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A close call for Kilrea, Mendez at Texas Distance Festival 5k

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ILXCTF - Mike Newman   Mar 18th 2018, 5:25am
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Photo: Clayton Mendez, Danny Kilrea, and Zach Kinne after their race Saturday night in Texas (Paul Vandersteen Photo)

 

Kilrea nipped at the line by Carter Cheeseman to finish 2nd, Mendez 3rd, Kinne 8th

 

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

 

While most Illinois athletes are still racing under roof, Danny Kilrea of Lyons Township, Clayton Mendez of Whitney Young, and Zach Kinne of Neuqua Valley decided to travel deep into the heart of Texas to race at the Texas Distance Festival. The meet is annually held at Southlake Carroll high school located north of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex area.

The three were entered to run in the Elite 5k race hoping for fast times to kickoff their outdoor season. The weather was not the best. Lightning delays and thunderstorms put a delay on the racing. By the time the storms had passed, the conditions were nearly perfect according to Neuqua Valley Coach Paul Vandersteen who traveled with Kinne to the meet.

The hopes for the three runners was for a fast pace. That was the hype that surrounded this meet the week preceding it. Cooper Teare won last year running 14:13 with the top seven finishers all under 14:30. So why not this year?

It never materialized.

“Talking to runners before the race, we all wanted a fast pace,” Kilrea said afterwards. “The problem was that no one wanted to take the lead.”

“We had talked about 68/69 second laps before the race,” Mendez explained. “When we passed the first lap around 71 seconds, I knew that we were not going to get a fast race. We just stuck into that 70/71 lap pace.”

It was Mendez and Kilrea that were the ones that pushed the pace throughout. It was Kilrea that took the lead in the last two laps. It was Carter Cheeseman of Fort Worth Christian (TX) that had the final say. Cheeseman, who finished sixth last December at the Foot Locker Nationals, caught Kilrea in the final 100-meters and crossed the line with the win running 14:36.60. Kilrea was only two tenths of a second back (14:36.88). Mendez was more than a second behind in third (14:38.05). Kinne, who had raced Friday night in the DuPage Valley Conference Meet, finished eighth overall with a personal best 14:47.01.

It was a good night for Illinois distance running. We have been saying that a lot lately.

Kilrea and Mendez worked together as a team like the way that they ran in December in the national races. They traded off the lead every 800-meters clicking off 70 second laps. For most of the race, there were eight runners that separated themselves from the 15-runner field. Mendez, Kilrea, and Kinne were joined by Cheeseman, Flower Mound (TX) junior Alex Maier, Aledo (TX) sophomore Graydon Morris, and Keller Central’s Eric Casarez. The pack went through the first 1600-meters in 4:40, 3200-meters in 9:18.

Kilrea broke away with 800-meters left. It was Cheeseman that came from fifth to catch Kilrea. Casarez finished fourth (14:38) with Maier and Morris finishing three seconds back.  Even though he finished second, Kilrea was satisfied with his performance.

“This was like a rust-buster for me. I have not raced since Scotland in January,” Kilrea added. “I felt tight the first lap and the throughout the race. I just fought my way through it. I have just been doing base work heading into this race. Even though I would have liked the race to be faster, this is still a good way to start the season. Now, I just have to start tuning up. I’m amped for the rest of the outdoor season starting with Arcadia (on April 7).

Kilrea, who ran 9:00 in that race last year and was back in the pack, has loftier expectations for the California race. “It’s time to go under 9-minutes,” he concluded.

The past week for Mendez has been special. Last Sunday, he finished fourth in the 2-Mile Run in New York at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. This race put him in the spotlight nationally. Hopefully, he will not have to fight to get into a fast section of a prime-time race again.

“My calf was a little tight especially with all of the traveling that I have been doing,” said Mendez. “Once I got into the race, it felt okay.” Just like Kilrea, he won’t race again until Arcadia in April. A little tuning up, skipping Illinois Top Times, and getting ready for a fast 3200 in California.

Kinne took a different path to Saturday’s race. He raced at North Central College Friday night to help his team. He ran his first 800-meters of the season putting himself in the first section of the race. “Coach Vandersteen and I had decided to run an 800 to tune up for Saturday. I would have plenty of time to recover. We flew down to Texas this morning,” The Neuqua Valley junior said. “The plan was to run 29 second laps (for 200-meters). I did not think anyone would be near me, but some guy was close to me the first lap. I ran the first 200 in 27 seconds.”

He finished fourth overall running 1:58.8. Kinne has plenty of range having run 4:15 and 9:09 this winter. This race was a stepping stone for bigger things ahead.

“This was a good learning experience for me. It’s something that I will use next year when I come back here,” Kinne added. “Coach (Vandersteen) agreed that I am more in 1-mile/2-mile shape. Next year, I will look to do more threshold training heading into this race.”

Kilrea, Mendez, and Dylan Jacobs are the present of Illinois Distance running. Kinne is just waiting to take over. Maybe sooner than later. Just like Kilrea and Mendez, he will be going to California to run at Arcadia in the 4 x 1-Mile with his teammates and then in the 3200 Meter Run with Kilrea, Mendez, and perhaps some more Illinois runners.

This is not a golden age for distance running in Illinois. The group of elite runners in this state has made a national presence with the way they have raced. There is no going down. This age of distance running in this state is not going to go down for a long time maybe never. That’s what success will do. The future runners will continue to carry that load, that legacy.

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