Devils in Play The Dale Prevails

Student runner Evan Kurimay retells the experience of running at one of the most prestigious events for runners in the country.

by Evan Kurimay designedby Caroline Petersen

It was a frosty and frigid day in Terre Haute, Ind. Ice covered the ground and winds were forceful. Select members of the Hinsdale Central Boys’ Cross Country team had a chance to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals if they placed well at Nike Cross Regionals.

Nike Cross National is a prestigious meet for high school cross country runners. But they had to perform well to do so.

But I knew the Hinsdale Central Boys Cross Country team, colloquially referred to as The Dale, had more on their minds than weather. The alternates and I had completed our race, and having gone to the starting line and said good luck, we knew our guys were locked in and ready to go.

My coaches, Noah Lawrence and James Westphal, had told us about the trip our cross country predecessors made out to Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore. back in 2013, and that our most important guys had fallen in the first part of the race, causing the Dale to finish last.

We all knew it was our time to shine.

We’d finished second in the Illinois ISHA cross country state championship behind a dangerous Plainfield South team by the slimmest of margins possible, which was hard on some of our runners.

This was a revenge race, where we and Plainfield South would fight for a spot to go to Nationals. Dan Watcke (senior), Aden Bandukwala (junior), Michael Skora (senior), Jesse Gamboa (senior), Max Lowe (Junior), Grant Miller (senior) and Nikita Kamenev (sophomore) toed the start line. As the starting pistol went off, the Dale were out like bullets.

James Gruber (senior), Aaron Doorhy (senior), Matthew Ferren (sophomore), Quinn Doorhy (sophomore), Cooper Revord (sophomore) and I were running to multiple spots around the course, struggling for a glimpse at this amazing race.

We saw all of our guys getting out good and remaining in the top third of the race pack. Cheering and yelling at the top of our lungs, my teammates and I ran towards the long final stretch to the finish line.

All seven of the athletes in our team raced well, and as we all looked on Doorhy’s phone, we couldn’t believe it.

The Dale had finished first by a long shot.

We all ran over to the rest of the team in the finished building and screamed that they’d done it. The expressions by us, the guys racing, and the coaches will be something I remember for a long time. The sting from

When I asked Bandukwala about what was said in the final huddle, he said “I can’t remember, the adrenaline was so high at the time.” finishing second at state was gone, as we beat our opponents and jumped for joy.

As the starting gun went off, the top guys in the nation were out and out for blood. Going out in a 4:33 mile, siblings Lex and Leo Young of Newbury Park High School in California (no. 1 and no. 2 in the country, and no. 1 high school team in the country) were leading the pack, followed by their teammate Aaron Sahlman, who would go on to win the individual title in 14:44 for 5K.

After the updates came in for the team score, we were in second place. At the first mile of that race, The Dale was the second fastest team in. The. Country.

Thanks to Watcke and Bandukwala passing Leo Young, as well as amazing performances from Skora and Lowe, The Dale closed their historical season as eighth in the country. We went nuts as we all saw our team finish well, defending our Midwest title and beating the state champions Plainfield South for the second consecutive race.

The team’s performance qualified themselves for Nationals in Portland, Ore., the running capital of the U.S., on Dec. 3.

But we had so much more to worry about now that they were on the national stage.

Having run with them in every practice, difficult workout, and long run, they had come a long way. We all had. The pressure was on. This was their chance to make up for the last place finish in 2013 and give a performance that could see them finish the highest that the Hinsdale Central cross country team has ever placed in their school’s history.

The alternate runners and I had turned on the livestream at my house, and we watched our teammates get introduced. Afterwards, we all watched, our eyes glued to the screen.

“After the race, being with the team and the coaches sharing the amazing moment, was so special,” Bandukwala said.

Our team’s performance after having run seasons longer than most athletes was simply amazing. Many 50+ mile weeks in intense heat at 7 a.m. for months and having not taken a break for almost six months was what it took to get there.

Despite some key members graduating this year, the junior and underclassmen runners at Nationals, among other Hinsdale Central athletes, will continue to run next year.