Boys Track and Field: Lyons senior Danny Kilrea's closing kick wins 3,200-meter state championship

CHARLESTON – Lyons Township senior Danny Kilrea already enjoyed the satisfaction and elation of a Class 3A individual state championship in boys cross country in November.

Saturday’s title was pure euphoria.

Trailing throughout the final lap of the 3,200-meter run at the 3A boys track and field state finals, Kilrea passed wavering Neuqua Valley junior Zach Kinne in the final 20 meters to win by 78 hundredths of a second at a warm Eastern Illinois University.

“I’m never forgetting that last straightway,” said Kilrea, clocked in 9:02.77. “I’m not known for having one of the best kicks. Winning a race by kicking, I don’t know if I’ve ever done that before so it’s pretty memorable.”

Last year, Kilrea was disappointed in finishing fourth in the 3,200 (9:09.23) behind two seniors and later 11th in the 1,600. This state meet, he focused exclusively on the 3,200 and possibly challenging his school record of 8:56.84 set April 7 at the Arcadia Invite in California.

“Last year was very motivating just for the good cross country season and the track season. I was ready last year. I wanted to win that [3,200],” Kilrea said. “I thought it was just best to focus on the 3,200 just because it’s a little bit more my strong suit. I think it worked out a little bit better because of the warm conditions. It would have been a real tough double this year. When [great 3,200 conditions] didn’t pan out, I knew that I just had to be a competitor.”

Also eighth at state as a sophomore (9:20.42), Kilrea is LT’s first three-time all-stater in the 3,200. Last year, Kinne was fifth in the 3,200 (9:11.48), 2.25 seconds and one place behind Kilrea.

On Saturday, Kilrea led with a 4:26 first mile but admittedly began feeling fatigue from the heat. Kinne moved ahead with 850 meters remaining.

“When Kinne passed me, my goal was to watch him and stay as close as you can. And just keep trying to gain ground,” Kilrea said. “It was probably more helpful than not. It wakes me up a little more.”

Still trailing by three seconds with 400 meters left, Kilrea finished in 1:05, the same split as his first lap.

“I was getting a little nervous, but you just have to have faith in the training,” Kilrea said. “It’s not like I’m hammering out speed workouts, but I know that I can finish and I think proved a lot of people wrong by doing so.”

In the 3.0-mile state cross country final, Kilrea won by 14 seconds (14:08) after a much-anticipated showdown with Sandburg senior Dylan Jacobs, who was sixth (14:36). In Saturday’s 1,600, Jacobs (4:11.60) made an even more dramatic comeback than Kilrea to win by .08.

They’ll be teammates at Notre Dame along with 2017 LT graduate and former distance teammate Vince Zona.

“Cross county was so hyped up for me and Dylan and that was so exciting a race. The dynamic at Detweiller Park is so amazing,” said Kilrea, an IHSA All-State Academic Team selection. “Here it’s just a completely different dynamic. It’s different having one side of the stands just roar and then silence. It’s an experience but I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for either of them.”

In Class 2A, senior Matt Augustyn became Fenwick’s first all-stater in triple jump with a seventh-place 43-11 1/2. Entering state as the 11th seed with 43-5 at sectionals, Augustyn improved significantly from 39-7 1/2 in his first state appearance in 2017 and added to the all-state long jump efforts by 2017 graduate Anthony Pasquesi the past two seasons.