Elmwood junior Vrchota worked his way back from injury to help Elmwood capture the school's first-ever XC title
Junior Doug Vrchota had the chance to be the unlikely hero of last weekend’s Illinois Class 1A State Championship race after his Elmwood Trojans came out on the high-end of an emotional rollercoaster at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.
Vrchota entered Saturday’s race as Elmwood’s number-six runner, but turned out to be the deciding factor after an unusual turn of events ultimately led to the school’s first-ever state cross country title.
Junior Doug Vrchota had the chance to be the unlikely hero of last weekend’s Illinois Class 1A State Championship race after his Elmwood Trojans came out on the high-end of an emotional rollercoaster at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.
Vrchota entered Saturday’s race as Elmwood’s number-six runner, but turned out to be the deciding factor after an unusual turn of events ultimately led to the school’s first-ever state cross country title.
When the runners initially crossed the finish line, Elmwood was declared the unofficial winner, but after an official disqualified the Trojan’s number-five runner for what was called a “flagrant elbow,” things were looking down. The disqualification meant that Elmwood’s fate would depend on the finish of the number-six Vrchota, a runner who had been unsure if he would even be able to participate in the meet because of a leg injury.
But luckily for the Trojans, Vrchota’s 64th place finish was good enough to keep them 14 points ahead of second-place Westmont for the title.
“We knew it was going to be a close race even before the DQ, but then after it we had no idea what was going to happen,” Vrchota said. “We were all pretty down for about 20 minutes, but then Coach gave us the results and told us that we were still able to pull it out.”
Vrchota explained that he was hurt during a hard-training run this fall and that the injury had kept him unable to run for nearly five weeks. After being sidelined and watching his team continue on with its season, not yet knowing if his was finished, Vrchota said that just being able to participate in the meet was better than he could have expected.
“When I got hurt, I didn’t think that I would be coming back to run this year,” Vrchota said. “But being out there and coming away with a win is just phenomenal. There are really no other words to describe it.”
Vrchota made his way around the Detweiller Course in 16:53 to lock-up the Elmwood victory – a fact that perhaps no one was happier about than Coach Gregg Meyers.
“Doug did such a fantastic job for us,” Meyers said. “We always say it can come down to the sixth man, and luckily he ran a great race when we needed him.”
Even after the scoring ultimately came down to his time, Vrchota was quick to acknowledge the fact that Elmwood couldn’t have won without great performances from the whole team.
“It’s pretty cool to be the one that it came down to, but this was such a team effort,” Vrchota said. “Everybody really came out and ran their best. The story here is all about the team.”
Vrchota said the Trojans will lose some runners to graduation this year, but there is no reason why they shouldn’t be in the hunt for another title next fall.
“We’re losing three seniors out of our top seven, which will be tough, but we are also gaining two really good freshmen and the runners that we have coming back will just continue to get better.”
Meyers said that before the injury, Vrchota was up there with the top-three runners on the team, and after a full recovery he should be one of the Trojans’ leaders next season.