Record Run

[rainman]

[rainman]

Record run

Polar Bears’ McVicker looks back on 3,200 win

BYNICK CAMMUSO TIMES WEST VIRGINIAN

FAIRMONT — It is more than a week later, and he’s finally caught his breath.

But that does not mean Dayton McVicker has fully grasped the enormity of what he accomplished last Friday at Charleston’s Laidley Field.

“It’s yet to sink in, actu­ally,” McVicker, Fairmont Senior’s standout distance runner, said earlier this week. “I still haven’t come down from it.”

There’s good reason for that. The Polar Bears’ jun­ior didn’t merely win the Class AAA state title in the 3,200-meter run; he set a new state record with a time of 9:14.23.

It was a win few expect­ed coming into state meet.

Runwv.com predicted McVicker, who took the regional title in 10:02.85, would place third in the event behind Jefferson’s Brandon Doughty and Cabell Midland freshman star Jacob Burcham.

Even McVicker himself would agree.

“I didn’t think I had that in me,” he said.

Those state meet doubts weren’t necessarily because of ability— McVicker is a state quali­fier in track and cross country and has fared well at national events — but because of what he felt was a poor performance in the Gazette Relays at Laidley Field earlier in the month.

He finished third overall at 9:30.39, three seconds behind Doughty and more than 10 from Burcham’s winning pace.

“I went down for the Gazette Relays — the same track, same runners (as states) — and was completely intimidated,” he said. “I had never been around a crowd that like that; it sounded like a football field. I just went into a shell.”

But once back in Charleston for states near­ly three weeks later, McVicker stepped out of his shell.

Maybe it was expecting the crowds this time.

Maybe it was knowing his opponents to a tee. Or maybe it was flying under the radar, a position he admit­tedly loves to be in. For whatever reason, things felt different. The butterflies had flown away; the nervousness was gone. McVicker was ready to run.

“We got down there and I remember telling (FSHS assistant coach Chris Neptune) that for the first time ever I wasn’t nervous,” he said.

Once the 3,200 got under way, the good feelings never went away. McVicker admit­ted that he “felt amazing” to start the race, so much so that he began counting down the laps in his head.

He kept pace with Burcham and Doughty throughout the run, and made his first move with two laps left, racing past three runners to take the lead. Burchum, however, took it right back around a lap later.

“He’s one of the last kids I wanted to be standing next to,” McVicker said. “I was really stressing at that point.”

McVicker, though, man­aged to keep his composure during that final lap. For the first half of it, he stayed in control, running neck-and­neck with Burcham, each no more than a few steps apart from one another.

But during the final stretch, the final turn that would determine the state champ, he turned it on. McVicker caught up to Burcham around the final bend, then made his big move, sprinting to the lead with a huge push in the final 50 meters.

“I discovered a gear I never knew I had,” he said. “I don’t know where it came from.”

Wherever it came from, it carried him to the state title, well ahead of Burcham, who clocked in at 9:15.94. Fairmont Senior teammate and fellow record-breaking runner Patrick Stanton wasn’t far behind, finishing fifth with a time of 9:47.28.

“It was amazing,” he said. “I would’ve kept going faster (at the end), but I looked back and saw that I had it.”

While it looked flawless, seamless, the perfect push at the perfect time, those last two laps were anything but. Every step, every breath, was a struggle.

“I’ve never felt that horri­ble before in my life,” McVicker said after the race. “I honestly, literally was cry­ing tears because I was in so much pain with one lap to go. I knew this kid had the best kick in the state so I tried to go with him, and he was liter­ally tearing me in half, it was so painful. When I took the lead, it all paid off.”

“It was the most exciting race I’ve ever watched, I’d say in any sport, track and cross country,” Neptune said. “It was such a good race that you were just sucked into the race and you stopped think­ing about the time.”

McVicker knew he had his first state title, but he wasn’t sure after the race if a Class AAA record was his.

His good friend and offsea­son running partner, former North Marion star Zach Tennant, set the previous 3,200 mark (9:14.84) just last season.

“Everybody was saying I was close,” McVicker said.

He didn’t get official word until over an hour later, while sitting in an Olive Garden, when someone pulled out their phone to show McVicker the official win­ning time.

And the state record-break­ing time.

McVicker couldn’t react too much at first. When he first heard the news, he was talking on the phone with — of all people — Tennant.

His friend was thrilled.

“It was very cool. ... I did­n’t know how he was going to react,” McVicker said. “He was really happy for me.

“We get to keep the title and the record in the county. I look up to him; he ran and won his (record race) by 30 seconds. I won mine by a few. You have to keep respecting him.”

With a record forever in his back pocket, McVicker isn’t looking back, just ahead. His next challenge will be in the 5,000-meter run on June 17 at the New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

He’s never run the 3.1-mile race before .... no big deal; he still hopes to place and earn national honors. After last Friday, anything is possible.

“It’s an awesome break­through for me,” he said. “It’s going to be a fun summer.”

[elp525]

Awesome..........just freakin' awesome!! Way to go Dayton!!