2021
Distance Night Returns with a Vengeance
By Chris Quick, Distance Night in Palatine Meet Director
Until March of last year, it looked like Distance Night in Palatine would be dead in the water for the second consecutive year. Our District officials were not even sure that an invite of this size could run within the Cook County Covid protocols. The meet had grown so quickly and drawn such huge crowds in 2019 that it was on the order of putting on a football game. And the one thing that ended up saving the meet…was a football game.
I happened to be hanging around the AD’s office when our principal, Tony Medina, was discussing allowable attendance in the stadium for the Palatine-Fremd football game. Football had been moved to the spring, and school officials were scrambling to make it happen. I saw him write the number “890” on a piece of paper and hand it to Luis Arroyo, our incoming athletic director. That meant we could fit 890 people total, including competitors, into our stadium. As soon as I saw that number, I knew that we could find a way to safely host our meet.
Paradoxically, the number 890 became a way for us to EXPAND the meet. We increased the number of athletes since so many had missed opportunities to compete at a high level over the previous year. We allowed each of our now 320 competitors to have up to 4 parents/family members in attendance while also splitting our meet into two shifts. We cleared the stadium in between and went about our business.
The results were spectacular. All of the pent up energy from the diminished cross country season and the previous spring’s cancelled track season came out on the track. All told, we broke 4 of our 6 event records for the The Main Event and sent many happy kids and coaches home with new PRs. It helped that the meet was conducted in May and the weather was glorious. Many thanks to the Palatine administration, our meet workers, our Palatine athletes, and so many more for pulling the meet off for these kids under the circumstances. On to the highlights…
Ali Ince and Roisin Willis
Even as athlete after athlete ran PRs throughout the early session, the buzz in the stadium was all about Roisin Willis (Stevens Point, WI). Word on the street was that Willis was seeking the 800 meter Olympic Trials qualifier that she had narrowly missed during an indoor race earlier in the season. In that one, she ran extra distance and broke to the inside far later than she should have after being instructed incorrectly. She was coming to Distance Night with her eyes on the prize.
The young upstart hoping to match the national leader was Ali Ince (Normal Community, IL). Ince is a mega talent and had already run 4:50 for the Mile just the week prior at the Trials of Miles event in Kansas City. The buzz though was about her SPEED. Rumor had it that she had run 56-57 for a 400 meter split, and hopes were high that she might give Willis a run for her money.
From the gun, Willis hit the accelerator and Ince got in her slipstream. Watching from the far end of the track was like seeing two Lamborghinis rev their engines against more mortal cars. This 800 meter field was the best one assembled in meet history, but these two were far above the crowd. Willis kept pushing throughout, fighting the leader’s fight, trying to drop Ince off of her wheels.
But Ali Ince wasn’t having it. In the last 100 meters of the race, an Illinois legend was born. She pulled even 50 meters out with the great champion and surged by her in the closing steps. Ince broke the tape in 2:04.10, smashing the Illinois state record for 800 meters by over three seconds. Willis finished just in arrears at 2:04.44. Later in the season, Ince went on to win the 800 meters and the 1600 meters at the Illinois state meet, both in record times. The biggest drama, though, came in the 4 x 400 meter relay where Ince brought her team from a distant fourth to the state title. It was the birth of an electric performer.
Roisin Willis, of course, is one of the greatest champions our meet has ever had the privilege to witness. She used the loss to fuel one of the great prep 800 meter seasons in United States history. In the Trials of Miles New York qualifier on May 21, she ran 2:00.78 to punch her ticket to the Olympic Trials. It was the fifth best performance in United States prep history.
Later in the summer, she took the track against professionals and made the semi-finals at the Olympic Trials. She ran 2:01.27 to punch her ticket to the semis where she gamely competed against the best our country has to offer. Her 2:03.99 clocking was good for 13th in the semi-final round. What an incredible athlete! Only a junior, we hope to have her back for a rematch with Ali Ince. It could be like Ali-Frazier part II, but this time it will be the Ali-Roisin title fight! Here’s to hoping we can get these two great competitors together once again.
Daniel Watcke Finds a Way
I am good friends with Hinsdale Central coach Noah Lawrence, and he has kept me up to date on all things Daniel Watcke ever since he entered high school as a highly touted freshman. Daniel comes from a great running family, and he certainly used this race to make a name for himself.
