priority for Van Vlierbergen, who was accepted into Michigan's prestigious business school. "Academics always come first," she said. "I've always focused on my studies, but I also care a lot about running. I've always studied hard and done my homework and all the hard work I've put into it has made it a smooth process for me. I'm scared about college. I feel like it's going to be really hard. But my work ethic is there and I'm ready to see what challenges Michigan brings."

Van Vlierbergen is hopeful she can be a contributor right out of the gates at Michigan.

"They have strong cross-country runners and strong track athletes," she said. "It's a huge honor to be able to run for them. I'm going to train hard with my new teammates and hopefully the opportunity will be there to contribute right away. I always wanted to go to a Big Ten School. It's a dream come true to go to Michigan."

And Michigan is excited to see what Van Vlierbergen can do for its programs.

"Lauren has proved she is an outstanding track and cross-country athlete with tremendous success," Michigan head women's cross-country coach and associate track and field coach Mike McGuire said. "She also is an outstanding student, coming into Michigan with preferred admittance to our Stephen M. Ross School of Business. "Her success at a high level of competition leads us to believe that she will follow in the tradition of excellent middle-distance runners here at Michigan."

When asked to pick out a favorite accomplishment athletic-wise at Jacobs, Van Vlierbergen surprisingly did not choose her 800 state title from last year.

"It's weird. I won the 800 state title, but my favorite race is in the preliminaries of the 4-by-8 relay at state sophomore year," she said. "We got the school record and it was exciting to be there and exciting to be with the girls on that relay (Barnes along with seniors Torri Tamburrino and Sam Baran were her relay mates)."

Van Vlierbergen, who also works as a lifeguard at Lifetime Fitness, noted Tamburrino and Baron missed graduation to run at state that year. "Molly and I were sophomores and we looked up to them a lot," she said. "We ended up getting fifth overall and that was my first state track medal."

Lemanski said Van Vlierbergen's legacy at Jacobs isn't going anywhere anytime soon, be it numbers on a board on a wall or the lasting impression she left with students, teachers and administrators.

"She could have been a state qualifier in almost any event on the track," he said. "After she ran the 1,600 at state this year I told her that I didn't know if there would be another athlete like her that will come around here again. I don't see any of her school records going anywhere because they are so far out there. She's a great person all-around academically, personally and athletically. Michigan isn't getting just a great athlete, they are getting a great person."