Palatine Pack Takes Over Gately
Above: Jaeden Gaspard, Christian Gaspard, and Norbert Zych flex after sweeping places 1-2-3 in both the 60 meter dash and the 200 meter dash.
One year ago, we started Palatine Pack TFCC with 25 kids and two coaches meeting in a room at Falcon Park Recreation Center. We had to wear masks, worked out in the street, and had no resources for teaching sprint or field events. Essentially, we had a running club. Fast forward one year later and we brought an entire team to the Track and Field Center at Gately Park.
Kids in both genders competed in all sprint, distance, and field events offered, and it definitely felt like we had arrived as a team. We have been able to rent the Winston Campus Junior High gym for our winter sessions, and our kids are learning how to throw the shot put, get their long jump marks, refine their approaches in high jump, and explode out of the blocks. We also purchased a Free Lap timing system and can use the gym to record, rank, and publish our athletes in explosive sprints. With four weeks of work behind us, it was incredible to see our kids perform and reach so many personal bests. Even better, we got to learn about track and field against good competition in a world class facility. Many thanks to Dan Daly, Michelle Parekh, Under Armour, and all the event organizers of the Meet of Champions for hosting us!
To say that our day was a huge success would be a massive understatement. Our kids brought it in event after event and left with a ton of medals and fun experiences. Seeing them sprint, throw, run, and jump was a total pleasure from beginning to end. While I don’t have enough time to shout out every single athlete, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite moments:
I’d be crazy if I didn’t start with the performance nearest to my heart. My son, Christopher Quick, won his first race ever! Even though he ran a 5:32 PR in the 1600 meters, I could tell that he was slightly disappointed. He seemed scared of the competition with so many strong runners and never really engaged with the race. One hour later, though, he came out in Section 2 of 3 in the 800 meters and dominated form the gun. I’ve never seen him run so tall and with such passion. He took the lead and never let it go, finishing with a new personal best of 2:32.01. Definitely a proud dad moment!
We only entered two long jumpers yesterday, but both Annika Rice (11’ .25”) and Will Colleran (14’ 0”) had a strong meet. Our emphasis was on perfecting our pre-meet routine, getting our mark, and being consistent enough to score legal jumps. We went 8 for 8 in that department and both kids finished in the medals. Once the weather improves a bit here, we’ll be able to get into the actual pit and learn about finishing our jumps.
Hazel Nadal has been a revelation over the past two weeks. She is a fast young lady and loves to work at all of our drills and workouts. Her work started to payoff with a 2nd place finish in the 60 meter dash (8.65) and a 3rd place finish in the 200 meter dash (28.31). The latter time bested the IESA outdoor qualifying mark for her grade and particular class. She also would have finished 9th in the high school meet that followed ours. We will keep working with her to improve her sprint posture and starting technique so those times keep tumbling down.
Aidan Neff ran two really courageous races in both the 1600 and the 800. He went out way to fast in each and paid the price, but when he runs hard he looks good. Sometimes you find 400 meter runners in odd ways, and I think he may have some potential there.
Ellie Garrett is small but mighty. Ever since I first met her last summer, I have admired her competitive instinct and her desire to press hard in the middle of a distance race. That instinct paid off as she ran 5:55.21 to break 6:00 for the first time ever. Only a 6th grader at Palatine St. Thomas make sure to watch out for her in years to come. Her time was under the Class 1A standard for qualification to the IESA state meet.
Charting Luke Firkin’s improvement has been a lot of fun. Luke is goofy and fun, but each meet he also becomes more powerful as a competitor. I am having a blast watching him gain confidence and learn to compete. The greatest part about his race on Saturday was the way he hooked up with 6th grade teammates Jakob Samuel and Aaron Milewski. Every time the pace threatened to slacken, one of them threw in another move and kept it rolling. Watching kids learn to trust one another and work as a unit to negotiate a tough race never gets old. Those three ran 6:06, 6:07, and 6:14 respectively.
With Winston Campus Junior High entering the IESA for track and field this spring for the first time, we are hoping to make a big splash. If we do, it will likely be on the backs of a trio of outstanding sprinters. Jaeden Gaspard was already an integral part of our state qualifying cross country team in the fall, and he continues to be a leader both on the track and off. He split 59.3 leading off our 4 x 400 last week and did well dropping down in distance here to place 2nd in the 200 (26.22) and 3rd in the 60 (8.14). Of course, winning is tougher when your little brother Christian is becoming a star in his own right. Only a 7th grader, he swept the sprint titles in 25.79 and 7.96. Last but least was 8th grade teammate Norbert Zych. He was a close second in the 60 (8.03) and nearly nabbed the 200 title (26.36) out of lane 1 in the first section after his entry was screwed up. Can you imagine these guys in a 4 x 200, 4 x 400? We surely can.
Brianna and Dante Tellez are two of my favorite kids on the team. I first met Brianna when she came out and started running distance with us last February. She’s a strong and athletic girl more than a distance runner, though, and I think she can make her mark in the shot put. She did so on Saturday by winning with a throw of 23’ 3.5”. The Class 4A qualifying standard for 8th graders is 29’ 2”, and I think we can get her to that mark when she starts to glide rather than throwing from the power position. All a learning process! Dante meanwhile competed in his first ever meet and won the first medal of his life! Since Dante rarely stops talking, I am sure everyone he knows in the world already knows about it. We were all certainly proud of him.
I don’t want to participate too much in youth sports insanity by projecting what kids will do someday, but it might be a safe guess that Addie Moore is pretty good at all of this. Addie’s brother David is a mainstay of our distance crew, and Addie hops in and races every now and then at our meets. She doesn’t train with us at all, choosing to play other sports and take it slow. But it is safe to say that a 4th grader running 2:45.22 for 800 meters may turn some heads. She has a great stride and used it to blast off on the last lap and win her heat. She also was kind enough to film my son in the boys 1600 so I could coach. Thanks Addie!
