In his first cross-country race of the season, Sandburg sophomore Lukas Verzbicas made it clear he will be one of the most dominant high school athletes in the state.
Verzbicas shattered the course record he set last year at the Lyons invite, winning Saturday in 14 minutes 19.76 seconds — 16.14 seconds faster than his time on the 3-mile course a year ago.
Running alone for most of the race, he finished almost 56 seconds ahead of runner-up Sam Telfer of Lyons.
Telfer was an all-stater in 2008, when he finished 22nd in the Class 3A state finals and led the Lions to fifth place.
“I wanted to go a little faster, but I’m not really tapering or resting for this race,” said Verzbicas, who will compete in the duathlon (running, cycling, running) world championships Sept. 26 in North Carolina. “This was a good workout.”
Verzbicas, 16, isn’t sure whether he will compete in Peoria Notre Dame’s invitational at Detweiller Park, the state championship course, on Sept. 19. But he is planning to focus solely on cross-country when he returns from North Carolina.
He took control Saturday by running the first mile in 4:38 — 18 seconds ahead of everyone else. Verzbicas coasted through the second mile in 4:57 before coming home in 4:44.
As a freshman, Verzbicas ran for Lincoln-Way Central. After a record-setting victory at Lyons, he won the Peoria Woodruff Invitational’s Class 3A race, then broke a 22-year-old course record at Argo. A pinched nerve prematurely ended his freshman cross-country season.
“I really wanted to run and win state, but injury happens and I guess I just learned from that,” Verzbicas said. “So now I have more experience and now I know what to do to be the best that I can.”
Verzbicas gained national attention last year by setting a U.S. high school indoor mark of 14:18.42 in the 5,000 meters. He also set national freshman marks in the mile (4:15.43) and 3,000 meters (8:29.16).
Boys
Individual winner: Lukas Verzbicas, Sandburg, 14:19.76 (course record)
Team: Maine South (led by Dave Eckhart’s third-place finish)
Girls
Individual: Kelsey Kilrea, Lyons, 17:37.87
Team: Sandburg (led by Kimberly Christensen’s third- place finish)
