State titles for Burlington, Cary-Grove’s Freeman
CHARLESTON — The dream of winning a state title was not lost on Burlington Central and seniors Mike Gulick and Clint Kliem Saturday in the Class 2A state finals at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium.
In the finals of the 3,200-meter relay, Gulick and Kliem teamed with Matt O’Connor and Joe Gannon for a shot at the state title.
O’Connor started the race just right for the Rockets, Gulick got them the lead and Gannon and Kliem never relinquished it. As he crossed the line in 7:48.31, the SIU-Edwardsville-bound Kliem tossed his arms in the air in almost disbelief.
“I knew that from (Friday) all four of the runner’s form Cahokia could run fast in the first quarter,” Kliem said. “I just saw the white line at the end, knew my legs were burning and had to give it my all.”
Gulick, who collapsed after his leg, remembered bits and pieces of the race, but remembered the most important part — winning it.
“I was feeling kind of lethargic at that time, but the only thing I could think of that crossed my mind was ‘we did it,’ ” Gulick said.
The relay championship is the Rockets’ first since winning the 3,200 relay in 2003. It is the program’s fifth relay state championship
This was the first title for the Rockets in a relay since 2001. As a team, Central placed 10th overall. Cahokia claimed the Class 2A title.
Coach Mike Schmidt’s Rockets picked up a hard-earned second in the 1,600 relay with the team of Gulick, Kliem, Ryan Olsen and Ben Damisch. That group was just edged by Cahokia in 3:20.13. Kliem earned his third medal placing sixth in the 800 (1:56.92).
The stage for Cary Grove senior Josh Freeman was set and his target was too. A little yellow plastic whiffle ball marked the spot Freeman needed to hit to eclipse a state record in the shot. The SIU-bound Freeman hit the spot, but not quite the record.
On his first throw in the finals of the Class 3A shot put Freeman launched the shot high into the air and it landed right by the whiffle ball. The oooh’s and aahhh’s from the crowd and the reaction from Freeman made it appear that was it — that was the record. It wasn’t, but it was close.
On his final throw, Freeman hit the ball on the fly and it set off a wild celebration. But he was still short.
“I went into the finals thinking these were my last three throws as a Cary Grove Trojan and I had to put it all on the line,” said Freeman who finished with a new school record mark of 66 feet even. “When I saw the shot hit out there I thought that was it. Even though I didn’t get the record, to get that close means a lot.”
Freeman finished his day and his career at Cary Grove in dramatic fashion in the discus. Having already locked up the title in the event, Freeman made sure there wasn’t a close second. His final throw of 181-3 set a new school record and earned Freeman another medal.
The team race in Class 3A was won for the third time in a row by Lake Park with 48 points. Edwardsville ran second (42) and Oak Park third (41). Cary placed fifth with 26 points.
Freeman’s teammates, Tommy Rohn and Michael Gleeson, placed sixth and eighth respectively in the 400 meter dash. Jeff Broger of South Elgin earned the first medal for the Storm placing ninth in the event.
Jacobs earned a pair of medals on Saturday, the first coming in the 3,200-relay where the team of Nick Matysk, Pat Nerja, Ryan Ross, and William Hennessy placed sixth in 7:51.66. Senior Dom Blake earned his first state medal taking seventh in the 300 hurdles (40.30).