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Red Devils' Fielder just misses
state berth
November 1, 2007
By Bill Stone | SPORTS WRITER
Hinsdale Central senior boys cross country runner Thomas
Fielder couldn't shake a terrible thought with one mile
left in Saturday's Class 3A Schaumburg Sectional.
A frontrunner throughout the season, Fielder wasn't
going to qualify for his first state meet.
"Usually when I think like that, it gets me to get back
into the race. I just couldn't," Fielder said. "I would
have changed a lot of things that I did if I could go
back. It was tough, very tough. I was 15th, maybe the
second mile, but when I hit the last mile, people kept
passing me."
What was even harder was that Fielder finished 24th at
Busse Woods (15 minutes, 51.80 seconds for 3.05 miles)
and missed the last spot for the seven individual
qualifiers not among the five advancing teams by just
three places and 6.1 seconds. The Red Devils were 18th
(399 points) in their first sectional appearance since
2001.
"If I had known that (I was that close), the whole race
was going to change for me," Fielder said.
"I got pushed into a tree and scraped up my shoulder.
There was a lot of pushing and shoving in the first half
mile. I tried the second half of the first mile to make
a surge and I got back to 15th, but it killed me because
I used so much energy. What it came down to was if it
was going to be my last race, I should go faster, but it
didn't work. I was so tired."
Seniors Robin Kalsbeek (63rd, 16:20.20) and Pete Richard
(82nd, 16:28.30) were the Red Devils' next two
finishers, followed by sophomores Alan Verona (140th,
17:13.40), Arash Darbandi (145th, 17:19.70), and juniors
Doug Moore (154th, 17:34.30) and Andrew Silk (158th,
17:41.15). Moore, usually the Red Devils' No. 4 runner,
was battling a hip injury.
The sectional was the state's hardest with 10 of the 15
top-rated teams in last week's Illinois Cross Country
Coaches poll.
Fielder was 38th at sectionals in 2006. In May, Fielder
missed qualifying for the state track meet in the
3,200-meter run by 4.9 seconds.
"You feel bad for someone whose worked so hard for four
years and is kind of knocking on the door (of state),"
Hinsdale Central coach Jim Westphal said. "I said to use
that as a motivation and get them back in track, and he
said he's already thinking about that. He certainly was
disappointed, which is to be expected, but I think he
had a pretty good attitude as well. He knew he ran hard
and had a good season, and he knew the depth of the
sectional and put himself in it. He's got nothing to be
ashamed about because he went for it and just didn't get
those last couple of spots."
While three seniors led the Red Devils, they are
optimistic about the future with more than 70 runners
this season and a strong group of underclassmen,
including five more that practiced with the sectional
lineup.
"I think certainly we took a step forward in the
program," Westphal said. "We want to get to sectionals
year in and year out and get to the state meet. It
doesn't happen overnight. It's a progression."
© Copyright 2007 Digital Chicago, Inc.
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/clarendonhills/sports/629356,ch-hcboyscc-110107-s1.article
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