Senior Mike Rankin ran the race of his life this past Friday at the Indoor Parochial A State Championship race held in Toms River, NJ. Incredibly poised, confident, well-trained, and patient, the senior hung back early on as Delbarton’s Morgan Pearson (a 15:47 Holmdel runner) took it out in 4:20s pace. He was in a tight group of 8 heading through the half-way but looked focused and ready to pounce. At the mile mark, Mike began to move up one-by-one heading through in a brisk 4:41. Keeping consistent pace and stronger by the lap, he put himself within in striking distance of the leader and with half a mile to go, he took the lead for good. With two laps to go (400m), Mike had extended his lead to over 7 seconds and he could tell that a victory was in reach. With both of us coaches bordering on insanity – and trying not to get Mike DQ’ed – Mike finished the last straightaway with a beaming smile at the realization that he had accomplished what he had set out to do.
The result? 9:24.85. A whopping 42 second PR and a meet and indoor school record to boot. All in all, it was a race that reminded us a bit of his showing in 2008′s XC Meet of Champions race, but you could tell for him, nothing beats a win. He moves on to the Meet of Champions this Saturday seeded 7th and with a good possibility at yet another PR.
In cheesy coach manner, his race was a perfect testament to what distance running is all about. Mike put in his best winter of training yet – without going overboard – and he saw the results. As coaches (and for one of us, as a Dad), we couldn’t be happier for and proud of him.
And the great performances didn’t stop there! Fellow winter track captain and senior Brian Walter shaved 5 seconds off of his mile PR to finish 7th in a very deep Parochial A 1600 field (4:29). He doubled back nicely as well. Only one spot away from qualification for MOCs. Youngsters Peter Gallagher and Neil MacFarlane had PR performances too. Gallagher shaved 2 seconds off his overall PR (set outdoors) to run 4:52 while MacFarlane ran only his second HS mile, recording a very respectable 5:05. Tom Hoban – coming back from sickness – was able to muscle through a nice performance in the 3200 hopefully showing him that he’ll be getting back to 100% a lot faster than he thinks.
In 2009, we left with a sense of unfulfillment and possibly even resentment. Not enough work done, dedication, sacrifice. But now, in 2010, these 5 runners reversed that and made us coaches prouder than ever. In fact, it wasn’t just the five, the whole crew of guys – Boldy, Vadino, Booth, Lamberto, Verna, McKean, Brets - that braved the cold, snow, rain, coachless days, and wind to put in a productive winter, our hats go off to you. All I can say is, keep it up and you WILL see results.
