HUTCHINSON — When Vinny Butera handed the baton to Anthony Glasgow to run the final leg of the 4×800-meter relay at the NJCAA Outdoor National Championships, Allen coach Vince DeGrado let everyone know what he thought about the race.
“Before I even got the baton, I looked over at the fence and he already had his hands up and he was like, ‘Money leg,’” Glasgow said. “Once he did that, I knew that all I had to do was leave it all on the track.”
The thing is, Allen wasn’t even in first when Glasgow took the baton. Instead, they were in a neck-and-neck battle for second. But DeGrado didn’t let that dampen his confidence.
“As soon as Anthony got the baton, I was yelling ‘It’s over, It’s over, It’s over,’ and he heard it,” DeGrado said. “That is nothing against the other teams, but at the end of the day, there was no one that was going to run with him.”
And Glasgow didn’t disappoint. The Allen freshman quickly took the lead and didn’t look back as he roared across the finish line to win the title with a 7:36.49.
“I got out and left the guys I was with, but I didn’t know that I had done that,” Glasgow said. “I was just running harder and harder every 100 meters, because I thought they were closer to me, but when I actually watch the video, they weren’t.”
Glasgow’s 1:53.19 was a personal-best split and the freshman surprised even himself with that performance.
“I wasn’t expecting to set new personal-bests this fast,” Glasgow said. “I knew coach was going to make me better, but I didn’t think it was going to be like this… As a freshman (to be a national champion), it is unbelievable.”
What makes the Allen team so special is the depth they have.
“Some teams like to hide their big guns,” DeGrado said. “They put them on the third, second or first leg and I’ve done that, too, but on this team, they are all big guns. Anybody we have could have been the anchor.”
That depth was tested this weekend, when returning national champion Chris Martin from last year’s relay team was forced to miss the meet because of illness. Luckily for the Red Devils, DeGrado was able to plug in sophomore Ka’Ven Berry, who is heading to Mississippi State University next season.
“I went up to them before the race and told them not to try to be the hero, everyone’s job was just to get the baton to Anthony in either first place or second place,” DeGrado said. “No one needed to be the hero, we just had to do what we’ve been doing all year.
“Anthony has been running hot and nobody was going to beat him.”
Berry ran the first leg in 1:55.82 before freshman Ryan Yarde posted a 1:54.42 on the second leg and Butera — the only returner from last year’s relay to run this weekend — ran a team-best 1:52.95 to get it to Glasgow for him to do his part.
“I was a 2:05 800-meter runner in high school and now to run a 1:52, it is crazy,” Butera said.
For Butera, repeating as a national champion is an ideal way to cap of his career in Iola before he heads to Washburn University next season with Martin joining him.
“It is surreal,” Butera said. “I still can’t believe it actually happened.”
SHOEMAKER
Kaitlyn Shoemaker went into this weekend with very little pressure at all, according to DeGrado.
She was already the most decorated female runner in the history of Allen and in DeGrado’s career.
“She is the most decorated, glorified, successful, whatever you want to say, runner we’ve ever had,” DeGrado said. “You can’t just find another one of those every year.”
She won the Indoor 5000-meter title earlier this Spring and went into the weekend as a heavy, heavy favorite to take the 10,000 meters.
“She was so far ahead of all the other girls, she just wanted to enjoy the process,” DeGrado said. “Her national championships were the 35:25 she ran at the Mount Sac Relays (earlier this year in California).”
Shoemaker won the event easily with a 36:51.84.
“I just had fun the entire time,” Shoemaker said. “I was expecting to win, but I didn’t let that get to my head. I enjoyed the experience, all 25 laps of it.”
After running the 10000-meters on Thursday, the sophomore came back on Friday a took third in 5000-meters meters with a 17:28.44. Shoemaker led early but was passed for the championship by a runner who only ran the 5000-meters.
“I’m not used to the 10K/5K double, but ultimately it is sophomore year and it is my last two races with the coaching of DeGrado so I just wanted to take advantage of it,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker says she will miss Allen County,
“Words can’t describe how grateful I am,” Shoemaker said.
DeGrado’s greatest memory from this season’s sophomores is how they have embraced Iola and made it their own.
“This team was so involved in the community,” DeGrado said. “They really felt like Iola was home for them. A couple of them said that they aren’t running for their hometown, they are running for Iola. That is really cool because they all come from different areas and they have pride that they go to Allen. They run for Iola and Allen County.
“That is what you want a community college to be. You want the kids to feel that the community cares about them and they felt that ten fold. They wanted to win for Allen County.”
