Sectionals!!!

It was a beautiful sunny day, and of course chilly, as it usually is in the fall.  And though maybe it wasn't our best performance of the year overall, the Broncos can be proud of their season, including the fact that they were here as complete teams at Sectionals, something we've done as a duo (boys and girls) for two years in a row now (and it's three in a row for the girls).  We've received a lot of blessings, and hopefully soon, in spite of some of the disappointments of today, even this meet will be part of the fond memories you share as a team!

Great job on a season well done, XC-ers.  

Enjoy the pics!

Once again, Sectionals was hosted by Lisle High School, which means this was a 5K run.

(For those of you who were insisting last week that I get in a picture, you'll be happy to know that I'm actually in this photo!!!)

The first priority of the day was to stay warm!!!!

First up:  Girls Varsity

 Thanks to Mrs. Ernst for being our Walther Coach Representative today.

Truth be told, during these moments before the race, tension was running high.

"Let's all do the twist!"

 

Final warm-ups.

Our prayer...

...and our cheer.

And finally they're off!!!

Coming up the big hill.

(Sorry, Ale, I missed you at this check point and couldn't get a shot!)

 Run, girls, run!!!

Sonja finished in the top 20% of the pack, a very impressive feat.  Her time was 21:42.

Ale was next for the team, finishing in 22:52.

Nessa was next, clocking in at 24:23.

She was followed by Tamron, who came in at 24:26.

Anne completed the team with a final time of 24:36.

Final Race of the Day: Boys Varsity

And the boys are off!!!

 

Do you think the runners actually see these messages are they're running along???

 

(And now I have to apologize to Jacob, who I also missed going up the hill.  Hmmmm, do you think maybe Ale and Jacob found a way to go around this hill????)

Frankie finished in the top 30% with a time of 18:38.

Eric finished with a personal best of 19:26; that's 31 seconds faster than his last 5K.

Sean completed the course in  20:20.

James had a final time of 20:48.

Mario also finished with his personal best for a 5K. Final time was 20:56.

Jacob's time was 21:01.

Matthew completed his race in 21:50.

The girls finally got around to forming their annual pyramid (with a little help from David).

A certain socky trend seems to have started...

We ended the day with our favorite coach, joining him and his wife at Culver's.

We had a little team competition of our own...arm wrestling.

Once again, congrats Broncos, on a great season.  We hit some bumps along the way, and several people had their share of injuries, but the lessons learned, the fun times had, and the great sacrifice of our coach will never be forgotten.

Now get some rest and then start preparing for Track!!!!! 

Roller Coaster Week:

Monday/Tuesday:  Getting ready for Regionals. 

Wednesday:  We're not going to Regionals.    

Thursday a.m.:  We MIGHT be going to Regionals.
                                                      

Thursday p.m: We ARE going to Regionals! 

Friday:  Still getting ready for Regionals. 
                               

Saturday morning:  Running at Regionals and waiting for results.
                                      

Saturday afternoon:  We qualified for Sectionals!                                                                                                                                                           

We were back at Oakhurst Forest Preserve today, a favorite place for many of our runners.  The day was chilly to start with, but did warm up as the day wore on, and the best part is that it stayed dry!!!!  The runners have worked hard all year for this day, and today their efforts paid off.

Great job, everyone!!!

(Thanks, again, Dr. Childs, for your pictures that you contributed to the site.)

Setting up camp.

                   

Walking through the course.
(Someone is feeling extra
 confident today!)

Checking out the muddy first mile.

As always, Oakhurst is a beautiful setting for a cross country race.

"Don't worry, Mr. G, we've got this covered!"

Girls Varsity:  
   Final run-outs.

 

Final prayer, cheer, and words of encouragement from our #1 Fan.

The girls are off and running.

Coming out of the woods

At the half way point...

                          

The only bad thing about this course is that it's not very spectator friendly, so we didn't get to see the runners again until the finish line.

1st for the team, 13th overall, with a time of 20:10, her PR for the year.  
Who says you can't run well with bronchitis?????
 

Coming in 2nd for the team, 20th overall, with a time of 20:29.  Still fighting an injury, but actually cut off almost 4 minutes from her last 3 mile race only 2-1/2 weeks ago.  Had the team not qualified today, both of our top runners would have qualified as individuals.

Another PR, cutting off around 1-1/2 minutes from her best 3 mile time this year.  Final time was 22:01, putting her in 39th place.  Amazing!

 

Today's time- 22:12, her PR, and more than 2 minutes faster than her last 3 mile.  Wow!

Final finish: 22:25, ANOTHER PR (cutting off almost a minute from her previous best).  Impressive!

The Girls Sectional-Qualifying Team with Coach Ana.  This was for you, G-$!!!

 Boys Varsity

The key word here is "Unity"!

 We had lots of fans cheering us on from the sidelines.

Mr. Morris, one of our faithful supporters.

The girls were happy to be on the sidelines for a change.

And cameras were out in full force.

    

 GO!!!

 

 

 

Coming out of the woods:

 

Further along down the path...

And now coming into the finish...

Final time:  16:51, his PR (37 seconds faster than his best 3 mile), and 18th overall.
(He also would have moved on as an individual had the team not qualified.)

Finishing in 38th place at 17:52, a great time.

Final time:  18:35, his PR, and a 45 second improvement.

A 21 second improvement and finishing in  19:06.

Reducing his best time by 1 minute, 13 seconds to finish in 19:27.

Final time: 20:06

Final time: 21:24

Waiting around for the awards celebration.

It's always helpful to have some goodies around in the meantime.

 

It's almost time

Finally, time for the awards ceremony...

The girls did it!  They qualified for Sectionals as a team.  (Is that a look  of disbelief????)

She'll never be the same again!

And the boys did the same!!!

Coach, we never could have done it without you.  
THANK YOU!!!

Next up:  Sectionals, at Lisle High School, October 30, 2012.