Away @ John Stark, 10/23/2020
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Teammates!
MacNeill Leads The Pack
The final regular season meet of the year saw MV travelling to John Stark, home of the “Sidehill Wampus” (so much sidehilling and ankle-rolling!). The weather was cool and damp, very good conditions for running. Both teams were ready to roll and it showed, as the boys added another victory by the narrowest of margins (27 to 28) and the girls scored their first win of the season with another close score, 26 to 29. Dual meets don’t get much better!
The girls were off the line first, and right away it looked like it was going to be a challenging day, as five John Stark Generals were stretched out in a line behind Sophia, trailed by the rest of the Pride. However, there’s a reason that cross country races are 5 kilometers long - the race goes to the determined. Fortitudine Vincimus! And conquer they did, in beautiful style. While up front Sophia had no issue cruising to easy victory, drama played out behind. Samantha, never losing her cool, worked her way up through the ranks of the Generals, eventually putting sizable distance between her and all but one, finishing third. Carlie moved forward as well, passing 4 Stark runners over the second half of the race, including one in a crazy kick (“I couldn’t feel my legs!”) down the homestretch. Challenging Carlie for race of the day, MacNeill started in the second wave, 20 seconds back of wave one, and not only caught several wave one runners, but also ran one down in the homestretch. Victoria was next across, sealing the win for MV. Liz, also from wave two, punched her ticket to the State Meet with a 6th place for the team, while Alyssa ran a solid race to finish as MV’s 7th.
Violet exemplified guts and grit with her run, hobbling in with a wounded foot but no excuses. Emmaleigh, meanwhile, got a big enough headstart at the end to avoid Anna’s killer kick (and Anna’s lunch), both dipping under the 30 minute mark on a tough course. Taylor ran her best race of the year, powering up the back hills and kicking down the finish straight to close things out for MV and a fantastic day of racing.
Coach Irving
Wave Two Start
Having won their last matchup with John Stark only 48 hours prior, the boys looked confident on the starting line (Especially Trevor who ensured Coach Walker multiple times, “We’re gonna win today”). Right before the start of the race, Marshall, Oliver, and Elisha were given one simple instruction: stay together. As the race unfolded they did exactly that, finishing within 15 seconds of each other in a solid pack of three. Up at the front of the race, Ethan was challenged for the win by John Stark’s number one runner. Not having the home course advantage this time, Ethan finished strong for second place and gained some valuable racing experience. In his first race back from injury, Mark battled for the fifth spot with Trevor. Though they started in different waves, both boys put up a strong fight to close out the top 5 and secure the win. While it was Trevor who crossed the line first, Mark posted a time 11 seconds faster and ultimately grabbed the fifth spot. After some confusion with the course map, Ryan lit up the track with a strong finish for the 7th spot. Chris, Zach, Bryce and Aidan ran tough and rounded out the rest of the team, closing out a successful day for MV. The kick of the day for the boys goes to Aidan, who went from 0 to 100 in 0.5 seconds and sprinted through a tunnel of his screaming teammates and coaches.
- Coach Walker