It was a nasty looking fall. One that Evanston boys track and field coach Don Michelin was sure would sideline one of his top athletes for the rest of the Class 3A Illinois Top Times Indoor Classic on March 25, if not longer. Evanston senior Brian Daniels had clipped the first hurdle in his preliminary heat of the 60-meter hurdles and came down hard on his already injured right ankle.
It was the continuation of a crummy day for Daniels, who finished 12th out of 12 entrants in the long jump, his top event, earlier in the day.
Michelin told the story over the phone with conviction and passion, doing his best to illustrate the significance of the injury. Because to Michelin, it tells you everything you need to know about Daniels and what he means to the Evanston boys track and field team.
Given the apparent severity of the injury, it would have made sense for Daniels’ day to be done. But he still had one event left, a team event, the 4×200 relay. So, Daniels headed over to the trainer and got his ankle wrapped and prepared for the race.
“He’s that type of guy. Most guys are out. When you see how bad he turned that ankle, most guys are done. You’re icing, you’re done,” Michelin said. “This guy got tape, got out there and kept that ankle warm and was warming up and he was able to compete and give us a chance to win. That’s that spiritual leadership that you’ve got to have. Anyone can stand up and be a verbal leader, but can you be that spiritual leader and get it done under difficult adversity and circumstances? He can.”
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Daniels ran the second leg for the Wildkits, who finished in second place with a time of 1 minute, 31.54 seconds — also good for the second-fastest time indoors this season — just .11 seconds behind winner Crete-Monee.
Daniels said the pain was manageable, which is why he made the decision to power through and run the race.
“It was a little unstable when I was running in the relay, but not enough to take me out,” Daniels said. “Afterwards it didn’t really hurt any more than it did before.”
While Daniels’ performance at the Top Times meet demonstrated his on-track leadership, Michelin said it goes beyond that. Daniels possesses the highest GPA on the Evanston boys track and field team and sets the academic standard for the team with his work in the classroom. Daniels missed running in the 4×100 at the sectional meet last year because he was taking an AP exam.
Daniels said while he enjoys track and field, he takes more pride in his academics.
“I definitely plan to go to a four-year university for academics, so academics are really important to me,” Daniels said. “So I’m going to go to college and be true to that and less for athletics. So I try to keep my grades as good as possible. Not only so that I can be eligible for sports, but so hopefully I can have some opportunities after high school.”
Evanston star senior Brad Garron, who has signed with the Iowa men’s track and field team, was the first leg of the 4×200 relay. Garron lauded Daniels for his leadership qualities and said he’s an integral part of a team that he said has “pulled together.”
“He brings a lot of vocal leadership during practice and during the week, which is what we need,” Garron said. “Most of the time, it’s just little things that go a long way with the team. Especially with the great team we had last year, all the seniors being gone, he’s really stepped up to take that role.”
Michelin said Daniels has tons of versatility and was crucial during the indoor season. Michelin stepped into different events when Garron missed a couple meets.
That versatility has been a work in progress. As a freshman, Daniels said he wanted to be a long jumper. Michelin felt he was capable of more. So over the next two years he was thrown into almost every running event available. Eventually, the hurdles became his next-best event behind the long jump, and he was the Wildkits’ No. 3 hurdler last season.
“When I started hurdles as a sophomore, I was probably the worst hurdler that my coach had ever seen at that point,” Daniels said with a laugh. “But now, having trained with the current school-record holder (Roland Amarteifio) in the hurdles last year, having trained with him and having really worked at it in practice and in the summers and stuff like that, I feel like I’ve gotten much better.”
This season he will be the featured hurdler for Evanston as well as its top long jumper. He’ll also be a presence on relays. And, perhaps most importantly, an invaluable source of leadership.
“He’s paid his dues. He wasn’t a guy that came in like Brad Garron, a superstar type guy that could go right up to the varsity as a freshman,” Michelin said. “He couldn’t do that. He was a freshman on the freshman team, he was a sophomore on the sophomore team and then as a junior he began to get some varsity experience. So he’s come a long way for us.”
Brett Christie is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press