Having his right shoe come untied was the least of Jackson Stream’s concerns Saturday at Folsom High. The Vacaville senior was in third place as he began the last lap of the 1,600-meter final at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet. That left him 400 meters to figure out what it would take to win.
Stream became one of the top 3,200 runners in the section by sticking to the strategy of maintaining a steady and aggressive pace to wear out his competitors. He only began taking the 1,600 seriously in April after setting a school record in the event just to deny his younger brother from doing it first.
Cooper’s quest did not get any easier Saturday when Jackson broke his month-old record. Jackson lowered his time of 4:12.18 at the Sacramento Meet of Champions on April 26 to 4:10.71 to claim the section crown and qualify for the state meet on Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis.
A time of 4:10 or slower will likely leave Jackson out of contention for a state medal. Then again, few would have thought he was capable of passing two Jesuit runners in the final 70 meters Saturday to win. As a self-described “grinder” suited for the 3,200, Jackson showed he also has closing speed.
And he needed every bit of his newfound speed to slip past Jesuit’s Drake Hoferer and win by just 11 hundredths of a second. The runners collided after crossing the finish line, but that turned into an opportunity for the two to congratulate each other after a race that neither will forget any time soon.
Hoferer and teammate Navin Kadel took the lead in the first lap. As the pack of racers accelerated, Jackson and Cooper were the only runners to remain within striking distance, Hoferer tried to pull away with 150 meters to go, but separating from Kadel gave Jackson room on the inside to gain ground on Hoferer.
“I think (Hoferer) made the move too early,” Jackson said. “You don’t have to make the first move or the second move or the third move. You just have to make the finishing move. It’s all about arriving on time at the end. I love passing people when it gets hard. I have to push myself to the next level.”
Coach Dave Monk believed Jackson was capable, especially after the two chatted before the race and Jackson guaranteed he would qualify for the state meet one way or another. “He likes to make those bold statements,” Monk said, “because when it gets hard, he knows he has to keep his word.”
As Jackson pursued Hoferer, the thought crossed his mind that Cooper could be plotting a move of his own. The sophomore was in a world of hurt, however, and well aware that finishing fourth would not be enough. His only hope was to beat the clock and the automatic qualifying time of 4:12.98.
Cooper felt much better after finishing in 4:12.12. And so did Monk, who was bombarded with text messages after Cooper got sick to his stomach Thursday and had to be “talked off the ledge.” With the brothers qualifying in the 1,600, Monk gave them a well-deserved break by having them skip the 3,200 final.
“We called it a wrap. Given the degree of effort in the 1,600, we told them they were done for the night,” said Monk, who did not give Khloe DeLaTorre a break as she finished third in the girls 1,600. Competing in the 3,200 was another assignment for the junior because she still has much to learn.
DeLaTorre entered the Masters meet with the top time in the section at 4:48.95. Riverbank’s Giselle Fernandez (4:50.10) and Norah Feldt of Davis (4:51.99) posted their fastest times of the season to finish first and second, respectively. DeLaTorree (4:52.74) was a distant third and never threatened.
That did not sit well with Monk, who thought DeLaTorre could have been more aggressive in making a move and stuck to her guns when it did not work. “One little move is not going to be a knockout blow,” Monk said. “When you make a move and there’s resistance, what are you going to do next?
“It’s so easy to doubt. (The race) played out exactly as we had hoped. You just have to stick with the plan and believe in the instruction.”
