And for those who don’t know Riley well, he’s in the IHS yellow and and red, and sits in last or second-to-last for most of the race. That kick!
Today, well, technically yesterday at this point as I type, we had the honor of having 7 of our fastest running and longest jumping athletes represent our Team, School, & Section. Five ran to personal bests, in some cases crushing those prior marks and including 5 new school records and one individual State Champion. And one jumped to a second-best mark, only 2.5" behind that of his jump from last weekend.
In that mix, the one that set the tone and stage, was Riley’s 3200 win. His time of 9:01 was just a PR of about 16 seconds, a new School Record, and State win, but is the 4th fastest HS indoor 3200 time in the country so far this year.
To the families who were able to make it in person, and to those who watched live, you know that it was truly an amazing race. For those who couldn’t, allow me to take you through it.
Riley came in seeded 7th and off of a really well run Qualifier race and solid PR of 9:18. Some say it may have been the pork chop from dinner Friday night, in the photo attached, Josh’s reaction in affirming that it may have been the most incredible pork chop that anyone had ever tasted, and, the bone, possibly making its way with the team to the meet on Saturday in tribute. Saturday, race morning, I arrive at the hotel lobby for breakfast to find the team mostly pretty low key and noshing. Riley on the other hand was kinda balled up, a bit pale like maybe that pork chop wasn’t the best idea, but writing the nausea off to the typical pre-race nerves. His system was priming.
Fast forward to the gun. They were off. I could not have been more proud of the measure, the control, the maturity that he exhibited from the start. In races I’m doing what I can to yell out feedback knowing full well that most times runners will not be able to pick it out from the crowd. 450 meters in I yelled a split to Riley which he seemed to drift back for just a split second, an ear pricked to the side, to take in. For those, as well as the next 6 laps, I yelled one consistent message…that “you’re good Riley”, a reflection on his patience, his control, that he was doing exactly what he needed to do.
What that was was allowing the race to go out hard in front of him, each lap chock full of jockeying for position and relative carnage. Energy being spent and burned by the ever changing pack in front of him. He held his line, tucked on the rail, in contact, but back from the maelstrom ahead. Opening 1600, 4:37, seated in 14th place, with only one runner behind him and on his heels. Stoic.
Just over the mile, 1800 in, the lap .5 seconds faster than the last in 35.2, my message yelled changed to “time to go to work Riley!” I’m guessing he didn’t hear, he didn’t need to. 2000 meters, 11th place, 34.5 seconds. 2200, 35.84, 12th place…here it comes. Into 2400 meters, w/ 800 to go, he dropped a 33.9, the fastest in the field, coming around on the outside to pick off half the pack now feeling that energy-burning carnage in mile 1. A locomotive at this point, moving from fifth to briefly taking the lead into 2600 w/ a scorching 31.94, the fastest lap that anyone had laid down in the race to that point.
Ethan Green, a Sr. from Arlington and 3rd place seed on the day, would answer back, retaking the lead in a show of confidence. Ethan was fifth in 2023, closing very strongly with 32 and 29 second final laps, and, 3rd in XC States this year. This was to be his year, his race. At 2800, he’d retaken the lead and would extend it slightly into 3000, bettering Riley on that lap 30.7 to 31.2. Riley would relay to me after the race feeling that his legs were cooked with 2 laps to go, that he felt done. It was the effort, and it was the mental angle of Ethan pushing past, hoping to break the mental game and race.
The bell rang as they seared into the final lap. The video attached is 50 meters into that lap. Whether with 2 to go, or in that moment, I can’t quite recall, a blur of excitement, yelling, and recording, but I wish all of you could have witnessed the look on Riley’s face. It was truly amazing. The look of “I can do this”, “I have this”, of it all coming together in that moment of truly laying it all out there, of exhaustion, pain, yet spiritually and emotionally pure if not happy. That moment, that look, is one of the finest that I’ve ever viewed in sport.
He wouldn’t look back, the only sign of what he’d just laid out a few strides of faltering legs and a slight stagger 20 to 10 meters before the finish. 9:01.42. A last 200-meter lap of 28.89. The fastest single lap of any runner in the field on that day. Life, racing, no doubt won’t always be sunshine and lollipops, it won’t always be 9:01, the win, or feeling like things make sense. But it was in that moment and it’s those moments that he, and we, will carry with us.
ESSAY WARNING 
