On June 11, 2014, graduated senior Nathaniel Kucera continued his high school track dominance at the Wiscomile at Wisconsin Lutheran High School just outside of Milwaukee. He had to  run faster than 1:54.00 to qualify for the meet in the 800 meter run.

On a rainy, dreary day, Kucera placed second in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:52.95 just narrowly beating the third place finisher by one-hundredth of a second.

The dreary weather did not seem to bother Kucera.

“The weather didn’t affect me at all. I loved the rain hitting me, and stuff during the race made for a fun time and great racing atmosphere,” Kucera said.

He started the second lap in fourth place, but once the pack hit the 300 meter mark, Kucera made a strong move into first. The race also had a “rabbit”, or a runner that paces the pack for the first lap which he led them off with a 54 second, first lap.

“My race plan talking over with Coach Baron was just to see what I could do. He just wanted me to run a race where I didn’t sit and kick and went out fast with the rabbit,” Kucera said.

Kucera was out-kicked in the final 100 meters by the winner, Eric Brown II of Wisconsin Lutheran, with a time of 1:51.99.

Despite the second place finish, Kucera wished he would’ve run differently and not have gotten boxed in, or made his move as early as he did.

Although the IHSA track season ended after the state meet on May 31, Kucera is still competing in two more meets with a possible third one depending on how he runs. On June 22 at Yorkville High School, he has another meet. Then on June 28, Kucera is running at the Golden West Relays at Sacramento, CA. If he runs under a 1:52.00, he will qualify for the USA’s in July at the University of Oregon.

“It’s a real surreal experience, just being able to go all over the country competing against the nation’s best. it makes you appreciate where you started from and who got you there when you’re running with a huge crowd,” Kucera said.

However no stage is too big for Kucera as he has experience in significant races before.

“Overall, through the years of running and coaches talking, you learn and realize, that in track, all tracks are the same distance around, and the race you’re running isn’t any longer or shorter, it’s just the people that you race against change,” Kucera said.