Walther Christian Academy Cross Country 2017

28th Annual Lisle

"MANE EVENT"

Invitational

October 4, 2014
Community Park, Lisle IL
Hosted by Lisle Senior High School

If we never learned it in grade school science class, today we learned it for sure: Things (or in this case, people) move more slowly in the cold. And boy was it cold! I don't have the official stats on the temperature, but there was verifiable snow coming down during part of the morning! I overheard Mr. G. telling the athletes several times that he didn't want them complaining about the cold, but he never told me, so I'll complain on their behalf!!

Even so, we had some successes today, and everyone tried to give it their best. The cold seemed to keep us from getting many PR's today, but there were a few people who improved their mile pace in spite of it. There was a lot of tough competition from much larger schools, but Walther still made a good showing. We had one medal winner and three ribbon winners. The Frosh/Soph boys got 8th out of 13 teams total. The Varsity boys got 13th out of 19 teams, which isn't all bad considering that we're missing a few of our key varsity boys. Well done, everyone!

(By the way, I apologize for the less than clear pictures. The constant drizzle of rain and/or snow seemed to interfere with the quality of the pictures.)

The first race of the weekend was actually last night when Coach Goffron ran a 5K at Concordia Cemetery. I don't have my stats for this one, but I think he got 6th place (out of a few hundred runners!!). Impressive!!

***

Sadly, Eric is out for awhile due to a possible fracture, though the official diagnosis is still being awaited. But thanks for coming anyway, Eric, to cheer on your team!!!! That's the spirit!

When plantar fasciitis forced Steven into early retirement, he found himself a new calling as Coach!!

It's fall!!!! The most beautiful time of year!!

Frosh/Soph Girls

(2.50 Miles, 4.03 Kilometers)

This is the first time any of our runners have run a 4K.

Our 3 Frosh/Soph runners

And off they go...

There were 104 runners in today's race.

"KILL THE HILL!!!"

And they did! I think I saw each of our Frosh/Soph girls pass someone on the way up the hill.

Jenny ran quite consistently all the way through, finishing in 14th place, with a time of 18:29, and earning herself a medal. Compared to a previous short run, she cut off 7 seconds/mile from her mile pace. Great job, Jenny!

Chloe doesn't have a previous 2-something mile race to compare to, but she ran well today, finishing in 21:40. Way to go!

Claudia finished in 24:55. Compared to a previous 2 mile race, her mile pace improved by 19 seconds per mile. This in spite of the fact that she is still nursing an injury. Impressive!

Frosh/Soph Boys

(2.50 Miles, 4.03 Kilometers)

And there they go!

There were 113 runners in this race.

Now it's time for the boys to "kill the hill".

Kobe was our first finisher for the team today, finishing in 17th overall (and earning himself a ribbon), with a time of 15:38. Compared to a previous two mile race, he improved his pace by 15 seconds per mile. Keep it up, Kobe!!

David was our 2nd Walther finisher, also earning a ribbon (29th place). In the final hundred meters he passed the person on his left and then one more right before the finish line. Final time was 16:03. His mile pace was 6:25, which is his best mile pace for any of his races to date. Great job!

Gus was 50th overall, finishing in a time of 16:48. Compared to a previous 2 mile race, he cut his mile pace by 17 seconds per mile. Wow!

Jose R. was close behind, putting in a strong finish with a time of 16:58. Nice gloves, Jose!

Zach continues to make remarkable improvements. His finishing time was 19:45. Comparing his mile pace to a previous similar race at the beginning of the season, he has cut off 2 minutes, 14 seconds per mile. Stupendous!

Jose P's final time was 20:28. He has reduced his mile pace by 15 seconds per mile. Great job, Jose!

Aaron pushed through the cold, coming in with a time of 26:02.

Varsity Girls
3.10 Miles, 5.00 Kilometers

Getting off to a strong start among a group of 144 runners, the largest race of the day.

Killing the hill

Ale finished in 38th place, earning herself a ribbon, with a time of 21:56.

Tammy met the challenge and pushed through the frigid weather, finishing in 24:04.

Varsity Boys

There were 140 runners in the boys race today.

It was an exciting race among the boys. Mitch held the lead for 99% of the time, with Jaylin close by. Jack (who wasn't quite at the starting line when the gun went off) worked his way from the back and made it to the front of the Walther runners, finishing only one place before Mitch, but only milliseconds ahead as they both finished in 19:05. I'm guessing it was the adrenaline rush that Jack got when he realized he wasn't ready for the gun that pushed him to perform as he did!! Hey, maybe next time we'll put you 15 feet behind the starting line, Jack. What do you think, Mr. Goffron????

Jaylin was only 6 seconds behind the first two.

Luis was only 3 seconds behind Jaylin. That means there was only a difference of 9 seconds between our first and our fourth runners (and only 8 places from 1st to 4th). That's an impressive margin, guys!!!!!

James pushed through the cold weather, finishing in 21:09.

In summary, our prize earners today were...

...A not-too-excited David, who seems to be questioning whether pushing himself that hard was worth getting a (29th place) ribbon for...

...Another strange-looking competitor (could the two be related?) with her 38th place ribbon, who was overheard to say last week, "I think I have a mental problem" in reference to her running. I think this photo might validate that thought!

...Then there's Kobe with his 17th place ribbon, who was supposed to be posing for a picture by himself who suddenly was surrounded by others who wanted to share in his glory.

Then we had to wait around a bit for the official medal-winners to get their award. Waiting usually only produces more strange pictures.