Second place provides Thode motivation

His muscles ached two days after his final prep race of the season, but Jeff Thode's spirit was feeling fine.

An unknown to many at the start of the year, the Conant junior finished second at State in the 1600-meter run Saturday to put to rest any lingering questions about his talents.

"I'm happy," the understated Thode said.

With Neuqua Valley superstar and top-seeded Chris Derrick out of the competition with mononucleosis, the 1600 race at O'Brien Stadium became more of a toss-up.

Thode led down the stretch and was poised to take the gold before Lockport's Kyle Engnell overtook the Cougar with about 40 meters to go to win in 4:12.29. Thode, the third seed behind Hersey's Kevin Havel, finished in 4:13.47 and was the only junior in the top 10.

"My (quadriceps) just started to get tired, and I started to slow up a bit at 100 meters," said Thode, who ran in Charleston for a second spring in a row.

"The field was tough for finals. I was running against other people I had no idea about."

The most familiar face was Havel, who ended up fourth in 4:14.38. Havel won the 3200.

Even though he didn't win, the MSL record-holder in the 1600 was pleased with his performance. He bettered his time from a year ago at State by more than 11 seconds.

"I actually set my goal time last year to go for the school record and stuck to that plan for the season," said Thode, who does own the Conant record with a 4:10.8.

Thode planned to start preparing for his senior season Tuesday. He hopes to run every day and build up his mileage for this fall's cross country season. He placed 15th at State this school year.

"I want to train hard and not take too many breaks," he said. "I want to keep consistent."

WASHED OUT: Thode and Conant's 4x800 relay landed an unlucky heat time.

The top-seeded distance relay was the third group to run and by the time the Cougars competed it was raining. The foursome of Pablo Ramirez, Tyler Fuchs, Tyler Hinckley and Thode finished Friday in 8:05.12 to miss out on advancing to the finals. Only the winning team out of the third heat qualified. The other 11 squads advanced from the first two heats.

"I guess you could say that's unfair," said Thode, who contributed to the quartet's 7:51.9 at the Palatine Sectional. "The track was wet and slippery and everybody's time was a lot slower. You just can't do anything about it."

FINAL LAPS: Conant's Kyle Reid, a qualifier in three events at State, medaled in the pole vault by finishing seventh at 14-9. The junior returns for his final season as the program record-holder with his 15-3 at sectionals. ... Schaumburg's Pat Lesiewicz and Hoffman Estates' Matt Perez each competed in the 3200, with Lesiewicz finishing 29th (9:48.90) and Perez placing 31st (9:50.74). ... HE's Joey Baterdene took 10th in the long jump at 21-10, just missing a medal.