Division II State Championship
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Warmed up by Vanilla Ice on the stereo (thanks Anna!), skipping to the line (who can be anything but happy while skipping?), and dumb “Dad” jokes (What do you call a naughty lamb dressed like a skeleton for Halloween? Baaaaaaad to the bone! - dedicated to Holey Otie, who skipped the meet to stay dry in the back of my van), the girls hit the line in good spirits and ready to race. The weather was wet, but not too wet, and cool, but not too cool. In other words, great running weather.
To sum up the race quickly, it was fantastic. It was a fitting end to a wonderful year - a year free from major injury or illness, a year of PR’s and improvements all around, and a year of great memories made by great people. And while I say “end”, it’s really “just the beginning”, as Jessi’s button says. Sophia will move on to run at least one, and probably two more weeks, and for everyone else it is just the end of chapter one. We bid farewell to Liz, off to fight fires and save lives, and hello to day one (Sunday) of MVXC 2022. It’s going to be great!
Back to the racing, Sophia ran a strong, gutsy race to place 4th and break 20 minutes over the soggy course. Her career finishes at DII’s have been 1st, 5th, 3rd, and now 4th. That is a remarkable run of consistency, and something to be proud of! Next across the line was Samantha, running far and away her best race of the year and her best since 2019. Following in third for the team was Madison, breaking 24 minutes again in her second fastest time of the year. You should have seen her smiles out on the course! Kendra, not to be outdone, flew down the big hill in the third mile and had a kick (!) at the end to finish only 2 places back of Madison in an all-time PR. What a perfect time for a PR! Rounding out the scoring and placing 5th, also with her second-best time of the year, was Violet, sporting super cool and Halloween appropriate speedy socks. Wearing spikes, aka “magic slippers” for the first time, Jessi came within a few seconds of her PR to place 6th on the team. By the way, Jessi was the 6th place tie-breaker with Bow last week, with the score tied after the 5th runner. Everyone counts! Closing things out for the team was Liz, also running her #2 all-time time over a less-than ideal course. So to sum things up, that’s one top-5 finish, one season best, one PR, and 4 second-best times in one race! As a team, we accomplished my early season shoot-the-moon goal of a top-ten finish, finishing with a team time average almost a minute and a half faster than a year ago. What a day!
Boys
If the theme of this season was about overcoming obstacles, this was certainly a perfect ending. No Oliver, a sick Trevor, an injured Marshall, and pouring rain created the ultimate challenge for the boys. As the race approached, however, there were no negative attitudes - just a group of determined runners that have come a long way since the beginning of the season.
As the boys made their final preparations at the starting line, Marshall made the difficult decision to not race due to a worsening injury. This put the pressure on Silas, as it automatically put him in our 5th spot. When the gun went off for the last time this season, the boys powered up the hill with Ryan leading the charge for the first mile. At the top of the first monster hill, Mark reclaimed his position as our #1, with Ryan not far behind. Behind him, Mychal was having the race of his life looking strong, smooth and relaxed. Next up was Trevor who was battling the hill and a cold simultaneously. Looking stronger than he has all season was Silas, tackling the hill with ferocity.
In the final stages of the race, it was evident that the boys were leaving it all on the course. First for MV was Mark, maintaining his sub-20 streak and leading his team once again. Next down the finishing chute were the duo of Ryan and Mychal capping off fantastic performances. Mychal ended his season with another huge PR, putting him on the cusp of breaking 20 and allowing him to drink Gatorade out of his shoe after the race for some reason. Next, Trevor gave his all and demonstrated the same lethal kick we saw at Thetford. Finally, closing it out for MV was Silas looking stronger than ever and exemplifying the enormous improvements he’s made this season.
While this season was a huge learning experience for most of the boys and for me, it provided us with lessons and experiences that can lead us to new heights next year.