My heart rate is probably north of 150 as I pace nervously back and forth alongside the track, teeth chattering as I shiver despite the warm temperatures inside the building. I am used to the pre-race jitters, but this is the worst I've ever had it, even more so than when I toed the line at the 2006 ACC cross country championships. At least then I was in control of my own destiny, racing over the muddy hills of Panorama Farms as I did my best to represent my school. Now I am stuck on the sidelines, forced to watch and yell from a distance as four young men from Albemarle prepare to do battle with the best 4x800 meter relay teams in the nation, most notably the Morris Hills (NJ) squad who has the second fastest time in the country, and an unblemished record this season save for an eight second drubbing back in late January at the hands of the Patriots. Now is their chance for revenge. Checking my watch, I glance up and see the relay teams stepping onto the track, the red and blue uniforms of Albemarle standing out even more than normal due to the spiked mohawks that the guys now sport. A shot of adrenaline surges through my body as I realize that the race is finally here, and with it, one last opportunity to go down in history as the fastest high school foursome of all time. 7:42.22, the national record from 2005 that we've been chasing all season. It's go time...
Exactly fifteen days earlier, I stand in the middle of an indoor track in Hampton, VA, overcome with emotion as I watch ten guys hoist a state championship trophy, Albemarle's first in indoor track since 1975. The two day meet has been a rollercoaster of emotions and a battle royale with Western Branch, one of the state's powerhouses and the two-time defending champions. It had come down to the wire, our individual firepower overcoming their well-rounded depth by a slim five point margin, 66 to 61. At the center of it all had been the four members of the 4x800 relay squad, who along with Mr. Field Event Extraordinaire Jordan Hill, had each competed in the maximum three events to score as many points as possible. It had all started Friday night with a dominating victory in the 4x800 relay, the tandem of Garrett Bradley, Zach Vrhovac, Luke Noble, and Anthony Kostelac scorching the rest of the state with a time of 7:44.70, good enough for a 17 second victory, a new state meet record, and the fastest time in the nation. It was a scant two and a half seconds off the national record, and it was done almost entirely on their own, the last three legs running solo against the clock as the rest of the pack duked it out one hundred meters back for second place. All four members would come back the next day to run individual events, Zach taking second in the 500 and Anthony running huge personal bests in both the 1600 (4:10 for 2nd) and 1000 (2:30 for 1st). At the end of it all, the whole team celebrated with their state title, capping a remarkable season with a seemingly perfect ending. And yet, one piece of the puzzle remained. The foursome wanted more, a national title as well as the national record of 7:42.22 to be exact, and they would have one more shot at it, fifteen days later in Boston...
The starter raises his gun and I'm afraid my heart is going to leap through my chest, the loud bang reveberating over the track as the runners explode off the starting line. Garrett is out well like usual, his background as a former 400 meter runner serving him well as he quickly positions himself on the leader's shoulder, relaxing as best he can as the runners fly through the first 200 meters. We have changed up the order for this race, switching Zach and Garrett on the first and second legs in hopes of both winning the race and maximizing everyone's splits. 57, 58, Garrett comes through the first 400 right on pace and a couple strides behind the leaders, content to bide his time for now as he keeps an eye on Morris Hills. Things start to heat up on the fourth lap of the 200 meter track and Garrett makes his move, finishing strongly up the last straight to hand off tied for second with Morris Hills, his split of 1:57.3 the best of his season...
Buoyed by their state meet victory, the Patriot quartet heads to the Nike Indoor Championships in Boston to compete in the same two events that they had the previous year. First up will be the distance medley relay (DMR) on Saturday evening, an event that is much more popular at the collegiate level and usually run in high school only at the largest and most prestigious invitationals. It consists of 1200, 400, 800, and 1600 meter legs, a perfect blend of distances that brings the sprinters and 800/miler types together for one exciting race. Last year, the same foursome had finished 6th in 10:42, 17 seconds behind the winning team and a very distant 43 seconds away from the national record of 9:59. A solid performance for the 2008 Patriots, but one that would be totally unacceptable for the 2009 squad. They have come to Boston to win two national championships, and even though the 4x800 one is first and foremost in all their minds, the DMR will be run first and they will hold nothing back...
(2nd exchange, Zach to Luke)
Half a second separates the top three teams in the US as the second legs get the stick, and it's already clear that if the national record falls today, it will be at the hands (and feet) of one of these three schools. Morris Hills gets out the best, their second runner going straight to the front and hammering in hopes of opening up a gap on the other two. Zach sits in third, looking extremely relaxed as he runs from behind for the first time this year. I can tell he is itching to move into the lead, but he restrains himself for three laps, content to let the other two do the work while he saves up for one big move. It comes with 150 meters to go, and it was worth the wait, his huge acceleration dropping the other two instantly and putting a good two or three seconds on them in the blink of an eye. He flies off the turn and up the last straight, the gap widening with each step as he brings the baton home in 1:53.1, his fastest relay split ever, indoors or out. The race is now halfway done and the clock stands at 3:50.4, almost a second ahead of record pace, and by far the fastest Albemarle has ever come through after two legs. Morris Hills sits in second, but the gap is now over two seconds and as it continues to grow, their hopes of exacting revenge on the Patriots are quickly shrinking...
