I hope everyone had as much fun as I did watching our athletes compete at the state cross country championships. I was really proud of how the kids represented the school and themselves. It was great to see all the parents, family members and spectators come out for the meet. Dinner the night before was awesome. A special thanks to Karen and her parents for making it possible.
What's Been Happening:
On Saturday the kids had to get up early to head over to the state meet as we were the second and fourth meet of the day. Katy was our lone representative in the Division V girls race. Katy placed 21st in a time of 19:39, which is a 6:20 per mile average. I thought Katy ran a very spirited race, full of heart. Katy came through the first mile in 45th place, which was a very smart way for her to start the race given her lack of fitness due to her injuries. It was only through her pure determination that she was able to work her way up through the field to finish in the 21st spot. Under the circumstances – great race Katy!
The varsity boys team finished 12th in their race. Their 12th place finish tied the previous best finish by a Division V boys team from the redwood empire. Congratulations boys on being one of the best Redwood Empire Division V boys team ever. Leading the way was Jax in 34th place. Jax's time was 16:58, a 40 second PR over last year's time. And it was 24 places better. Just another very strong race for this talented young man. Our second runner, in 61st place, in a time of 17:33 was Jacob. It's good to see Jacob get back to running with confidence and with a good closing last mile. I think this was Jacob's best performance of the year. Our third runner of the day was Patrick in 75th place with a time of 17:42. Patrick showed that his break out race last week was no fluke with another strong performance. In 76th place was Austin, in 17:46. Austin's performance was big as the team needed him to run really well to help us secure that 12th place finish. Our 5th runner in 82nd place was Aaron in 17:52. It was nice to be able to see Aaron run a state championship and perform so well after losing last season to knee surgery. It was a great send off for our only senior. In 126th was Graham in 18:40. Graham was fighting some stomach issues, but had a great season and was a big part of why we had the success we had. In 163rd was Morgan, in 19:54. Although this wasn't one of Morgan's best races, I very proud of how he fought back from his mid-season injuries to be part of our first team at state.
What’s coming up:
The cross country season is pretty much over. There is no more practice and the meets are done. Varsity athletes, please turn your uniforms in to Kevin or Chris.
We hope to see you all at the awards dinner on Sunday December 4th at 2 PM. Then, after a short rest, we can all start practicing for track and field.