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Bison sophomore shatters PR in 1,600 at state meet
OMAHA, Nebraska -- Competing on the big stage in Nebraska state high school championship venues for the first time can be a frightening, unnerving experience for a young athlete.
McCook High School sophomore Trevor Pate stepped up and met the challenge head-on Saturday, May 21, at the Class B state track and field meet at Omaha's Burke High Stadium. Pate, competing at state for the first time, earned a medal in the boys 1,600-meter run and in the process put himself among the best male distance runners in school history.
Pate stayed right in the lead pack early in the four-lap state meet test around the Burke Stadium oval. After a strong run, he crossed the finish line in sixth place to claim a piece of coveted state meet hardware.
There was probably a bit of shock registered on Pate's face as he turned and looked at the scoreboard to see the final race results flashed on the screen. Pate's official time was 4 minutes, 32.536 seconds -- about 11 seconds faster than he had ever clocked over 1,600 meters.
Only one other Bison runner has covered the 1,600 meters faster than Pate. Nate Ewert ran a 4:30.14 at the 1991 Class B state meet.
Back when high school tracks were measured in yards (440 to one lap) McCook's Carl Becker was one of the top distance runners in the state. His career-best time in the mile run in 1974 was converted to 4:25.2 over 1,600 meters. That mark is considered the 1,600 school record, although Becker's name doesn't appear on the Bison 1,600-meter run charts.
McCook head coach Tom Sughroue and his staff had Pate concentrating on the 800-meter run earlier this season.
"We thought he had a pretty good shot in the (800)," Sughroue said.
Midway through the season, Pate wanted to try the longer race.
"A few weeks before the conference meet, we threw him in the (1,600), and he ran pretty well," Sughroue said. "It panned out pretty good for him."
GNAC fast time
Pate's fastest 1,600 time of the season before state came at the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference meet in Columbus May 6. He turned in a 4:43.77 to finish seventh in a tough GNAC field.
Pate won first place at the Class B-6 District meet at McCook May 13. He stayed back in the pack, but close to the front, then took the lead late in the race and held off several challenges in the final 100 meters to claim the district title with a time of 4:46.4.
Pate employed the same strategy at state. He ran in a group, letting the leaders buck the wind, keeping near the front and keeping an eye on the leaders all the way.
"I did that last week in districts and it seemed to help a lot," Trevor said. "I didn't have to (fight) the wind or anything. Just give whatever you got left on the last lap."
Coach Sughroue said he and Pate sat down before the state meet and discussed strategy. Sughroue was confident his sophomore could claim a medal and finish in the top eight at state.
"I thought he could run with (the leaders), I had a firm belief that he could do that," Sughroue said. "We really weren't worried so much about time as much as place."
Sughroue told Pate to try and stay among the leaders in the race, making sure he was in the top eight, and "we'll let the time take care of itself, and it did," Sughroue said.
Confidence boost
Pate said his district title was a big boost entering the state meet.
"It showed me what I can actually do. I wasn't really sure at the time," he said. "It gave me a confidence boost.
Running in a pack during the distance events can have its drawbacks. Runners can get legs tangled and get bumped as the competitors fight for position.
"I stepped back a few times; that kind of slows you down a little bit," he said. "You've just got to get back into the groove and stay with it."
Pate said he looked ahead each lap during his state meet run, seeing where he was in the race.
"On each backstretch I counted so I knew how many I need to catch on the home stretch to stay in the top eight," he said. "I just tried to stay top eight for most of the race, ended up being sixth."
At the end of the race, Pate expected he had ran a pretty fast race.
"I knew I was going pretty fast," he said. "They just took off on the first lap, I had to catch back up."
No state meet pressure
Pate didn't seem too fazed by the big Burke Stadium crowd in his first state meet competition.
"It's a little crazy, a lot of people, but it's not too bad. It's pretty fun," he said.
Sughroue agreed that his sophomore handled the state meet atmosphere well.
"The track's still the same size, everything's the same. The only thing that changes (at state) is the amount of people watching?," Sughroue said. "If that bothers an individual, then they don't perform as well. If you don't let that influence your performance, then they can do very well. I think our kids did very, very well in not letting the influence of the crowd get in the mix for them. That was a plus for us."