(Luke Noble in full stride on leg #3)
Scheduled to go off at 5:40, the DMR does not actually start until an hour later, the various teams forced to sit in a gym for over two hours while the meet falls farther and farther behind schedule. Despite the delay, the race still promises to be quite the showdown as the two fastest 4x800 meter teams in the nation are featured, not to mention the 2008 national champions in this event (Western Albemarle) as well as the newly crowned national record holders in the 4x1 mile relay from a couple hours earlier (Knights Track Club from NJ). To give you an idea of the firepower in this event, the Warriors from Crozet return three of the four legs from their 2008 squad and yet are NOT considered favorites in the race, despite having a 9:12 two miler AND a 4:10 miler on their squad. Finally the gun goes off, and when the smoke clears, the fans in attendance are rewarded for their patience as an astonishing eight teams run faster than the 2008 winning time, the four Patriots bringing home the title in a blazing time of 10:02.13, good enough for a meet record and the second fastest time ever run. Their splits are 3:07, 51, 1:54, and 4:09 for Zach, Garrett, Luke and Anthony, respectively. The last two legs in particular are quite impressive as Luke's split is a three second personal best and Anthony's ease of victory suggests that he could have run faster if needed. All in all, it is yet another eye-opening performance by the Albemarle squad, and certainly a very promising sign for tomorrow's record-chasing showdown...
(Anthony winning the DMR on Saturday night)
Fresh off his big personal best from the night before, Luke takes the baton and is off, running alone for what probably seems like the umpteenth time this year. Like most runners, he is able to run faster when pushed by competition, a scenario that has yet to happen this year in the 4x800 since no team in the country has been able to stay with the Patriots through three legs. Today is no different and Luke is forced to run solo, his lead growing rapidly as Morris Hills and Chalfont-Warrington fall completely out of the picture. The much-hyped matchup up front has failed to materialize and Luke races against the clock, almost catching a soon to be lapped team in the last 100 meters. He powers to the finish, crossing the line in 1:54.9, another huge split that equals the big PR he set last night in the DMR. I check our cumulative time of 5:45.3 as Anthony takes off, quickly calculating that he only needs a 1:57 to tie the record and a 1:56 to break it. And with the way he's been running lately, the question now becomes not whether he WILL break it, but by how much...
(final exchange, Luke to Anthony)
My grandma is going to kill me when she sees this, I think to myself as I stare at my reflection in the mirror. It's around midnight and I have spent the last 45 minutes sitting in a chair as first Anthony, and then Zach attacked my head with what has to be the world's cheapest and most ineffective pair of hair clippers. 85% of my once long, curly hair now lies on the floor as the other 15% stands straight up along the middle of my head. I've always wanted a mohawk, and now thanks to a bet I made with four very fast high schoolers (and more importantly, four newly crowned national champions) I will sport one for the 4x800 final tomorrow afternoon. The good news is that all four guys have mohawks of their own, albeit much shorter and less goofy looking than mine. Plus, it's one thing to be, say, a 4:09 miler and a national champion with a mohawk, and a whole other one to be that weirdo with a mohawk in the stands about to have a coronary as he screams at his athletes. Hopefully, I'll just be mistaken as an alternate or something. Zach finally finishes up and I nod my approval, thanking him for a job well done as I tell the guys that I am off to bed. It is definitely getting a little late, and even though one side of me is a little worried about them being up so long and maybe not getting enough rest for tomorrow, I am once again struck about how calm and relaxed they all seem. There is less than 24 hours until the biggest track race of their young lives, and yet not a hint of any doubt or unease crosses their minds, just a question of who will have the best looking mohawk. I chuckle to myself as I walk back to bed, one hundred percent sure of something that I realized after watching the foursome first run together back in December. They will win tomorrow and set a national record in the process, that much is for sure. The only question is, how fast will they go?
(Anthony putting the hammer down on the anchor leg)
Anthony flies into the first 200 meters, quickly passing a lapped runner as his short strides seem to devour the track. The crowd noise has been steadily building throughout the race, and with the spectators now realizing that they may be witnessing history, it reaches a feverish pitch as suddenly, every person in the arena becomes Anthony Kostelac's #1 fan. He rolls through the 400 in 55, running in a world of his own as the crowd's exhortations fuel his stride. The clanging of the bell signals one lap to go, and like the flip of a lightswitch, Anthony quickens his turnover and ratchets up the pace, throwing everything he has into the last 200 meters as he rips up the backstretch and into the final turn. The finish line approaches and he bursts for the tape, leaning like a sprinter as the clock freezes at 7:36.99, a new national record and one of the most impressive high school performances of all time. The old record is gone, obliterated by over five seconds as Anthony's anchor split of 1:51.4 is the fastest of the meet and a new PR as well. The time is also a world junior record (the requisites being that all four runners are under 19 years old and from the same country) and the #13 high school performance of all time (including outdoor marks). After the race, the boys pose for a seemingly endless procession of pictures and interviews, their smiles never leaving their faces as the magnitude of their performance sinks in. During it all, I stand in the middle of the track, the meet long since finished, soaking it all up and wishing the moment never had to end. It is without a doubt one of the happiest moments of my life, and I think again how amazing it is that the stars aligned over Albemarle County to produce such a special group of young men, and just how lucky I am to be a part of it all. As we finally leave the track, I am almost sad that the race is over, the magic of the moment slowly fading away to be lost in the memories of those who were so privileged to witness it. I wish it is a feeling that I could relive again and again, the emotional highs of that seven minute and thirty seven second span a feeling that is so hard to find, and one I will never forget. But alas, all good things must come to an end, and so I leave the track, already looking forward to the outdoor season and a few more moments like the one I just experienced. 7:32.89, you may be next...
(7:36.99, a new high school record and a world junior record)
Check out a video of the race (courtesy of dyestat). All pictures courtesy of photorun.net.
Why do you feel the need to brag about this accomplishment to everyone?
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