We hadn’t ever quite had a boys 800 meter race that went out fast enough for a truly sizzling time, but on this night we got both a fast early pace and one of the best closers in the game. I’ve seen a lot of great runners in my time, people who ran extraordinary times and performed amazing feats, but I must say that Daniel Watcke is one of the greatest TACTICAL racers I have ever seen. His awareness of the race situation, his positioning, and his competitors is intuitively strong. It is also mind boggling that he is only a sophomore.
In this one, he felt Josh Delgado (Fox Lake Grant, IL) moving, did just enough to maintain his inside position, and then hit the speed over the last 100 meters. His 1:52.72 final clocking was a Distance Night record by more than two seconds. Delgado also broke the meet record, finishing in 1:53.11 for a new school record.
Watching Watcke often entails taking in all of his sly looks, his glances around the group, the accumulation of data in real time. High school coaches often teach our charges to look ahead, not back or around, but Watcke functions like a professional, someone who is attuned to the minute importance of positioning and tactics. He leverages that skill to win races, often by small margins.
Later in the season, he used his fitness and skill to win the Class 3A Illinois state title in the 800 meters. He then anchored his 4 x 400 meter relay to Hinsdale Central’s first ever victory in that event. He finished the year with a 1:50.34 clocking that made him the fastest sophomore in the United States.
Double Dominance of the Middleton Girls
Due to Covid, there were actually two state cross country meets run in Wisconsin during the 2021-2022 school year. Schools that allowed their athletes to compete in the fall met on October 31st to decide the state title - at least for those allowed to attend. Kaukauna won the Division 1 title, but that was without the powerful Middleton girls team in attendance. On Saturday, May 8, the Middleton girls got their shot and took advantage. They won the “alternate” fall state title with a stellar team total of 41 points. Team leader Lauren Pansegrau won the individual title in 17:07.3 - a margin of 80 seconds over her nearest competitor.
Less than twelve hours later, she stood on the starting line of the Main Event 3200 meter run in Palatine, IL. I became aware of this incredible double attempt earlier that day, and I thought it was just plain crazy. But I admire crazy, and we welcomed Lauren and her teammates with open arms. When the gun went off, Pansegrau threw the hammer down and never looked back. Her Wisconsin rival Kora Malecek was the only one to respond. Kora and her triplet sisters, Lydia and Amalia, had led their team to a third place finish in the October state finals as Kora won the individual state title. So we finally got the matchup of the two state champions.
They battled throughout, Malecek shadowing Pansegrau and answering every slight uptick in the pace. The results were extraordinary. Pansegrau powered away in the final 400 meters to win in a meet record of 10:13.91 while Kora Malecek held on for second in 10:17.02, the second fastest time in meet history.
I’ve seen a lot of weird things that only happened because of this vast Covid disruption. But I don’t know if I will ever see anything more wild than a girl running a 17:07 5K to win a cross country state title in the morning before running a 10:13.91 PR for 3200 meters later that day in a different state. Just an unbelievable double by her and a tribute to her mental toughness.
Brandon Waller Becomes Distance Night’s First Double Athlete
Speaking of incredible doubles, I must tell the story of Palatine athlete Brandon Waller. Waller is one of the great success stories in Palatine distance history. A student on the autism spectrum, Brandon competed throughout high school in the Special Olympics, winning numerous state titles at the Summer Games held each June in Bloomington. He also became one of the top runners on our varsity cross country team. In the 2020 Covid cross country season, Brandon qualified individually to the Hoffman Estates Sectional where he placed 22nd overall. Earlier that season, he finished an All-Conference 9th at the Mid-Suburban League Championships.
We don’t usually let Distance Night athletes run in more than one race to ensure the quality of our racing. But Brandon is truly special. His 3200 meter PR of 10:00 qualified him to run in the invitational section of our meet, but he also had a date with destiny in the Special Olympics 800. He finished second in 2019 and wanted to take home the win in front of his parents, his teammates, and our home crowd. We ended up deciding he should do both.
