Casper eating up the competition
After being ‘swallowed up’ by a bad diet, senior turns change into a winning surge
More peppermint tea, please.
Bremen senior Zach Casper has developed into one of the top runners in the South Suburban Conference, and he opened the cross country season with first-place finishes against Tinley Park, Oak Forest and Hillcrest.
Some of that success may have come because of a change in diet after his freshman year. Casper, who had a heart murmur, was advised to alter his eating habits.
“I had to change my training style,” he said. “I had to cut some things. I had to learn how to eat better because I was always a bad eater. Now, I have to be a better eater to keep up.
“If you don’t have good eating habits, you are going to get swallowed up. No pun intended.”
One of the toughest things he gave up was double-shot coffee drinks. But those are in the past and have been replaced.
“I used to hate tea but now I love peppermint tea,” Casper said. “It’s one ofmy go-to drinks.”
Last year, Casper-led Bremen advanced to the Class 2A state meet for the first time since 2009. The Braves, who finished 19th, count Casper and Bryan Barban as returnees from that team. Casper took 90th overall, Barban 188th.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Illinois High School Association will limit the state series to regional and sectional competitions this season.
That has caused disappointment for Casper because he enjoyed the experience of last year’s state meet.
“It was the best event of my entire life,” he said. “Aside from the race, there was the hotel and the bus rides and the restaurants. It was such amazingness.
“I haven’t felt that close with teammates ever. It’s the highlight of any runner’s career.”
For now, Casper has been working on trying to reach his personal-best time of 16 minutes, 13 seconds, which he accomplished in the state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria.
“He’s ready for a big drop in time,” Bremen coach Bill Griffin said. “He really comes on during the October races. He worked hard in the summer. He worked a full-time job laying floors and tiles. It was real manual labor.
“He ran at odd times. He would run at 8 or 9 at night
after a full day of work. Or he would wake up and run at 5:30 or 6 in the morning just to make sure he got his running in before proceeding with a full day of work. He’s not afraid of hard work.”
Yikes for the Vikes: Homewood- Flossmoor’s Brian O’Donnell, who coached at Crete-Monee before this season, is trying to build up the Vikings’ program.
The results haven’t been there yet in the rugged SouthWest Suburban Blue as H-F dropped dual meets to Bolingbrook, Lockport, Lincoln-Way East and Sandburg to start the season.
The Vikings, however, did enjoy a 17-44 win over Marian Catholic in a nonconference battle.
“The arrow is pointing in the right direction,” O’Donnell said. “This is a very good cross country conference, andwe’ve seen some of the best programs.
“Our guys understand they are not there yet. They see the process can lead them there.”
Some of the underclassmen who can help try to turn things for the Vikings around include Trip Shonkwiler, Denzel Lee and Ian Barrow.
Did you know? Sandburg senior Indiana Hauter picked up that first name because his parents met and were married in Indiana. Around the team, he is known as “Indy.”