1. The Distance Night in Palatine Was A Major Success
The Distance Night in Palatine was a show.
There were a handful of races with spectacular performances and four statewide No. 1s that went down, including the 1600m, 3200m and DMR on the boys side and the 800m in the girls. And there were also shenanigans -- runners in costumes and coaches giving their best efforts out on the track.
But arguably the best race of the night was the one that everyone expected. Two heavyweights and future Big Ten foes went at it.
That came down to Grayslake Central (IL) High's Jack Aho, a University of Michigan signee, and Madison La Follette (WI) High's Finn Gessner, a University Wisconsin recruit.
Aho came out with a thrilling 60.9 second opening quarter and sustained his control through 1200 meters, finding himself at 3:09 at the bell lap.
But then Gessner made his move, forcing Aho to make a decision.
Ultimately, Aho reserved enough to kick past Gessner when it mattered, landing a IL No. 1 time of 4:12.05, beating Gessner by nine-tenths of a second.