I attended only a couple of hours, yet in that brief span, I witnessed numerous outstanding performances. Two moments stood out; they were among the best sports stories I've encountered.
The first story unfolded on the track in the Boys 1600-meter race. To understand it, we need to look back three nights earlier, when the 3200-meter final was run. Blue Devils star Elias Thronson ran his personal best and the fifth-fastest time in Davis High history at 9:01.79. But rival and long-time friend Matthew Ogilvie of Jesuit High edged him out by less than a second at 9:01.02 to win the league title.
"Matthew and I have been friends since the early years when we were both on the same youth club team (The Delta Hawks),” Thronson said. “We always seem to bring out the best in each other when the gun goes off. So I was excited for a rematch on Saturday."
With anticipation from their previous race, Saturday’s 1600 set the stage for Thronson’s chance at redemption against Ogilvie and two other Jesuit runners.
The race started fast, and the Jesuit runners took the early lead. For the first two of the four laps, Thronson seemed blocked in behind Ogilivie and Jesuit teammate Drake Hoferer. On the third lap, Thronson squeezed by the Jesuit runners. One lap remained. The bell rang. Thronson shifted gears, pushed the pace, and took a sizeable lead. Down the backstretch, he pulled away, leaving no doubt this time. Crossing the finish line, he raised his arms and pumped his fists. He had just run the race of his life. He hugged his competitors. Teammates and coaches congratulated him. He would be walking on air the rest of the day.
I have seen Thronson race many times, but the look of determination on his face on this day was different. He finished with a blistering 4:09.67, his personal best. It was the second fastest time in school history, only trailing Michael Varnau's 4:08.29. Jesuit's Ogilvie finished second at 4:13.71, and Hoferer third at 4:14.95.
The action shifted to the long jump pit for the next outstanding moment. Cooper Ballard would report for action at 8:30 in the morning. He was in the third and final flight of jumpers, so he would have an hour or so to stay loose and think about his event. Things went well in his three qualifying jumps. The top ten jumpers would make the finals and get three more jumps. Ballard qualified in first place with a jump of 21-7.05 and moved on to the finals.
The athletes would jump in reverse order, meaning Ballard would go last. Everything was going perfectly. Then Hudson Smith of Whitney leaped 21-08.00 to take the lead on his first finals jump. Ballard couldn't match him on his first jump, and things started to get interesting.
Complicating things was the fact that Ballard was also running in the 400-meter race. The athletes were being called to report for lane assignments. He would have to wait for nine more athletes to jump before his next turn. Finally, it was his turn. He launched himself into the sand pit, far enough to easily take the lead, but he just stepped over the line. The jump was a scratch. He would have only one attempt remaining.
Now he had a real problem. The 400m was only a couple of minutes from starting, and he would not make it if he waited for his last jump. One coach was telling him, "You have to go, go now." Ballard paced as the stress built. He explained his situation to an official, who allowed him to take his last jump right then. He leaped, hit the sand, and, without knowing the result, took off across the whole football field to the 400-meter start. He jumped 22-02.25 and was back in first place.
Ballard, on what was happening, said, "After my last jump, I immediately knew I had to run over to the 400 start. I had no time. Coach Elliot was helping me out to make sure I could actually make it to the start line in time. I got to the start in my jump spikes and had to put on my sprint spikes quickly. I had about 1-2 minutes from the time I got there until we ran the race. We got into the blocks, and I really felt out of breath. I just knew I had to run an average time to qualify for Sections."
Ballard would streak around the track, finishing fourth overall and qualifying for the D1 Section Meet. As he staggered across the football field in exhaustion, I let him know that Smith of Whitney had not passed him and that he was the league champ. He smiled, but was still trying to absorb what had just happened. When I looked at the timestamps on my photos, I understood why. From the time he hit the sand on his winning jump to the time he crossed the finish line in the 400-meter was only 8 minutes and 22 seconds.
Good luck to all the Davis High Track and Field Athletes competing this weekend at the D1 Section Meet.
Note: Ballard shared with me that his grandmother was Mary Rand Reese. He said, "She just recently passed away, but I knew she was with me Saturday." Among many great accomplishments, Rand Reese won the... Click here to read full article
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