After more than 2 months of grueling winter training, 5
members of the Cherry Hill East Distance Team traveled up to Toms River for
what could possibly be the final races of their seasons. Kicking off the day,
Michael Minion, Jared Dashevsky, and Dan Helfand toed the line in the 1600m
race. In a day whence all anticipatable variables had been prepared for and
stressed tens of times, the slightest change had the potential to ruin any
runner’s day. The placement of Dan Helfand in the 2nd fastest heat,
1 lower than that which purportedly composed all of the scoring competition and
his teammates, could have easily sat back and resigned himself to the defeat of
his goal of scoring. But on that day, I saw not a Dan Helfand racing without
hope and only but for honor; I saw Dan Helfand running the greatest race of his
life, a race of which only he could lose to himself. After a blazing first 400
that no one but Dan could keep up, Dan broke away from the pack, dropping 33
after 33. On the sidelines, everyone waited for him to slow down; after his
first 800 in a 2:15, we hoped and prayed that Dan had it in him to at least hit
2 70s after to hit the typical qualifying time. Dan dropped a 2:14, giving him
East’s fastest mile time since 2009 and a 4th place qualifying time
for States. I don’t know how Dan was feeling during the race. I can’t say that
he was trying harder than he had ever before. But that was the greatest race
that I have ever seen. You’ll have to ask Dan about the rest.
The second (fastest) heat, however, did not go as
smoothly. As expected, the leaders of
the race threw around the pace, going out hard just to slow down by the second
lap. Mike and Jared posted times of 4:38 and 4:41, respectively and failed to
qualify.
Later that day, Chris Arnold whinnied to the line of the
800m dash along with Kevin Barry. Coming to the line first, Brandon ran a great
race, hitting splits of 30, 31, 32, and 31 for a solid and 0.3 s-away-from-qualifying
2:05. Take diving lessons and you’re there Chris! In a later heat, KBlanco
pulled smoothly through for a solid 2:02, a nice pr and qualification for
states to go along with his 400m pr.
Even later in the 3200, in the midst of 7 heats, Mike Minion
and Dan Helfand came back for their second races of the day to join Ben Dillon
in the 3200m. In their heat, the pack quickly separated, leaving the top runner
to screw with his sole competitor for 15 laps while the rest of the field
trailed them. Taking Dan under his wing, Ben Dillon led the pair at a
consistent distance behind the 3rd man in the race and to final 4th
and 5th finishes for respective qualifications. Beat up by his mile,
however, Mike Minion fought the entire race and just missed a qualifying position,
taking 7th.
Overall, the day at sectionals was rather dismal. The jumpers
underperformed, the throwers embarrassed, and the sprinters had a mixed day. Even had they had fantastic days, this day
belonged to the distance team, in one of its best performances at track sectionals
ever. Keep working hard boys.
Although it is now somewhat ironic for me to say keep on running,
Keep on Running.
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