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Over the past few weeks Chris Derrick and his Neuqua Valley team have been riding a wave of pure excitement and victory. Winning both the Illinois State and NTN Regional titles is something Chris truly cherishes. As the season draws towards NTN and Foot Locker, Chris is ranked #1 in the MileSplit Foot Locker National Power Rankings and his squad is ranked #1 in the MileSplit National Team Power Rankings.
MileSplit Feature: Chris Derrick Journal - Entry #3
It's been a while since I have posted one of these and a lot has happened to be excited about. My team and I were able to put the perfect cap on what has been an unbelievably successful season. I think that the events of the last couple weeks have really validated the dedication of our team over the past couple years and I feel like that success has really encouraged our underclassmen to dedicate themselves to the sport. It seems like each successive class has come to understand what it takes to be successful earlier and earlier in their careers. It is amazing what great coaching and some success can do for the attitude of a team. I now expect at least one guy a year to bust out and be a huge contributor on our top seven and that is a great situation to be in. As for some recent meets:
Sectionals (10/27) I can hardly remember our sectional meet in light of the thrill of winning state and qualifying for NTN. We went in really relaxed, and enjoyed Vandersteen getting lost and all the vandersweet vanderpuns that ensued. As a team we ran a solid race. Our split was pretty good and besides one guy who was sick everybody was pretty much where they should have been.
State (11/3) What an awesome day! There was a lot of emotion, most of it exhilarating, some sobering. Breaking away from [Kevin] Havel before the two mile mark, soaking in the cheers the final 200 meters, Kevin Grady getting 27th, and running down the hill from our bus to find out we won, are all great memories I will never forget. As for the race itself: I got out at the front of the pack for the first time ever at the state meet. Havel and I seperated ourselves from Tom Achtein and the rest of the pack pretty quick. We came through the mile in 4:35 and I felt really good. I was relaxed, running right on the edge between running fast and running hard. For the most part I had half a step on Kevin in the triangle area and we went through the 1.5 mark in 7:02.
I was feeling good and knew I would have the inside on the two turns coming out of the triangle, so I took both of them hard and got a step or so on Kevin. I started to press the pace a little to try and hold my gap, and it worked as I beat him to the next turn. I knew if I could prevent him from getting back up with me for a quarter mile or so I would have a great shot at breaking him. I checked my shoulder making the slight dogleg and saw I had 10 meters. From there on out I did what has worked for me most of my career, a long drive to the finish from about a mile out.
I came through the 2 mile in 9:14-9:15, 2.5 in 11:30 and then just let the crowd bring me in the last 200. Immediately after the race I couldn't really enjoy the victory since I hadn't seen Jimmy Riddle finish. I knew Kevin Grady had run awesome in the four slot, but I was nervous about our five. It's probably a good thing I didn't see Jimmy until after the award ceremony because when he told me about the last 300m I almost cried. What directly followed the race was the tensest 20 minutes of my life as we sat on our bus watching video of the finish trying to figure out the scores. I think if there were any sudden, loud noises, Vandersteen would have had a heart attack. But when we found out the official scores it was pure bedlam. The entire rest of the day we were just soaking in the victory and enjoying the special bond we have developed as a team. Probably the best day of my life.
NTN Regionals (11/10) We were much more relaxed for this race that the state meet. We knew if we ran like we've been running all year we would make it out. Jimmy Riddle ran fantastic after going out conservative and was our third man. I forgot that we weren't in Illinois and the course actually had some hills, and we went out a little quick. I was able to gather myself for the final mile and push home with some effort to get under 15 minutes for the 5k, the second time this year. After qualifying we've just been ridiculously excited to go to Portland and get free stuff. Oh, and to all the ladies out there, look out; Mike Ruff is on the prowl ;).
The next few weeks should be very exciting. At Foot Locker Midwest I am hoping to pack it up with some of the other Illinois guys and qualify a large contingent. After that NTN, and if all goes well, FLN. Should be fun.
- Chris Derrick