September 11, 2001
BY TINA AKOURIS STAFF REPORTER
Two-time defending state champion York opens its season Thursday in Oak Park against the host Huskies and Hinsdale Central. But coach Joe Newton readied his team for its title defense over the summer, when he used two heavy hitters from the Dukes' glory days to motivate his young team.
Graduates Don Sage, a sophomore at Stanford, and Norwegian Marius Bakken, who was a foreign-exchange student at York, practiced with the Dukes at the Elmhurst school and talked to them at length. The speeches, Newton said, were inspiring for his team.
"I told them, 'Here are two guys who ran on the same track as you,''' Newton said. "They were in awe.''
Sage was named outstanding newcomer in the Pac-10 for cross-country as a freshman. He also ran a 3:39.27 in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA track and field championships, which ranked first in the Pac-10 and set a freshman school record. Sage was the only freshman in that race and finished fifth.
Bakken, who ran for York in the 1995-96 school year, competed in the 2000 Olympics and this year's track-and-field world championships, both in the 5,000 meters. He did not qualify for the finals in the Olympics, but he placed eighth at this year's worlds. He also holds the Nordic record (Finland, Sweden and Norway) of 13:09 in the 5,000.
Newton said being at York made such an impression on Bakken that he sent a heartfelt e-mail to his former high school coach in the spring of 2000. Bakken explained how competing for York in the 1995 state cross-country championships was better for him than running in the Olympics or world championships. Bakken, the state's dominant runner that year, finished fourth at the state meet.
"He signed it, 'Always a Duke,' and that showed how this sport is all about the team,'' Newton said.
JUST LIKE THE BIG TIME: Saturday's Peoria Notre Dame Invitational is, to many teams, a preview of the state meet--both in the teams that will participate and in the atmosphere surrounding Detweiller Park, the same site used for state. Many coaches try to re-create what their teams will experience if they make the trip Downstate the first weekend in November.
Glenbard South coach Andy Preuss said the Raiders will keep the same schedule and routines this weekend that they normally do when they go to state, including driving to Peoria the day before and running the course. It is a way to prepare the younger, less experienced runners for the preparation that goes into running in a highly competitive invitational, Preuss said.
"The older guys say, 'This is how we do things here,' and they're able to train them easier,'' Preuss said.