It didn’t take long for St. Charles East’s Mason Brockmeyer to get to here from there.
The schedule made sure of that.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Illinois High School Association jammed Brockmeyer’s sophomore and junior seasons into one calendar year — during the spring and the fall.
“I think with the double season, it felt like I had a long time to develop my game,” he said. “I knew I had the tools to be a great player. I just had to work on some things.”
Now, the fast and fleet senior forward is the offensive catalyst, scoring nine goals and contributing three assists so far as a senior for the Saints (7-2).
Those underclassmen seasons were essentially an apprenticeship as Brockmeyer figured out the nuances of the varsity level.
“I think the combined seasons gave me more of a feel for what high school is like,” he said. “Athleticism was always my best quality. What I learned was to utilize my strengths any way I could.
“I have always been fast. I think the main part helping me succeed is knowing how to use that speed correctly.”
That accelerated his learning curve.
The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Brockmeyer also has the size, speed and elusiveness in space that makes him exceptionally hard to slow down.
“He is a threat up top with his pace, his ability to make good runs and find good positions,” St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo said. “Now, I think he’s developing into finding the open man when he does break that back line.
“We have seen his assists go up.”
Brockmeyer’s presence naturally lifts the rest of the team, according to junior defender Elia Desario.
“His speed and how he is able to read the game very well are exceptional,” Desario said. “Every time me or the center backs hit the ball, he is always looking for that diagonal run and moving straight ahead.
“That’s how we score most of our goals.”
Those two combined seasons for St. Charles East also coincided with All-American star Sebastian Carranza, who scored 35 goals with 21 assists as a senior.
“Not just anyone could go out and score 30-plus goals,” Brockmeyer said of Carranza. “We could pretty much count on him to score any time he had the ball.
“I think with him gone, we’ve had to adapt as a team.”
Making the move from a complementary player to the face of the offense is not always an easy transition.
Much like Carranza, Brockmeyer has that special talent to embolden the rest of his team, something freshman forward Aiden Wostl has noticed.
“His speed and his finishing ability make him such a weapon anywhere out there,” Wostl said of Brockmeyer. “When gets his defender inside his body, he finishes most of the time.
“That makes him very lethal.”
The format is elementary. The Saints get Brockmeyer the ball, then watch him perform his magic on the field.
“We play it over the top to him,” Desario said.
That dynamic pushes both ways. The Saints know to seek out Brockmeyer. He rewards their confidence with results.
“I just go on the wing,” Brockmeyer said. “I look for runs down the side or I will try to get behind the ball, depending on how my team is shaping out of the back.
“I know my teammates. They look for me all the time, and that helps me succeed.”
Brockmeyer wants to run track in the spring, a fitting action given he has taken the baton from Carranza as the offensive centerpiece.
He wants to optimize his senior year.
“I want to try and stay as lethal as possible,” he said.
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
