David Brady Cross Country Invitational

Hosted by Argo High School

September 20, 2014

(Not at Bull Frog Lake)

We went into today's race working against some recent injuries in addition to the collective disappointment we all felt for not being able to run at Bull Frog Lake.  Fortunately, the weather held out and the storms did not arrive until after the meet. Today's course was spectator-friendly, but it surely did not feel very cross country-ish as the athletes ran under power lines and near billowing chimneys from the nearby plants (as in factories, not botanical organisms!).  Even so, we did have a few personal accomplishments, and it's another opportunity for growth and experience.  

There were five races today (Thanks, Mr. Goffron for NOT putting anyone in the girls open race!), so the spectators definitely got their exercise in cheering on our runners.

Medals were given to the top 25 finishers.  Orange numbered ribbons were given to the 26th to 50th places.  And survivor wine-colored ribbons were given to the remaining competitors.

Group Warm-up Time:

Is this another definition of "spectator-friendly"?

First run of the day: Frosh-Soph Girls 
(minus photo-bombing Ale!): 

 BANG!!!!

  

Jenny finished in 16th place (out of 101 runners) with a time of 21:37.8, her personal best for this season.  Way to go, Jenny!

This was Chloe's first race since our opener back in August.  She's been out due to an injury.  However, she took off 44 seconds/mile from her mile pace.  Impressive, Chloe.  Keep up the good work!

Claudia finished in 29:35.4.  This is an 8 second improvement from Tuesday's race, also her personal best.  Great job, Claudia!

 Our sole medal winner today.

Hopefully this did not have anything to do with how quickly Jenny ran today!

Next up, Frosh-Soph Boys:

BANG!!!!

 
In case you're looking for Luis and Jose, I'm sure there in there "somewhere", but there were a total of 125 runners, so I did not see either of them until later in the race.

It seemed like every time the boys came around, the order changed just a little.

 

 

 

Coming for the final 800 meters...

Luis finished first for our team and 27th overall (just 2 places shy of a medal-ouch- but still very commendable considering the number of runners).  His time was 18:14.2. 

Jack was 43rd overall, Another orange ribbon winner.  His time was 18:44.9.  

 

Jaylin was fighting shin splints (as I believe several of our athletes were), but also  managed to get in the top 50/orange ribbon category, coming in 49th place and finishing in  18:56.0.

 Jose & Kobe fought it out 'til the end, with Jose finally beating Kobe by only one second.  Jose finished in 58th place with a time of 19:16.  Way to push each other guys!

 

 Kobe was 60th, with a time of, you guessed it, 19:17, an improvement of 18 seconds from Tuesday's race. Hey Kobe, if you saved energy by not smiling so much, you might cut down on your time even more!

 

Another last minute upset was when David came in 6th for the team with a time of 19:43.  This is a personal best for David, too.  Kudos!

Gus was looking good as he finished with a time of 19:50.  Good job!

 

 

NOTE:  The boys were 10th out of 18 teams.  Not a bad showing considering the school size of the other teams!


Next up, Girls Varsity.  
Ale had to run "solo" for Walther today, but Cross Country Alumnus, Sonja, was there to cheer her on.

BANG!!!!

 

Ale was another orange-colored ribbon winner today (45th out of 105 runners), with a time of 22:04.7.  Not a personal best, but an improvement of 61 seconds from last week's race!

Race #4: Varsity Boys

(Sorry, no pre-race pictures, gentlemen.)

 

BANG!!!! 

These two stuck together for the first part of the race, pushing each other on.

 

 

           

 

In the end, it was Jacob who finished first for Walther (87th overall of 141 runners) with a time of 18:35.3, a 28 second improvement from Tuesday's race.  Good show, Jacob!

 Mitch was not far behind, finishing in 93rd with a time of 18:46.0.

James sprinted at the end to finish in 20:09.8.

 

Last race of the day (for us, anyway): 

Boys Open

Warming up

Pep talk.

BANG!!!!  

There were a total of 197 runners in the open race.

These two made the camera person's job easy!

But in the end, Zach pulled ahead, finishing with a time of 24.25.8, the same time as last Tuesday.

Jose had a strong push at the end and passed another runner at the finish line.  His finishing time was 25:14.5.

 

 

 

In the end, it's time for the traditional cookies made by Ale.  (I'm tempted to say that this is the real reason David joined XC this year!).  Mr. Goffron brought some delicious goodies too (Thanks, Mrs. G!).

Eric had to sit out this time due to an ankle injury.  Heal quickly, Eric!

Thanks to our gracious hosts for last night's team dinner.

Final words from Coach Goffron before heading out.

 

***

This may not have been one of our most "successful" meets, but it was still a good one.  Seven of our runners were in the top 50%.  Considering the competition, we can still hold our heads up proudly.

Next week: Oakhurst Forest Preserve 

(A REAL cross country course!)  

There is no mid-week meet, so hopefully we'll get some healing to take place in the meantime.  

(Don't forget to run on Monday, everyone!)

See you Saturday!