Derrick's backup coach comes with credentials
Many people have their own personal trainers.
Imagine having one in-house.
Who happens to be an 11-time All-America.
That's Mark Derrick's fortunate scenario.
The Neuqua Valley senior, running this Saturday at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships Midwest Regional in Kenosha, Wis., cannot be aided by Wildcats coach Paul Vandersteen per IHSA rules regarding such outside competitions.
Never fret. For the past few days Derrick has had the benefit of training with his older brother, Chris, the Stanford senior who Monday was the runner-up to Arizona freshman Lawi Lalang at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.
“It's pretty nice,” Mark Derrick said Tuesday, in Naperville over Thanksgiving. “He did part of my workout today with me. He's kind of being my makeshift coach, I guess you could say.”
This is a double-whammy of goodness for Derrick, who placed ninth overall at the Class 3A boys cross country championships on Nov. 5 and has two all-state 3,200-meter finishes in track under his belt.
Chris Derrick is one of the best prep runners Illinois has seen and produced, the 2008 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year, now an 11-time All-America at Stanford spanning cross and track. And he has run the same course his brother will Saturday.
“He's kind of told me about the Foot Locker course and the best way to run it, in his opinion,” Mark Derrick said. “So that's helped me out in kind of finding a strategy.”
Chris Derrick won the Gatorade award in part due to his 2007 victory at the Foot Locker race on the 5-kilometer layout at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
“It's nothing really intricate,” said Chris, three credit hours away from earning his bachelor's degree in economics.
“It's more that just the race usually goes out pretty hard and the second mile is usually pretty tight, and it goes downhill,” he said. “It's just important to get out in the first 800 (meters) or so, get out in the top 15 or so. Make sure you don't get caught up when the course narrows in that second mile.”
Being four years apart and mild-mannered, there was never a negative rivalry between the boys.
“Chris was a nice big brother. He never picked on me, we got along pretty well,” Mark said. Thus, his advice is easy to take even if their typical race plans are somewhat different.
“I feel like my style, I kind of like to get out hard in the top pack and kind of run by myself,” Mark said.
“I'm not really sure about Chris. He obviously runs in the front, but I think he's more like a second-half kind of runner, especially in college, and he closes really hard. He picks it up as he goes,” he said.
“Obviously, he's already done it, so he kind of knows what it takes. I just want to try to get out there and run with the top pack and see what happens.”
Due to the distance between the two in age and miles, the brothers rarely see each other compete. In Terre Haute Mark was part of a Neuqua contingent that included parents Richard and Janet Derrick, Vandersteen and former Wildcats Bryan Winek, Lucas Cotter and Pat Peters to watch Chris and another Neuqua grad, Illinois' Jimmy Riddle.
“Obviously, he didn't win,” Mark said of his brother, “but he had a really strong performance and that was really awesome to see.”
Not counting posted videos and such, the last time Chris saw Mark run a race was when Chris was a Neuqua senior and his brother was an eighth-grader at Crone Middle School.
“This is going to be the first high school race I've ever watched Mark run live,” said Chris Derrick, who plans on continuing to compete after his collegiate eligibility expires. “I've always been away at college whenever he's been running, I've never actually seen him run live. It's going to be fun for me.”
On Saturday Mark Derrick will try to earn a top-10 finish and advance to the Foot Locker National Finals on Dec. 10 in San Diego. The regional field includes Fenton's Fabiel Urzua, Glenbard South's Joe Singleton, York's Carlos Vega, Oak Park star Malachy Schrobilgen and two-time Class 2A cross country champ Michael Clevenger of Decatur MacArthur.
The girls field offers Lake Park's Kaylee Flanagan, Hinsdale Central's Jill Hardies and Downers Grove North's Gaby Hesslau.
Flanagan, whose older sister Lindsay runs for the University of Washington and placed 92nd overall in the Division I women's race Monday, might also enjoy the same perk as Mark Derrick with his brother Chris.
“I can go to him and tell him what I'm thinking and get his opinion,” Mark said. “It's a great resource to have.”
doberhelman@dailyherald.com