This time Schulz beats the clock
Track and field can be unforgiving, its man vs. stopwatch scenario harsh.
It offers chances for forgiveness, however, and Saturday's Midwest Distance Gala at Benedictine University was just such an opportunity. Athletes from 18 states, boys and girls alike, competed in the sixth annual event, where the shortest event on the track was 800 meters.
That's where Benet's McKinzie Schulz found her redemption. She'd finished fourth in the 800 three weeks ago at the girls Class 3A state meet but in an unsatisfying time of 2 minutes, 14.29 seconds.
"I ran that time my freshman year," said Schulz, headed to run at Notre Dame.
She placed fourth Saturday but squeezed her way off the rail and out of the pack to finish with a new personal-best time of 2:10.56, which would have won the state meet. Winner Laura Roesler clocked in at 2:07.00.
"I love night races, and it was really good to run against Laura Roesler, from North Dakota," Schulz said. "It was a good race. After the state meet I was kind of disappointed."
Three runners went under nine minutes in the boys 2-mile - two from Texas, one from Missouri - while in the boys 800-meter race Dundee-Crown's Nathan Prom pulled in at sixth place with a time of 1:53.31, faster than his second-place Class 3A state finish.
York is always well-represented at the Gala due to the Dukes' hierarchy in distance running and its initial founding with the help of York personnel. Legendary coach Joe Newton sat just outside the first turn, his former cross country assistant Charlie Kern leading runners as the "rabbit" in a couple events and former Duke Nick Kuczwara doing the same in another.
Newton saw plenty to cheer. York's Alex Mimlitz ran a strong second in the boys freshman mile, at 4:26.91; and Mike Lucchesi, Nick Gornick and Ron Hedman all placed top five in the 5,000-meter run.
In the finale York senior Jack Driggs - two weeks ago at state he was second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600 - rallied down the homestretch to win the mile at 4:08.24.
The Midwest Distance Gala also offers the 2,000-meter steeplechase, typically the first time these prep runners have tried it. Along with Geneva's Connor Bartel, Neuqua Valley's Aaron Beattie gave it a shot.
Wearing his powder blue uniform from the 2007 Nike Team Nationals and steeplechase spikes bought on E-bay, the future Washington Huskie finished third at 6 minutes, 9.27 seconds, not far off his 6:00 goal.
"It was my first steeplechase, and I didn't really have anything to work off of," he said. "I just wanted to run around and have fun."