In The Undercard, Brandon took the track and ran a new PR of 9:58.91 for 3200 meters. He wanted more from that race, but gaining entry into the meet was a feat in itself. So was the new PR. Two hours later, he came back and accomplished his mission, holding off an early move to win the Special Olympics 800 meter run in a meet record of 2:22.90.
I am proud to have coached an athlete who broke a boundary and can’t wait until we see our next Special Olympian who also has the talent and drive to mix it up on the varsity level as well.
Drew Rogers and Lucas Guerra Battle in the 3200
I was beyond excited to have Lucas Guerra (Highland, IN) in our meet. We had invited Indiana athletes for years, but it had never worked out in their schedules. Lucas and a few others broke that barrier, though, and the results were phenomenal. I first noticed Lucas when he ran an eye-popping 4:09.13 Mile at the Franklin Central Flashers Distance Meet. With no Arcadia Invite in 2021, I hoped to pair him with some of Illinois’ greats to yield a great 3200 meters.
The perfect foil emerged in Drew Rogers (Herscher, IL). Drew had won the Class A Illinois state title in cross country as a sophomore in 2019 before having his career slightly derailed by Covid. He emerged in the 2021 indoor season in a series of invites, running unattached. His 8:57.88 at the Cabin Fever Invitational surely turned heads, and the matchup between he and Guerra started to make sense.
And boy did we get a classic. Guerra led throughout, grinding 68 second laps. At 1 1/2 miles, it looked like a sub-9:00 and meet record clocking would be beyond their reach, but both of these guys have monster kicks. They dueled down the back stretch and throughout the far curve before Rogers used one more lethal gear to grab the win and break Clayton Mendez’s meet record. He finished in 8:57.78 to Guerra’s 8:58.75. Both were PRs. The scorching pace also pulled the race along, and nine athletes ended up running 9:09 or faster.
Ava Parekh Takes Control
Throughout 2019 and 2020, Ava Parekh (Chicago Latin, IL) kept knocking up against the best in Illinois and the Midwest, always putting her name in contention as a national player. During the 2021 indoor season, she asserted herself even more with a stellar double at the Adidas Indoor Nationals. She ran 4:47.17 to win the Mile there and then followed it with a 10:15.96 for Two Miles. After spending the early part of her career chasing Katelyn Hart from Glenbard West, she clearly decided to take no prisoners.
Parekh certainly brought that mentality to Distance Night because she dominated from the gun, shredding a star-studded field with her vicious early pace. It has become a hallmark of how she races. She has no fear of putting herself out there at paces that other athletes might question. That approach allowed her to blitz our field to the tune of a 4:52.81 clocking. Such aggression also allowed her to storm to a 16:23.88 clocking to win the Class 2A Illinois state title this past fall, which was the best time of the day across all three classes. She followed that up with an 18th place finish at the Eastbay National Championships and a commitment to run for Stanford next year. So amazing to see her hard work and persistence pay off!
The Birth of a Star
Now that the meet is moving into its sixth year, it has been fun to look back at the results of the Freshmen Boys 1600 over the years. Our 2017 edition was won by York star, Ethan Kern, who set our record at 4:28.67. He went on to qualify to Foot Locker later in his career. Of course, the man he beat in 2017 - Josh Methner - went on to win Foot Locker and set the state meet record of 13:49 at Detweiller Park. His 4:32.77 was just the tip of the iceberg. In 2018, Jacob Myers of Lake Zurich lurked back in fifth place in 4:37.04. He later became Illinois state champ in the 1600 and now runs for the University of Illinois. Our 2019 class, included incredible depth: Ryder James (4:30.28), Luke Wiley (4:31.17), and Nick Falk (4:36.64). James went on to win Class 1A cross country this year in 14:16, Wiley finished fourth in Class 3A in 14:19, and Falk placed second in Class 3A in 14:14 before qualifying to the Foot Locker national final (I guess it’s the Eastbay final now, but oh well).
