Geneseo runner Chenoweth owns No. 3 time in country

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By Sean Moeller | Friday, May 11, 2007 12:43 AM CDT | () comments

Unofficial or not, the city of Geneseo goes by Chenoseo, courtesy of the distance running exploits of Dan Chenoweth.

The Maple Leaf senior, this year’s homecoming king and a finalist for Quad-City Times Male Athlete of the Year, added another page to his storybook year Friday at the John McCormick Invitational, under drizzly, but warm skies at his home track.

Chenoweth ran the fastest 3,200-meter time in Illinois this season, with an 8:57.22 mark that cut nearly 7 seconds from his previous personal best. For a few minutes that night, it was thought to be the fastest time run in the country this year, but when other results from the night came in, two others ran faster. He holds the third fastest time in the U.S. according to Web site Dyestat.com’s national high school rankings.

“It was one of my big goals this year — breaking 9 minutes. I kind of thought that this was one of my last chances to do it this year because it’s usually so hot at the state meet,” Chenoweth said. “It really gives me confidence in my pacing. That was the one thing I needed to address.”

Chenoweth recorded his time with no one close to him. The second-place finisher was nearly a minute back at 9:46 and the Maple Leaf nearly lapped him with a 63-second last lap.

The big races have kept coming for Chenoweth, who moved to Geneseo with his family after his freshman season at Cedar Falls (Iowa) High School.

He was an all-state runner at the Iowa state meet, helping his school to a team championship. He was an all-state track runner in the 3,200 last spring, but it took him until this season to attain those honors in cross country, when he was fourth in Class AA.

He then started pulling off the unthinkable. He finished 10th at the Footlocker regional meet in Wisconsin — beating all three runners in front of him at the Illinois state meet, which earned him a trip to the national meet in San Diego in December. Chenoweth placed 24th at the event and earned all-American honors. His times have continued to plummet this season, after finishing last year with a personal best of 9:11 in the 3,200.

“It was a lot of intervals — just hammering tons of them,” Chenoweth said. “I started doing a lot more mile work at that pace. I wanted 9 minutes. I knew it was a long 11 seconds to cover, but I knew it was possible.”

Chenoweth isn’t just doing great things on the track. His studies — along with his athletic prowess — have earned him a scholarship to attend Harvard University next fall to study economics. He wants to become an achitect.

“I had a really tough time deciding between the University of Illinois and Harvard,” said Chenoweth, who is 10th in his graduating class. “It just sort of happened for me that I could go to Harvard. I decided that if I had the opportunity to do it, I had to take it.

“I can’t really just sit back. It’s not my personality.”

Geneseo coach Don Fredericks said the runner he is coaching is a once-in-a-lifetime find and he has been enjoying it.

“He’s just amazing,” Fredericks said. “He gets 24th at the Footlocker national cross country meet and then he comes out and runs 8:57 and it’s like, ‘Here he goes again.’ We’re talking tiny little Geneseo here. He’s taking it to another level.”

Sean Moeller can be contacted at (563) 383-2288 or at smoeller@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at www.qctimes.com.