Everyone knows about Jeffrey Rector's 6th place state finish in the 3200 meter run at the state track meet for Roosevelt. What many people don't realize is that Roosevelt has a surprisingly decent set of distance runners behind Rector like Jose Guerrero (sr)(above) who quietly ran a respectable 11:02.75 in the 3200 meter run at the city track meet.
What is going on at Roosevelt? First they had Jeffrey Rector(jr) finish 6th at the state in the 3200 meter run. Thus becoming Roosevelt's first all-state track runner since 1932.
Now, the word is out there that Roosevelt is starting a cross country team starting this fall 2010. The new coach will be Michael Kroski, a Physics teacher at Roosevelt. I hear that he is really good at robotics and Physics. Though, I do not know about his cross country background.
I do know that the Roosevelt track coach, Nick Diedrich, will not be coaching the new cross country team. Diedrich, who does have a good athletic background, will be coaching the Rough Rider football team this fall. But Diedrich may indirectly contribute in other ways. Diedrich, in addition to having the credit for coaching Rector, quietly built up a group of distance runners supporting Rector.
Diedrich developed the following track distance runners and some of their 2010 season track times (class as of 2010-11 season):
- Jose Guerrero (sr) - 11:02, 3200 meter run; 5:16, 1600 meter run
- Ivan Hernandez (so) - 5:42.47, 1600 meter run
- Leonardo Bucio (so) - 6:11.53, 1600 meter run
- Alan Rangel - 5:50.59, 1600 meter run
I know the times are not eye opening, but for Roosevelt it is a great start. Roosevelt has 5 runners running below 6:12, nothing special compared to the Mather and Kenwood's of the world, but it is great compared to past Roosevelt standards.
Rector will not be running cross country because he plays football. Whether Guerrero and the other distance runners run cross country, we do not know yet. I do know that every program has to start somewhere. For Roosevelt, just having a team is a great start.
Roosevelt 2010-2011 Cross Country Schedule
| Day |
Date |
Event
| Location |
Time |
Tuesday
|
9/14
|
Mather Invite
| Legion Park (Bryn Mawr & Kedzie)
|
4:00 p.m.
|
Tuesday
| 9/21
| Mather Invite
|
Legion Park (Bryn Mawr & Kedzie)
| 4:00 p.m.
|
Tuesday
| 9/28
| Mather Invite
|
Legion Park (Bryn Mawr & Kedzie)
| 4:00 p.m.
|
Saturday
|
10/23
|
IHSA Regionals
| TBA
|
TBA
|
Saturday
|
10/30
|
IHSA Sectionals
| TBA
|
TBA
|
Saturday
|
11/6
|
IHSA State Final
| TBA
|
TBA |
Related
Von Steuben - cross country team preview
Lincoln Park - cross country team preview
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