Carrie Pollock awoke Sunday morning with a 102-degree fever and barely enough strength to stand up.
Yet a few hours later, she had not only lifted her weary body out of bed, but over a hoard of hurdles and a high-jump bar at the Region VII Junior Olympic track and field championships at York High School in Elmhurst.
The Wheaton North senior-to-be ignored her body-except for her heart-and captured gold medals in the only two events she participated in: the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump. The top three finishers in each event in Sunday`s meet, which included athletes from Illinois and Indiana, advanced to The Athletics Congress National Junior Olympic Championships July 25-28 at Chapel Hill, N.C.
Pollock had previously qualified for nationals in the heptathlon, a series of seven events: high jump, long jump, shot put, javelin, 100 hurdles, and 200 and 800 meters.
”I`ve been in bed for a whole week with a virus doing absolutely nothing,” said Pollock, representing the Northview Track Club. ”This morning I felt really sick and I thought there was no way I`d be here. But I wanted to do this so bad, even if it`s only two events, rather than my usual four.”
Pollock, who finished second at state in four different events, sat out the long jump and 200-meter hurdles. But she cruised to a 14.80 in the 100 hurdles, outdistancing her closest competitor by more than a second. Afterward, she doubled over in pain.
”It feels like I haven`t done the hurdles in ages,” said Pollock, who raced last Wednesday in a national meet in Minnesota. ”It took a lot out of me. I really don`t have any energy. Hopefully I`ll feel better next week.”
The flu bug is a comparative speck of adversity to Pollock, whose mother lost a battle with cancer in late 1990.
”It was a tough year for her,” Northview coach Paul Massey said. ”But Carrie`s pretty tough, and she`s very hard-working. In track and field, she`s dedicated herself to excel, and she`s excelled this year. She`s probably the top multievents girl in the country.”
The summer season is especially important to Pollock because the heptathlon, big on the collegiate level, is not a high school event. Her only opportunity to dazzle recruiters is in club competition.
”I spend the whole summer training for these (national) meets,” she said. ”There are always a ton of recruiters watching.”
On Sunday, there were a ton of athletes running, jumping and throwing-nearly 1,000 Junior Olympians ranging in age from 7 to 18.
Some of Sunday`s participants won`t enter high school until the beginning of the 21st century. Others, like Lori Altergott, are simply honing their skills in anticipation of a successful prep career.
”A meet like this makes you work harder, improve your time and do better,” said Altergott, a distance runner who will be a freshman at Streamwood this fall.
Carl Myers has similar goals as he prepares to join the University of Illinois track team. A two-time Class A long-jump champion at Wheaton Christian, Myers won the event Friday at the Prairie State Games and Sunday at York.
”I was a little bit tired, but I can`t complain,” Myers said. ”Every meet is important to me because it`s a chance to better myself. And I see myself getting better and better.”
