There will not be any outside separation this weekend in Charleston between sprint titans Briyahna Desrosiers (left) and Alexis Hyshaw
It is the moment we've all been waiting for. Since the start of indoor when we thought we'd never see the sun again, to the outdoor season full of cold & rainy meets, postponements and cancellations. IT IS HERE.... THE STATE MEET!!!
I've been waiting on this all season: the best vs. the best. There is no more hiding or attending another meet & avoiding competition to perhaps keep a reputation intact. There are no excuses, as everything is on the line. The truth on just who is the state's best will come to the light. This will be the ultimate competition for 2014. The hunters have waited all season to match up with the hunted athlete who was perhaps last year's best. They may be even this year's best? There will be plenty of visits from the 'voice" and his good friend nerves. Watch closely as they warm up with the elite athletes. They will definitely have a seat reserved in the check in tent.
The match ups fans have been clamoring for are only days away. As season long questions have been asked. Do you think this athlete can beat that athlete? Season long debates will be answered on the track. There are so many story lines. Can Lincoln Way East repeat? Does Gurnee Warren's Brittney Ellis three-peat in the 400m? Or will Briyahna Desrosiers of Chicago North Lawndale Prep turn the dream into a nightmare? Maybe Evanston senior Parker English beats both of them? Oh the excitement of a possible 200m final. I'll let you the fans put who you want in the lanes. These could be some of the best races, pound for pound, we've seen in awhile. Match-up wise, since the days of Morolake Akinosun (Waubonsie Valley) vs. Aaliyah "The Franchise" Brown (Lincoln-Way East), these aren't quite the heavyweight names we're accustomed to. But if it was a pay per view boxing match, the competitors this weekend would definitely get plenty of viewers.
The excitement of state never goes away- no matter how many times I have driven down route 16. The first site of the O'Brien Stadium on Eastern Illinois University's campus and the fans walking from the parking lot lets you know business is about to pick up. For me it isn't quite state until one thing happens. When you hear the voice of all voices, Matt Piescinski, letting you know that it's time to check in and that the meet is about to begin. Oh my goodness, you realize you have arrived! It's the voice of voices and he should do all the state meets in the country in my opinion. I think some athletes even run faster when they hear him.
I have so many memories of state from my freshman year running the third leg of varsity on the 4x1. The 1986 squad losing by a point, and dealing with my injury and yet set the state 200m record formerly held by one of my heroes, Greg Foster. We were still considered the state champs by many fans, regardless. My brother being ranked 22nd in '89 in the 100m and watching him round by round knock off the so-called giants that year and shock the world ending up 4th in the finals. And perhaps my greatest memory! The '92 MacArthur sprint squad doing the unthinkable, but yet predicted, winning the state title. We had a whole city behind us as we tried to make history. To seize the moment and hold the championship trophy up over our heads and to do what so many before us and after couldn't may be the ultimate feeling.
The greatest part of state to me is the journey. The indoor season and tough practices that we ran in the hallways, which led to the outdoor season. The way the season seems to be almost scripted as each meet seems to be a little bigger and a little more important, with a little more at stake than the meet before it. All of this is compiled into that one moment where win or lose you will always remember it. Coaches and athletes, it is here, The State Meet!