David Galvan Honored at D131 Board Meeting

East Aurora High School cross country runner David Galvan (pictured here with head cross country coach Shane Gillespie) was honored at a recent Board meeting for his outstanding season, which included qualifying for the IHSA state championships. 

When David was a freshman, he was not a phenom. His best time for three miles was 21 minutes, 39 seconds, about 7 minutes 15 seconds per mile. 

Through hard work, he knocked about 4 minutes off that time his sophomore year. That same year, Felipe Nino, some of you may remember when he was introduced at a Board meeting, qualified for the state cross country meet. When Felipe qualified, it was the first East Aurora runner at the state meet in 20 years. For David, that was a breakthrough, to realize someone from East Aurora can run with the best.
That winter, David re-doubled his training. In the spring of his sophomore year he ran 4:46 in the 1600 meters, which is about a mile. Last year, David was all-conference in track and cross country. He was East Aurora’s number one cross country runner last year and this year. Going into this year, it was clear he had the talent to make it to the state meet. But he was in one the toughest sectionals in the state with a lot of great runners. You always need a few breaks to get out of sectionals.
So, of course, the day of sectionals was probably the worst running conditions possible. It was pouring. It was cold. The course was a mess.
David ran a great race. He finished 17th. Remember I said his best freshman time was 21:39 -- about 7 minutes 15 seconds per mile. In the pouring rain, he ran 15 minutes 54 seconds for three miles, about five minutes 18 seconds per mile.
At the state meet, he finished 99th – the highest finish by a Tomcat runner in more than 20 years.
His head coach Shane Gillespie said David is a lead-by-example person, who the younger runners can look to as an example. He’s a good student and member of the Student Athlete Society.
Let’s take a step back and talk about the team for a second. In Coach Gillespie’s first year at East Aurora High School, there were 13 total Tomcat runners competing in the conference meet. Now the program can stand toe-to-toe with all the other schools in this area. The girls team qualified for the sectional meet for the first time in team history this year. The boys have made it to sectionals two straight years, which was unthinkable not too long ago. Two runners have made it to state in three years, which is a tribute to those athletes and Coach Gillespie.
And like David was inspired two years ago, there was undoubtedly some other Tomcat freshman or sophomore who now knows that their dreams are possible, whether its in running or elsewhere. They now know that while talent certainly doesn’t hurt, hard work is what really makes the biggest difference. And so David’s achievement is larger than just his own spectacular run.