Former Hersey Runner Will Tryout For Olympics

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL - A former member of the Hersey High School cross country team will compete in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon trials at the Los Angeles Marathon on Saturday.

Kevin Havel, a member of the Chicagoland Area Runners Association and the record holder for the North Shore Classic Half Marathon, is one of several CARA athletes seeking to be part of this year’s summer Olympics held in Rio de Janiero.

Havel recently spoke with Jenny Spangler, a Chicago athlete who led the U.S. Women’s Olympic Marathon team to the games in Atlanta in 1996.

“My main goal is to compete and see what happens. I’d love to move up throughout the race and if that happens, put myself in a position to PR and finish in front of some really good runners,” said Havel.

Heading up to Saturday’s trial, Havel says he’s dealt with “a range of emotions.”

“The training has been solid during the last year, but unfortunately that didn’t translate to solid races,” he said. “Both my spring half and fall marathon I had targeted to hit the standard, and when I didn’t it was definitely hard to regain momentum. But I’m glad that I pushed through and kept the goal ahead of me.”

At Hersey, Havel placed second in the state cross country meet in 2006 and won the 3200 in the state track and field meet two years later. He later went on to run at Stanford University before returning to the Chicago area and joining CARA.

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