Cross Country

September 7, 2019

On a day that only distance runners and mosquitoes would love, you earned 12 personal best times and earned 6 t-shirts for finishing in the top ten of your grade level race!

Our middle school boys started us off on the right spiked foot. Ben ran his second mile faster than his first to move up to 8th place, earning a substantial personal best and a t-shirt. Eddie also moved up the second half of his race, finishing 26th. Liam, in his first cross country race, started a little too fast, but hung on for 30th place. Eilam ran well to earn 92nd place. He has improved a lot since he began cross country just over a year ago.

Our middle school girls, while fewer in number, ran well. Teagan earned 19th place, running as a 6th grader among mostly 7th and 8th graders. Abigail, running in her first cross country race, finished in 50th place and said it was fun. That’s the kind of attitude we like!

Henry G. was our only 9th grade boy. He ran very close to his personal best time to finish in 64th place. Margo was our only 9th grade girl. She ran side by side with another girl for most of the race before unleashing a powerful kick that left her competitor stumbling to the finish. She missed her personal best by a few seconds but earned a t-shirt for her win.

Our 10th grade boys began a long streak of personal records. Cullen started a little quick and had some trouble breathing the second half of the race, but managed to hang on for 6th place, earning a personal best time and a t-shirt. Evan improved his personal best by 49 seconds to finish 22nd. Noah improved his personal best time by a whopping 1 minute and 49 seconds!

Salma continued the parade of personal bests, improving her best 2 mile time by 17 seconds. She looked strong and said it felt good. Peter finished in 15th as our only junior boy, earning a personal best by 31 seconds.

Our 11th grade girls raised the bar a bit, finishing 3rd and 4th in their race. Katie improved her personal best by 27 seconds while staying pretty close to the leaders for much of the race. Izzy, in the first of two competitions today (she is playing soccer later this afternoon) improved her personal best by 4 seconds. Both girls earned t-shirts for their efforts.

Henry S. was our sole senior boy. Despite sore legs from all his recent hard work, he ran well to finish 5th and earn a personal best by 21 seconds. He earned our final t-shirt of the day.

Our senior girls wrapped things up for us. Skylar ran side by side with Izzy during most of the race before abandoning Izzy with her finishing kick. Not bad for someone who is running a bit low on iron. Well, more than a bit. Izzy did manage to improve her personal best by 32 seconds. Mari finished in 31st place while improving her personal best by 1 minute and 21 seconds!

This was just your first race, competing against many runners who were running their third race. But you were sharp, ran mostly evenly paced miles, and showed some competitive skills to win your piece of the race or win the race. This bodes well for the remainder of your season.

Next up, after picture day (smile!) is the Private School Invite. Maybe Goldilocks will determine the weather and it will be just right for a change.

Results are available at Gopher State Events.

October 26, 2017

Declan is returning to state. And he’s bringing some friends!

First up on this blustery day was our girls varsity. Margo ran very well to finish in 4th place, qualifying individually for the state championship! Izzy ran her best time on this section course to finish 19th. Emily, in just her third varsity race, earned a personal best by over a minute. Katie wasn’t far behind. Sarah ran her best time on this section course. Skylar and Ana wrapped things up for the girls. With their efforts, the girls team finished 6th, their best finish in many years!

Next up was our boys varsity. Declan had some company early, but turned on the jets the second half of the race to build a significant lead, winning by over 20 seconds. Tanner ran his personal best to finish 14th. Henry S. was close behind, tying his personal best (run on a much flatter course). Matt ran his best race of a frustrating year to finish 22nd. Isak was just a few seconds behind as the all important 5th runner. Henry P. ran not far off his personal best, as did Sumner. For their efforts, the boys team finished 2nd, qualifying for the state championship!

Our JV runners finished things up for us. Peter ran just seconds off his personal best. Evan ran well. Dylan ran his best race of the season. Aneesh ran his best race of the year. Henry ran his personal best in just his second 5000 meter race. Louis was just seconds behind in his first 5000 meter race.

Emily W. ran her personal best by about 30 seconds, despite having to run around a stray dog (bad owner!). Izzy G. ran her personal best time. And Mari eclipsed her personal best by just a second.

I am so proud of your efforts today. This was a tough day to run, with temperatures dropping into the mid-40s by the end of the JV race, and strong winds to suck the warmth right out of you. But you stayed focused and ran very well.

Margo ran a splendid race to become our first girl to qualify for state since Kristen Bourne in 2008. Our boys team executed their race plan to perfection, being patient early, while everyone else went out fast. You earned this trip to state as a team. Congratulations!

Complete results for the girls varsity and the boys varsity are available from Gopher State Events.

October 3, 2017

On a splendid day for running, you earned 11 personal best times and 5 medals!

Margo led our girls, finishing in 4th place, earning a new personal best, and moving up to 2nd place on our all-time best girls list. Izzy Q. finished in 11th place, also running her personal best, and moving up to 6th best all time. Katie ran within a few seconds of her best ever time. Emily B. ran just her second 5000 meter cross country race, and cut about 3 minutes from her best time. Sarah finished as our 5th runner, earning a personal best. Skylar was only seconds behind, and close to her best time.

Emily W. sprinted to the finish with a new personal best, just seconds ahead of Ana, running her best race of the season. Izzy G. ran her best ever time by over a minute. Grace sprinted past a couple of other runners. And Mari ran her personal best by almost 2 minutes.

The girls’ efforts resulted in a 4th place finish out of 19 teams!

Declan led our boys, winning in a new personal best time. The plan was to run even paced, but plans don’t always fare well against reality. His competition went out fast, so he went out fast, in 4:47. His next mile was much slower, but he sped up for the last mile.

Tanner ran his best time of the season, not far from his best ever. Matt ran his best race of the season, thanks to regular iron cocktails to restore his iron levels. He gave us that Bourne grimace as he sprinted to the finish. Isak was only a few seconds back, running close to his best time, in just his first 5000 meter race of the season. Henry P. was right behind Isak, running a personal best time by over a minute. He ran so fast that his coach didn’t see him finish! Sumner sprinted to another personal best time, but only by 40 seconds this time.

Peter broke 20 minutes, running his best ever race. He outkicked Evan P., running his first full 5000 meter race. Dylan ran his best race of the season. Aneesh, wearing the wrong number, ran well. At least I think it was Aneesh! Ben ran his debut 5000 meter race and ran quite well. Travis ran his best race of the season. Pranay and Soren wrapped things up for the boys.

For their efforts, the boys also finished 4th out of 19 teams.

Your outstanding efforts should serve you well as we move to the IMAC championship next week, where all conference honors and more will be at stake.

Complete results are available at Milesplit.