So that brings me to Marcellus Mines (Joliet West, IL), Nate Wehner (Highland Park, IL), and Camyn Viger (Plainfield South, IL). All three ran incredible races, banging hard at each other, jockeying back and forth throughout. The last 200 meters, with Mines and Wehner locked in a dead sprint side by side, was thrilling and passionate. Mines pulled away to win in a new meet record of 4:26.43 and announced his presence. Although he didn’t end his sophomore season how he wanted at cross country state, Marcellus is clearly a national-level talent. Earlier in the season, he won the Palatine Invite, upsetting some incredible runners. Wehner finished this race in 4:28.01, also breaking the meet record. Last but not least was Viger in 4:30.49. He won the Palatine Invite sophomore race this past fall before moving up to varsity and finishing seventh in the Class 3A Illinois state final. His time of 14:31.95 has to be one of the fastest times ever run by a sophomore at Detweiller Park.
What a beginning to numerous incredible careers! It begs the question: Who lies in wait?
Odds and Ends
The little stories that populate Distance Night are oftentimes the ones that stick with me. I spend the entire meet on the infield just soaking it all in. The screams of elation, the hugs between athletes and coaches, the camaraderie between teammates and rivals - all of it fills me with joy and a love for our sport. To provide a venue for kids to achieve their potentials and their dreams is more than I could ever hope for. I truly thank all of the coaches and participants for that energy. Here are a few more tidbits I noticed both during and after the meet:
I grew up with my dad coaching in the old NCIC conference out of western Illinois. As a Geneseo kid, I spent a lot of time hanging out in Sterling and Dixon. I was excited to finally have a Dixon athlete involved, and Brock Drengenberg used the opportunity to its fullest. He ran 1:56.71 to break his school’s record in the 800 meters. Later in the season, he won the Class 2A state title in that event and lowered his school record to 1:54.69.
I had been hoping that Neuqua Valley coaches Mike Kennedy and Paul Vandersteen would get their middle distance and distance crews involved ever since we started the meet. Covid gave them an opportunity to try it, and Nicolas Dovalovsky put up a game fight against Watcke and Delgado in that 800 meter run. He finished third in 1:53.70, but came to his fullest potential at the Class 3A state meet. Using perfect poise and patience, he ran down the anchor for Minooka (sorry Nick Lundin) to win the 4 x 800 meter relay for his team in 7:49.00. Those points ended up being key to Neuqua Valley’s eventual team state title.
Elia Ton-That (Chicago Northside College Prep, IL) was one of the great stories of the track season. She came to Distance Night and put her name into the conversation for a Class 2A state title. Her 4:56.60 clocking was a personal best and a school record. She followed that up later in the year with a Class 2A state championship when she upset Ava Parekh. I am proud that Distance Night has offered so many Chicago city kids a venue to demonstrate their talents, and Elia added another layer to that rich tradition with her performance.
It may have gone unnoticed by most, but Grace Schager (Glenbard North, IL) quietly had a breakout track season. At Distance Night, she ran a new PR of 5:18.05 in our Undercard 1600. At Palatine, we paid her special attention because our head boys track and field coach, John Nalley, is married to Anne-Marie Schager. Grace is her brother Marty’s daughter, and we were happy to once again turn Distance Night into a family affair. There are 14 Schager siblings so you can bet that a few of her cousins found a way to watch her run! Grace used her strong track season to become one of the breakout stars in Illinois cross country. She placed fourth in the Class 3A Illinois state meet this past fall in a PR of 16:41.3.
It isn’t often that a high school girl will run 2:09.72 for 800 meters and go relatively unnoticed, but that is what happened to Marianne Mihas (Chicago Latin, IL) last year. With Ince and Willis setting a blistering pace, the entire race went out fast. Mihas capitalized on that to run a new personal best. Later in the track season, she won the Class 2A Illinois state title in the 800 meters while combining with Ava Parekh and her teammates to capture the Class 2A team title. What a great end to a storied career! Marianne now competes for Harvard University.
Sometimes a great race is relative to time of year. Take Joshua Truchon (West Allis Hale, WI) for instance. I talked with his coach in the weeks prior, and he was sure that Josh was in sub-9:00 shape. It didn’t turn out that way for Joshua on May 8 at our meet. He ran a solid 9:07.52 time, good for seventh place in our Main Event. I guess that was his rust-buster because two weeks later at West Allis Hale’s own version of Distance Night, Joshua ran 8:44.36 for the same distance. He went undefeated the rest of the way in the 3200 meters, winning the Division 1 Wisconsin state title in 8:53.87. He now runs collegiately for the University of Wisconsin.