ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION 

Cross Country State Finals 

Detweiller Park, Peoria

November 9, 2013

Illinois Boys Class 1A

A big 'high five' to Eric Neubieser for his great performance at the State competition today!    We are sure this is one of many trips that you'll be making down state (but no pressure!).  And next time, we plan on bringing Mr. Goffron along!!!!

Enjoy the pics!

Friday afternoon/evening:

Road Trip!!!

Ever notice that we miss a lot of beautiful sunsets up here in the Chicagoland area?

Saturday morning: 

Detweiller Park

 

Ale and David were Eric's practice and warming up partners both Friday and Saturday morning.

Ready to cheer on Eric!

 

Mr. Craven came down as the official representative from Walther Christian Academy.

Final minutes at the starting line.

Checking for the level of the number.  Oops!  Too low.  Adjustments needed.

Time for the final run out.

We had so few supporters, Eric had to sub in for one of the cheer leaders!!!

 

Time for the spikes.

Initially we thought there was going to be a delay in the race because of a power outage at the finish line.  But fortunately, things got taken care of efficiently and the boys started at their scheduled time, 10:00 a.m.

208 runners waiting for the gun at the starting line.

Here they come!

Just after the first mile marker.

 

 
I don't know if Eric saw it, but right before I took the picture below, two other runners a little bit in front of him collided and fell to the ground.  Both got up and continued on, but don't let anyone ever tell you that Cross Country is not a contact sport!

Coming in toward the finish.

Eric's official time was 16:42 with a mile pace of 5:34.  Amazing!  Though at first glance it looks slower than his Regionals time, it's actually a faster mile pace (Regionals was a shorter race by 0.05 miles).  He reduced his time by 2 seconds per mile.  It can be difficult to improve your pace at a race of this magnitude; it's easy to get "stuck" in a certain position due to the overcrowding on the course.  

By the way, his place was 106th, which put him pretty much at the 50 percentile.  Not bad for a sophomore running for the first time at State!!! 

Eric with proud parents, principal, and pals.

 
Interesting piece of history: Eric's father (pictured above) was on the very first Cross Country team at Walther Lutheran High School!!!

***

You represented Walther well, Eric.  Great job!