Oliver Ames junior Jason Windvogel was anticipated to place 1st at the boys Division III Championships in the open 1000 meter. However, after racing, he found himself off the podium with his winter campaign cut short.
Jason Windvogel has taken the track world by storm since his arrival from South Africa this fall. During league competition, Windvogel has been undefeated in both the 600 meter and 1000 meter. Going into the Division III championships, Windvogel was seeded first with a time of 2:35.91. He achieved this time at the Hockomock Championships where he beat Mansfield senior, Kevin Crawford (2:35.94), and Milford Junior, Joseph Madden (2:37.75). After this performance it seemed Windvogel would win the State competition with ease.
Before the race Coach Sunderland was confident in his runner’s ability to perform stating, “I believe Jason will succeed in this race today he has not reached his peak yet during the season.”
One of Jason Windovogel’s competitors looked familiar. Joseph Madden of Millford was seeded 2nd right behind him. The other 3 seeds of the top 5 included Wilhelm Bittrich of Duxburby (seeded 3rd), Chris Spellman of Pembroke (seeded 4th), and Shane Grant of Walpole (seeded 5th).
When asked about Windvogel’s competition all Coach Sunderland had to say was,“This should be a fun one to watch.”
Despite Sunderland’s confidence, going into the race Windvogel seemed off in his preparation. He showed signs of exhaustion.
Michael Braga, Windvogel’s teammate and best friend, expressed concern about Windvogel’s performance. “Jason said he couldn’t sleep last night because he’s starting to catch the flu,” Braga said.
The race started off as any other 1000m this year. An absolute brawl. The first 200m consisted of Windvogel getting pushed inside behind Madden and Grant. After the first two laps Windvogel made an intense move to take the lead and control the pace. This lead was short-lived as at the end of the third lap Jason found himself boxed in by Bittrich, Madden, and Grant. With the final stretch coming near, Windvogel was in a position he has not been all season. Windvogel’s last push came with 100m left as he started to pass Grant. Unfortunately, Windvogel could not catch Bittrich or Madden and was passed at the last second by Spellman.
After the game Windvogel was evidently frustrated but overcome with immense exhaustion. When asked about his performance Windvogel stated, “I was feeling under the weather but that should be no excuse for my performance. I let myself get boxed in towards the end and it ultimately cost me the race.”
When asked about the upcoming season Windvogel was confident in his future performances.
” It was definitely not my best race of the season but this will not define me. They will see come spring time.”