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Illinois boys, Michigan girls win
Sunday, November 16, 2008
KETTERING — Jeffrey Thode will never forget his whirlwind 2008 cross country season. A week after winning an Illinois state title, Thode took first place in the boys 5K race at the 22nd annual Mid-East Cross Country Championships on a cold and wet morning at Indian Riffle Park in Kettering on Saturday, Nov. 15.
Incredibly, the star runner from Conant High in Hoffman Estates, Ill., won the prestigious back-to-back meets despite recovering from a collapsed lung he suffered while ice skating just six weeks ago.
"I guess it slowed me down," said Thode, trying to catch his breath after crossing the finish line in a time of 15:36. "If it hadn't happened, I probably would have run faster, probably would have been a bit better conditioned."
Thode, who expects to attend the University of Michigan next year, finished 10 seconds ahead of second-place runner Scott Lasiter of Indiana, helping the Illinois boys win the team portion of the Mid-East meet.
After being hospitalized, Thode was out of action for just two weeks.
"The first time I heard of it was when I didn't see his name in the results for a race," said Thode's Illinois teammate Nathan Smith. "I thought, 'What happened to him?'
"It's amazing how he's come back. I would never have expected him to win state last week."
This year's edition of the Mid-East Cross Country Championships featured the top senior high school runners from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Michigan won the girls team title, though Ohio runners took two of the top three spots, including an individual victory by Chelsea Oswald of Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls.
Oswald finished in 18:07, five seconds ahead of Michigan's Cally Macumber and six seconds ahead of Ohio teammate Brooklyne Ridder from Cincinnati Oak Hills.
Like Thode, Oswald also overcame health issues to win the all-star event after placing fifth at her state meet.
"This was the first race this season that I actually felt good coming into," said Oswald, who has suffered from fatigue all season because of low iron levels.
"It feels great. I wasn't really expecting anything."
Michigan won the combined team event with 88 points, while Ohio finished a close second at 91 points.
The lone Dayton-area representative in the 96-runner field was Andrew Trick of Carroll. He finished 40th of the 48 boys with a time 16:48.
Meet director Neal Charske said one of the best features of the Mid-East Cross Country Championships is the sheer quality of the field. Of the many state champions that compete annually, some, he said, have never lost a race in their careers.
"The unique thing about this event is that all these kids have been competing against each other all year and all of a sudden, now they become teammates," said Charske. "By the time they get here and then go to the banquet, they're bosom buddies. It's remarkable to see how they come together as a team after being bitter enemies all year."
