Kabba's plans changed in the blink of an eye

BATAVIA -- On Monday, when Batavia graduate Bai Kabba signed his letter of intent to run track at the University of Illinois, his stepfather recalled Kabba's first track meet in elementary school.

"He asked me how he should train for it," Gary Strandlund said. "So you know what he did? He ran around the house about 10 times in a row and he came back and said, 'I guess I'm ready.' I think there will be a little more structure at U of I."

It's amazing how far Kabba has come; track and field was an afterthought. Not that he didn't take it seriously, but everything he did on the track was meant to help him in his No. 1 sport, football. And he was an electric running back and kick returner, earning a spot at St. Ambrose next year to continue his career -- before the Illini came calling.

"Freshman year, I only went out for track because (assistant football coach and head track coach Dennis) Piron told me to keep in shape for football," Kabba said. "I never took it like it was my main sport. It was football."

But on May 30, everything changed.

It was that day that Kabba charged to the Class 3A 400-meter state title and an electrifying performance in the 1,600 relay, the meet's final event. When he got the baton, the Bulldogs were near the back of the field. Then, with the crowd swelling in anticipation, Kabba started picking off competitors one by one. If the race was about 20 meters longer, it would have been another state title.

"There was something about him," Piron said. "His performances were great. His times were pretty good, but not otherworldly. He stuck out on the track because he was a dynamic person out there. When you went away from that meet, you remembered him."

College coaches in attendance certainly took notice. Here's this football player just running track to stay in shape, and he stole the show at the state track meet.

"They descended upon him at the stadium," Strandlund said. "(Piron) was getting calls in the stands."

To set up the finals for the Bulldogs, Piron had to make some tough decisions in the preliminaries. Not liking their lane assignment, Piron pulled Kabba from the 400 relay, instead allowing sophomore David Voland, junior Dan Skinner -- who was injured most of the season -- and Kabba's younger brother, Emund, to run in the event. And Piron had no idea Bai would reach the finals in the 100, seeing as he never trains for that event.

But getting a few teammates into the state meet who otherwise wouldn't have run and getting the surprise advancement in the 100 set the tone for the weekend.

"When (Kabba) made the finals (in the 100), he was shocked," Piron said. "He was so pumped up about it. I think it got the whole team pumped up. A little bit of energy kind of got the weekend going, I guess you could say."

That also led to a relaxed, laid-back Friday night leading up to Saturday's finals. Piron has been at this long enough that he's tried every coaching trick in the book, including the shirt-and-tie, in-bed-by-10 p.m. approach. But this time, he could tell the team was more of a laid-back bunch, and he treated that crucial night accordingly.

"We went out to dinner, played mini golf," Piron said. "We goofed off Friday night. We just wanted to have fun. And he was loose, and he competed well because of it."

Now Kabba is headed to Champaign to continue his improbable story. In this day and age of specialization and college commitments early in high school, Piron couldn't be happier to see it.

"All of a sudden, this happened," Piron said. "It's refreshing, isn't it? It's nice when you perform well and you're rewarded for your performance. He created this opportunity for himself."