10/2/24 - John Stark - The "Sidehill Wampus" Meet

Meet Results WILL Be Linked Here Soon!

The great SIDEHILL WAMPUS course, AKA John Stark, was the location of the afternoon’s activities on Wednesday. So nick-named due to all the sidehill running required, and in memory of the sidehill wampus stories former Coach Neilson used to tell. A fun meet also, as the focus of the week is on Thetford, so the race plan is usually dialed back.

Today’s itinerary called for the front group to stick together as much as possible, then slowly “open the door to the cage” and “roll out” and “lock in” over the second half of the course. It was a fun start too, as Maddy grabbed the Dad-cam for the first mile to document the pack race. The pack was large also, consisting of the entire top 7 of Maddy and Kendra, Reagan and Emily, and Lily, Nicole, and Keira. Lily did get a little anxious early and broke away early, but the rest of the group was soon ready to Roll Out.

After the Roll Out the girls got cooking. The race turned out surprisingly fast behind the top girls as many set all-time or season PR’s. Lily and Maddy tallied several victims to climb from about 15th to 6th and 7th in 23:10 and 23:16 respectively. Reagan and (maybe) Emily set PR’s and finished 13th and 14th in 24:36 and 25:12. Keira had the best race of her career and hooked the #5 spot on the team in a PR of 25:21, while Kendra was just behind her in a season-best 25:35. Nicole had the most dramatic run, not only wiping out in the last half mile and finishing with socks stained red from blood (I didn’t even know I was bleeding) but also setting a PR of a minute in 25:37! I remember when she was trying so hard to break 30! Tessa had her best race of the year finishing in 27:59, while Emma took home the AWESOME AWARD with a gutsy wire-to-wire run in under 30 minutes (29:17). Raven closed out the team placing with a PR of 31:20. What a great day of running!