Mary Denight and Jaqueline Bernardo are quickly emerging from our girls sprint crew. Mary has never done track before while Jaqueline was in our youth camp last summer. Both have real potential as sprinters and middle distance runners, but I am even more impressed by their positive attitudes. It takes guts to try new things in front of peers and (at this meet) fans. Mary (9.30, 30.79) and Jaqueline (9.51, 31.42) both did great and learned a ton from their 60/200 meter double. Jaqueline’s finish in the last straightaway of her heat was especially thrilling as she nearly came from behind to win her heat. I think the 400 may turn out to be her specialty. So exciting to see both of these young women improving.
It’s not often that a middle school kid running 4:57.76/2:14.74 in one hour is the 10th bullet point, but it says a lot about the consistent level of performance that Alex Krieg provides. He was sick the night before these races with a cold and even a fever, but he decided to give it a go anyway. While clearly under the weather, he battled hard against tough fields. His best moment was his thrilling last lap, come from behind effort in the 800 meters to snag a victory and a PR.
As a true distance coach, one of my favorite incentives in coaching this club is to mentor young athletes for my friends. Jack Jennings (going to Fremd), Karanveer Patil (going to Vernon Hills), and David Shu (going to Conant) are three emerging male distance runners to watch for in the future. Only a 7th grader, Jack Jennings is one of the truest distance guys I have ever met. From the moment I met him, I could tell he had it in him to be great. He just LOVES to hammer and is willing to work. He ran 4:58.22/2:18.12 in the space of an hour and would vie for the IESA 7th grade state title this spring if Plum Grove Junior High was allowed to compete. We think that will happen next year so watch out for him. And what do I say about Karanveer? He ran one of the gutsiest races I have ever seen to finish USATF All-American in CC for the 11-12 age group, and he just ran 5:04.39/2:23.88 on Saturday. Both are IESA qualifying marks for his grade and class. Oh yeah, he’s only a 6th grader! Those times meet the 7th grade standards. Last but not least is the best “where did he come from?” story of our club. David Shu came out a week or so late for this session and just started running with our best guys. Last week, he ran 5:26. On Saturday, he ran 5:09.10. John Powers over at Conant is getting a good one for next year!
Coaching the Palatine Pack also allows Alex Soto and I to mentor the next generation of Palatine distance runners. On that account, we had a good day on Saturday. Caiden Allie didn’t quite PR, but he ran a solid 5:12.84. Christopher Quick ran 5:32.74, and he, Caiden, and Alex will seed a strong freshman class for Coach Parks next year. Jocelyn Huila continues to improve as well. She went out WAY too hard, but kept fighting to run 6:21.11. Right in front of her was Danielle DiRe who ran a huge PR of 6:17.81. I first noticed Danielle’s desire to run hard during our cross country post-season session, and it is clear that she has the toughness and desire to be a great distance runner. Our 7th grade projects - Miles Serra and John Levene - also had banner days. Both guys already act like classic Palatine guys off the track by being kind, considerate, positive, and respectful, but they are also making noise on the track. Miles had a breakout race to break 6:00 for the first time in 5:48.29 while John smashed his PR with a 6:09.74. He only ran 3:03 for 800 meters just six days ago! A big wow there.
Not to get lost in the shuffle…neither Daniel Bounpasseuth nor Lukas Samuels will be Palatine kids, but both guys broke 6:00 for the first time, finishing in 5:51.37 and 5:53.84 respectively. Huge breakthroughs for both with much more to come based on their positive attitudes and strong work ethics.
Shane Rasche and Garrett Meehan both had quietly strong days. Neither guy is at the front of our groups just yet, but they both contribute every single day. Garrett set a goal to break 4:00 in the 800 meters and did so with a 3:51.60. Shane ran PRs in both races and really finished strong. I talked to him after the race about the importance of each athlete on the team having clear goals and pursuing them intensely. I really appreciate the character of each guy.
Neither Addie Dietrich nor David Moore had the day of racing they were looking for on Saturday. Both are OG members of the Palatine Pack and have been at the core of what we are trying to build. I admired the way both kids raced. Addie’s race went out really hard (she was out in 80), and she struggled over the last 600 meters. Still, I will never ignore a 7th grader running 6:06.47. I know Addie has broken 6:00 before but her effort was strong on Saturday. She just needs to keep working on her fitness and it should be there as the junior high season gets going. Same with D. Moore. He struggled in training with some foot and heel issues over the winter and is just now rounding into shape. Track season is a long game, and he will be ready to go as outdoor comes around.
While Monika Urbaniak doesn’t run for our club (she works with the Sauganash Striders), she was clearly one of the most electric athletes at this meet. She has run 5:10 this indoor season and battled like crazy to just take runner up honors in 5:14 in this one. Look for her tearing up the track for Palatine St. Theresa at Distance Night in Palatine this spring.
I surely missed some incredible performances along the way, but I need to get to work planning my lessons for the week. So many thanks are due to the parents who drove their kids nearly an hour away for this meet and gave us their family time on a beautiful day. We really appreciate you all letting us work with your wonderful kids. Thanks for giving Palatine Pack a try! I also have to thank our entire coaching staff - Coach Bollman, Coach Baldwin, and Coach Weinman - for taking time out of their days to be with us. Last but not least, we should all give it up for Alex Soto. He organized this entire meet for the club among everything else he is doing to make sure your kids have a great experience with track and field. He’s one of the best youth coaches in the state, and we are all lucky to have him in charge.
