Under the Monocle: Will Yasdick and the long green season

It takes a lot for an athlete to be a state runner, but demands more from the individual to be a varsity athlete in more than one sport, along with balancing schoolwork on top of that. Junior Will Yasdick participates on both the varsity cross country team and the varsity water polo team, filling his schedule.

“Everyone in a varsity sport obviously deserves to be there so the intensity of both sports is about the same,” said Yasdick. “You have to put 100% effort in for every moment you’re in the water or in a race because that could be the difference between winning or losing”.

The cross country season officially starts in early August, but for the athletes who know what it takes to run in the Illinois state meet, the season begins much earlier. Starting the first week of summer break, lasting throughout the summer, York runners know what needs to be done in these essential months in order to prepare for the culminating State meet.

“It’s a lot of hard work and determination,” said Yasdick. “I have to stay focused and keep a positive attitude throughout the season.”

For some athletes, the dream of running in the state meet comes true but does not come easily. There is a lot of hard work, time, and dedication that goes into working towards running on a state meet team representing the York Dukes down at Detweiller park in Peoria.

“Knowing that I ran in the state meet this year will really motivate me throughout next year,” said Yasdick “Now that I’ve had varsity experience I know that I will have to work hard every day to get my spot back in the top 7.”

Putting your best effort day in and day out often times does not cut it for every athlete on the team. With the length of the season comes many challenges athletes are forced to deal with in order to not only run for York varsity but maintain the spot in the top 7 throughout the season. For Will, the challenge came mid-season when he was not hitting the times that he thought he could be running.

“For a while during the season I was pulled up to varsity because the faster sophomores were in sophomore races doing really well, while I had the opportunity to run varsity but I couldn’t have the same success as they were having,” Yasdick said. “After races, I would think I ran really good because I set a personal record but then I’d see what the sophomores would run and feel like I was just a replacement for them while they get better.”

In the end, all the training the athletes have done starting in early June has prepared the varsity athletes for state. At the end of the season, it is important to trust your training and it will all click.

“I just tried my best to stay positive and once I started getting faster times in races and in practice I realized that I was closer to the top 7 than I thought,” said Yasdick. “I started to just think about my goals for the season and stopped focussing on the success of others and that’s what really got me going towards the end of the season to make that last push to get me into the top 7.”

Many of the past and present York cross country athletes find motivation in similar ways. The legacy and deep history that the program has served as a reminder that as a York varsity runner, anything is possible. It is not uncommon for York to fall on the past successes of the program as a means of motivation.

“Every time I step on the line I know that there are decades of history of Cross Country behind me and my teammates,” said Yasdick. “Definitely, a big motivation for me to do good is remember all that history and making sure that I don’t let all those people down. Every race I go out and try my hardest and I know that everyone who has had a York singlet on before me has done great things.”