Lake Zurich's Perez medals in 3200 at state meet

Lake Zurich's Gerardo Perez keeps pace with the pack during the Class 3A 3200-meter run at the IHSA state track finals on Saturday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
(Dan Luedert/Staff Photographer)

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BOYS TRACK -- After qualifying for the Class 3A state meet in the 3200- and 1600-meter runs, Lake Zurich senior Gerardo Perez was given three options:

Run the 3200 only at State.

Run the 1600 only.

Run both, a tough double -- especially in sunny, hot, Charleston.

Perez, ever the competitor, picked option No. 3.

"I really wanted to run in both," said the Illinois State-bound Perez, an all-state cross country runner but a first-time state qualifier in track. "I had been doing both at big meets all year, and it would not have felt right if I ran in one and not the other."

The Bear raced to seventh place in the 3200 (school-record 9:19.23) and 10th in the 1600 (4:21.07); he had sped to a school-record 4:20.84 in a 1600 preliminary on Friday.

In the 3200 on Saturday, Perez was running 10th for most of the race. Two racers dropped out with about 800 meters remaining, and Dukes teammates Steve Sulkin (9:03.91) and Jordan Herbert (9:04.84) of state champion York wound up going 1-2.

"(Perez) was in the mix most of the way, and he had a strong last lap," LZ distance coach J.B. Hanson said.

Perez will not just graduate as the school's record-holder in two track events. He also set the NSC Meet mark in the 3200 (9:20) at Grant on May 14, and he holds the cross-country course records at Wheeling (Heritage Park) and Libertyville (Adler Park).

Hanson, for one, will miss Perez. But what he'll miss most about him has absolutely nothing to do with records, times or state medals.

"What sets him apart is his character," said Hanson, also the school's boys cross country coach. "Plus he's the nicest kid in the world, with so much integrity."

So(to) close: Lake Zurich's other state qualifier, junior Francisco Soto, just missed bowing for a medal on Saturday. He clocked a 10th-place 1:56.17 in the 800; only the top nine finishers in each event receive medals.

Alex Lyons of Lyons was ninth in 1:56.17.

"That sets (Soto) up well for next year," Perez said.