From the Glen-

Back in the blocks

With top runner in the lead again, Glenbard South has big plans

STAFF WRITER

Micah VanDenend would rather be running. He's always been a runner and will likely always be one. But for the better part of two years, the Glenbard South senior has been relegated to cheerleader for his teammates, a role he has found a way to deal with.

"I listen to (coach Andy Preuss) going nuts," VanDenend said. "He takes my worries away. He does enough worrying for the both of us."

Two weeks into his junior cross country season, VanDenend felt a sharp pain shoot through his right leg as he jogged around the track at South. Doctors told him it was just a case of tendinitis and shouldn't hamper his running much further.

That's when the saga began for VanDenend. He began running again, but the supposed tendinitis turned out to be the beginning of a stress fracture. Continued running on the weak leg soon led to a stress fracture in his right fibula, forcing VanDenend to the sidelines for the rest of the cross country season.

The injury sidelined VanDenend for the spring track season until the sectional meet, where he qualified for the state tournament in the 1,600-meter run. Despite running on a still-healing leg, VanDenend placed ninth in Charleston.

After taking the summer off, VanDenend figured he would be in the clear for his senior cross country season, but the injury loomed. With a group of talented sophomores joining senior Kevin Kuhlman, the Raiders were among the preseason favorites to win a state title. But that all hinged on the status of VanDenend's right leg.

Although he trained with his teammates during the early part of the season, VanDenend sat out of the meets, leaving a gaping hole for a leader to emerge. Kuhlman, a senior fresh off a state-qualifying performance in the 1,600 during the spring track season, was ready to take on the responsibility.

"It was very foreign because ever since sixth grade, (VanDenend) has always been there and he's always been in front of me," Kuhlman said. "Even last year when he was out, there was one more guy in front of me. It's a lot more pressure, but at the same time I'd rather have the pressure on me than one of the younger guys."

For many of the sophomores, VanDenend was more myth than reality. As freshmen last season they only trained with him for two weeks. They knew about his improbable comeback for the state track meet, but were still waiting to see the cross country runner they had heard so much about.

That changed Sept. 15 when VanDenend, running his first cross country race in more than a year, topped a field of 337 for first place at the (Peoria) Notre Dame Invitational. The race, run on the same course as the state meet, showed VanDenend was back and in dramatic fashion. His time of 14 minutes, 29 seconds was the fastest 3-mile time in the country this fall according to Dyestat.com, a national high school track Web site.

"The whole intensity level goes up when he steps on the line," Preuss said. "When he went to compete in Peoria, that's where they saw it for the first time."

But days after the race, VanDenend was still in some pain. He estimates he was about 95 percent back, but didn't take any chances and sat out the rest of the regular season. Without their top runner, the Raiders carried on, posting respectable finishes through the remainder of the season. Kuhlman posted a fourth-place finish at the DuPage County meet Sept. 22 and sophomore Eric MacTaggart led the team with a second place.

Kuhlman found himself in the same position as last year's senior leader, Andrew Teague. That team had to endure competing without its top runner and Kuhlman hearkened back to Teague's message early last season.

"He got up and said, 'We can do this,'" Kuhlman said. "'We're a team, we're not just Micah's team.' Based on that I tried to do pretty much the same thing he did. I told our guys we're good and once he gets back we'll be even better."

Preuss was proud of Kuhlman's emergence as a leader.

"It's real easy to pack it in and wait until the end of the year, but Kevin didn't do that," Preuss said. "He kept them focused."

Meanwhile, VanDenend again was adjusting to his role as cheerleader during meets.

"It's hard," VanDenend said. "You want to get in there. Your team struggles through meets and it hurts you knowing that if you were out there, your team could have done a lot better. (But) they do awesome all the time and they keep their focus and they keep running well, so it's fun for me to watch. It's just a different way of looking at it."

Healthy or not, VanDenend returned Oct. 13 for the Suburban Prairie Conference Red meet and won the title with a time of 15:13. Kuhlman (sixth place), MacTaggart (seventh), John Mulrow (ninth) and Kyle Nugent (11th) backed up VanDenend in leading South to its second SPC Red title.

The following week, VanDenend turned in his third victory in three races by winning a regional title with a time of 15:03 at Village Green Park in Glen Ellyn. Kuhlman (fourth) and MacTaggart medaled for South, which won its first regional title.

Aside from the obvious lift of having one of the state's top runners back in the fold scoring firsts, Kuhlman said VanDenend's presence has raised the intensity of the rest of the team as they enter the Wheaton North Sectional on Saturday.

"It's been huge," Kuhlman said. "At this point in the season it's right when your legs are the most tired and you're just kind of drained mentally and physically, but then you see him lined up next to you at conference, it's just a huge boost. Nothing is going to stop him so nothing should stop us. He knows he's going to win and all of us can feed off that."

Even if VanDenend's leg is sore, Preuss knows he won't hear about it, not at this point in the season. With Crystal Lake Central, ranked No. 1 for the entire season, among the competitors at Saturday's sectional, the Raiders are finally in a position to challenge for the top spot in the state.

For VanDenend, that means fulfilling a goal two years in the making.

"I've been thinking about (state) the whole year, since I got hurt last year," VanDenend said. "My goal last year was to get out there and win. Unfortunately I wasn't able to participate, but it only made me set my goals higher this year."

And that makes VanDenend even more dangerous at the Nov. 3 state meet in Peoria.

"I would never bet against him," Preuss said.

Contact John Roberts at (630) 416-5197 or jroberts@scn1.com.

Wheaton North Sectional When: 10 a.m. (girls), 11 a.m. (boys) Where: 701 W. Thomas Road, Wheaton Directions: Take Roosevelt Road to West Street in Wheaton, turn north on West Street, which dead ends at the park. Teams: Boys — Glenbard South (first, 29 points). Girls — Glenbard South (third, 68), Glenbard West (fourth, 128). Individuals: Boys: Glenbard West — Anthony Becknek (sixth, 15:53), Owen Connelly (16th, 16:23), James Brophy (29th, 16:52).* Regional results in parentheses.

10/26/01