Dylan Jacobs becomes the 1st former IL prep to D1 10k crown

Former Orland Park (Sandburg) superstar Dylan Jacobs at the 2018 IHSA 3A State Championships

On the night of Wednesday, June 8th, 2022, Dylan Jacobs won the NCAA 10,000m final in 28:12, soaring ahead of NAU's Abdi Nur in the final 200 meters. Jacobs becomes the first graduate of an Illinois high school to ever win this event at the NCAA level. 

Boasting now a green Notre Dame Fighting Irish jersey rather than the Blue and Gold Sandburg Eagles' jersey, Jacobs continues to up the ante of performances, as he has always done throughout his career. 

Jacobs was a quarter of the all-time 4x800 record team in 2016, when he and Sean Torpy, Chris Torpy, and Tom Brennan went 7:37.36. As only a sophomore at the time, we were awestruck as a state to see what he accomplished with his teammates on that date. How could Jacobs possibly outdo this? 

Jacobs was a stalwart harrier for the Eagles for each of the upperclassman years. There was a litany of incredible season performances, with few being as eye-popping as the 13:57 performance at Detweiller at the Peoria Invite on September 30, 2017, his senior year. Such a performance seemed impossible. How could Jacobs possibly outdo this? 

Dylan committed to Notre Dame and followed this announcement by showing the country who he truly was, a dominant, national-class athlete, by winning the 2017 Footlocker Finals in San Diego. Jacobs was calm and collected, smooth, and kept himself in the race, moving at the right time in the late stages and thrust forward with confidence unmatched by his competitors. Jacobs was a national champion. How could Jacobs possibly outdo this? 

The 2018 IHSA track championships gave one of the most enduring moments in recent memory. After anchoring his Sandburg Eagles to another 4x800 championship, Jacobs looked dead in the water as Andrew O'Keefe of Granite City pulled ahead. But again, with poise and maturity, Jacobs snuck ahead of a celebrating O'Keefe right at the line. Just unbelievable drama. How could Jacobs possibly outdo this? 

College gave Jacobs the platform to step up another level. After finishing 20th at the D1 NCAA XC Championships his sophomore year in March 2021, Jacobs halved the gap between himself and one of the best, deepest, oldest cross country fields in NCAA history, by finishing 10th in Tallahassee in December 2021. Jacobs was Notre Dame's best. He was one of the ACC's best. How could Jacobs possibly outdo this? 

Well, hasn't Dylan answered that question enough times already? The state's collective cheers were obvious on social media and in many living rooms as Dylan crossed the line, and showed relief rather than the fist pumps he showed back in 2018. Maybe this was an upset to many of the online pundits, but was it truly surprising to all of us in Illinois who knew him so well, saw him grow up, and witnessed him dominate, and surprise us every step of the way? It is true, that Dylan Jacobs, the pride of Illinois, is a National Champion. 

How could Jacobs possibly outdo this? 

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