BY Katie Hill, Reporter
Sophomore Kyle Carter is fast.
So fast that he’s broken a record at Sterling Invitational and beat former state finalist Trevor Holm’s record on the Byron course.
“It makes you feel good and pretty honored to do that,” Carter said.
At the Sterling Invite, the previous record was held by Cody Webster at 16:08, and Carter eclipsed it by one second.
“Considering the meet is 62 years old, and this record has been broken time and time again, it’s an honor that Kyle has chipped away at a piece of history. When he broke the record, he and another boy from United Township High School broke free from the rest of the pack and did it virtually alone, which is difficult to do,” Coach Chad Clarey said.
“I knew about being able to break the record, but I never really thought about it, because I didn’t want to get stressed,” Carter said.
Carter and Tyler Rasso, the UTHS runner, were the only two to break the record.
“We were confident, given some of the recent races that Kyle had run, that he would be in contention for doing such a thing. We did not anticipate that Rasso would also be trying to shatter the record as well,” Clarey said.
Carter was part of a Kaneland team that took fourth place in the invite.
He teamed up with Luis Acosta (7th), Ryan Bower (15th overall), Nathaniel Kucera (37th overall), Brandon Park (65th overall), Dylan Kuipers (68th overall) and Phil Cutsinger (101st overall).
On the Byron course, Carter also ran faster than Holm, a 2011 graduate who held the school record.
Holm held the record for the fastest three mile at the state finals course, running it in 15:25 during the state finals, but his best time on that course was 15:09 in 2010.
This season, Carter ran the course in 15:07.
Since that time, he’s been working up into the lead packs and just finished fifth at the Conference Championships at the Varsity level.
“He’s coming strongest at just the right time,” Clarey said.
Even fellow teammates agree that Carter is becoming a stronger runner.
“It means when he gets older and better, he will break more records,” junior Connor Johnson said.
Carter has yet to let pressure affect him when he runs, and brings a lot to the table.
“We are very excited for Kyle, and what he brings to our team. He’s focused as a competitor and does not get too overloaded or burdened by pressure. He’s steady and a good teammate to key off of because of his consistency,” Clarey said.
