The Lake Forest boys track and field team doesn’t carry a win-at-all-costs mentality.
According to senior mile specialist Matthew Mekaelian, the Scouts are all about camaraderie.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” Mekaelian said. “Everyone is so nice to each other. We have group texting chats. I love it.”
Winning doesn’t hurt, though. Mekaelian won the mile in 4 minutes, 38 seconds at the eight-team Lake Forest Invitational on April 25. The Scouts finished second to state power Zion-Benton.
“Matt won by over 13 seconds and had athletes from other teams in awe,” Lake Forest coach John Brumund-Smith said. “He stayed with the pack for the first two laps and then took off.”
Mekaelian took off in the fall as well, as he was all-state for the cross country team after covering three miles in 14:58 to take 16th at the Class 2A state meet. He began running as a sophomore.
“I started running on the team for fun,” Mekaelian said. “It’s a great way to meet people and make friends. A brotherhood.”
“Matt may have taken up the sport late, but he’s a natural runner,” Brumund-Smith said.
Mekaelian played on the Scouts’ freshman tennis team as a doubles player. But once he started running, there was no turning back.
He has formed a bond with his teammates. In the days before a meet, the distance crew runs together to pump each other up.
“Distance runners always seem to have a great camaraderie. They’re out on the runs together and that’s a natural environment for talking and getting to know each other,” Brumund-Smith said. “In most sports, if you’re talking all the time, the coaches get upset. But out on the distance runs, it’s just different.”
Don’t think it’s just the distance runners or the sprinters or field competitors that become close. It’s the entire team. Just ask senior discus thrower Jonathan Bang.
“Discus goes by fast [at a meet]. We go over to the track and support our teammates,” said Bang, who also wrestles for the Scouts. “It’s hard to miss him [Mekaelian], since he’s always in the lead. All the support is motivation. We have each other’s back.”
Mekaelian said he enjoys the fact that distance runners have essentially two seasons — fall cross country and spring track.
“I really like that. You’re never not thinking about your racing. It’s always on your mind,” Mekaelian said.
Mekaelian has goals of running in both the Chicago and Boston marathons some day. He will attend Division I Xavier in the fall, where he will run cross country and track, concentrating on the 3,000 and 1,500. Mekaelian said the team atmosphere at Xavier is just like Lake Forest.
“Going there made me feel like home,” Mekaelian said.
Perlman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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