Athlete of the Week: Carlmont’s Kaimei Gescuk

The Daily Journal Athlete of the Week left the field in the dust just past the two-mile mark on the three-mile course, using a downhill portion of the course to blow past the front of the pack. Not that she realized how much distance she’d put between them and herself by the time she hit the tape.

“I was kind of in my own world a little bit,” Gescuk said. “The whole finish was like a blur. My calves were just kind of burning at that point.”

It’s a wonder Gescuk could feel her legs at all, considering how out of sorts her training schedule has been this season. She has spent the fall minimizing her running schedule after suffering an ankle injury in August, costing her Carlmont’s first two meets of the season. Even now, her practice schedule allows for running just three days a week, with the other two allotted for an advanced swimming regiment.

Then, like everyone else in San Mateo County over the past two weeks, the Carlmont cross-country team was forced indoors due to the poor air quality caused by the Camp Fire in Butte County. Gescuk and her team have spent that time running on treadmills at a local gym in preparation for the rescheduled CCS meet.

When she returned to the outdoors, though, she certainly found her footing quickly.

“It felt so good,” Gescuk said. “We’d been running on treadmills for two weeks almost, so running on regular ground was amazing.”

The results were just as amazing. Carlmont took second place as a team in the CCS Division I race, making the team an automatic qualifier for the CIF State Cross-Country Championships this Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. And Gescuk’s performance ranks among the all-time greats not just in Carlmont history.

“She ran great,” Lilygren said. “It’s funny, we were the last race and she was asking me what times people have run. And I first thought she was talking about people in her race.”

The context turned out to be historic.

In the history of Toro Park, Gescuk’s time of 18:19.6 is the third best in Carlmont history. Only Scots legends Jessie Petersen (18:09 in 2010) and Justine Fedronic (18:15 in 2008) have faired better. Gescuk’s performance also ranks fourth all-time among PAL runners at Toro Park, behind Petersen, Fedronic and the PAL-best of Westmoor’s Kylie Goo of 18:03 in 2012.

Gescuk’s performance also ranks 49th all-time at Toro Park.

And all this might just be her cruising speed.

“I still don’t know what she can do if she ran all out,” Lilygren said.

Gescuk’s favorite mode for running is “chasing rabbits,” meaning she likes running down those who are ahead of her. Maybe she had a better time in her Saturday than 18:19.6, maybe she didn’t.

The second-best overall finisher — Leland sophomore Melissa Cichon, who won the Division II race with a time of 18:24.3 — might have been in “rabbit” range. But, as Gescuk put it, “it’s hard to say.”

“Just based on the way I’ve run before … I like to chase the rabbit, I think that competition would have sparked more adrenaline in me probably,” Gescuk said.

The junior should have plenty of rabbits to chase Saturday in Fresno.

Last year, she settled for eighth in the CCS Division I race, clocking in at 19:29 — over a minute slower than this year’s finish — and went on to place 58th in the Division I state race, good for fifth best in the CCS.

“One thing she’s said is she likes to have someone to chase down,” Lilygren said. “When she’s in the lead she has a hard time motivating herself to sprint.”

What’s certain is Gescuk is intent on seeing her running career through. This wasn’t a sure thing last year when she arrived at Carlmont as a sophomore transfer.

When she moved back to her native Belmont after three years spent living out of state, she was focused on continuing the lacrosse career she started as a freshman at Central High School in Independence, Oregon. Playing lacrosse at Carlmont would have forced her to sit out half the spring season as a transfer student, though.

So, she opted to run track instead. And that’s where she really honed her skill as a distance runner, finishing the season running the 3,200 meters. Now, she said, there’s no going back.

“I have runners fever,” Gescuk said. “So I think [running track] is unavoidable at this point.”