As the sun comes to rest on the evening of March 18th, the majority of students attending the University of Illinois pack their cars anxiously looking to escape into the oasis that is Spring Break. However, within the midst of all the commotion, a small group of dedicated steeple-chasers mentally prepare for their first chance at attacking the dreadful water pit, which quietly waits at the back turn of the Rose Hulman track. The pain of racing 3000 meters with 28 barriers and 7 water jumps has now taken over their thoughts. Spring break is the last thing on their minds. The 2 hour trip to the track seemed to have flashed by in an instant before they began warming up for their first steeple race of the year. The fresh smell of pine filled the air during the warm up and faded during the last couple of striders prior to the race.
Emily McGowan, Blake Flood, Sean Berbert, Kevin Happ and Dan Herber can now feel the uncomfortable butterflies within their stomachs. How strange it is! Taken over by the same feeling before every race hundreds of times prior and yet it still lingers. It is fine though. All part of the routine. All part of the motions. All part of the rituals before the race. Within a blink of an eye. BANG! The gun goes off and, just a quickly as they settled, the butterflies scatter away. A small field on both the men and the women’s side of the race, but it makes no difference. These proud ICCTC runners approach every race as if it were their last. This was Emily McGowan’s first steeple race and she gave ICCTC a great starting momentum by placing 3rd overall and setting a new club record with an impressive 13:53.37.
Not too long after, the men of Illinois followed with a strong performance. With freshmen Blake Flood dominating the previous club record in a time of 10:18.85, taking 2nd place. Senior Sean Berbert soon closed the gap in 10:33.12, taking 3rd place for the Illini. Kevin Happ (11:01.74) and Dan Herber (11:11.20) showed great potential in their first ever steeple races, taking 6th and 8th place respectively. With everyone setting a new personal record, at the end of the day, the steeplers of ICCTC showed great performances at their first outdoor meet of the season.
We hope to see big things from, not only the steeplers but also the rest of ICCTC further down the road this season. The ICCTC is currently preparing for the annual WashU outdoor invitational next weekend in St. Louis. And so beings the outdoor track season.
