Estrada Qualifies For State Meet!

As always the IHSA Schaumburg Sectional had a loaded field of state ranked teams and top individuals.    The day was filled with much emotion as many teams and athletes performed well while others struggled to find their best race at the Busse Woods course.   Highland Park had a mix of both.   As a team the Giants faltered and did not run their best race while senior Angel Estrada had an outstanding race as he went toe to toe with some of the best runners in Illinois.   

Estrada had a simple game plan...try to stay with the leaders and out-kick them at the end.   From the start, he got to position with the leaders and looked very relaxed as they went through the mile.   By the time they came down the hill the 2nd time (about 1.5 miles), the lead pack had 6 guys; Reiser (McHenry), Dale (Conant), Brown (Palatine), Thomas (Hoffman Estates), Oh (Stevenson), and Estrada.   As they went by the 2 mile, Reiser made a move and Estrada, Dale, and Brown tried to go with him.     The next time down the hill, Reiser and Dale started to pull away as Estrada and Brown were chasing them a few seconds back.   Down the final stretch Reiser won in 15:03.24 with Dale in 2nd at 15:05.24.   Estrada came flying in to finish in 3rd place with a time of 15:12.57 ahead of Brown who was 15:19.02.    This was a thrilling race to watch as Estrada showed great composure and confidence running with these other top runners.   Congratulations to Angel as he qualified to the IHSA State Cross Country Meet as an individual!   All of his hard work this past year has payed off greatly as he will now be taking a shot at being the third All-State runner from Highland Park in the past 4 years.

Video: Taken By Hersey Parent

As for the team, it was the opposite feeling of the happiness we all felt about Estrada's performance.    The team had a good season with the usual ups and downs along with some big time highlights.   This was not a fun way for the team's season to end, especially for the seniors that ran in their last high school cross country meet.     Full Results 

We have high hopes for next season with 4 of our top 7 returning and many more runners on the team hungry to get HP back in the State Meet as a team.   It starts now...how much commitment are people willing to make?   Who is going to step up and show that in one year you can become a whole new runner that can help this team make it to the State Meet?   It is not just about being motivated now.   It is about being motivated in the middle of the winter running in the freezing cold and snow.   It is about training hard through the track season and performing at a high level on a consistent basis.   It is about putting in hundred's of miles over the summer while other runners just make excuses.   Who will work to develop the physical and mental toughness it takes to compete at the highest level against elite competition?   Who wants to to be racing in Peoria next year in November????  

"Whatever it takes.  No excuses.   No explanations."    -Tony Dungy