IHSA Class 1A 

Cross Country Sectional Championship 

hosted by Lisle H.S.

October 28, 2017 

I know that some people might feel like today was a defeat, but it was anything but that!  Our varsity boys came together and performed well in many ways:  

• 4 out of 7 got their PR for the season

• Everyone got their PR for this course (that's significant because comparing times between Lisle and EPHS - a very FLAT course - is like comparing apples to oranges!)

• Our split between the top 5 runners was only 46 seconds (only 1 second slower than last week, but we also had a very small field last week compared to today)

• Our scoring runners were all within the top 36%

• As a whole, the team took 4 minutes and 19 seconds off their total time from last week

All this IN SPITE OF THE FRIGID WEATHER!!!

Our guys didn't do anything wrong; they did great!  The only "problem" was that there were a lot of other great teams and individuals out there today, too. Not everyone can win, but our guys surely deserved to.  You've done us proud, men!!!!  You're a young team.  I know you'll be back at Sectionals next year and I have no doubt that you'll be back at State again soon!

Here's today's story in pictures...

(Banner wanted me to tell you that he's proud of you, too!)

While yes, this is a beautiful picture, about half an hour earlier, this photo would have shown SNOW falling!  It was THAT cold!

Ready to run!

(I'm never quite sure of what caption I should put for Jacob's expressions!)

154 runners...last week there were only 78

 Up the big hill...

 (Jacob, my apologies....I did not see you going up the hill.  

Did you take a short cut???)

  At the beginning of mile 2...

The boys did a great job of staying close together for most of the race.

 

 

 The final mile & finish...

Darryl was 30th overall (in the top 20%) and finished with a time of 17:20.  This was a PR for him.  In spite of the cold, he shaved 26 seconds off his time from last week. 

Jacob (in 42nd place) finished in 17:47.  This was 24 seconds faster than last week's race, giving him a new PR.

  

Christian (54th place) crossed the finish line in 18:05.  While missing his PR by only 1 second (and again, not a fair comparison because he ran 18:04 at EPHS with  no hills), this was his PR for this course, cutting off 22 seconds from last week.

 

Julio, though listed as 55th place, completed the course in the same amount of time as Christian (18:05).  He ran faster at EPHS, but took 21 seconds off his time from last week, making this his PR for this course (all in spite of a nasty head cold).

Nate, our final scoring runner, was next to cross the line (56th place), finishing only 1 second behind Julio (18:06).  He took 25 seconds off his time from last week, making this a PR for this course.

 

Quang crossed the one in 18:41.  This was a seasonal PR for him!  He took 41 seconds off of last week's race!

Steven (who someone had mistakenly, yet probably appropriately, called "David Wagner") stepped up to the plate to fill in for David's absence.  He finished in 18:45, cutting 10 seconds off his previous best time at EPHS, making him another Bronco to get his PR at this race.

The more I looked at the stats, the more impressed I was.  Guys, you all did a fantastic job today and should be VERY proud of yourselves.  Looking forward to celebrating a great season with you at the Team Banquet next month.