Standing in the starting box with mud running down their legs after racing the infamous three-mile course, the boys’ cross country team realized they had achieved their season goal of placing in the top ten at the state meet. Head coach Jay Renaud, with the support of his parents, who had traveled to watch the race, celebrated the moment with a plethora of photos, hugging and smiles.
“It was so competitive, and we ran so awesome,” Renaud said. “To reach your goal at the end of the season on that day just felt really good.”
The boys finished in 10th place at the IHSA class 3A race on Nov. 9 at Detweiller Park. Five out of the seven boys ran personal bests in the three-mile race, and Renaud believes that this was the best race the team could have possibly had.
“We just were calm, cool, collected and ran a really, really smart race,” Renaud said.
Going into the state meet, Renaud maintained a consistent training schedule. Since the Tuesday before the race was a day off from school, the boys’ team practiced what the state meet would look like. They got up, ate breakfast, warmed up, raced and cooled down the same way that they would on Saturday so that the boys knew what to expect heading into the race.
“We don’t try to hide the fact that it is the state meet and it is a bigger meet and it is the most important meet,” Renaud said. “But at the same time, it is just another race.”
For senior Boris Dimitrov, getting to run at the state meet for the first time as a senior was something he will never forget. His goals going into the race were to take top 10 as a team, have fun and race his best.
“I was just trying to take it all in and just have fun and not worry about a lot of things,” Dimitrov said.
Since Dimitrov was the team’s sixth runner, his placement normally would not be counted towards the team’s score as only the top five places are totaled. However, after finishing the race in a tie with Fremd, Dimitrov’s place determined who would win.
“During the last 300m, we were tied,” Dimitrov said. “I ended up beating [Fremd’s] sixth man, which got us 10th place instead of 11th.”
Renaud believes the strength of the team’s sixth and seventh runners has led the boys to success in close races. After losing to Fremd in a dual meet at the beginning of the season, Renaud was proud of the boys’ performance.
“It felt really good to catch them at the end of the season when it matters the most,” Renaud said.
With support from Renaud, whose personal experience with running allows him to give the boys invaluable advice, Dimitrov stayed calm and collected during the race.
“With this being my first state meet, [Renaud] gave me tips that really helped out with the nerves,” Dimitrov said.
Being out on the course, Dimitrov says his teammates are what inspired him to give everything he had.
“Watching all of my teammates do really well in the state meet pushed me to do good in the state meet as well,” Dimitrov said.
