IHSA Class 1A Cross Country Regional Championship
Hosted by Aurora Christian High School
Oakhurst Forest Preserve
Aurora

What a day!  Though chilly, it really was a perfect day (once our bodies adjusted and warmed up a bit.).  The autumn colors were finally coming out in full show.  And best of all, it was a successful day for all of our runners.  We had one individual girl qualify for Sectionals, and our boys qualified as a team (I believe this makes it the third time in a row for them!).  On top of that, many of our runners got their PR's.  Great job, everyone!

Thanks to Mrs. Friederich and Mr. Kruckenberg for sending me their photos and adding to our collection.

As always, the day begins with setting up the tent.

Everyone is thankful that this hill was NOT part of the course!

So have you every wondered what the course is like from the runners' point of view?  Here is a snapshot of the sites they see during the running of Regionals.

This is on the ground just seconds after making the first turn into the woods.  (In case you can't read it, it says, CHARGE!)

The ground here is good.  What I didn't take a picture of was the multiple mud puddles in the first part of the race!

The course curves around to the left and then heads into the woods for about a mile.

More of the same!

Eventually, they make it out back into the open for a bit once they leave the woods.

 

Part two of the race brings them around the lake.

And finally, the finish line!  Now let's do it with real runners and spectators!

First up, GIRLS VARSITY:

Sonja accompanied us today to cheer on our 2 girl runners, Ale, and our sole senior today, Nessa.

Warming up

Final words form Coach

The chant...

...and the cheer.

Already nearly at the 1/2 way point.

 

 

Coming into the finish line in 8th place overall with a time of 19:48.1.  She took off 7 seconds from her mile pace since last week.

 

Nessa finished in 22:58.4, reducing her last week's mile pace by 11 seconds.  Impressive way to end the season.

 Next up:  BOYS VARSITY:

Final words to the team:  "You're too good to not qualify for Sectionals!"  He was right!  :-)

 

Eric led the group around the first bend.

 (Sorry, it was too crowded to catch Jack or Jaylin at this part of the race.)

 

Maybe a haircut to cut down the wind resistance????

Eric finished in 8th place overall, with a time of 16:32.0, cutting off a second from his mile pace.

 

Mario was 21st, with a time of 17:23.8, reducing his mile pace by 8 sec.

Jack surprised us by being the 3rd runner for our team.  Way to go!

He was in 31st place, finishing in 18:01.2, cutting off 8 seconds from his previous mile pace.

 

Mitch & Jacob kept quite close most of the race.

Time: 18:17.6, 4 sec/mile faster.

Final time: 18:11.2, 12 sec/mile faster.

  

 Jose finished in 44th, just four places after Jacob, with a time of 18:34.2

Jaylin completed the team, finishing in 19:42.6.

Of course, none of this would be possible without Coach Goffron, guiding and encouraging along the way.

 

And just as importantly, our cheering parents!!!

After the 2 races, we had to kill time while waiting around for the results to be tallied to see whether or not we qualified for Sectionals.

 

 Finally, it was time!

Ale was the 2nd qualifying individual girl to advance to Sectionals.

And though we don't have a picture to prove it, the boys came in 6th place, qualifying them as a team to run at Sectionals.  See below.

     Place           School            Score
     ---------------------------------------
       1   Westmont                      68 
       2   Elgin (Harvest Christian      86 
       3   Joliet (Catholic Academy)     93 
       4   Lombard (Montini)            101 
       5   Elmhurst (Timothy Christi    110 
       6   Melrose Park (Walther Lut    111 
       7   Elmhurst (IC Catholic)       134 
     ---------------------------------------

Time to pack up and go home...until the next time!

Great job, everyone!  Looking forward to Sectionals next week.

Next week will be at Lisle High School again (yes, that means it a 5K).

Girls run at 10:00 a.m.

Boys run at 11:00 a.m.

See you there!!!