UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — With 100 meters to go in the division III 5K national championship, Bay Village native Jamie Dailey was staring down a second second-place finish of the weekend.
“Really I was hoping he’d just hold onto second,” said John Carroll track and field coach Kyle Basista.
But the fifth-year senior, running in his final race at John Carroll, wanted more.
“That last 100 (meters), that guy in first was kind of tightening up and Jamie was coming on,” said Basista.
“All of a sudden, a huge bolt of energy just went through my body and caught him at the right time,” said Dailey. “That’s when I soon realized I could be a national champion.”
Dailey surged to the lead and crossed the finish line a national champion for the first time
“It was pretty amazing. It all hit me right when I crossed the finish line,” said Dailey.
“I was sprinting to get to him and just embraced him,” said Basista. “It was a moment I’ll never forget.”
No doubt, Basista will remember it forever.
Dailey’s title helped propel the Blue Streaks to a second-place national finish, which is their highest in program history and it happened at Geneva’s Spire Institute, in front of a hometown contingent.
“It’s surreal. Our best finish was actually 2019 at Spire so, to improve upon that, to do what they did this weekend, just meant a lot for our program,” said Basista. “It’s truly hard to put into words.”
