Zach Dale insists he doesn’t spend any time cursing Jesse Reiser’s name.
Not yet, anyway.
One of the top distance runners in the country, Dale, a Conant senior, has yet to win a state championship in large part because of Reiser, a McHenry senior who captured the Class 3A 3,200-meter title last spring and cross-country championship in the fall.
Dale’s dream was to be a state champion even when “it wasn’t realistic” in middle school, but it’s pretty clear he’s not obsessed with beating Reiser. He’s joining him instead.
“He is a friendly rival,” Dale said. “He is my future roommate.”
The top two distance runners in the state are both headed to Illinois in what could be a program-changing coup by head cross-country coach and assistant track coach Jake Stewart.
And if Dale continues to run like he has all year, he and Reiser might take turns standing atop the podium at the state meet in Charleston later this month.
Dale, whose meet-record 4:09.72 at Prospect’s Wanner Knight Invitational on May 1 was the top time in the state and No. 10 time in the U.S. this season, is leaning toward not attempting the distance-double at state after finishing third in the 3,200 and fourth in the 1,600 last season and second in the state cross-country meet in the fall.
Reiser’s chances of repeating in the 3,200 would increase, though helping a friend is not what he has in mind. Staying fresh for the 1,600, which comes after the 3,200, is the idea.
“I was a second away from the win last year (in the 1,600),” said Dale, whose 4:11.28 was just .94 seconds slower than champion Patrick Perrier of O’Fallon. “My coach and I both thought if I didn’t do the two-mile maybe I would have had a chance.”
Conant coach John Powers called Dale “the best tactical decision-maker I’ve coached on the course or the track,” and that skill is not limited to running.
The first big decision of his running carer involved, of all things, hockey.
It was his first sporting love, he played it for eight years and he was good. But he wanted to be great at something, and he realized when he started high school it wasn’t going to happen as a hockey player/runner.
“I figured this had better potential for college, better opportunities for me,” Dale said. “I decided to see where this goes, put everything into it. I had to make a leap of faith and make a mature decision about what might be best for my future.”
Dale said his self-confidence wasn’t particularly high in those days, but winning the Mid-Suburban League frosh-soph cross-country meet validated his decision.
The big breakthrough came the following year, when he dropped from 9:55 to 9:10 in the 3,200 and finished 15th at the state meet in the event.
He’s been a known commodity in the running world since, and coupled with his stellar work in the classroom, Stanford came calling, as did Wisconsin.
It was time for another mature decision.
“I guess I was in love with the idea of Stanford more than it was practical for me to go there,” Dale said. “I had to mature a little and realize Illinois was the best place for me.”
Reiser had already come to the same conclusion, and though Illinois is not an elite national program, Dale saw an opportunity to change that.
“It was easier for me to decide knowing he would be there,” Dale said.
With Dale and Reiser in the fold, it might be an easier sell going forward.
“We have a fantastic tradition of distance running in this state,” Powers said. “We don’t have a huge tradition of Illinois kids going to Illinois. Hopefully these two can swing that around a little bit.”
