Home with Souhegan, John Stark, Windham, St. Thomas, and Plymouth
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Boys Start
Third meet in four days for Sandu and I; we are in XC heaven! Today marked our last dual meet of the season, it is Invitationals from here on out. Today’s meet was large as far as duals go, with six teams represented. Before I go further, a HUGE thanks to the parents and alumni parents who came and helped and offered to help, and a special note of appreciation to Mrs. Crane, the writer for both meets. I went down there once during the boys finish and...it was like an advertisement for deodorant. As in the pre-deodorant part. Ooof. You were a courageous woman!
Lauren, Noelle, and Emma in the order of finish.
Another warm muggy day (but heat training is good!), but thankfully wasp-free this time. Somewhat disappointingly a couple of the top girls from other teams chose not to race, working out instead in preparation for Manchester on Saturday. We chose to workout on the course, with easy days planned this week for recovery. Kristie paced out the early lead, with a goal to land the top spot on the Senior Home Course list. With her lead expanding out to an eventual 3:14, she did just that, also tying her course record from October of last year. Not bad for a solo effort! Behind her, the pack of Lauren, Noelle, and Emma held together the entire distance, finishing in 3rd, 4th and 5th with a spread of only 3 seconds. While they may be not thrilled with their times, it was a good solid team effort. Tristan continued her comeback from injury with yet-another season PR to place as our 5th runner again, followed by Willow and Maizie, each with sub-26 minute runs. Kaitlyn ran brave while under the weather; finishing with the way she was feeling is itself an accomplishment. Diandra returned to the racing scene with a great 40th place finish as well. Overall, the girls won easily (Souhegan did not race their top 5, but who’s counting? As far as statistics go, the girls team improved on their team time from 2 weeks ago, thanks mostly to Kristie’s run, but also Noelle’s improvement. Noelle cut just enough time off to take over 9th on the girls top-ten list, bumping Emma back to 10th.
Great Kicks. Taylor Vs River. Taylor Prevails...This Time.
On the boys side, it was the Reynolds show again. On Monday it was Sophia for Andover, today it was BOTH David (1st) and Matt (2nd), who each pulled far, far ahead over the final mile to easily claim the title of top family. Matt also did just enough to jump onto the top-10 list, displacing Trevor by one second (sorry Trev, should’ve run faster!). The boys also improved their team-time to 8th on the all-time list. After the top two, Dylan chose to wait one more meet before PR-ing, but still ran a solid mid-19 for 12th place. Taylor had the 2nd best kick of the day, nipping River at the line, causing River to rethink his lunch choices. Not too far back Ryan was busy setting his first PR in two years (!YAY!), thinking he was earning a PR whoopie pie. Haha Ryan, I discontinued that just before your last PR. Ryan, if you read this, I’ll get you one. You just have to read the team blog. Wrapping up 7th and Saturday’s varsity race was quickly-improving Matt Lyle. Connor was next, sporting his new eyeglass “retainer”, allowing him to actually swing his arms in stride, rather than adjust. The result? Three minutes faster than Saturday! OK, maybe that wasn’t the only thing, but it matters. Just behind Connor was a fast-charging Mason, and then Dylan R., running on too much rest and a super clean uniform top (I want that back!). Then, the kick of the day/week/month/year. With a mighty roar that terrified the Plymouth guy in front, David Q. sprinted down the finish chute, catching the Plymouth kid who was just happy to escape with his life. Mitchell strode in a couple minutes later with a huge PR, followed by Josh (also well-rested!), and finally Lucas, sadly not in picture range of any 7-foot runners this time.
Great job today team, next up, Manchester!!
Sorry Girls, I'm Still Not Believing the Four-Person Push-up Happened. PS - Nice Plank, Mitchell!