Well it's finally over. We had our last meet, the big one on Saturday. We went to the every exciting State Meet in the northern part of our state and ran our best.
Our last week was one of anticipation and unitedness. All the girls stuck it out together regardless if they were invited to the big dance or not. We can only put our top seven runners in and we had thirteen girls. The other six were a great support system for the Varsity team. We had some very good runs this past week and it's not hard to see the improvement in even the slowest runner. Our center for the basketball team is really looking forward to the upcoming basketball season knowing how extremely fit she is. She will be one of the tallest, fit girls in the conference. This was her first year running with us, and I can see she is very pleasantly surprised at her outgoing fitness level. Basketball season starts in about three weeks. Hopefully, she'll take what she learned with her and continue to run.
The day started out very cold. We had a checklist. We had mittens, hats, extra shoes, socks, warm clothing including winter jackets on there. Some even brought blankets and one brought a sleeping bag.
The parents got together the night before and decorated the bus in grand style. They had balloons, posters, crepe paper and such all over the bus. They had made silver stars all over the windows and painted the windows with all the girls and coaches names along with their best wishes for us. It was great to drive to the big meet in such a way. When we got there we noticed we had the only decorated bus. School pride!
We got there with three hours to spare. A bit early I think. We walked the course. Lots of mud, and slippery places. I saw wood chips and sawdust put down here and there along the way. The course looked relatively easy but for one hill, the name of which is Satan's Inferno. It was quite the hill. I ran up it once with the team as we walked the course and later I ran the whole course and timed the hill as I ran up it. The second time the hill was plastered with onlookers getting their perfect place to see the battle up the hill. It took me 60 seconds to go up it. With all the spectators watching I probably went up faster that second time. It doesn't sound too bad until you realize this hill is put 2 1/2 miles into the course. It took quite a bit of my breath away as I approached the top. When you hit the top it's a long downhill going into the finish. The course is a 5k or 3.1 miles long and is typical for a HS Cross Country Meet.
I went into this very optimistic. I was hoping for 5th place this year. I knew it would be tough. We got 5th in Regionals, so to stay there we'd have to beat every team from the East which is not reasonable. But what the heck? We had no real idea how we'd fare against these teams we'd not run against as of yet.
At the starting line along with the vaseline came the made up cheer. Somthing about a SHOE and you can't take it away from me because you're too slow. It was cute. This is a young team. They were all excited.
As the race progressed I was surprised to see our front runners that far back. They were behind the first 25 runners. Knowing that we have a few top runners that make their way to the top, I wasn't too concerned in that first mile. But for our top two girls, this was their very first state meet. For our third girl, a sophomore, it was her second appearance. I saw one girl from another team covered in blood. I'm guessing she had a bloody nose. Her whole lower face was just covered as well as the back of her hand and down the front of her shirt. It was very disturbing to see. That was a first for me. I've seen blood here and there before but nothing like this. She finished I believe in the top 10 tho. That takes guts.
Our top girl came in 19th so she should make All State Second Team. Our next girl who is usually our #1 came in 30th place. Our third and fourth girl had very good races but our #5 was too far back. We figure she, as a freshman, still doesn't quite get it. She runs but doesn't run with pain. She hasn't learned to go past that threshhold yet. She will.
When all was said and done, we finished in 9th place. We actually kept our position from the West and had 4 Eastern teams beat us. There were 13 teams on the line at the start. The top 13 teams in the state. The next two years we should improve as our freshmen girls get more experience. This year it was just great they got to run in this state meet. Next year they'll know better what to expect and we should move up in the standings.
On the boy's side we only had one runner that made States. He had a great day. He finished fourth in our class and had the fifth best time of all classes. He beat a few he's not beat before and moved up closer to the first place finisher whom he's never beaten yet. He may very well, if he stays healthy, win the whole thing next year. Considering he was 5th at Regionals, finishing 4th at States is a great accomplishment. He'll head to New Englands next week.
Sports Awards is on Tuesday, and then I've got more time in my schedule to get other things done. But first.....vacation here I come. We're going to Hilton Head, SC for beach R & R. Next up will be Lynchburg, VA then onward to KY and last but not least Ohio before heading home again.
On the road again, only this time I'll be four wheeling it. A beach, a chair and a book and I'm happy. I can't wait.