By Mark Schafer | The News-Review
DES MOINES – With just 300 meters left in the race everything was going in his favor.
English Valleys senior, Gage Heyne, had nothing but the blue synthetic track ahead of him at the Blue Oval. He was leading the class 1A State 1,600 meter race and it seemed his first high school State championship was within grasp.
Just as he was starting to settle into the lead footsteps approached him from the outside. Heyne pressed the pace, but it wasn’t enough as he was passed by a North Iowa runner in the final 250 meters of the race.
“I am very pleased with how this week has gone, but I am hungry for more,” Heyne said after his final high school race. “With everything I put my body through being able to come out of here with four personal records and four different school records, I am super proud of that. I am also proud of my teammates.”
The weekend of records started early on Thursday when Heyne was able to finish second in the 3,000 meter with a new school record time of 10:24.83. In that race Heyne was third after the first half of the race. In the final few laps he was able to power himself up to second, grabbing a new school record in the process.
Friday night was a light run for Heyne as he was the anchor leg of the distance medley relay race. His anchor leg was one of the fastest of the meet, and he helped his team set a new school record with a time of 3:34.79, which placed them fifth overall.
Saturday, Heyne ran in two events. First, he ran in the 800, where he finished fourth with a time of 1:55.08.
Then came the race he led the state in, the 1,600.
Heyne was able to get out to a quick start and run to the top of the field for the first two laps.
On the third lap, Heyne made his move to the front.
“The pace didn’t start quite at the time that I was shooting for,” Heyne said after the race. “So I knew I wanted to get to the front to get the pace that I wanted. Even though after I got the lead, we were still behind pace. The last 800 we were going hard though. It felt like a sprint from that point on. The strategy was just to go fast and stay fast.”
A late attack by Gavin Grundhovd proved to be too much as Grundhovd was able to stride his way to victory.
Heyne would still grab the school record and a second-place finish with a time of 4:19.0, which is a time no other English Valleys runner has ever accomplished in that race.
The final count for Heyne at the State meet is impressive. No finish worse than fifth place. Four new school records, two runners-up.
“Coming out of here with a couple of podiums, I am pretty proud of that,” Heyne said. “There’s really not much more I could do.”
The name Gage Heyne will be one that is remembered in the halls of English Valleys for sometime. It is safe to say the senior has left his mark as a Bear.
