Havel ends in seventh heaven

Running in the middle of the pack is an unfamiliar place for Kevin Havel.

But it was all part of the Hersey senior's plan a mile into the 29th annual Foot Locker Cross Country Championships at Balboa Park on Saturday in San Diego.

Havel, who verbally committed to Stanford two weeks ago, worked his way into more familiar territory. He ran the 5K race in 15:18 to finish seventh out of 40 runners from across the nation.

Havel achieved his goal of finishing in the top 10 in a race where Michael Fout of LaPorte (Ind.) won in 14:50 and Class 3A state champion Chris Derrick of Neuqua Valley was second in 14:57.

It also helped Havel erase some of the disappointment from finishing third in the state behind Derrick and York's Tom Achtien.

"My state race was great, I won't deny it, but it left me wanting more," Havel said. "I was very disappointed because I felt I didn't show my best effort, but Chris and Tom ran awesome races.

"This affirms that I'm still a top runner … and if you're going to lose to someone, losing to a kid who is second in the nation isn't bad."

Havel said because runners usually try to break out quickly in this race, he went out at a slower-paced 4:35 first mile.

It was a change from his usual strategy that forced Havel to keep his composure since he wasn't part of the lead pack.

"The competition was great and every guy was uber-talented and uber-fast," Havel said. "With 20 (guys) ahead at the mile, I never had that back in Illinois. It was actually a ton of fun and I enjoyed it.

"You definitely have to be calm and confident in the plan implemented. During the race there's no turning back."

Havel said he passed four or five runners in the last 800 meters and he passed two in the last 200 meters. He finished two seconds out of sixth place.

Now Havel, who picked Stanford over Notre Dame, Illinois, Georgetown, Princeton and Colorado, will start gearing up for track after finishing fourth in the 3,200 meters and sixth in the 1,600 last spring.

"I was able to take my (state meet) frustration out the last couple of weeks and end up on a great note," said Havel, who has a 5.48 grade-point average on a 5.0 scale and plans to study biology. "I'm happy I ended the season on such a high note."