LA CROSSE — Aquinas High School senior Declan Gregg has never used his kick to win a race, but maybe he was never pressured in the manner he was Saturday afternoon at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
McFarland senior Isaac Ewing had swiped the lead from Gregg during the sixth lap of their Division 2 3,200-meter race at the WIAA state track and field meet.
Once Ewing took the lead, he worked diligently in extending it. Gregg waited as long as he could to fight that and trailed by 15 meters as they entered the final 100.
Then, something happened. Something that resembled Gregg being shot out of a cannon.
He put on the burners, and Ewing couldn’t respond. The lead quickly vanished, and Gregg crossed the line first in 9 minutes, 9.25 seconds to beat Ewing by .24.
“I’ve never needed to use (a kick), or used one ever,” said Gregg, who won the individual Division 3 cross country championship last fall and was fifth in the Division 2 1,600 on Friday. “That’s the fastest I’ve ever gone at the end of a race.”
Gregg admitted to thinking he had missed out on his chance and waited too long to try and reel Ewing in.
“I thought I was taking second (place) with 100 to go,” Gregg said. “With 90 left, my friend Adam said, ‘You have to kick.’
“I just kicked and gave it everything I had.”
Gregg had trouble explaining the outcome after Ewing led laps six, seven and nearly all of eight.
“I just yelled louder than I’ve ever yelled,” Gregg said of his reaction when crossing the finish line. “I just didn’t know what to do. I had no control over my body. It was crazy.”
